Report by Kelechi Osunwa

Photo: Vince Caratozzolo

A brave and youthful Subiaco side were left devastated as an own-goal in stoppage time allowed Stirling Lions to snatch a late 3-2 win at Rosalie Park.

Gerry McEwan’s Subiaco fielded a side so young that a player rushed from his high school first XI game to play in the second half.

Still, it was that youthful exuberance that had Subiaco fight back twice to cancel Daniel Micevski’s opener and Lawrence Shurma’s delicate finish.

James Oliver scored direct from a deep free kick as Stirling custodian Connor Campbell misjudged the ball’s flight.

Substitute Daniel Milne seemed to snatched what would have been a deserved draw for the young side with five minutes to play.

But with seconds remaining, a defensive mix up between Alex Triglaucania and stand-in captain Ryan Montgomery allowed Stirling to leave with all three points.

Lions coach Rob Milevski was happy with the win and acknowledged that Subiaco deserved more from their performance.

“Our intention was to come here and get three points,” he said.

“We knew it was going to be tough though and it certainly was.”

Stirling had the opportunity to take an early lead when marauding fullback Anthony Bafobusha was brought down in the box, but Robert Petkov saw his penalty crash off the up-right.

Petkov was determined to make amends and his powerful run through midfield resulted in Daniel Micevski calmly slotting past Montgomery.

Stirling couldn’t capitalise on moments of concerted pressure to double their lead and were pegged back when Oliver’s looping free kick was misjudged and gave Subiaco a life-line coming into the second half.

Stirling started the second half better and after intricate team play on the left wing Lawrence Shuruma wriggled himself free from his marker for his third goal in as many games.

The game became more open as Subiaco pressed for an equaliser, and Stirling should have put the game beyond doubt, but they couldn’t find the final ball.

When Milne equalised with five minutes to go, it seemed Subiaco were on course for a deserved point after a battling performance.

But Triglacuania’s own goal left Subiaco without a point they thoroughly deserved and with a few devastated players in the changing rooms.

Coach Gerry McEwan saw the positives and the growth a result like that can have in terms of shaping his players.

“I’m proud of my boys,” he said.

“We played a very young side with seven under 20’s to begin with. Our oldest player was 28, but we all stood up for each other and worked hard.

“We made a couple of errors that led to the first two goals and an error, we’ve all seen happen before, that cost us the game at the end.

“Everybody’s devastated because I don’t really think we deserved to take nothing away from the game.”

Subiaco 2 (Oliver 42min, Milne 86)
Stirling 3 ( Miceski 25, Shuruma 50, OG 90+2 )
Saturday, May 16
Rosalie Park, Shenton Park
Referee: A. Fielding
Assistant Referees: M. Watts, O. Allen

Subiaco: GK Ryan MONTGOMERY (c), 2. Siyang ZHANG , 4. Jack DONGRAY , 5. Mitch STEINBERG, 7. Owen COATES (6. Daniel MILNE 56),  8. Kevin WHITE, 11. Joshua BOOYSEN, 12. Jonas DORLING , 14. James OLIVER (10. Matthew AKEHURST 46) , 15 Alex TRIGLAUCANIA, 17 Ivwananji SIMBILE (13. Justin CARATOZZOLO 61)
Substitutes not used: 3 Ger FITZGERALD, 21. Anastasis FARSALAS
Yellow Cards: J. Booysen 63
Red Cards: Nil

Stirling Lions: 24. Connor CAMPBELL, 3. Steve PURTON, 5. Anthony BAFOBUSHA, 6. Brodie MARTIN, 7. Milorad VUJACIC (c), 8. Tim HILL, 9. Teeboy KAMARA (11. Moses KALAU 85) , 10. Daniel MICEVSKI, 14. Lawrence SHURUMA ,15. Robert PETKOV (16. Brian WOODALL  72) 18. Nathan BOWDEN-HASSE 
Substitutes not used: 1. Luke RADONICH 2. Boas MTWALE, 12. Robert MARIANO
Yellow Cards: N. Bowden-Hasse 53
Red Cards: Nil