One club made history and another came back from the brink. Both are heading to the Australia Cup

Fremantle City will feature on the national stage for the first time in club history, while Bayswater City produced a stirring comeback to book their return to the Australia Cup Round of 32.

The two NPL WA clubs secured their places among Australia's final 32 teams on Tuesday night, but their paths to qualification could hardly have been more different.

For Fremantle, it was a night of history.

Olympic Kingsway arrived having reached the national rounds in each of the past two seasons and were aiming to make it three consecutive appearances.

Instead, they were undone by a clinical Fremantle outfit that seized their opportunity to create a landmark moment for the club.

The breakthrough came inside 20 minutes when Charlie Chechlacz caught goalkeeper Adrian Sinagra off his line and found the net from around 40 metres. Rob Harker restored parity before half-time, but Fremantle regained control after the interval.

Goals from Nic Ambrogio and Bill Orr secured a memorable 3-1 victory and sent Fremantle into the Round of 32 for the first time.

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While Fremantle were creating history, Bayswater were forced to dig deep to keep their Australia Cup campaign alive.

The six-time national qualifiers looked in serious trouble when rivals Perth RedStar raced into a two-goal lead through Liam Murray and Jacob Evans, leaving Bayswater staring at an early exit.

However, the defending NPL WA champions responded emphatically.

Cam Teece sparked the comeback before Coby Sutton struck twice in quick succession as Bayswater turned the contest on its head. Three goals in 11 minutes transformed the tie and secured a dramatic 3-2 victory.

The result sends Bayswater back to the Round of 32 for the first time since 2019 and keeps alive hopes of another deep Australia Cup run.