IGA NSW NPL Grade 20s Round 1 Review
The IGA NSW National Premier Leagues Grade 20s kicked off in earnest this week, as a host of young stars took to the pitch.
In a great weekend of football, there were goals aplenty, with 21 goal scored in Round 1.
The surprise result came on Saturday night as Central Coast Mariners Academy beat Sydney Olympic 1-0, whilst also on Saturday, Marconi Stallions laid down a marker, beating Blacktown Spartans 5-2 away from home.
SATURDAY
Sydney Olympic 0-1 Central Coast Mariners, at Belmore Sports Ground
Central Coast Mariners Academy faced a mammoth test in their first game in the IGA NSW National Premier Leagues, away at Sydney Olympic.
Despite a disappointing 2012, Olympic are still expected to be right in the mix this season, but they were unable to get their season off to the start they wanted.
By contrast, Mariners coach Peter Preston will be elated with their hard-fought 1-0 win, Josh Swadling’s goal enough for the visiting side to pick up their maiden three points in the competition.
Blacktown Spartans 2-5 Marconi Stallions, at Blacktown Football Park
Blacktown Spartans, the surprise package of last season, were given a touch-up by Marconi Stallions at Blacktown Football Park on Saturday evening.
The score was 2-2 at the break, after Blake Brooker put Spartans ahead in the 10′ minute, before Josh Sotirio equalised. Lachlan Reus’s penalty put Marconi ahead 2-1 before Reid Taylor equalised in the 44′ minute for Mark Zecchin’s Spartans.
With the game in the balance though, Spartans couldn’t deal with Stallions, who scored ten minutes into the second half through Umut, the goal putting Pat Marando’s side ahead.
They never looked back, further goals from Nick Collentino in the 68′ minute and Dario Vujovic in the 80′ minute blowing the score out to 5-2 and in doing so, sending out a message to the rest of the league.
South Coast Wolves 0-0 Sutherland Sharks, at John Crehan Park
South Coast Wolves and Sutherland Sharks, both under the tutelage of new coaches, played out a tight 0-0 draw on the South Coast at John Crehan Park.
Sutherland Sharks coach Nass Martino described the match as an "arm wrestle," whilst South Coast coach Jason Spencer agreed that the match could have gone either way.
In the end, a draw was a fair result as the two sides shared the points to the start the season,
SUNDAY
Manly United 3-3 Sydney United 58 FC, at Cromer Park
Manly United came back from 3-1 down to snatch a point in their Sunday afternoon clash with Sydney United 58 FC at Cromer Park.
Jack Green had given Manly United the lead, but a double from Steven Vukovic and a goal from Matty Bilic put the visiting side well clear.
Dylan Whitlock and Henry Gallagher scored for Manly United though, bringing the score back to 3-3, giving coaches Nick Tomaino and Ante Moric plenty to work with in the weeks ahead.
Rockdale City Suns 2-1 Blacktown City FC, at Ilinden Sports Centre
Rockdale City were too good for Blacktown City on a blustery Sunday afternoon.
Rockdale’s rejuvenated squad were keen to get stuck in to Round 1 and goals from Michael Toscano and Max Burgess was enough for them to take all three points.
Daniel Vellonio scored for Blacktown City, who will take heart from their performance at a tough away venue.
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 3-1 Bonnyrigg White Eagles, at Lambert Park
APIA Leichhardt Tigers showed their quality, but were given a large helping hand by the indiscipline of Bonnyrigg White Eagles, who were reduced to 9 men.
Josh Symons and substitutes Hayato Wakino and Simon Ward scored for APIA, but their coach Rod Williams was happy to pay credit to Bonnyrigg’s work ethic and courage.
"We played some really clinical football and their goalkeeper stopped the score from blowing out, but the effort they put in is a credit to their coach," he said.
The first dismissal came for a second bookable offence within the first ten minutes and from there it would always be an uphill battle for the visiting side.
The score was 0-0 at the break, before a second dismissal in the 53′ minute virtually put paid to Bonnyrigg’s hopes.
Nicola Torodoski’s goal was in fact an equaliser, but Paul De Lucca’s side were always going to struggle to keep the pace, two men short. De Lucca though was pleased with the courage and determination that his side showed in the circumstances.
– By Matthew Connellan
