IGA NSW NPL Mens 1 Round 2 Review

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Sutherland Sharks, Sydney United 58 FC and Bonnyrigg White Eagles lead the way after two rounds of the competition this season – each of these sides making it two-wins-from-two.
At the other end, both Rockdale City Suns and Marconi Stallions remain point-less with the two sides scheduled to meet over the Easter weekend.
Blacktown City FC 2 South Coast Wolves 2
South Coast Wolves made a massive improvement in-front of goal on Saturday as it held one of the early competition favourite, Blacktown City FC, to a 2-2 draw at Lily Homes Stadium.
After falling 4-0 against the Sharks in the opening Round, the Wolves twice took the lead in Blacktown, only to twice be pegged back by a resilient Blacktown City in-front of its home supporters.
Mark Crittenden’s Blacktown City was sluggish in the opening period, and really only got going in the second-half.
Ricky Zucco opened the scoring just before half-time when he slotted home a 42’ minute penalty after Mitchell Del Turco was fouled inside the penalty-area.
The hosts’ response arrived shortly after the re-start when Travis Major netted his first goal of the season, also from the penalty-spot.
Jack Keating combined well with substitute Joseph Lavalle in the 55’ minute, squaring a neat pass into the path of the latter to restore the Wolves lead with pretty much his first touch.
The action was not to finish there as Sean Rooney delivered an absolute screamer of a goal shortly after – much to the relief of the home supporters – to secure Blacktown City a share of the spoils. Rooney’s 35-metre attempt dipped just perfectly, over the outstretched arm of goalkeeper Daniel Collison.
Sutherland Sharks 2 Sydney Olympic 1
Sutherland Sharks kept its 100% start to the season intact with a dramatic last-ditch winner at home against Sydney Olympic.
Perry Moustakas capitalised on a set-piece to hand the Sharks the lead in the 11’ minute, setting the scene for somewhat of a dominant exchange for Sutherland with Panni Nikas and Nathan Elasi a constant menace for the visitors.
Kingsley Williams – in fine form in the middle of the park – and William Angel slowly but surely got Sydney Olympic on top, in-terms of possession, the latter beating Nathan Denham in the Sharks’ goal, though denied by Klim Gjorseski who cleared off the line.
Sydney Olympic’s equaliser arrived via new signing Elsid Barkhousir. The striker, who joined the club in the off season from Sydney United 58 FC, capitalised on a Blues’ set-piece, rising highest to powerfully head the ball home despite Denham getting a hand to the ball.
Deep into injury-time, and with a draw all but certain, the Sharks scored a 5’ minute winner. Nikas was the orchestrator, playing Jamie McMaster into space. Young gun Chris Naumoff made no mistake, blasting his shot inside the near post and past the desperate reach of Paul Henderson.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 3 Blacktown Spartans 0
At Bonnyrigg Sports Centre, the White Eagles further demonstrated its intentions of again dominating the competition with a 3-0 defeat of Blacktown Spartans.
The visiting Spartans, flying high following the win over Marconi Stallions in Round 1, held their own in some spells of the match, however the White Eagles, who were definitely not at their absolute best, showed no mercy in a professional performance that saw the side reap the reward.
Captain Chris Tadrosse opened the scoring for Bonnyrigg in the 36’ minute when he latched onto a loose ball before driving it home past Luke Turnbull and inside the far post.
Blacktown looked to hit the White Eagles on the counter, and although they did look like gaining metres in the Bonnyrigg half, Brian Brown’s men were ready to pounce on the counter.
Robbie Younis netted his first goal of the season early in the second-half, converting from close range past a helpless Turnbull.
The result was put beyond doubt when substitute Aaron Peterson slipped in behind the Spartans defence, shooting across Turnbull’s goal and into the back of the net to round out the 3-0 win.
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers 1 Central Coast Mariners Academy 1
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers and Central Coast Mariners Academy scored their first point of the season following a 1-1 draw at Lambert Park.
Played in extremely warm conditions, the Mariners took the lead late in the first-half via Chris Payne. Tomislav Cirjak delightfully found Payne and the former Sydney FC player played a fine chip to perfection to find the back of the net.
APIA-Leichhardt’s response arrived in the second-half when Nikola Taneski drew the Tigers level. Taneski received a pin-point pass before turning and unleashing a fine finish into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal.
The final result would not have been completely pleasing to either side, though it is a point for both teams to kick-start their respective campaigns after opening round losses.
Marconi Stallions 0 Manly United FC 3
Manly United FC inflicted further pain to Marconi Stallions with an emphatic 3-0 defeat of the reigning champions at Marconi Stadium. Sean Seavill was the hero for the Northern Beaches side, netting twice, one on either side of Colin Iley’s headed attempt.
Seavill struck a long-range ‘bomb’ in the opening minutes – a certain candidate for goal of the season, before Iley doubled the lead.
Marconi’s best efforts were far from sufficient in this encounter, though Jean-Paul De Marigny was without up to eight regular players which made the Stallions’ task merely impossible.
Seavill grabbed his second midway through the second half with another fine finish, this time the ball ruffling the back of the net after it had initially struck the up right.
Sydney United 58 FC 3 Rockdale City Suns 2
Sydney United 58 FC made it successive ‘late dramatic’ wins with a 3-2 defeat of Rockdale City Suns at Jensen Park on Sunday evening. A home match, played away from home due to the new surface in Edensor Park still not being ready, the Reds took the lead via an expert Luka Glavas finish midway through the first-half.
Despite the lead, it was Rockdale City that then took control of proceedings with some good possession and a fine equaliser by Richard Cardozo who headed home Paul Kohler’s cross from the left only 2’ minutes later.
The Suns stunned the Reds supporters shortly after when Alec Urosesvski round his marker, and the goalkeeper, before squaring the ball into the path of Anthony Perri to volley home, setting up an interesting second 45’ minutes of football.
The Reds did have their chances to draw level, though the Suns continued to look dangerous on the counterattack.
On 81’ minutes, substitute Mirjan Pavlovic won the Reds a penalty after Askin Oygur fouled the striker. Captain Luka Glavas converted the resulting spot-kick to draw his side level.
As was the case in Manly last weekend, the Reds would find a late winner, this time via the boot of Pavlovic, who volleyed home past Diego Barcena – the Suns goalkeeper very impressive during the match, despite his side going down.
The win sees Sydney United 58 FC move level at the top of the League ladder after two rounds of the competition.
-By Joseph Carlucci