IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 Round 4 Review

Sydney United 58 FC and Bonnyrigg White Eagles maintained its phenomenal 100% start to the season with respective wins over Sydney Olympic and Manly United 58 FC, meanwhile Marconi Stallions and Rockdale Sydney Suns secured its first wins of the season in Round 4 action.
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers 3 Blacktown City FC 3
A high scoring affair kick-started Round 4 action with APIA-Leichhardt overturning a two-goal deficit to force a 3-3 draw against Blacktown City FC on Friday evening.
Leading 3-1 just before the half-time interval, the visitors had Andrea Del Brocco sent off before Sean Rooney too received his marching orders with Blacktown City FC leading 3-2.
Matthew Lewis opened the scoring for the visitors with a nicely hit drive, curling into the back of the net off his right peg. Travis Major had the chance to double his side’s lead only 2’ minutes later from the penalty-spot, though Ryan Norval made a very impressive save down low to keep the deficit for his side at one.
Harris Gaitatzis did double the lead shortly after, before the Tigers pulled a goal back through youngster Nikola Taneski who is enjoying a positive run of form.
Just before the break, and before Del Brocco received his straight red card, Sean Rooney managed to beat the offside trap and convert past Norval for the 3-1 half-time lead.
Following the break, Taneski further reduced his side’s deficit with another nice move on the counterattack. The visiting side’s evening took a further turn for the worse however with Sean Rooney picking up a second yellow card for the evening.
The Tigers comeback was complete in the 88’ minute when Gerard Ouffoue headed home an equaliser following another swift Tigers counter.
Blacktown Spartans 1 Rockdale City Suns 2
Rockdale City Suns secured its first win of the 2013 campaign with a very hard fought Round 4 clash win at Blacktown Football Park. Second best for the entire first-half, the Suns got their act together in the second 45’ minutes to deny the Spartans a second home win of the season.
Wassim Hijazi headed the Spartans into the lead in the final minute of the opening half where Blacktown should have really scored a second goal for all its efforts.
Rockdale City unveiled new signing Paul Reid – the experienced A-League campaigner showed all his class and composure with a very positive performance for his side.
In the second-half, Brendan Gan won the Suns a penalty on the hour. Richard Cardozo drew the Suns level, though not before Spartans’ shot-stopper Carlos Saliadarre made a first-up save; Cardozo netted with the follow-up.
With the Spartans players’ spirits broken, Rockdale City took full advantage of their momentum, again via Cardozo. With room to move down the left, Cardozo used his trusted left peg to drill home, from an acute angle, past Saliadarre at his near post to secure the win.
Sutherland Sharks 1 Central Coast Mariners Academy 0
At Seymour Shaw, Central Coast Mariners Academy made the Sharks work extremely hard to secure itself maximum points in the 1-0 win.
Playmaker Panni Nikas proved again his pure class and ability to decide matches through his individual brilliance, though the Sharks players and supporters were made to live through 76’ minutes of nervy football before the goal arrived.
Nikas’ strike arrived after Mariners goalkeeper Jordan Nikolovski parried an attempt from Nathan Elasi.
The Mariners held their own throughout the encounter, and possibly should have grabbed a share of the spoils late on when Sharks goalkeeper Nathan Denham was forced into a double save to salvage the result.
Manly United 58 FC 0 Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1
At Cromer Park, Bonnyrigg White Eagles’ giant killing run continued with a very positive 1-0 win against the Northern Beaches side.
Despite the home side starting the brighter of the two – Colin Iley in great touch early – it was Robbie Younis who stole the show.
Fresh from a four goal haul against Central Coast Mariners Academy last weekend, the striker headed home a free-kick on 14’ minutes to open the scoring.
Just shy of the hour, White Eagles defender Ben Spruce was given a straight red card for a very poor tackle, leaving his team with ten-men to defend the one goal lead. The task was not beyond the White Eagles who administered proceedings comfortably to hold out for the win, and keeping its 100% start to the season intact.
Sydney United 58 FC 1 Sydney Olympic 0
In the pick of the round, Sydney United 58 FC kept its 100% record intact with a 1-0 win over perennial rival Sydney Olympic.
Played at Lily Homes Stadium, due to the Reds’ home ground undergoing the finishing touches to the new playing surface, the Reds scored a win once again carrying the signature of inspirational captain Luka Glavas.
The Reds striker converted an 18’ minute penalty after winning the spot-kick himself moments earlier. Defender Brett Studman, played under pressure following a poor pass from Ibrahim Haydar, was the culprit for fouling Glavas, and the striker made no mistake whatsoever in converting.
The Blues best efforts arrived via the feet of Phil Makrys who made his return from injury, though the likes of Elsid Barkhousir failed to get going against his former club.
The Blues task at hand was made all the more difficult just after the interval as Studman was shown his second yellow card of the afternoon, and consequently a red card which saw him return to the dressing sheds.
Glen Trifiro looked brilliant for the Reds in the middle of the park, the club’s new signing showing all his class and true value in a side that has been well assembled by coach Mark Rudan.
In the end, the Reds held out for the win, claiming a win not only to maintain a share of top-spot with Bonnyrigg White Eagles but also claim bragging rights over the Blues who are a historical rival for the Western Sydney club.
Marconi Stallions 3 South Coast Wolves 1
Marconi Stallions scored its first win of the season with a confidence boosting 3-1 defeat of South Coast Wolves on Sunday afternoon at Marconi Stadium.
The Stallions took the initiative early and the pressure on the Wolves reaped reward on 30’ minutes. Tadhg Purcell converted a penalty for the Stallions, awarded after Wolves’ captain Jacob Timpano was shown a straight red card for handling the ball on the goal line.
The momentum continued with the Stallions who doubled the lead only 2’ minutes later, this time via Anthony Proia who caught the Wolves unprepared as the side from the South Coast was still readjusting after the dismissal.
The reigning champions have struggled to re-live the magical moments of last season thus far, though the performance by Jean-Paul De Marigny’s men today could well signal the start to the season the Stallions needed.
Proia grabbed his second for the afternoon after the interval, and the Stallions could well have added another two-three in a dominant second-half display.
To their credit, the Wolves kept their heads up and fought until the end, the side grabbing a consolation goal in the final minutes of play via Mitchell Del Turco who converted a rebounded effort with class to reduce the deficit to two.
-By Joseph Carlucci