Grade 20s Round 7 IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 Review

Round 7 of the Grade 20s competition produced an outstanding weekend of football on a perfect, sunny weekend.
Marconi’s 4-0 win over CCM Academy sent a message to the rest of the competition, as will Manly United’s defeat of Sydney Olympic.
Blacktown Spartans gained a good win over APIA Leichhardt in the Match of the Round.
 
MATCH OF THE ROUND: APIA Leichhardt Tigers 1-2 Blacktown Spartans, at Lambert Park
A Mitchell Osmond penalty saw Blacktown Spartans defeat APIA Leichhardt Tigers on a sweltering Sunday afternoon at Lambert Park.
Spartans two goals came in the first half, a 45′ minutes in which they were the match’s dominant force, as Reid Taylor gave them the lead before Osmond double their money from the spot.
For the visiting side, it was a welcome win and an even more welcome complete performance, given their inconsistencies of recent weeks.
APIA Leichhardt Tigers will be disappointed that they weren’t able to kick on and claim at least a point in the second half, after substitute Alan Kovacevic gave them hope with his first touch of the game.
Blacktown Spartans started to control the match from the outset though and it took just 3′ minutes for them to threaten the APIA goal.
A smart passing move ended with Blake Brooker firing a shot that forced a parried save from APIA’s young goalkeeper, Lucas North.
APIA weren’t able to get a foothold in the match and were at the mercy of Spartans, who knocked the ball around at will.
Perhaps the only surprise when they took the lead, was that it took 34′ minute for them to find it.
When it did come, it was a superbly worked goal.
Pasquale Polistina back heeled in to Brooker, who left his marked for dead before squaring to the prolific Taylor, who made no mistake from 12 yards out.
Spartans doubled their lead in the shadows of half time as Sam Cornish gave away a penalty that was ruthlessly dispatched by Osmond.
APIA coach Rod Williams responded at the break by replacing Adamo Raciti with Clayton Musumeci.
APIA found their mojo, spurred on by the arrivals of David Chung and Alan Kovacevic and it was the gangly former Rockdale City forward who gave them a lifeline.  
A corner was poorly dealt with and when the ball was lifted back into the area, Kovacevic leapt highest to nod past Luke Turnbull.
Spartans still proved a threat on the counter attack and Reid Taylor shot wide as they looked to put the game to bed, but APIA were making heavy running in the final 10′ minutes.
Kovacevic was proving to be a handful for the Spartans defence and he looked to have equalised in the 88′ minute, but his shot was cleared as it dribbled towards goal and Spartans survived.
Spartans coach Mark Zecchin was pleased with the result and the performance.
"I thought it was good to get a win," he said.
"We’d previously been only playing for 80 or 85 minutes, so it was good to put in a 90 minute performance today."
APIA coach Rod Williams was disappointed to lose, but happy that his side responded to his changes in the second 45′ minutes. 
"First half we were under the pump," he said.
"In the second half we changed things around and I thought we had six or seven chances, especially in the final 25 minutes when we went to playing a back three."

Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 1 (Alan Kovacevic 69′)
Blacktown Spartans 2 (Reid Taylor 34′, Mitchell Osmond [PEN] 44′)
Sunday 28th April, 2013
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Lachlan Keevers
Assistant Referees: Paul Faithful and Robson Battistella
APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 40.Lucas North, 31.Matthew Castelnuovo, 30.Justin Cootes (41.Alan Kovacevic 67′), 28.Sam Cornish, 14.George Khoury, 26.Ali Nasreddine, 27.Lachlan O’Connor, 19.Adamo Raciti (17.Clayton Musumeci 45′), 23.Emmanuel Shewan, 29.Fabian Sosa (37.David Chung 60′), 20.Joshua Symons (42.Josh Basara 77′)
Substitutes Not Used: 19.Christopher Moore
Yellow Cards: Adamo Raciti 40′, Sam Cornish 44′, Lachlan O’Connor 55′, Joshua Symons 76′, Ali Nasreddine 87′
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown Spartans: 20.Luke Turnbull, 18.Daniel Bittar (37.Andre Gioiosa 88′), 27.Blake Fischer, 26.Mitchell Osmond, 29.Andrew Robertson, 34.Lucas Rossi, 36.Stefan Sacilotto (32.Vandy Kannah 90′), 24.Reid Taylor, 39.Simon Zahra, 30.Pasquale Polistina (28.Bogoja Najdoski 67′), 31.Blake Brooker (16.Martin Vasquez 83′)
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Kahl Bodenstein
Yellow Cards: Blake Brooker 32′  
Red Cards: Nil

ROUND 7 REVIEW 
SATURDAY
Central Coast Mariners Academy 0-4 Marconi Stallions, at Pluim Park
Marconi Stallions laid down a marker by beating Central Coast Mariners 4-0.
Grant Lynch and Joshua Sotirio scored in the first half, whilst Lachlan Reus and Dario Vujovic added their names to the scoresheet in the second half.
 
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 0-1 Blacktown City FC, at Bonnyrigg Sports Centre
Blacktown City ground out a tough away win on Saturday night, beating Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1-0.
Shane D’Cunha’s header from a corner was all that separated the two sides on the scoresheet.
 
South Coast Wolves 0-3 Rockdale City Suns, at John Crehan Park
Rockdale City were far too good for struggling South Coast Wolves, beating them 3-0.
Sam Kagaris, Toufic Alameddine and Themba Muata-Marlowe were the scorers.
 
Sutherland Sharks 0-0 Sydney United 58 FC, at Seymour Shaw Park
Sutherland Sharks and Sydney United 58 FC played out a 0-0 stalemate on Saturday night.
In a game of few chances, neither side was able to fashion a winning goal.
 
SUNDAY
Sydney Olympic FC 0-3 Manly United FC, at Belmore Sports Ground
Manly United FC’s fantastic recent run continued, as they defeated Sydney Olympic 3-0 at Belmore Sports Ground.
Tommy Morrisey, Dylan Whitlock and Jack Green all scored for Nick Tomaino’s side.
 
– by Matthew Connellan