IGA NPL NSW Grade 20s Round 9 Review

Round 9 of the IGA NPL NSW Grade 20s saw a big win for Manly United move them up the table, whilst South Coast Wolves moved off the bottom of the table.
In the Match of the Round, Sydney United 58 FC was ultimately too classy for Bonnyrigg White Eagles.
MATCH OF THE ROUND
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1-3 Sydney United 58 FC, at Bonnyrigg Sports Centre
A double from Matthew Bilic saw Sydney United 58 FC ease past Bonnyrigg White Eagles on Sunday morning.

Bilic’s superbly taken brace and a tap in from Stephen Vukovic was enough for the visiting side. Nikola Todoroski brought Bonnyrigg level for a period of time, but for all their endeavour they were unable to
The niggle of the opening exchanges gave way to an absorbing opening 20 minutes.

Todoroski had a reasonable opportunity to open the scoring in the 16′ minute but it was a credit to Sydney United 58 FC goalkeeper Marko Bozic that he did not, as he came off his line quickly to smother the ball.

A minute later it was Sydney United 58 FC who almost took the lead; the minute by minute sparring of both sides would become the first half’s trademark.

David Semialjac showed delightful skill to beat three men, as well as the presence of mind to pick out Stephen Vukovic in the area. Although Vukovic was surrounded, the ball found its way to Chris Zuvela, whose sweetly struck shot flew narrowly wide.

Still the sparring continued and Nikodin Matic was forced to make a good save to stop a Vukovic shot, before reacting quickly to smother any follow up opportunity.

When the opening goal did come it was one worthy of the occasion.

Matic punched clear a cross but the clearance lacked distance and when the ball was returned to Bilic, he lashed a first time left footed shot high into the net. Matic was no chance.

Barely two minutes later though, Bonnyrigg drew level.

A corner from the left found the imposing figure of Todoroski who made no mistake with his header. An inquest would surely be held to find out why Todoroski was in so much space, given his lethal form so far this season.

Matic was proving to be a formidable obstacle in the Bonnyrigg goal and he made an outstanding reflex save to keep out a Tomislav Herceg header. Matic had certainly impressed in a losing cause.

The second half failed to live up to the expectation created by the first, but Sydney United 58 did enough in the second 45 minutes to claim the three points.

A moment before the hour mark, they took the lead. Simple in construction and also execution, it was probably just about deserved.

A low cross from the left picked out Vukovic, who let instinct take over, tapping in past Matic to send the visiting side in front.

Chris Denkov came off the bench for the visitors and had an immediate impact, forcing Matic to make another sharp save at his near post.

Bonnyrigg were pouring forward, desperate to find an equalising goal and bank a valued point.

But, Sydney United 58 FC have the quality to make an impact at the top end of the competition and showed the nous to break forward when the opportunity arose.

Bilic in particular was a threat and when he found himself one on one with Matic on the breakaway, he made no mistake with a cool finish, to bag his second of the game.

Sydney United 58 FC coach Ante Moric said, "It was a typical derby game.

"Sometimes, they’re not what you expect them to be.

"We changed the line up a little bit and we deserved three points.

"I thought we played well in patches. We didn’t start off the best, but as the game went on, I was happier."

Bonnyrigg White Eagles coach Paul De Lucca said, "The first half was 50/50. They started off really well, but contained that and brought it back to 1-1.

"For the first 25 minutes of the second half we were right in there.

"We chanced our arm and tried to go forward, but at the end of the day they deserved to win.

"Our intensity was good, but they’re a well drilled side and they’ll be up there at the end. It was a good experience for my guys. 
"I’m still missing a lot of players through suspension and injury. We gave it a go but we fell away in the last 20 minutes.
"I think the emotion of the occasion got to us."

Match Stats

Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Nikola Todoroski 25′

Sydney United 58 FC 3 (Matthew Bilic 23′, 86′, Stephen Vukovic 59′)
Sunday 12th May, 2013

Bonnyrigg Sports Centre, Bonnyrigg Heights
Referee: Nathan Roberts

Assistant Referees: James Tesoriero and Craig Fisher
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 33.Nikodin Matic,41.Matthew Casali, 46.Cameron Clifford (31.Aleks Todorovic 79′), 43.Hayden Feller (38.Jacob Giovenco 61′), 39.Christopher Hatfield (35.Andrew Neophytou 65′), 48.Damien Smith, 13.Nikola Stanojevic, 3.Masakatsu Tanaka, 12.Nikola Todoroski, 45.Marko Miljkovic (49.Kagisho Pitso 70′) , 44.David Han

Substitutes Not Used: 25.Liam Gobbo (GK)
Yellow Cards: David Han 4′, Hayden Feller 7′, Matthew Casali 67′, Nikodin Matic 81′
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58 FC: 1.Marko Bozic, 14.Jacob Bandur, 20.Marko Banic, 19.Matthew Bilic, 12.Tomislav Herceg, 30.David Semialjac, 13.David Stojic (32.Chris Denkov 63′), 33.Stephen Vukovic (24.Isaac Savor 72′), 17.Chris Zuvela (27.Marko Vukovic 79′),16.Stepjan Paric, 28.Ned Basic (25.Michajlo Jonjic 74′)

Substitutes Not Used: 31.Kane Wallace (GK)
Yellow Cards: Stepjan Paric 52′, Marko Vukovic 80′
Red Cards: Nil
ROUND 9 REVIEW
SATURDAY
Central Coast Mariners Academy 1-5 Manly United FC, at Pluim Park
CCM Academy’s horrific recent run continued, as they were pummelled 5-1 at home to Manly United FC.

Tommy Morrisey scored a brace, whilst Nathan Sim, Pat Weir and Jack Park also found the back of the net.

Blacktown City FC 2-1 Marconi Stallions, at Lily Homes Stadium
Blacktown City continued their good run of form, beating Marconi Stallions 2-1.

Jayden Priest and Bruno Antelmi scored for the home side, whilst Mark Cindric scored for Marconi Stallions.

Sutherland Sharks 3-0 Blacktown Spartans, at Seymour Shaw Park
Sutherland Sharks beat Blacktown Spartans 3-0 at Seymour Shaw Park on Saturday evening.

Dylan Fox, Andreas Gomez and Jordan Roberts scored in an excellent performance. Goalkeeper Andrew Depta had an outstanding match in keeping his clean sheet.
SUNDAY
Sydney Olympic FC 2-3 South Coast Wolves, at Belmore Sports Ground
South Coast Wolves moved off the bottom of the table with a tough 3-2 win at Belmore Sports Ground, against Sydney Olympic.

Josh Bingham, Peter Simonoski and Matt Floro scored for the visitors, whilst James Demetriou and Brayden Sorge scored for Sydney Olympic.

APIA Leichhardt Tigers 3-1 Rockdale City Suns, at Lambert Park
APIA Leichhardt Tigers got back to winnings ways, upsetting Rockdale City.

Joshua Symons, Marco Micevski and Fabian Sosa all scored for the home side.

– By Matthew Connellan