IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 Round 13 Review

Blacktown Spartans caused the shock of the weekend with a very hard fought 2-1 defeat of League leader Bonnyrigg White Eagles on Saturday night.
The White Eagles’ slip-up gave Sutherland Sharks the chance to close the gap at the top of the table, though the Sharks were held at Sydney Olympic in a very tight encounter at Belmore.
Sydney United 58 FC stunned the in-form Rockdale City Suns at Ilinden Sports Centre as Marconi Stallions scored a big 2-0 win at Manly United FC.
Elsewhere, Blacktown City FC ensured South Coast Wolves’ luckless run continued with another defeat for Richard Lloyd’s men meanwhile APIA-Leichhardt Tigers finally scored its first win of the season with a triumphant trip to the Central Coast Mariners Academy.
Central Coast Mariners Academy 1 APIA-Leichhardt Tigers 3
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers secured its first win of the season on Saturday evening in the difficult away trip to Central Coast Mariners Academy.
The Tigers’ Aaron Clapham missed a 13’ minute penalty which then saw the Mariners head down the other end of the pitch and take the lead. New signing Adriano Pellegrino was the orchestrator, setting up Bradley McDonald to net – consequently, McDonald gave away the penalty for the Mariners only 60’’ seconds earlier.
Despite the setback APIA-Leichhardt drew level courtesy of Bradley Bartels who headed home a pinpoint Franco Parisi cross.
The Mariners’ suffered a major setback early in the second-half as captain Jamie Lobb received a red card for a professional foul, leaving the side to fend the remainder of the match with ten-men.
APIA-Leichhardt realised that the chance at hand was a massive one to secure its first win of the season, and the side went about securing the three-points.
On 57’ minutes, Clapham made amends for the early penalty miss when he picked up a loose ball inside the penalty-area and converted with a strong finish.
Michael Hawrysiuk put the result beyond doubt with a bomb 25-yard strike that left goalkeeper David Bradasevic helpless.
Blacktown Spartans 2 Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1
The ten-men of Blacktown Spartans caused one of the upsets of the season when it came from behind to defeat League leader, Bonnyrigg White Eagles.
The White Eagles appeared to be in complete control at half-time after Robbie Younis opened the scoring via the penalty-spot before the Spartans’ Greg Kondek was dismissed on the half hour mark for a second bookable offence.
The remarkable comeback started after the interval as Brenton Rhodes headed his side level with a powerful finish after meeting Luke Austin’s corner delivery.
Despite the White Eagles creating chances to restore its lead, the side too lost a player with Steven Hesketh also receiving two yellow cards.
In incredible scenes at Blacktown Football Park, Luka Dukic picked up a loose ball to blast home the winner in the 96’ minute for the Spartans. The delight around the venue had to be contained as Bonnyrigg made one last-ditch forward foray – goalkeeper Matthew Nash went up for a corner and saw his attempt parried superbly by opposing goalkeeper Carlos Saliadarre.
Blacktown Spartans survived the last efforts from the League leader, securing a massive win for a club that has proven to be a very capable side in the competition.
South Coast Wolves 0 Blacktown City FC 1
A very unlucky South Coast Wolves fell to yet another loss on Saturday evening, going down to Blacktown City FC 1-0.
The Wolves, with an in-form Ricky Zucco, looked the goods throughout the match, though the side’s inability to convert possession in the front-third into goals – especially in the first-half – saw the side slump to another defeat.
Blacktown City FC, definitely far from its best showing of the season, found its winner in the 25’ minute courtesy of Sean Rooney. Harris Gaitatzis’ cross met Rooney who had snuck in between two defenders, getting the slightest of touches to divert the ball into the back of the net.
The win keeps Blacktown City FC inside the top-five with the side with-in striking distance of the top-two spots on the ladder.
Rockdale City Suns 2 Sydney United 58 FC 3
Sydney United 58 FC scored a late, dramatic, winner via Glen Trifiro to secure all three-points against Rockdale City Suns on Sunday.
The Reds led 2-0 midway through the second-half, though the side saw its lead overturned – with the Suns arguably looking the more likely to find the winner that Sydney United 58 FC.
Matthew Bilic headed home a Glen Trifiro cross on 29’ minutes to give the Reds the lead before Mitchell Speer drove home from close-range to make it 2-0 just after the interval.
Rockdale City’s resurgence came about with Richard Cardozo bundling Brendan Gan’s centre into the back of the net.
Askin Oygur then equalised, netting from a Paul Reid cross, giving all the momentum to the home side. Despite it seeming that the Suns would find a winner, it was the Reds that left Ilinden Sports Centre with all three-points.
Glen Trifiro latched onto a knockdown by Bilic before turning and blasting a drive past the Suns goalkeeper, much to the delight of the Reds players and supporters.

Manly United FC 0 Marconi Stallions 2
Marconi Stallions scored a very important 2-0 win over Manly United FC at Cromer Park to keep in touch with the Top Five.
Captain Nahuel Arrarte gave the Stallions the lead in the first-half with a thumping drive before Sean O’Connell secured three points with an injury time strike from outside the penalty-area.
The Stallions were miles ahead of Manly United FC in the opening period, though the home side definitely gave the match a real go in the second-half. The Stallions now sit two-points outside of the Top-Five.
Sydney Olympic 0 Sutherland Sharks 0
Sydney Olympic and Sutherland Sharks met for the second time in four days, following the Waratah Cup quarterfinal encounter won by the Sharks in midweek, and the two sides gave a good account of themselves despite not being able to go past the 0-0 result.
The home side arguably had the better of the chances, though the Sharks were very comfortable hitting on the counter, and did have passages of play with some good possession in important areas of the pitch.
Luke Grima made the most noise for Sydney Olympic with two good chances inside the opening 30’ minutes, meanwhile the Sharks best efforts arrived via the feet of Panni Nikas and Jamie McMaster – the latter receiving a second yellow card, and consequent early shower, 11’ minutes from the end of the match.
In the end, the point allows both sides to close in on consolidating a spot in the top-five.
-By Joseph Carlucci