Round 12 Review – PS4 NPL 3 NSW Men’s
The second round of the PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition commenced over the weekend, with some very closely fought encounters across the four matches that went ahead.
The weather, and specifically the rain, put paid to two of the fixtures – stay tuned to the Football NSW for details of the rescheduled matches.
In the games that were played, Stanmore Hawks continued on their merry way with all three points on the road in Bathurst, Dulwich Hill showed enormous character by overturning a 0-3 deficit to grab the points against Granville Rage, Gladesville Ryde Magic took a point off Dunbar Rovers, knocking them off the league’s perch in the process, and Hills Brumbies scored within sixty seconds to defeat Sydney University in an arm wrestle.
INTER LIONS – HAWKESBURY CITY (WASHED OUT)
Concord Oval, June 19 @ 3-00pm
BALMAIN TIGERS – RYDALMERE LIONS (WASHED OUT)
Leichhardt Oval, June 19 @ 7-00pm
WESTERN NSW MARINERS FC – STANMORE HAWKS 0-1
Saturday, June 18
Proctor Park @ 5-00pm
Stanmore Hawks made it 19 points out of the last 21 available when they overcame Western NSW Mariners by a solitary goal on Saturday night at Bathurst.
Proctor Park was not a surface conducive to flowing football, with the muddy, slippery conditions causing all sorts of stoppages for both sets of players.
Stanmore’s James Webb needed to be at his best early on, diverting the danger with a great save from a Nicky Spice header from close range.
The Hawks’ Peter Yannopoulos almost put the visitors into the lead midway through the half when he found himself one-on-one with the Mariner’s keeper, Adam Brakenridge, but his low shot was tipped around the upright by the shot stopper.
Moments before half time, Stanmore’s Heo Wookbum, hit the cross bar with a speculator, but the scoreboard remained untouched going in to the break.
But Wookbum was not to be denied, and he put Stanmore ahead on the hour mark. Stealing possession off a Mariners defender, he cracked a low shot towards the near post, but the
Mariners keeper, Brakenridge, managed to get a touch on the ball. Alas, it trickled over the line, and the referee’s assistant flagged accordingly.
Western NSW came back in to the match on 72 minutes, when skipper, Adam Scimone, let fly with a shot from the edge of the box that was deflected over the cross bar by the lunging leg of Stanmore’s Sergio Tarazona.
The Hawks restored calm and went looking for a second killer goal late on.
Firstly a cross shot by captain, Steve Liavas, was headed back across goal by striker, Michael Toscano, only for the ball to be desperately cleared by a Mariners defender off the line.
Then with five minutes remaining, Costa Bakoulis, did in fact find the net, only for the goal to be ruled out by a referee’s assistant’s flag, putting a stop to the premature celebrations.
Another solid result for Stanmore Hawks, who grabbed the three points which sees them move to 25 points and retain third spot, despite missing the experience of Goran Ljuboja and Sam Awad on the night.
DULWICH HILL – GRANVILLE RAGE 4-3
Saturday, June 18
Arlington Oval @ 7-00pm
Just like they did in the opening round of the season, Dulwich Hill and Granville Rage put on an entertaining fixture which produced seven goals and the mother of all comebacks.
Back in Round One at Garside Park, Dulwich Hill lead 3-1 with just minutes remaining before Granville Rage scrambled back to snatch a late 3-3 draw.
This time the tables were turned, with the Rage leading 3-0 after an hour, only for Dulwich Hill to come storming home, scoring a winner on the bell to win a dramatic encounter 4-3.
Granville took the lead after just ten minutes, with an unmarked Daniel Bittar volleying in to the net from close range following a perfectly weighted free kick from the right.
Within ten minutes it was 2-0, and it was Bittar again, this time rising incredibly to meet a long throw in, his header sailing past Michael Frost, the Dully keeper, and in to the corner of the net.
Daniel Bittar was a man possessed and grabbed his hatrick after 55 minutes when he struck home from close range following a goalmouth scramble. Granville were 3-0 up and the away fans were in raptures.
But Dulwich Hill – on the night granting five players, no less, their club debuts – made some tactical changes, bringing on three substitutes, and throwing a little caution to the wind.
Vic Koutsoufis slotted home a penalty in the 60th minute to reduce the deficit to 3-1, and all of a sudden, Dully had some spring in their step.
Koutsoufis then turned provider in the 74th minute, getting in behind the defence on the right side before cutting the ball back for Ante Deur to strike home.
With the wind in their sails, Dulwich Hill equalised merely a minute later in the 75th minute, when Alex Yin crossed for Blake Cameron to head home.
The match seemed destined to replicate the first round 3-3 draw, but someone forgot to tell Dulwich Hill, and they stole a winner in the dying moments, well into injury time.
Anthony Musumeci played Hayden Pronin in behind the Rage defence, and closing in on target, the Dully striker collided with the onrushing keeper and a defender, prodding the ball towards goal. With three players sprawled on the ground, the ball agonisingly trickled in to the net to give Dulwich Hill the spoils.
Given their precarious position on the Club Championship ladder, it proved a great day for the proud Portuguese club, grabbing all 21 points available with victories in the U18s (2-1), the U20s (6-0), before that heart stopping triumph in the 1st grade match.
DUNBAR ROVERS – GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC 1-1
Saturday, June 18
Hensley Athletic Field @ 7-00pm
Dunbar Rovers position at the top of the competition ladder lasted an entire three days when they were replaced by Hills Brumbies following their 1-1 draw with Gladesville Ryde Magic on Saturday night.
Three games in six days is a tough ask for anyone, and that is exactly what Dunbar had to endure given they played last week on Sunday evening (3-0 vs Rydalmere) and on Wednesday (4-3 vs Granville Rage) before meeting Gladesville Ryde Magic on Saturday night.
The first half was a tight affair, with David Adamo almost breaking the deadlock on 28 minutes for Dunbar, his long range shot diverted wide by the ever alert Magic custodian, Kyriakos Tohouroglou.
Debutant, Nicholas Kontos, and the evergreen Chris Tomaras were involved in most of the Magic attacking raids, with Tomaras setting up the opening goal on 52 minutes.
Aaron Khan struck from a Tomaras cross to give the visitors the lead, and the game became increasingly feisty as Dunbar tried to drag themselves back into proceedings.
Rene Mrva headed home a corner in the 80th minute to eventually restore parity, and even though they threw everything but the kitchen sink at Gladesville, there was no change to the scoreboard with each team taking home a point.
SYDNEY UNIVERSITY – HILLS BRUMBIES 0-1
Saturday, June 18
Valentine Sports Park No.3 @ 7-00pm
Hills Brumbies have wrestled back top spot in the NPL3 courtesy of a narrow victory over Sydney University on Saturday evening.
The solitary goal of the match came remarkably in the very first minute of play, when Sean Mitchell seized on a Greg Giovenali through ball to put the Brumbies into the lead.
Hills normally threaten to tear opposition teams apart once they score early, but the match descended in to a fairly even affair after the early strike.
Peter Cejkaa had a couple of half opportunities blocked by a desperate Uni defence, whilst Rosario Occhipinti almost scored at the other end for the ‘students’ with a header.
Both sides got in to a sparring match after the break, with no knockout punches as the respective defences held firm, and the Brumbies held on to grab all three points.
Sydney University were good value on the night, but disappointed the scoreboard didn’t reflect their performance, and they hold on to 5th spot on 18 points.
Other than the victory, Hills Brumbies would’ve been happy to have kept a clean sheet, moving top of the competition ladder onto 29 points.
INTER LIONS – HAWKESBURY CITY
Sunday, June 19
Concord Oval @ 3-00pm
