Round 6 Review – PS4 NPL NSW Men’s U20

Sutherland Sharks recorded a remarkable 7-0 win over Rockdale City Suns in the week’s match of the round to extended their lead at the top of the Playstation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 20s competition to four points at the end of round 6.

Elsewhere, Blacktown City moved up into second place after edging a 2-1 win over Parramatta FC at Lilys Football Centre on Saturday afternoon, while Bonnyrigg White Eagles and Wollongong remain winless since the first round of the season after defeats to Hakoah Sydney City East and Sydney United 58 respectively.

Match of the Round

Sutherland Sharks FC 7-0 Rockdale City Suns FC, 4.30pm Saturday at Seymour Shaw

Sutherland Sharks hammered Rockdale City Suns in their round six fixture to go four points clear at the top of the 2017 Playstation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 20s competition, scoring seven goals in a crushing win at Seymour Shaw on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts rushed out to a 3-0 lead after just half an hour, and took a 4-0 lead into halftime after a Nathan Elasi hat trick. Three more in the second half, from Chris McStay, Daniel Krkovski and Deren O’Brien, mean Sutherland have now scored 24 goals in their first six matches of 2017, an average of four goals per game.

Nathan Elasi scored with the first attacking move of the match; picking up a cross on the edge of the penalty area and bringing the ball down to volley a low shot under Max Ephraim in the Sutherland goal.

Elasi might have doubled his tally, and Sutherland’s advantage, when he drifted in from the left and drew Ephraim out of his goal, but he rushed his finish and sent the ball high and wide. He would make amends for his miss just five minutes later, sending a chip over the Rockdale backline to play in Matias Da Silva, who touched the ball inside a defender and looping the ball over the stranded goalkeeper.

Looking dangerous every time they went forward, Sutherland scored their third in the 20th minute: Chris McStay ran at his fullback before cutting a pass inside to Elasi, who turned and drilled a shot off the inside of the post to give Sutherland a three-goal cushion.

The fourth came just before the half hour, as Jake Borromeo played in Elasi for an early hat trick. Rockdale, for their part, closed out the first half with an opportunity to cut the deficit to three when James Temelkovski turned his marker on the edge of the box and poked a shot at goal, but Nikolas Loe was well-positioned to gather and hold Sutherland’s 4-0 scoreline at halftime.

The home side were in no mood to take their foot off the pedal after the break and scored their fifth goal of the afternoon just four minutes after the restart. Da Silva lofted a ball into the box and Chris McStay was first to arrive at the near post to nod a simple header into an unguarded net.

Sutherland scored a sixth a few minutes after the hour, as Daniel Krkovski sprinted clear of the Rockdale defence and rolled a calm shot past the onrushing Ephraim. Three minutes later, they followed up with a seventh: a blocked clearance dropped to a Rockdale defender on the penalty spot, but was miscontrolled and belted into the goal by Deren O’Brien.

Given the preceding 70-odd minutes, it seemed unlikely that Rockdale would close out the match without conceding an eighth or a ninth, but they very nearly scored themselves, with Michael Loupis crashing a shot against the crossbar as the final whistle approached. It ended 7-0; a just reward for an imposing performance.

Sutherland’s Nick Dimovski was understandably delighted with a win that put his side four points clear at the top of the ladder at the end of the round. "We were really up for it – it’s the first time this season that we’ve put back-to-back halves together, and the scoreline reflects that.

"With five minutes to go in the first half, I was thinking about what my speech was going to be. You’ve got to set the players targets: if you want to be serious finals contenders then you’ve got to be able to put two halves together.

"We’ve done that today, so we’re looking forward to Bonnyrigg next week – it’ll be tough because it’s my old club, but we’re looking forward to it."

Rockdale’s Stamati Glaros had few words after a thoroughly disappointing performance from his side. "We’re asking a few questions about ourselves, we’re asking a few questions about our character, about our motives. We get a lot of people who come to watch our games. Today we didn’t show up."

Match Stats

Sutherland Sharks FC 7 (Elasi 6′, 20′, 29′, Da Silva 15′, McStay 49′, Krkovski 63′, O’Brien 66′)

Rockdale City Suns FC 0

Saturday 15th April 2017, Seymour Shaw

Sutherland Sharks FC : 34. BORROMEO Jake (28. PYNE Jordan), 29. KRKOVSKI Daniel (37. TORRELLI Christian), 21. LOE Nikolas, 24. MASSOUD Adam, 33. PAPA Thomas, 36. STEWART Matthew, 26. SUTHERLAND Harry (27. QUIRK Harrison), 31. WATSON Robert, 11. ELASI Nathan (23. O’BRIEN Deren), 5. DA SILVA Matias, 8. MCSTAY Chris (32. AIROLDI Giuliano)

 Yellow Cards: Stewart 73′, Airoldi 73′

Red Cards: N/A

Rockdale City Suns FC: 36. CARAGHER Jonah, 28. DAGHER Hassan (42. STEFANOVSKI Kristofer), 25. EPHRAIM Max, 27. GOULD Joshua, 35. KADAR Jared (26. TASEVSKI Joshua), 21. LOUPIS Michael, 34. MALFARA Alexander, 33. NORVAL Tobias (59. HANCOCK Nathan), 16. SAVOR Isaac (31. MIDON Aaron William), 30. SIERRA Trent (49. TRAVOVSKI Jake), 37. TEMELKOVSKI James

Yellow Cards: Savor 55′

Red Cards: N/A

Friday

Hakoah Sydney City East FC 3-1 Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC, 1.00pm at Hensley Athletic Field

Hakoah Sydney City East secured a 3-1 win over Bonnyrigg White Eagles at Hensley Athletic Field on Friday afternoon, ensuring that the visitors remain winless after five matches in 2017. Goals from Dau Akol and Satchel Kolt meant Hakoah Sydney City East went into the halftime break in the lead, despite a goal from Bonnyrigg’s Michael Guse. A third for the home side in the second half made the win more comfortable for Hakoah, who move up two places to fifth after their latest result.

APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC 2-2 Sydney FC, 2.30pm at Lambert Park

APIA Leichhardt Tigers and Sydney FC shared the spoils from their matchup at Lambert Park on Friday afternoon; their 2-2 draw seeing APIA move up a place to eighth, while Sydney FC remain fourth. Jordan Morfitis and Dominion Nasrabadi were the goalscorers for the hosts, but their strikes were ultimately cancelled out by goals from Sydney FC’s Daniel Maskin and Cooper Coskerie. The draw was both sides’ first of the 2017 season.

Manly United FC 3-3 Sydney Olympic FC, 3pm at Cromer Park

Manly United and Sydney Olympic played out a thrilling 3-3 draw at Cromer Park on Friday afternoon; a result which saw both sides drop down a place on the ladder. Manly rushed out to a 3-1 lead at halftime, but were pegged back by goals from Sebastian Malfara and George Antoniou, who rescued a point for Olympic. Both sides now turn their attentions to their respective round 7 clashes as they look for their first wins since round 3.

Saturday

Blacktown City FC 2-1 Parramatta FC, 5pm at Lilys Football Centre

Blacktown City edged a 2-1 win over Parramatta FC on Saturday afternoon at Lilys Football Centre, with goals from Benjamin Parkinson and Dan Machara cancelling out Nicholas Chymiak’s strike for the visitors. Blacktown shoot up to second after their fourth win from five, four points behind competition leader Sutherland Sharks, but with a game in hand. Parramatta, meanwhile, drop a place to ninth as they struggle for consistency despite having previously not lost since the third round of fixtures.

Monday

Sydney United 58 FC 3-1 Wollongong Wolves FC, 2pm at Sydney United Sports Centre

Sydney United 58 recorded a comfortable win over Wollongong Wolves at Sydney United Sports Centre on Monday afternoon, building on a halftime lead to finish the match with a 3-1 scoreline. Jack Lombo scored the only goal for the visitors, while Sydney United’s goalscorers included Liam Ivancic, Andre Schroeder and Anthony Poljak. The result takes the home side into the top six, a point clear of Manly United and with a game in hand, while Wollongong remain second-to-last, three points ahead of the winless Bonnyrigg White Eagles.

-Football NSW reporter Max Grieve