Round 13 Review – PS4 NPL NSW Men’s U20
Blacktown City’s win over Sutherland Sharks headlines an eventful weekend in the PS4 NPL NSW U20 competition with Sydney United 58 and APIA Leichhardt Tigers also suffering upset defeats.
The Match of the Round took place in Bonnyrigg where the White Eagles entertained Manly United aiming for back to back victories for the first time this season.
Match of the Round
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 3-2 Manly United, 5.00pm at Bonnyrigg Sports Club
Bonnyrigg White Eagles continued their mid-season revival with a 3-2 victory over Manly United in an entertaining contest at Bonnyrigg Sports Club on Saturday evening.
An Asmir Kadric brace and first-half strike from Hayden Tucker saw the White Eagles outgun the reigning premiers who were unable to overturn a 2-0 deficit at halftime. Although the visitors reignited the contest midway through Jamie Glover their hopes of avoiding a costly defeat were extinguished by Kadric’s second goal ten minutes before full time.
Manly’s Jacob Caban netted a superb consolation from long distance in the dying seconds but Hamish Brown’s side held on for their second win in a row and third win all season.
The win extends the gap between Bonnyrigg and bottom-placed Parramatta to four points with the two cellar dwellers set for a crucial meeting in Wednesday’s catch-up fixture, while Manly United find themselves just three points ahead of the White Eagles on the competition ladder having played a game more.
The visitors will lament a terrible first half that saw Bonnyrigg race to a comfortable 2-0 lead at half time. It started with some promise with Manly enjoying several bright moments on the counter attack, including a golden chance for forward Kye Conna who forced a good save from Stevan Savicic early on.
However Bonnyrigg opened the scoring through Tucker who received a pass from Harrison Bagot and drove forward menacingly to sweep the ball past Manly keeper Shaun Catlin from the edge of the box.
From there on the home side were dominant doubled their lead through an excellent team goal that started with Bagot releasing Milan Parenta down the left, who drove infield and slipped Kadric in behind for the striker to brush the ball past Catlin for 2-0.
Manly missed another good opportunity on the cusp of half time when Sipan Berti sent a free header at the near post flying over the crossbar.
But their quality eventually told when Conna’s trickery on the byline resulted in his cross spectacularly headed home by Jamie Glover.
Berti had the ball in the net almost immediately after the restart but was ruled to be offside, before Kadric received a slew of opportunities to establish Bonnyrigg’s two goal advantage but for some wayward finishing.
The promising young forward eventually wrapped up the points and made it back to back wins for Bonnyrigg after guiding in a rebound following Catlin’s wonderful low save from Bagot’s effort
There was still time remaining for a stunning late consolation from Caban, who caught Savicic off his line with a superb curling effort from long distance, but it was another unconvincing display from the visitors who now find themselves losing touch with the top five.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 3 (Tucker 33’, Kadric 37’, 80’)
Manly United 2 (Glover 59’, Caban 88’)
Sunday 3rd of June 2017
Bonnyrigg Sports Club, Bonnyrigg
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 38. Amar Adilovic (23. Jordan Cracknell 70’), 22. Harrison Bagot, 24. Damian Cupac, 17. Leon Faria, 18. Asmir Kadric, 39. Nikola Kremenovic, 28. Nikola Krljar, 75. Milan Parenta, 20. Stevan Savicic (GK), 33. Hayden Tucker, 31. Alexander Zarafetas (34. Alex Mooy 80’)
Substitutes Not Used: 25. Michael Guse, 77. Max Rowston, 35. Francesco Terranova,
Yellow Cards: 38. Amar Adilovic 68’, 34. Alex Mooy 81’
Red Cards: N/A
Manly United: 16. Sipan Berti, 20. Shaun Catlin, 38. Kye Conna (25. George Firth 66’), 33. Jamie Glover, 27. Brandon Lemay, 36. Lachlan Mcgrath, 35. Jesse Piriz, 19. Daniel Saric, 22. Rory Spiers (3. Alec Vinci 40’), 32. Sheldon Tweedie, 26. Oliver Wiggin (32. Jacob Caban 55’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1. S Benton, 37. Ashton Finn
Yellow Cards: 16. Sipan Berti 69’
Red Cards: N/A
Saturday
Sutherland Sharks 1-2 Blacktown City, 4.30pm at Seymour Shaw
Blacktown City cut Sutherland’s lead at the top of the table to three points with an important 2-1 away victory at Seymour Shaw.
A tight contest between first and second saw Lachlan Everett open the scoring for the hosts before Blacktown came from behind via goals from Mason Ireland and Samuel Hamilton to snatch a huge confidence boosting win.
Sutherland will travel to Lambert Park in round fourteen to face fellow competition frontrunners APIA Leichhardt knowing their lead may be trimmed further if Blacktown City defeat Bonnyrigg White Eagles at home.
Hakoah Sydney City East 2-1 APIA Leichhardt Tigers, 5.00pm at Hensley Athletic Field
Hakoah Sydney City East returned to form after upsetting APIA Leichhardt Tigers 2-1 at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday afternoon.
Paul Hubbard’s side had lost three consecutive ahead of the visit of an in-form APIA side fresh from dismantling Sydney United 58 5-1 the previous round, but goals from Finley Hayhurst and Connor Eldridge saw Hakoah claim a win that keeps them on the fringes of the top five.
Cameron Stephan followed up a hattrick in round twelve with another goal but it wasn’t enough to prevent a frustrating defeat for the Tigers.
The loss will be all but forgotten should APIA rouse themselves for the visit of competition leaders Sutherland next weekend, while Hakoah Sydney City East could sense another upset when they take on Sydney United 58 on Friday night.
Sydney FC 4-1 Parramatta, 5.45pm at Lambert Park
Sydney FC made it three wins in a row to tighten their spot in the top five after easily accounting for Parramatta 4-1 at Lambert Park.
A hattrick from golden boot leader John Iredale and a Finn Ballard-Mcbride effort meant the Sky Blues were far too strong for the visiting Eagles, who struck a consolation goal through Nicholas Chymiak but were unable to stop a seventh straight defeat.
The bottom-placed side have a huge fixture against Bonnyrigg on Wednesday, while Sydney FC can further their title prospects when meeting Sydney Olympic on Monday.
Sunday
Wollongong Wolves 2-2 Sydney Olympic, 1.00pm at WIN Stadium
Neither side could break the deadlock at WIN Stadium where Wollongong Wolves and Sydney Olympic played out an entertaining draw.
Wollongong’s Tony Musumeci hit a brace for the hosts but replies from Fikret Berisha and George Timotheou ensured Olympic return home with a point.
The stalemate leaves both sides with ground to make up on the top five, and although they still have two matches in hand on the teams above them Wollongong will lament the chance to leapfrog Rockdale and Manly on the ladder.
Wollongong travel to Manly in round fourteen in what could prove to be an important fixture for both sides, while Sydney Olympic take on an in-form Sydney FC.
Sydney United 58 0-1 Rockdale City Suns, 2.00pm at Sydney United Sports Centre
Sydney United 58 slumped to their second successive defeat after Nathan Hancock’s goal led Rockdale to an excellent win at Sydney United Sports Centre.
The Reds were unable to avenge last week’s thrashing at APIA Leichhardt and remain nine points behind leaders Sutherland, while Rockdale climb into eighth ahead of a clash with bottom placed Parramatta at Melita Stadium in round fourteen.
