Round 17 Review – PS4 NPL NSW Men’s U20
Sydney FC’s victory over APIA Leichhardt Tigers means it will be a three-horse race for the premiership with leaders Sutherland returning to form at Rockdale and Blacktown City hammering Parramatta.
Match of the Round
Sydney FC v APIA Leichhardt Tigers, Saturday 4.00pm at Lambert Park
Sydney FC remain hot on the heels of competition leaders Sutherland Sharks and dealt a hammer blow to the premiership hopes of APIA Leichhardt after a dominant 4-0 victory over the Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Lambert Park.
First half goals from Cooper Coskerie and John Iredale saw the hosts race to a 2-0 lead at the break before Iredale grabbed his 15th goal of the season minutes into the second stanza.
It was a supremely convincing performance from David Zdrilic’s side who added a fourth late on through Giuseppe Tilio to remain three points behind Sutherland.
The result leaves APIA Leichhardt nine points adrift from the Sharks and with just one win in their last five matches the Tigers could see their position in the top five come under threat in the closing weeks of the campaign.
APIA were on the back foot from early on in this encounter and went behind midway through the first half when Coskerie latched on to a superb ball from Jerry Skotadis before finishing across Tigers gloveman Christian Theuma.
The floodgates opened for the Sky Blues and Iredale missed a pair of superb chances to double the lead before atoning for his misses with a confident near post finish from Jack Stewart’s cross.
Sydney missed another glorious opportunity to add a third on the cusp of half time when Coskerie evaded the APIA offside trap but blazed his effort over the bar.
Although the spurned chances may have hurt the Sky Blues on another day the result was put beyond all doubt minutes into the second half when Iredale capitalized on a slip from APIA defender Gino Cerasoli and powered home his second.
The Tigers improved following Iredale’s effort and had a great chance to pull a goal back after an excellent move from halfway but leading scorer Aedon Kyra was unable to get the ball out from underneath his feet with the goal at his mercy.
Sydney added an exclamation point to a victory that already underlined their threat as premiership contenders when Tilio fired home a fourth late on.
Stewart was once again involved for the Sky Blues and bolted down the left flank and into the penalty area before combining with the diminutive midfielder who drove an unstoppable effort past Theuma.
Sydney FC will enter Waratah Cup final weekend in high spirits and face Sydney United 58 on July 16 in Edensor Park.
APIA Leichhardt return to Lambert Park to host struggling Parramatta on the same afternoon.
Match Stats
Sydney FC 4 (Coskerie 27’, Iredale 35’, 51’, Tilio 78’)
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 0
Saturday 1st July 2017
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Sydney FC: 40. Christopher Arditti (33. Giuseppe Tilio 37’), 36. Daniel Blachura, 27. Cooper Coskerie, 30. Duro Dragicevic (51. David Malishev 68’), 35. Alex Gollan, 37. Matthew Green, 19. John Iredale (32. Benjamin Koop 68’), 26. Leonardo Malfara (31. Paolo Bonnani 30’), 25. Jerry Skotadis (28. Thomas Fay 78’), 24. Jack Stewart, 34. Thomas Perry
Substitutes Not Used: N/A
Yellow Cards: N/A
Red Cards: N/A
APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 32. Stephan Adattini, 36. Jack Armson (39. Samuel Paslis, 12’), 29. Mathew Barkho (37. Dominion Nasrabadi 30’), 27. Nicholas Chymiak (35. Jackson Volarich 58’), 23. Mathew Cook, 38. Samuel Gulisano, 25. Aedon Kyra, 28. Benjamin Mccarron (56. Gino Cerasoli 10’), 31. Jordan Morfitis, 30. Rainer Smahel, 26. Christian Theuma
Substitutes Not Used: 40. Tristan Michelmann
Yellow Cards: Adattini 50’
Red Cards: N/A
Saturday
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 2-0 Hakoah Sydney City East, 5.00pm at Bonnyrigg Sports Club
Bonnyrigg continued their extraordinary run of form with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Hakoah Sydney City East at Bonnyrigg Sports Club on Saturday evening.
The White Eagles led 1-0 at half time thanks to Damian Cupac and doubled their advantage in the second courtesy of Michael Guse to claim their seventh win in a row.
The result means Hamish Brown’s outfit enter the top five for the first time this campaign despite a remarkable goal difference of -19. Bonnyrigg face Sutherland when action returns on July 15 in what could be a potentially decisive encounter in the premiership race.
Hakoah Sydney City East slip into eighth position but remain very much in the hunt for finals football. Hakoah host Wollongong Wolves at Hensley Athletic Field in a fortnight’s time.
Sunday
Rockdale City Suns 1-2 Sutherland Sharks, 1.00pm at Ilinden Sports Centre
Sutherland Sharks maintained their lead of the competition with a 2-1 victory over Rockdale at Ilinden Sports Centre.
A brace from Harry Sutherland saw the Sharks offer a strong response to last weekend’s shock defeat to Hakoah Sydney City East and keep their two-point buffer over Blacktown City in second.
Bradie Smith scored a late consolation for the hosts who saw their three-match winning streak come to an end.
Rockdale remain in finals contention and are five points away from fifth-placed Bonnyrigg ahead of their home encounter with Manly United in a fortnight.
Sutherland will entertain Bonnyrigg at home in round eighteen’s early kick off.
Parramatta 0-8 Blacktown City, 1.00pm at Melita Stadium
A rampant second half performance saw Blacktown City turn on the heat at Melita Stadium to defeat struggling Parramatta 8-0.
Camil Abouchaaya was sent off for the hosts who trailed 1-0 at the break from a John Azar strike but were put the sword by City in a relentless second stanza.
Goals from Dan Machara, Lachlan Rose, Lewis Fraser and a brace apiece to Mason Ireland and Samuel Hamilton completed the rout for John Carnevale’s side.
Blacktown remain in second and host Sydney Olympic when action returns in a fortnight’s time.
Parramatta will look to avoid a twelfth consecutive defeat when they travel to Lambert Park to take on APIA Leichhardt on July 16.
Wollongong Wolves 1-4 Sydney United 58, 1.00pm at WIN Stadium
Sydney United 58 snapped a five-match winless streak with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Wollongong Wolves at WIN Stadium.
Hamish Lamberton led the charge for the Reds with a brace with Nathan Bertolissio and Anthony Pedavoli completing the rout.
Tony Musumeci was the scorer again for the Wolves but it was stark consolation for the South Coast outfit who will need to muster their best spell of the season yet to have a chance of making the finals.
United 58 are back up to seventh position and are three points away from fifth-placed Bonnyrigg ahead of their round eighteen fixture against Sydney FC.
Manly United’s draw with Sydney Olympic mean Wollongong Wolves slip into eleventh position on goal difference. The Wolves face Hakoah Sydney City East when action returns in a fortnight.
Sydney Olympic 2-2 Manly United, 2.45 at Belmore Sports Ground
Sydney Olympic dropped out of the top five after slumping to a 2-2 draw with Manly United at Belmore Sports Ground.
Radovan Pavicevic netted an early brace for Olympic, with the hosts getting out of the blocks early, going 2-0 up in the first 12 minutes.
Manly United got back into the game in the second half after a series of substitutions, with the introduction of former Dutch Eredivisie player Travis Cooper changing the contest.
Cooper got Manly’s first before fellow substitute Eddie Rinaldi equalised.
A trio of late saves from Manly keeper Sam Benton ensured the spoils were shared between the 2016 grand finalists.
Olympic face a tough visit to Lily’s Football Centre to take on Blacktown City in a fortnight’s time, while Manly face Rockdale away.
-By Jacob Windon
