Round 20 Preview – PS4 NPL 3 NSW Men’s
The highlight of this weekend’s Round Twenty of the 2017 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition is undoubtedly the game of the season so far, and pits together the two most consistent sides this campaign, Fraser Park and Rydalmere Lions.
It is difficult to split the two sides when you compare some of their strengths ahead of this week’s blockbuster, due to kick off at 7-00pm on Saturday night at Fraser Park.
Rydalmere Lions are currently occupying first position on the ladder on 52 points, with 17 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. The Lions only defeat came in Round 12, when Dulwich Hill came away from Rydalmere Park with a 2-1 result.
Fraser Park are in second position, just two points behind on 50, though they do have a game in hand against Granville Rage. With 16 wins and 2 draws to their name, Fraser Park remain undefeated this season, the only club in any of the three NSW NPL divisions yet to lose a game. In fact, SD Raiders have been the only side to have kept Fraser Park scoreless this campaign, holding them to a 0-0 draw back in Round 8 on April 29th.
Rydalmere Lions have a reputation for entertaining with attacking intent, and have amassed a total of 76 goals at an average of 4 goals per game, with Amaury Gauthier leading the way, scoring 26 of those goals even though the deadly striker has played just 15 games himself.
Fraser Park have scored 60 goals, lead by Ben Vidaic who has found the net 16 times, but their goal differential is only three less at +52 compared to Rydalmere’s +55. This is mainly due to having kept 11 clean sheets this season on the way to conceding a miserly 8 goals in 19 games, an impressive defensive effort which includes just 2 goals conceded in their past 10 outings.
Both sides have quality across the park, each with a combination of speed, technique, and sheer aggression. In Nick Dimitropoulos (Fraser Park) and Matthew Mayora (Rydalmere Lions), both sides have influential captains who lead by example, and have inspired their team mates whenever the going has been tough.
The battle royale continues off the park, with Tony Basha (Rydalmere Lions) and the Culinas (Branko, Jason, Dean) having done a fantastic job thus far in assembling their respective squads to do their talking on the pitch, and both sides have done their respective coaches proud indeed.
Continuing the similarities, both sides even have a player missing for this clash through suspension following last week’s respective red cards – the speedy Zac Watters (Rydalmere) and the overlapping Jordan Roberts (Fraser Park) will be sorely missed this weekend.
Even the corresponding fixture in Round Seven back on April 22 at Rydalmere Park finished all square at 2-2. Russell Farrell and Amaury Gauthier scored for Rydalmere, whilst Fraser Park netted via Tai Smith and a deflected own goal.
The game takes on greater significance given Rydalmere Lions hold a 10 point lead over Fraser Park at the top of the PlayStation4 NPL3 Club Championship, with Fraser having three games versus Granville Rage up their sleeve.
There are still six rounds of football to be played after this weekend, but given neither side have shown any clear signs of weakness or of slipping up thus far this campaign, plenty of the 2017 plaudits could be riding on the 90 minutes to be played this Saturday night.
In other Round Twenty games this weekend, there are another four matches scheduled for 7-00pm on Saturday night.
Arlington Oval’s co-tenants go head to head with the inform Dulwich Hill looking to continue their good form against the out-of-sorts Stanmore Hawks. The Hawks beat Dully 3-1 in the corresponding fixture in Round Seven, and would dearly love a repeat performance this time around, but Dulwich Hill have won seven matches on the bounce and it will be hard to stop them making eight.
Something will have to give at Garside Park between two sides who have been struggling to get going all season as Granville Rage host the visiting Balmain Tigers. Whilst Rage are known to be defensively sound, a lack of goals means they have found it tough to move away from the bottom half of the ladder. Balmain Tigers showed improvement last week with a 2-2 draw against Inter, and a win here will give them hope of closing the gap between the two sides on the ladder. Given both sides are separated by just six points at the foot of the Club Championship ladder, expect some increased intensity come Saturday night.
Expect a fiercely contested battle at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday night when the two attack-minded Dunbar Rovers and SD Raiders clash.
SD Raiders have had a great start to the second round and are yet to taste defeat, and are now sitting in 5th spot on the ladder on 30 points. On the other hand, having won just the one game from their last six matches, Dunbar Rovers will be desperate to grab the spoils to start their ascent up the ladder, but they’ll have to do the business without influential midfielder, Andrew Doddy, who is out suspended.
Gladesville Ryde Magic will hope to rebound from their first loss in over two months last weekend when they make the trek to Bathurst to tackle the rejuvenated Western NSW Mariners. Magic were quietly confident of being the first side to topple Fraser Park, but came unstuck after conceding a goal inside the first minute. Western NSW on the other hand were a minute from taking all three points against Hawkesbury before they conceded a goal at the death. Lachlan Harte grabbed the only goal in a 1-0 win in the first round clash, and another three points this time will keep Gladesville Ryde Magic pushing for a finals berth.
Sydney University will hope to resurrect their push for finals football when they host Hawkesbury City at their Football Ground on Sunday afternoon at 3-00pm. Sitting in 8th spot on 23 points, they will be keen for the points on offer to be able to drag themselves back into the quagmire of clubs vying for a finals spot. The first round clash between the two sides on April 22nd saw Hawkesbury thump the ‘students’ 6-1 with Santiago Pallares Palomeque grabbing four goals, but expect a tighter defensive performance from Sydney Uni this time around.
St George City FA will be hoping to consolidate their 4th position on the ladder when they meet Inter Lions on Sunday night at Fraser Park, the match kicking off at 7pm.
Inter Lions have been in all sorts of late, but showed great spirit to comeback and snatch a 2-2 draw last week against Balmain. James Spanoudakis and Alex Jovovic were the scorers in St George’s 2-0 win in the first round, and City, who are currently in 4th spot on the ladder, will be confident of another three points to stay ahead a group of teams directly below them chasing a semi final berth.
