Round 19 Review – PS4 NSW Men’s 20s
Sutherland Sharks are one step closer to claiming the 2017 premiership after Blacktown City’s draw with Manly, while Rockdale City Suns continued their strong run of form with a big victory over Bonnyrigg White Eagles.
Match of the Round
Parramatta v Sydney United 58, 1.00pm at Melita Stadium
A brilliant second half cameo from substitute Sam Perre has helped Sydney United 58 defeat Parramatta 6-1 to keep their finals hopes alive at Melita Stadium in Sunday afternoon’s fixture.
The Reds attacker laid on two goals for Nathan Bertolissio and Liam Ivancic and netted a hattrick himself to cancel out a first half strike from Parramatta’s Modassir Hussain and place the visitors within striking distance of fifth-placed Rockdale City Suns.
Fellow substitute Matthew Zanon was also on the scoresheet for the visitors who are now one point behind the Suns with three fixtures remaining.
Poor results elsewhere for finals hopefuls Hakoah Sydney City East, Sydney Olympic and Bonnyrigg White Eagles make the victory even sweeter for the Reds who enjoy a three point gap over Hakoah as the side prepare for the final stretch of the campaign.
Although the visitors ran out dominant victors they will still lament a poor opening half in which United 58 created a flurry of chances but were unable to convert any with Ante Vrlic, Kyle Domenici and Anthony Poljak all going close for the Reds.
Parramatta remained combative and well-disciplined in the face of the visitor’s pressure and broke the deadlock against the run of play when the impressive Hussain capped off a wonderful counter attacking goal involving Abuzar Awaz and George Panayi.
The recent Blacktown Spartans arrival will be one positive takeaway for the embattled Eagles after offering an impressive performance in midfield.
It was all downhill from there though and when the Reds restored parity on the hour mark through Perre’s left-footed volley the floodgates opened in style.
Perre found the back of the net again after a tantalising ball in from the left evaded the Parramatta rearguard and goalkeeper Stefan Giglio.
The Reds then made it four goals in eight minutes when Bertolissio slammed home a header after an excellent run and cross from Perre before Ivancic repeated the feat with another towering header from a Perre cutback.
Zanon added a fifth for the visitors after finishing smartly from Bertolissio’s pullback from the byline while Perre completed a hattrick and sensational forty five minute spell with a smooth finish following smart build up involving Bertolissio and William Salinas.
Sydney United 58 will be eyeing a fourth consecutive win when they host rivals Sydney Olympic next Sunday afternoon in a match that will go a long way in deciding the final makeup of the top five.
Parramatta are hoping to avoid a fourteenth straight defeat when they travel to Hensley Athletic Field to take on Hakoah Sydney City East on Saturday.
Match Stats
Parramatta 1 (Hussain 35’)
Sydney United 58 6 (Perre 60’, 66’, 85’, Betolissio 67’, Ivancic 68’, Zanon 80’)
Sunday 23rd of July 2017
Melita Stadium, Sefton
Parramatta: 24. Camil Abouchaaya, 28. Abuzar Awaz, 32. Patriick Elhindi, 33. Dylan Ellul, 40. Stefan Giglio, 37. Modassir Hussain, 22. Shaho Isamaeel Hasan, 25. Corey Nercessian, 35. George Panayi (30. Ethan Denis 72’), 31. Jack Saxby (38. Mohamed Jalloh 81’), 39. Joshua Treasure
Substitutes Not Used: 26. Harrison Antonopoulos, 24. Andrew Alonas, 27. Anthony Harb
Yellow Cards: N/A
Sydney United 58: 12. Nathan Bertolissio, 43. Jeonghui Cho (2. Sam Perre 45’), 35. Keenan Gibson (29. Matthew Zanon 69’), 34. Liam Ivancic, 31. Emilio Manos, 36. Ante Markovic, 30. Lucas Pervan, 41. Anthony Poljak, 37. William Salinas, 38. Anthony Trimboli (27. Connor Powers 70’), 28. Anthony Vrlic (39. Samuel De Oliveira 75’)
Substitutes Not Used: 42. Lawrence Hanna
Yellow Cards: N/A
Red Cards: N/A
Saturday
Sydney FC 3-2 Hakoah Sydney City East, 5.45pm at Lambert Park
Sydney FC are still in the premiership hunt after dealing a heavy blow to finals-chasing Hakoah Sydney City East in a 3-2 defeat at Lambert Park.
Goals from Benjamin Koop, Guiseppe Tilio and Alex Gollan were enough for the hosts to keep their title hopes alive ahead of a crunch match with Sutherland next Saturday.
The Sky Blues trail the leaders by six points ahead of the round twenty fixture at Seymour Shaw and will likely need to beat the Sharks to remain in contention.
Connor Eldridge netted his eleventh goal of the campaign for the visitors while Nathan Roberts was also on the scoresheet for Paul Hubbard’s men, who will lament the concession of two poorly defended set pieces that could potentially prove fatal in Hakoah’s top-five aspirations.
The seventh-placed side are on twenty six points with three rounds remaining – four points behind fifth-placed Rockdale, and will host Parramatta at Hensley Athletic Field next Saturday evening.
Manly United 2-2 Blacktown City, 5.00pm at Cromer Park
Second-placed Blacktown City dropped two crucial points at Cromer Park after playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw with Manly United on Saturday.
City’s Mason Ireland netted a brace to bring his tally for the campaign to 14 but it wasn’t enough for John Carnevale’s side to take all three points with Manly’s Jesse Piriz scoring a double.
Blacktown are four points behind leaders Sutherland as a result and will face a testing fixture against an in-form Rockdale side in round twenty.
The draw is an admirable result for the reigning premiers Manly who remain in tenth position but will take a modicum of satisfaction after playing a potentially decisive part in the premiership race.
Sunday
Wollongong Wolves 0-2 Sutherland Sharks, 1.00pm at Albert Butler Memorial Park
Sutherland Sharks extended their lead at the top to four points after beating Wollongong Wolves 2-0 at Albert Butler Memorial Park on Sunday afternoon.
The leaders struck through Jake Borromeo and Harry Sutherland to secure a huge three points on a weekend where second-placed challengers Blacktown City could only draw with Manly.
The result means Sutherland will likely wrap up the premiership if they can beat third-placed Sydney FC at Seymour Shaw next weekend with both Blacktown City and the Sky Blues running out of fixtures to reign in Nick Dimovski’s outfit.
Rockdale City Suns 4-0 Bonnyrigg White Eagles, 1.00pm at Ilinden Sports Centre
Rockdale City Suns continued their stellar recent form with a 4-0 victory over Bonnyrigg White Eagles at Ilinden Sports Centre.
A James Temelkovski brace and goals to Alex Malfara and Dimitrios Petratos secured a sixth win from seven for the Suns who are gathering real momentum ahead of the final three weekends of the campaign.
The defeat opens up a four point gap between the Suns and the ninth-placed White Eagles who having stormed into the top five on the back of a remarkable seven match winning streak look to have run out of stream at the tail end of the season.
Hamish Brown’s side know only three points will suffice in their round twenty fixture with Wollongong, while Rockdale will relish travelling to Lilys Football Centre to clash with Blacktown City.
Sydney Olympic 3-3 APIA Leichhardt Tigers, 2.45pm at Belmore Sports Ground
Sydney Olympic and APIA Leichhardt Tigers played out an entertaining 3-3 draw at Belmore on Sunday afternoon to wrap up round nineteen.
Olympic found the net through Fikret Berisha, Paul Katsetis and Yahya Elhindi but an Aedon Kyra brace and Nicholas Chymiak goal ensured the spoils would be shared.
It’s a result that the hosts will find more damaging with Olympic now winless in four matches and four points off fifth-placed Rockdale with three rounds remaining.
The Blues now face a difficult must win encounter against a resurgent Sydney United 58 next Sunday with finals aspirations on the line.
A point for APIA Leichhardt secures the Tigers in the top five but with matches against Blacktown City and Rockdale City Suns to come, Franco Consentino’s side will be targeting maximum points at home to Manly in round twenty.
