Goals galore as Berries and Hakoah advance

With a flurry of goals in the opening round of 32 of the Westfield FFA Cup taking shape PlayStation4 National Premier League side Hakoah Sydney City East and second tier outfit Bankstown Berries both progressed to the next stage of the prestigious tournament with memorable victories.

The talk of the town was at Jensen Park as the Bankstown Berries downed South Australian heavyweights MetroStars 2-1 thanks to goals from Jake Bradshaw and player manager Perry Moustakas which all but sealed victory for the oldest club in Australia.

Matthew Dawber did score late in the second half but it was the NSW side that was buzzing as the full time whistle was met with jubilant cheers and tears of joy as the Berries pulled yet another huge scalp this year after defeating Sydney Olympic to get to the round of 32.

Meanwhile at Lily Homes Stadium, a nine-goal thriller took shape as Hakoah Sydney City East were pushed to the brink by a fearless PlayStation4 National Premier Leagues 2 outfit Hills United with the game ending 6-3 in favour of Gavin Rae’s men.

Wade Giovenali put the home side in front in the 24^th minute before Anthony Frangie levelled for the visitors. A minute later though and it was Hills who took the lead once more via a Glen Kelshaw goal but that lead lasted only until the 54^th minute when Neil Jablonski equalised. Hills thought they’d found the winner in the 80^th minute when Bradley Robertson struck only to cop a last minute equaliser via Brad Walker that sent the game into extra time.

It was there Rae’s men powered through as goals from Gideon Sweet, Aleks Lekoski and Lee Jones all but assured their spot in the next round of the Westfield FFA Cup after an epic encounter against a gritty Hills outfit.

These results meant that two Football NSW teams surged to the next round while the remaining three teams will look towards flying the flag proudly for the state with upcoming fixtures within the next two weeks starting with the broadcast match that will see Blacktown City entertain Hyundai A-League side Central Coast Mariners on Wednesday 2^nd August at Lilys Football Stadium at 7:30pm.

APIA Leichhardt Tigers travel to Tasmania to take on Olympia FC on Tuesday 1^st of August at 7:30pm while Sydney United 58 will round up the Football NSW teams as they face the FNQ Heat on Wednesday 9^th of August at Edensor Park.