Round 25 Preview – PS4 NPL 3 NSW Men’s
Just the two rounds of the competition proper remaining, and plenty still to play for in the 2017 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition.
Rydalmere Lions need to beat Dulwich Hill on Saturday night at Arlington Oval and they will be crowned Premiers with one round remaining. The Lions hold a 5 point lead going into the penultimate round of football, and will not be able to be caught by Fraser Park if they can manage to pick up the three points at Dully.
Rydalmere have been on a mission towards the Premiership title, having won 11 of their past 12 matches – their only glitch a 2-3 loss to the Mariners – including wins over 4 of the 5 teams currently in the top six.
Dulwich Hill are that ‘other’ side the Lions are yet to beat, having lost to them 1-2 in Round 12 on May 27 when Tommy Bentham and Luke Giverin netted for Dully.
Dulwich Hill missed their chance to consolidate a finals spot by losing 0-4 at Hawkesbury in their midweek catch up game, and can ill afford to lose again on Saturday given the number of teams on their tail. Plenty to play for so get out to Arlington to see it all unravel.
Fraser Park will do everything they need to do to pick up three points in the faint hope of a Rydalmere slip up, but they do have a tricky tie away at Sydney University on Saturday evening at the Uni Football Ground, kicking off at 7-00pm.
The ‘students’ have been the in-form team of the competition over the past four weeks, the only side to record four wins on the bounce, with the twelve competition points catapulting them well and truly into finals contention. Sydney University sit in 8th position on the ladder on 35 points, but are only three points behind 5th placed SD Raiders, such is the congestion in the top half.
After being undefeated until 5 weeks ago, Fraser Park have now lost 3 of the past 6 matches, including last week’s drubbing at the hands of St George City FA, and in turn have handed the ascendancy to Rydalmere Lions.
But Fraser’s 4-1 victory on Tuesday night over Granville Rage (in both 1st grade and U20s) has kept the heat on the Lions, because other than the first grade Premiership, Fraser Park have the small matter of the Club Championship to play for as well, now that they are just 7 points behind Rydalmere.
Two sides separated by a solitary goal on the ladder meet at David Bertenshaw Field at 5-30pm on Saturday afternoon, with Hawkesbury City welcoming SD Raiders.
Hawkesbury City easily accounted for Dulwich Hill in their midweek rescheduled match by 4-0, the three points putting them in equal 5th spot with SD Raiders, but 6th on the basis on a one goal differential.
Following a magnificent run during the second round, SD Raiders lost 0-2 to Rydalmere Lions last week, and now find themselves doing everything to avoid defeat at Hawkesbury if they are to cement their finals position. A draw looks a good bet with plenty at stake for both sides.
St George City FA meet Western NSW Mariners at Fraser Park on Saturday night, hoping to continue their positive momentum which has seen them win 5 and draw 1 of their past six matches.
Last week’s 4-1 triumph over Fraser Park has given them a huge boost of confidence, especially given the fact they did it missing a few key regulars from their line up.
St George City FA currently sit in 3rd spot on 43 points, and are on target to cap a magnificent first up season in the Playstation NPL 3 competition by reaching the finals in all three grades, a feat only Rydalmere Lions and Fraser Park look to be emulating.
The Mariners on the other hand have only won one match in their last eight – and that was against the might of Rydalmere – so they will hope to put on a decent performance to try and finish the season on a positive note.
The last of the Saturday night fixtures will take place at Garside Park, with Granville Rage entertaining Stanmore Hawks.
Granville Rage won two games in a row to now be just 3 points behind Stanmore on the competition ladder on 23 points in 11th spot, but more importantly, desperately need the win here to continue their escape act from the foot of the Club Championship table.
After a dismal run of second round form, Stanmore Hawks produced a goal fest last week in smashing Inter Lions 9-1, with Peter Stefadouros nabbing 4 goals. The Hawks would be happy enough with the one goal come Saturday night, as long as they don’t concede at the other end.
There is plenty to play for on Sunday afternoon at Wentworth Park when Balmain Tigers meet Gladesville Ryde Magic at 3-00pm.
Balmain Tigers have been big improvers over the past six weeks, recording 4 draws and a win in six matches as they climb closer and closer to avoiding the wooden spoon. But the win for them is even more important when it comes to the Club Championship, as they look to fend off a late season surge from Granville Rage to retain their Playstation NPL 3 status.
Gladesville Ryde themselves have had a great run of form over the second half of the season, losing just 2 games from their last 14. But the run hasn’t been good enough just yet to grab a finals spot, as Magic currently sit on the cusp of the six in 7th position.
Ten points dropped in their five draws during this period could well come back to haunt Magic, so they will be out to win at all costs and secure that coveted finals spot.
Round Twenty Five comes to an end on Sunday night at Fraser Park when Inter Lions host Dunbar Rovers at 7-00pm.
Inter Lions have lost five matches on the trot, and are conceding goals at will, so will be playing for pride if not anything else. A couple of red cards in last week’s match won’t help their cause, but they will at least be hoping to avenge the first round 1-3 reverse at the hands of Dunbar back on May 27.
Dunbar Rovers themselves have been in a rut of late, with a series of suspensions and injuries seeing them unable to conjure up a win in their past 7 matches. With both teams hurting, and both craving desperately to sing their victory song, expect a tight tussle on Sunday night to finish off Round 25’s proceedings.
PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s
RESCHEDULED MIDWEEK MATCHES
Round 14
Granville Rage – Fraser Park 1-4
Fraser Park made sure the Premiership title stays alive at the very least until Saturday evening when they posted a 4-1 victory over Granville Rage at Garside Park.
The rescheduled Round 14 clash was played on Tuesday night, and Fraser prevailed with goals by Michael Gaitatzis, Peter Crevani, Ben Vidaic, and Goncalo Paradanta.
The three points puts Fraser Park 10 points behind Rydalmere Lions with two matches remaining.
Additionally, Fraser Park won the earlier Under 20s match against Granville Rage with an identical 4-1 scoreline, a result which places the club just seven points behind Rydalmere Lions in the race for the Club Championship.
Round 14
Hawkesbury City – Dulwich Hill 4-0
Hawkesbury City picked up valuable three points on Wednesday night in their rescheduled Round 14 clash at David Bertenshaw Field, hammering Dulwich Hill 4-0 after the scores were locked at 0-0 at the break.
After a long stint on the sidelines recovering from injury, Ben Gray returned to the fray by opening the scoring in the 68th minute to put the home side in to the lead.
The Hawks were relentless in their pursuit of the spoils, and netted three times in the final minutes to push the score out to 4-0.
James Mawein made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, Santiago Pallares Palomeque turned in goal number three in the 88th, before substitute, Rod Cormack, finished off proceedings with 4th and final goal in injury time.
