Round 2 Preview – NPL 3 NSW Men’s

If Round One was anything to go by, then we simply cannot wait for Round Two of the National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition to be played this weekend.

All seven matches are scheduled to be played on Saturday across three timeslots, with five games kicking off at 7pm, whilst the other two matches will be played at 3pm and 6:30pm respectively.

The 3pm Saturday afternoon fixture will be at Hensley Athletic Field, with Dunbar Rovers hosting Inter Lions.

Despite a decent opening day effort, Dunbar Rovers came unstuck at Jubilee Oval last week in a 0-2 reverse against St George City FA. The Rovers will be looking to their midfield ‘go to’ men, Andrew Doddy and Ryan Shaughnessy, to take this game by the scruff of the neck early on and avoid a second defeat at all costs.

Inter Lions managed to manufacture a first up win in Round One when they overcame the Rage by the solitary goal at Fraser Park. Even though the woodwork denied Inter a couple of goals in the second stanza, it was left to the experience of Juan Chavez to coolly slot home a first half penalty and give the Lions a valuable three points, a win they hung on to desperately, earning six yellow cards over the ninety minutes in the process.

Two teams who picked up victories on the opening day will meet head on at 6:30pm on Saturday at David Bertenshaw Field looking for more of the same.

Hawkesbury City coach, Dean Bertenshaw, scraped together his troops and produced a remarkable 2-1 away victory over Dulwich Hill, with youngster, 17 year old Daniel Zahra, starring with a goal on his debut. With a few Hawks returning to the fray, the home side will be hoping for a second win to really supercharge their season.

St George City FA are the visitors, and they themselves will hope to have a few players returning from injury to build on their opening day triumph over Dunbar Rovers.

Alex Euripidou made a telling contribution in Round One with a hand in both goals, whilst Chris Marques saved a penalty to keep a clean sheet and help earn his side three points.

Something will have to give at Arlington Oval on Saturday night at 7-00pm, with both Stanmore Hawks and Sydney University desperate to bounce back after disappointing first round losses last week.

The Hawks were belted at Ernie Smith Reserve, losing 1-8 after going behind 0-4 in the first 18 minutes. But Stanmore will hope the loss was an anomaly, and look to experienced campaigners such as Neil Jablonski, Sam Awad and Tadhg Purcell to steer the youngsters around them to a positive result in front of their home fans.

Sydney Uni’s new look side looked industrious last Sunday night in their loss against Bankstown City, but will need to find the net to get anything out of this match, and who better than skipper Robbie Deasy, and striker Scott Tonkin, to help the students get that much needed win this Saturday night.

The young and newly assembled Fraser Park side earned themselves a point in their first competitive outing together last week, drawing 2-2 in Lithgow against the Mariners.

With that first game out of the way, they now face the might of the SD Raiders this week at 7-00pm at Fraser Park, and will need all their collective structure to avoid defeat in front of their home fans.

The Raiders had a field day in Round One, scoring eight goals on the way to an emphatic victory over Stanmore, with Ben Welch and John Fahmi each notching a brace. Nicky Carle would’ve been very content with his team’s showing, and surely would settle for more of the same come Saturday night.

In the remaining matches, all at 7-00pm on Saturday evening, Gladesville Ryde Magic’s  Gaitatzis brothers – Chris and Michael – will be out to repeat their opening day exploits of three goals between them when they face Granville Rage at Garside Park; two teams hoping for a triumph will meet at Ron Dine Stadium, with neither  Camden Tigers nor the Western NSW Mariners managing a win in Round One despite scoring two goals each; and two of the competition’s heavyweights go head to head at Jensen Park, with Dulwich Hill desperate to avoid their second successive loss when they face a buoyant Bankstown City side following their 3-0 victory over Sydney University last Sunday night.