Round 23 – National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s Preview

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Only four rounds of football remaining, and yet there is all to play for in the 2018 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition.

Just six points separate the top five sides in the league, with the top three – St George City FA, Gladesville Ryde Magic and Hawkesbury City – also in a ding dong battle for the Club Championship.

On the fringes of the Top Six however, neither Camden Tigers nor Sydney University – in 7th and 8th spots respectively – can ill afford to drop any more points, starting this week, or risk losing ground as well as any hopes they had for finals football in 2018.

Round Twenty Three is spread across three days – with one match being pushed back to Tuesday – as we take a look at this week’s enticing encounters.

 

Two teams coming off losses last week will lock horns at Marjorie Jackson Field on Saturday afternoon, with the Western NSW Mariners and Bankstown City Lions kicking off at 3pm.

The Mariners recent uplift in performances was nowhere to be seen last Sunday when they succumbed easily to the power of Gladesville Ryde Magic, losing 0-7 in a disappointing performance.

Bankstown City themselves have dropped off the pace in recent weeks, with 3 losses in their past 4 outings, including last week’s 0-1 reverse at Granville.

The Lions have dropped to 4th position and have the Raiders and Dunbar breathing down their necks, so will want to return from Lithgow with nothing less than the full quota of points on offer.

Despite needing to travel the first time these two sides met, Bankstown City trounced the Mariners 8-0 in Mudgee back in Round Ten, with Tommy Markovski and Ante Tomic netting hatricks, so they will hit the highway full of confidence of a repeat outcome.

 

St George City FA will be out for all three points on offer on Saturday night when they travel to Arlington Oval to meet Stanmore Hawks at 7pm.

Two successive draws have resulted in an advance of teams below St George on the ladder, with both Magic and Hawkesbury now within three points.

Despite the draw last week against Sydney Uni, the league leaders will take some heart from the fact they fought back from 0-2 down to level the match, even though keeper, Chris Marques, was dismissed from the park just before half time.

Sitting in 11th position could be deceiving for anyone coming up against Stanmore, because they have proven on their day they can easily play the part of the proverbial spanner for any team in the league. The Hawks have managed two wins in their past four games, against Dully and Bankstown, and nothing will give them greater pleasure than toppling the leaders.

St George City FA won the first round fixture 6-1, with James Spanoudakis netting a brace. Spanoudakis has been plagued by injury throughout this campaign, but he was back to his best last week in instigating St George City’s comeback against Sydney Uni, and will no doubt be out to steer his side to another three points in this match.

 

Firmly ensconced in the Top Six and in great form of late, both SD Raiders and Gladesville Ryde Magic will do battle for the spoils at Ernie Smith Reserve at 7pm on Saturday night.

The Raiders have flicked a switch of late, and managed 11 points out of 15 in their past 5 matches, helping them to 5th spot on the ladder on 41 points. Their two draws in that run have been against teams above them on the ladder – St George City and Hawkesbury – and both have been scoreless. Their wins have been by huge margins, and the Raiders now boast the equal best attack in the competition, with 66 goals in 22 games played.

Gladesville Ryde Magic have themselves been in great form, with 6 wins and a draw in their past 8 matches, including 17 goals in their most recent three games.

Michael Gaitatzis hase been the beneficiary of a very well structured side, scoring 28 goals this season so far as Magic have climbed in to 2nd place on the ladder on 45 points, just 2 behind St George.

The first round encounter finished 2-2, with Daniel Bittar and Matias Toro Suazo scoring for the Raiders, whilst the Gaitatzis brothers – who else – netted for Magic. With plenty of shuffling going on at the top of the ladder, expect a similarly tight contest this Saturday night.

 

A Portuguese derby of sorts with plenty of pride and bragging rights at stake will take place at Marrickville on Saturday night with Fraser Park welcoming Dulwich Hill for a 7pm kick off.

Twelve months ago and this match had an electrifying atmosphere as both sides occupied 2 of the competition’s top 3 spots, and both games last year attracted huge crowds as a result.

In 2018 however, both of these once famous clubs have suffered plenty of misfortune, with Fraser Park occupying bottom place, whilst Dulwich Hill are in 9th and sliding fast.

With one solitary win between them in the past 10 matches – that being Fraser Park’s 3-2 win over Stanmore back on June 30 – something simply has to give in this clash, so expect plenty of caution to be thrown to the wind as both strive for a much-desired victory.

The Round Ten encounter back on May 12 went right to the wire, with Dulwich Hill winning 3-1, courtesy of two injury-time goals by Nathan Jagelman and Ben Vidaic, and expect a similar arm wrestle on Saturday night.

 

A battle of the west with plenty at stake is expected at Ron Dine Stadium on Saturday night, with Camden Tigers entertaining Hawkesbury City at 7pm.

Two losses and a draw in their past 3 matches have put a splinter in the Tigers’ paws, resulting in them dropping out of the coveted top six as they strive for a semi final berth at the first attempt after promotion.

Camden is only 2 points behind 6th placed Dunbar Rovers, but Dunbar do have a match in hand, so the Tigers will be desperate for 3 points here to stay in touch. Jayden Russell has been the go to man for Camden this year, scoring 27 goals thus far, and he also got both in the draw between the two sides back on May 12th.

Lying in 3rd spot on 44 points, Hawkesbury are well placed to give the Premiership a shake given they are only 3 points adrift of leaders, St George City FA. Michael McCrory and Daniel Morsillo got the goals in that first round 2-2 draw, and the Hawks will be hoping for a little more this time around when they travel to Ron Dine.

 

Three points and a continued push towards the finals is on the menu at the Sydney University Football Ground on Sunday afternoon, with Sydney Uni settling for nothing less than a win when they meet Inter Lions at 3pm.

Sydney University have had a barn storming run of just one loss in 13 matches, and now find themselves just 5 points outside the top six with four games remaining.

Inter Lions have suffered contrasting fortunes, with one win and one draw in their past 8 matches, including an 8-2 capitulation against the Raiders last week.

With so much at stake for the ‘students’, and with Scott Tonkin and Michael Loupis in ominous form, it is difficult to tip against a Sydney Uni triumph in this match up.

 

Two of the league’s most in form teams of late will clash on Tuesday night at 7-30pm, no less, when Granville Rage throw out the welcome mat to Dunbar Rovers.

Due to Dunbar needing to go to Orange on Sunday afternoon to play their rescheduled Round 17 match against the Western NSW Mariners, this game was put back a couple of days to give them a couple of days reprieve.

It is still a big ask, given the travelling required back and forth on the Sunday, and the fact they are meeting a Granville Rage side in a rich vein of form.

With three wins on the bounce, Dunbar can firmly entrench themselves in the top six with six points over the three days, but will no doubt look to the squad’s depth to be effected in order to achieve this.

Granville’s recent performances culminated with an impressive 1-0 triumph over Bankstown City Lions last Saturday, continuing an unbeaten run which has stretched to five games.

Granville will also have the other small matter of revenge on their minds, given they were on the wrong end of a 6-0 hiding when these two teams met in Round Ten, with Yoel Silvestre grabbing a hatrick and Ryan Shaughnessy netting twice.