Round 6 Preview – NPL 3 NSW Men’s

The National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition rolls on this weekend with a host of enticing fixtures set to take place throughout the weekend.

Round six begins with the slightly earlier kick off in Parramatta FC while Gladesville Ryde Magic conclude this week’s list of fixtures at Christie Park on Sunday afternoon.

Parramatta FC will be looking to register back to back wins when they entertain Dulwich Hill FC at Melita Stadium at 6:30pm on Saturday night.

After a mixed start to life in the NPL 3, Parramatta face a difficult task this weekend when they go head to head with Dulwich Hill.

The visitors lead the league in the goalscoring charts and arrive at Melita Stadium with a point to prove as they look to bounce back from last week’s defeat at the hands of SD Raiders.

Western NSW Mariners will be on the road for the first time since round one as they make the trip to Arlington Oval on Saturday night to face off with Stanmore Hawks with the match set to kick off at 7pm.

Stanmore Hawks are still undefeated in this year’s competition and with two games in hand they will most likely push themselves up the league ladder over the next couple of rounds.

Their opponents this Saturday sit rock bottom of the league table and enter this encounter after a bruising 5-2 defeat to Parramatta. For the Mariners to walk away with all three points they will need to fix their leaky defence, they have shipped a worrying 17 goals so far this season.

An intriguing tie looks set to take place at Ernie Smith Reserve as SD Raiders FC host Bankstown City FC on Saturday night at 7pm.

SD Raiders play out of their home ground for the first time since the opening round when they put five past the Mariners. They enter this contest after a hard-fought victory over Dulwich Hill last time out while another win this weekend will strengthen their position in the top four.

Bankstown City will be reeling from their surprising 4-3 beating by Camden Tigers, they have scored 10 goals from their first four games however a more troubling stat lies in their goals against with the visitors having conceded an alarming ten times already this campaign.

With the league’s top scorer Ante Tomic fit and firing for Bankstown, the Lions will be under the belief that they will be able to claim victory by outscoring their opponents in what is likely to be a pulsating encounter full of goals at either end.

Granville Rage welcome Dunbar Rovers to Garside Park on Saturday night at 7pm.

The home side will be looking for a repeat of last week’s heroics after they scored the all-important goal in the dying moments of their match against Inter Lions.

Confidence will be at a high across the Rage squad come this Saturday and they will believe that they have what it takes to secure back to back wins when they go head to head with Dunbar Rovers.

Dunbar’s biggest pitfall this season has been their inability to kill off games, the eastern suburbs outfit has registered three draws already this season with their most recent outing, a tense 1-1 draw with Stanmore.

Still searching for their first victory this season, Hawkesbury City FC visit Jensen Park this Saturday at 7pm where they will face off against Bankstown United FC.

Last round, Bankstown United were the first team to take points away from runaway leaders Gladesville Ryde Magic when they managed a 0-0 stalemate.

Apart from their 4-0 drubbing in the opening round against Camden, the hosts have registered a steady set of results and will see their round six opponents as the prime opponent as they aim to return to the winners’ circle.

Hawkesbury City have endured a frustrating start to the campaign and are one of three sides along with Western NSW Mariners and Inter Lions who are yet to taste victory this season.

Dean Bertenshaw knew that his side were going to be tested from the outset this year-round but surely the Hawks will be thinking this weekend is their time as they look to surge their way up the league table.

Sydney University SFC meet Inter Lions FC at 7pm at Sydney University Football Ground on Saturday night with the two sides fighting at either end of the league table.

Sydney University are situated among the top four this season and have enjoyed a relatively positive start to their 2019 campaign with three wins and two defeats from their first five outings.

On the other end of the scale, Inter Lions find themselves in the bottom three early on and are yet to record their first win after what has been a frustrating start to the season for the inner west side.

Going off form, it appears likely to swing in Sydney’s favour however we have been accustomed to this league throwing in some shock results already this season so do not be surprised if Inter pull away with a result from this one.

Gladesville Ryde Magic and Camden Tigers FC go head to head at Christie Park No.1 on Sunday afternoon at 3pm.

Magic enter this fixture after a frustrating 0-0 draw with Bankstown United. Despite ruining their perfect record, the home side still sit a top of the league table with a four-point buffer over closest challengers Dulwich Hill.

The Tigers face a difficult proposition this Sunday, however they will be buoyed by their standout performance last time out against Bankstown City.

After not hitting the back in their three previous matches, Camden will be pleased by the fact they put four past the opposition last week while they also had the bonus of four different names getting on the scoresheet in that spectacular result.

-By NPL 3 NSW Men’s Chief Writer Samuel Greco Schwartz (Twitter handle: @SamuelGS97)