Round 8 Review – NPL 3 NSW Men’s
Once again, the latest round of the National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition has tossed up some unpredictable results.
Gladesville Ryde Magic remain perched at the top of the table but there were a few results which affected the league standings of the chasing pack.
Stanmore Hawks and Camden Tigers played out a game for the neutral with the contest ending at 3-3 at Arlington Oval on Saturday night; SD Raiders triumphed 2-0 against Hawkesbury City at Ernie Smith Reserve; Bankstown United enjoyed a 1-0 win over Granville Rage at Jensen Park; Bankstown City put five past Sydney University as they registered a 5-1 victory away at Sydney University Football Ground; Dunbar Rovers enjoyed a fruitful return from Orange as they defeated Western NSW Mariners 3-1 at Sir Jack Brabham Park while Inter Lions posted a 4-2 win against Dulwich Hill at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday night.
Football NSW made the trip to Christie Park on Saturday night to see how the league leaders Gladesville Ryde Magic would respond against Parramatta FC after they were dealt their first loss of the campaign last time out.
Gladesville Ryde Magic 1 Parramatta FC 0
Gladesville Ryde Magic grinded out a tight 1-0 win against Parramatta FC on a chilly Saturday night out at Christie Park.
In a match where opportunities were few and far between, it took one flash of brilliance to ensure that the hosts ran away with the three points.
The visitors started the brighter of the two sides with the striking pair of Ahmad Elrich and Justin Micallef putting the Magic defence on notice in the opening ten minutes.
Magic produced their first effort through Rosario Occhipinti after the marksman linked up with fellow attacker Chris Triantis.
Great interplay between Occhipiniti and Chris Tomaras stirred up plenty of danger in the Parramatta penalty area with Khalid Allybokus stepping in with a last-ditch clearance to prevent his side from going behind at the quarter hour mark.
There were very few opportunities and chances of note for the remaining thirty minutes of the first half, with much of the play taking place in the center of the pitch with the ball camped out in the midfield.
Aside from a powerful shot from Occhipinti which sailed agonisingly close over Parramatta’s crossbar, 0-0 at half time was a fair reflection on events.
The second half began with a bang as the hosts took the lead through Tomaras after the number 10 slotted it past keeper Stefan Giglio after he latched onto a hopeful long ball from defence.
Some more intelligent link up play from Magic between Tomaras and captain Chris Gaitatzis forced a parry from Giglio with a golden opportunity falling to Occhipinti however the inform striker amazingly failed to convert his chance from point blank range.
The home side had another chance on the hour mark through Triantis after he smashed the ball over the crossbar after Gaitatzis’ cut back from the byline found him in space on the edge of the opponent’s six-yard area.
The Gladesville captain had an opportunity of his own with just over ten minutes to go when his effort stung the palms of the Parramatta shot stopper.
With 10 minutes to go and the score line still swinging in favour of the hosts it was only natural that they pushed forward in search of the elusive goal.
However, their many attempts led to no end product and it was Magic who were able to expose the Parramatta’s thin defence in the closing exchanges.
Jordan Barrett was unfortunate not to put the game to bed after his side footed effort beat Giglio before also going just wide of the right-hand corner of the goal.
Barrett continued to test Giglio’s resolve and an inspired double save from the Parramatta keeper only two minutes later ensured that the substitute would not find his way onto the score sheet in this contest.
Parramatta did manage to shape one last chance via Zac Watters as the striker’s volley from the right-hand corner of the 18-yard area flashed across Magic’s penalty area in the dying moments of injury time.
National Premier League’s 3 NSW Men’s
Round Eight
Saturday, April 27, 2019
GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC 1 (Tomaras 47’)
PARRAMATTA FC 0
GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC; 2.C.Newton, 4.A.Khan, 6.Z.Kolundzic(15.K.Nikas 45’), 9.C.Gaitatzis (capt), 10.C.Tomaras, 11.C.Triantis(16.J.Barrett 70’), 12.A.Jolly, 13.B.Kerr, 14.A.Mickael, 18.R.Occhipinti(8.P.Voukidis 76’), 33.K.Tohouroglou.
Substitutions Not Used – 1.G.Koliomihos.
Yellow Cards – 18.R.Occhipinti 54’.
PARRAMATTA FC; 1.S.Giglio, 3.K.Allybokus, 5.P.Gatt (capt), 6.A.Epifanino, 8.I.Dandan, 9.J.Micallef, 10.M.Safdari, 14.Y.Al-Taay, 16.S.Hirayama, 21.A.Elrich(4.Z.Watters 60’), 56.J.Gersbach(7.Z.Elrich 57’, 12.A.Safdari 72’).
Substitutions Not Used – 13.M.Sultani, 23.J.Milevski.
Yellow Cards – 3.K.Allybokus 45+3’.
Stanmore Hawks FC – Camden Tigers FC 3-3
Camden Tigers clawed their way back from 3-0 down to record a 3-3 draw in their thrilling encounter with Stanmore Hawks at Arlington Oval on Saturday night.
A dominant first half display saw Stanmore open the scoring after 16 minutes through captain Jovan Blagojevic while Peter Yannopoulos added a second eight minutes later.
Blagojevic scored his side’s third goal of the evening early in the second half and the Hawks would have thought that they could remain in cruise control for the remainder of the contest with such a score line.
However, a spectacular comeback from the Tigers saw the Hawks forfeit their three-goal advantage.
Mitchell Brooker reduced the deficit with his effort on the 57th minute mark before Dayne Morley scored his side’s second of the evening while Eric Mcguire’s strike with 15 minutes left on the clock restored parity and ensured that the visitors got an unlikely share of the spoils.
SD Raiders FC – Hawkesbury City FC 2-0
SD Raiders secured a routine 2-0 win in their fixture against Hawkesbury City at Ernie Smith Reserve on Saturday night.
SD Raiders dominated proceedings against Hawkesbury with the visitors camped in their own half for most of the match.
The hosts first goal of the encounter arrived on the half hour mark via Daniel Bittar after his shot deflected off two players before curving its way past Daniel Schwarzer into the bottom corner of the goal.
Hawks fought their way back into the contest in the second half with their wingers looking dangerous on the counter while also threatening from dead ball opportunities.
However, an early goal in the second half from Southern Districts’ John Fahmi was enough and aside from a late penalty shout for the Hawks in the closing exchanges, a 2-0 buffer was about right as Raiders recorded their first clean sheet of the campaign.
Bankstown United FC – Granville Rage 1-0
Bankstown United’s fine form of late showed no signs of slowing down as they posted their third win in seven days when they defeated Granville Rage 1-0 at Jensen Park on Saturday night.
The only goal of the night arrived after seven minutes with creative playmaker Eros Bergamin scoring the only goal of the contest.
The goal came under controversial circumstances with the home side making the one-man advantage count as they played on despite a Rage player on the deck injured.
Rage continued to press forward as they went in search of the equaliser in the first half and had a goal ruled offside following a crafty free kick on the stroke of half time.
The second half was much of the same with Rage continually thwarted by United’s defence while the home side had chances of their own to kill off the game.
Sydney University SFC – Bankstown City FC 1-5
Bankstown City dispatched off Sydney University 5-1 in their Saturday night affair at Sydney University Football Ground.
A relatively even contest in the first half saw Bankstown take a 2-1 lead heading into the break as the visitors punished Sydney Uni’s lapses of concentration at the beginning at end of the first half.
Lions’ captain Nikola Todoroski put his side in front in the early stages of the first half before Uni’s Fergus Worrall equalised after he chested the ball into the goal following a superb cross from Daniel Barrett.
Bankstown’s Hezio Silva Neto took advantage of Sydney’s tentative defending to ensure that his side held the lead at half time.
The second half was all Bankstown with the league’s leading scorers Todoroski and Ante Tomic scoring braces as the away side steamrolled the opposition in what was a dominant second half performance.
Western NSW Mariners – Dunbar Rovers FC 1-3
Dunbar Rovers triumphed 3-1 over a 10-man Western NSW Mariners outfit in the Sunday afternoon kick off at Sir Jack Brabham Park.
The home side opened the scoring just after quarter hour mark via Jackson Fuda however that winning feeling was short lived as Dunbar restored parity only three minutes later thanks to a header from Cedric Mezieres.
Things went from bad to worse for Western when they had a player sent off for violent conduct 25 minutes into the encounter.
The visitors scored their second of the contest after 36 minutes with the hosts firing into their own net following a cross from Dunbar’s David Ustimenko.
Ustimenko got his name on the score sheet five minutes later and the away side entered half time with a healthy 3-1 lead.
Western’s 10 men dominated second half proceedings however they were unable to reduce the deficit with Dunbar keeping them at bay as they held onto their two-goal winning margin at the end of the 90 minutes.
Inter Lions FC – Dulwich Hill FC 4-2
Inter Lions recorded an impressive 4-2 victory from their fixture against Dulwich Hill at Valentine Sports Park No.3 on Sunday night.
Inter’s first goal of the night arrived after just two minutes thanks to Zac Ribeiro after he expertly made his way past two defenders before smashing it past Dully goalkeeper Luke Turnbull.
The home side’s lead lasted all of five minutes as Peter Crevani put his side back on equal terms with a spectacular free kick which looped over the wall and nestled into the top right-hand corner.
Stephen Stavropoulos restored the lead for the hosts with two minutes remaining in the first half as he headed home a pinpoint cross from Dom Di Mento.
Inter increased their winning margin on the hour mark via Alex Beccera as the defender guided the ball into the back of the net after he was picked out by Domenico Tripodi’s peach of a free kick.
10 minutes after conceding, it was Dully’s Jayme Canhada Alves who popped up with the fifth goal of the match as his glancing header flew past Inter shot stopper Robert Fanella.
The home side made sure of the points with eight minutes to go as Turnbull parried the ball into his own goal after he failed to deal with Ribeiro’s stinging strike.
-By NPL 3 NSW Men’s Chief Writer Samuel Greco Schwartz (Twitter handle: @SamuelGS97)
