Round 11 Review – NPL 3 NSW Men’s
Step aside Stanmore Hawks as we welcome Bankstown City as the new frontrunners of the National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition.
Stanmore Hawks’ unbeaten record came to an end in what was yet another weekend of fast paced, electrifying football. So, take it all in as we dissect all the highlights from the latest round of the NPL3 competition.
Dunbar Rovers and Gladesville Ryde Magic drew 1-1 at Hensley Athletic Field; Camden Tigers snatched a 1-0 victory against Western NSW Mariners at Proctor Park; Dulwich Hill were consigned to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Bankstown United at Arlington Oval; SD Raiders sealed an impressive 4-1 triumph over Sydney University at Ernie Smith Reserve; Parramatta registered the same winning margin from their fixture away to Granville Rage at Garside Park while Inter Lions beat Hawkesbury City 2-1 at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday night.
Jensen Park was the place to be on Saturday night as Football NSW took in all the action from the thrilling contest between league heavyweights Bankstown City and Stanmore Hawks.
Bankstown City FC 2 Stanmore Hawks FC 1
Bankstown City edged out Stanmore Hawks by two goals to one in their Saturday night encounter at Jensen Park.
A measured performance from the hosts throughout the course of the match was enough to see them strip the Hawks of their unbeaten start to the season.
With plenty of anticipation surrounding this tie, it was always billed to be a high stakes encounter and that is the way it played out in the first quarter of an hour.
Both sides stuck to their game plan early on which made for quite a tactical showing as neither side placed any real pressure in the attacking third.
Stanmore’s Jovan Blagojevic’s sweeping run and strike from the left wing provided the first real threat to Bankstown’s defence.
Lions’ Ante Tomic caused a heart in mouth moment for the Hawks after 21 minutes after he had his effort cleared off the line by Riccardo Lo Russo.
That last ditch defending only delayed the Lions first of the contest as they struck three minutes later through Marko Filipovic.
Nikola Todoroski’s searching pass from the left-hand side of the 18-yard box found the defensive midfielder unmarked at the back post to give him the easiest of finishes to provide the first breakthrough.
The home side looked set to take their one goal advantage into the sheds however their opponents thought otherwise after Peter Yannopoulos capitalised on a defensive mix up on the stroke of half time.
Damian Jakimovski’s mishit pass failed to reach teammate Stefan Dubocanin before Blagojevic intercepted the pass and played in Yannopoulos who slotted the ball into the net.
Six minutes into the second half and it was only a spectacular save from Stanmore’s Nick Carosi that prevented Dubocanin from collecting his third goal of the season after he had his long-range effort tipped over the crossbar.
The Lions dominant start to the second half paid off after 57 minutes as Todoroski flicked in Lawrence Hanna’s floating cross at the back post. The big attacker once again showed to many his class at this level steering his goal in.
Despite going behind, the Hawks kept their heads held high and manufactured another stern test for the Lions’ defence five minutes after they conceded.
Blagojevic was once again the architect as he cut in from the left flank before his shot was parried by Lions’ shot stopper Carl McMahon before Yannopoulos followed up and forced another smart save from McMahon.
The visitors continued to pepper the visitors goal, but it was to no avail and apart from Angus Chance’s volley with just under five minutes to go, the hosts were able to close out the game in quite comfortable fashion.
The defeat for Stanmore sees them drop to second while Bankstown rise to the top of the table for the first time this campaign.
Match Stats
National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s
Round 11
Saturday, May 18, 2019
BANKSTOWN CITY FC 2 (Filipovic 23’, Todoroski 57’)
STANMORE HAWKS FC 1 (Yannopoulos 44’)
BANKSTOWN CITY FC; 1.C.Mcmahon(gk), 2.A.Savetta, 3.T.Boutoubia, 4.S.Dubocanin, 9.N.Todoroski(13.J.Vrtkovski 90+3’), 10.L.Hanna, 11.A.Tomic, 14.M.Filipovic, 16.M.Sehic, 20.T.Markovski, 24.D.Jakimovski(6.M.Stewart 75’).
Substitutions Not Used – 18.H.Silva Neto, 22.T.Borovickic, 23.A.Ismail.
Yellow Cards – 2.A.Savetta 37’, 9.N.Todoroski 55’, 3.T.Boutoubia 80’, 1.C.Mcmahon 90’.
STANMORE HAWKS FC; 1.N.Carosi(gk), 3.O.Stickland, 6.A.Perea Henche, 7.P.Yannopoulos(16.A.Chance 72’), 8.N.Niski, 9.J.Blagojevic, 10.J.Caragher(17.A.Caragher 76’), 11.C.Quilligan, 12.S.Awad, 15.J.Seib, 29.R.Lo Russo(23.A.Kumburlu 83’).
Substitutions Not Used – 5.H.Brown, 20.H.Timms.
Yellow Cards – N/A.
Dunbar Rovers – Gladesville Ryde Magic 1-1
A late equaliser ensured that Gladesville Ryde Magic shared the points with Dunbar Rovers as they drew 1-1 at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday afternoon.
A dominant first half performance saw Dunbar take the lead after 32 minutes thanks to Andrew Doddy’s effort from outside the box.
The hosts closed out the half well and began the second half in similar fashion. All three points seemed like they were coming their way until a late equaliser from Magic’s Jordan Barrett in the 86th minute spoiled the party.
Western NSW Mariners – Camden Tigers FC 0-1
Western NSW Mariners went down 1-0 in their encounter against Camden Tigers at Proctor Park on Saturday afternoon.
A tight opening 45 minutes saw both sides manufacture chances of their own however it was not until the second half that we were able to see the ball ripple the net.
Tigers’ winger Mitchell Brooker provided the x factor for the visitors with his finish in the 68th minute.
Western stepped up their intensity after conceding and an excellent chance fall the way Adam Scimone only for him to drag his effort just wide of the post.
Resolute defending and some fantastic goalkeeping from Michael O’Rourke proved to be enough as the Tigers got the job done in Bathurst.
Dulwich Hill FC – Bankstown United FC 0-2
Dulwich Hill fell to a 2-0 defeat to Bankstown United in their clash at Arlington Oval on Saturday night.
With the scores locked at 0-0 at half time it was Mitch Cross who was able to break the deadlock virtually straight after the restart.
Cross notched his ninth goal of the season with 20 minutes left to go as he made sure that all three points went the way of the visitors in this contest.
SD Raiders FC – Sydney University SFC 4-1
SD Raiders triumphed 4-1 in their fixture against Sydney University at Ernie Smith Reserve on Saturday night.
An Anthony Proia hattrick in the first 25 minutes set Raiders on course for a convincing victory.
Panayoti Gotsis pulled one back for Uni in the latter stages of the first half and the score read 3-1 in favour to the home side at the break.
Raiders’ final goal of the contest arrived via the penalty spot after 65 minutes as Ben Welch took the honours after Milan Borovina gave away the foul and was given his marching orders for his second bookable offence of the contest.
Granville Rage – Parramatta FC 1-4
Parramatta’s first win since round five finally arrived at Garside Park on Saturday night as they cruised to a 4-1 victory over Granville Rage.
The Eagles took a 1-0 lead into halftime thanks to Victor Anyimba’s effort on the 40th minute mark.
Anyimba’s second arrived after 57 minutes before a Rage goal with just over 10 minutes made for an intriguing end to the contest.
Parramatta’s Robert Eremugo quashed any hopes of a Rage comeback when he scored his side’s third of the evening after 81 minutes before Ahmad Safdari banged in his side’s fourth with three minutes left to run.
Inter Lions FC – Hawkesbury City FC 2-1
Inter Lions secured consecutive wins for the first time this season as they overcame Hawkesbury City 2-1 at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday night.
Inter were first to get on the score sheet in this contest with their first arriving after 20 minutes via the head of Sam Armson after he was on hand to dispose of the rebound from Julian Rinaldi’s effort.
Hawkesbury were dangerous on the counter and came close on multiple occasions as the half wore on, however the Inter defence proved too strong with centre back Chris Lawson and goalkeeper John Soulios there to ensure that the score remained at 1-0 heading into half time.
The hosts second goal arrived from an out swinging corner which Sean Robertson managed to poke home with an improvised acrobatic finish.
The Hawks reduced the deficit on the 75th minute mark thanks to a neat counterattack which culminated in a tidy finish from Kwadwo Boamah.
Soon after the visitors thought they had managed to restore parity via Boamah once again, however the striker was deemed to have unlawfully stripped the goalkeeper of the ball as he bundled the ball over the line.
A frantic ending saw both sides produce chances however a late dismissal to Boamah destroyed any chance of a comeback and it was Inter who were able to hold on record the win in this affair.
-By NPL 3 NSW Men’s Chief Writer Samuel Greco Schwartz (Twitter handle: @SamuelGS97)
