Round 12 Review – NPL 3 NSW Men’s
Round 12 of the National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition surely made a case for being the most entertaining league with a remarkable 32 goals from around the grounds over the weekend.
The league’s top two outfits showed how it is done as they thumped their respective opponents with a collective 15 goals scored from their two fixtures.
Inter Lions made it three wins from three matches in a 4-1 away triumph at Dunbar Rovers; Paramatta fell to a 2-1 defeat against Bankstown United at Melita Stadium; Stanmore Hawks put an astounding eight goals past Sydney University at home as they registered the biggest win of the season so far in this competition; Bankstown City came close to replicating that score line when they put seven unanswered goals past Granville Rage at Jensen Park; Camden Tigers fought until the end as they held SD Raiders to a 1-1 draw at Ernie Smith Reserve whilst Gladesville Ryde Magic shared the points with a 2-2 draw at home against Dulwich Hill.
Football NSW ventured out to David Bertenshaw Field to see how the encounter between Hawkesbury City and Western NSW Mariners would pan out.
Hawkesbury City FC 2 Western NSW Mariners 1
Hawkesbury City claimed all three points in their 2-1 triumph over Western NSW Mariners at David Bertenshaw Field on Saturday afternoon.
A nervy start to encounter made for very few highlights in the opening stages as most of the early action was played out in the centre of the park.
Some swift build up play between Hawks’ trio Terry Pannowitz, Santiago Rodriguez and Daniel Morsillo after six minutes provided a glimpse of the hosts attacking potential as Morsillo capped off the phase with a stinging effort.
The Hawks had a flurry of opportunities just before the half hour mark with their first chance arriving after Morsillo forced a close range save from Western’s Brock Logan after he was first to act on the keeper’s parry.
Rodriguez manufactured another chance for the hosts from the resulting corner after his deflected effort from just inside the 18-yard box fizzled just wide of Western’s goal.
The first breakthrough of the game arrived on 38 minutes after Morsillo volleyed home from close range after the Western shot stopper pushed away Rodriguez’s curling effort into the path of the striker.
The visitors lifted after conceding and dominated the remainder of the first half and had a long-range strike from Blake Collins flicked over the crossbar by Daniel Schwarzer after 43 minutes.
Western appeared to suffer a major setback just before half time as right winger Matthew Hobby succumbed to an injury in the 43rd minute, however it was this forced change that inspired the visitors equaliser.
Substitute Kenny McCall made an instant impact as he set up his side’s goal, only a minute after he entered the fray.
McCall’s pinpoint cross from the right-hand side found Jaiden Culbert in space at the front post, his deft header evaded the Hawkesbury goalkeeper and nestled into the back of the net.
An inspired team talk must have done the job for Hawkesbury as they came out firing in the second half.
They restored their lead eight minutes after the restart thanks to Brad Gibson with the attacker in the right place at the right time to head home for his side.
Gibson rounded off a well worked attack which began with Morsillo on the edge of the centre circle.
Morsillo played the ball wide to Ryan Faulkner who in turn crossed a menacing ball into the box which forced Logan into action.
The Western shot stopper failed to get a grip of the ball and he helped the ball on its way as it landed on Gibson’s head only inches away from the goal line.
The visitors continued to press on the counter for the remainder of the contest however they could not find the composure to bring themselves level.
A frantic finale saw the Hawks’ defence stay strong and they will be more than pleased to come away with the victory against a Western outfit who pushed them until the final whistle.
Match Stats
National Premier League’s 3 NSW Men’s
Round 12
Saturday, May 25, 2019
HAWKESBURY CITY FC 2 (Morsillo 38’, Gibson 53’)
WESTERN NSW MARINERS FC 1 (Culbert 44’)
HAWKESBURY CITY FC; 1.D.Schwarzer, 6.R.Faulkner, 8.T.Pannowitz(32.M.Eslami 62’), 10.S.Rodriguez, 12.J.Ekehov, 19.M.Liddall, 23.B.Gibson(24.J.Newman 75’), 26.K.Walker, 28.D.Morsillo(9.T.Berg 80’), 33.R.Fahey, 36.J.Thurtell.
Substitutions Not Used – 20.M.Dudgeon.
Yellow Cards – N/A.
WESTERN NSW MARINERS FC; 1.B.Logan, 2.D.Logan, 3.N.Spice, 5.M.Corben, 6.B.Collins(31.S.Long 78’), 7.M.Hobby(10.K.McCall 43’), 9.J.Christie(19.A.Scimone 68’), 14.D.Bell, 18.J.Judge, 21.J.Fuda, 23.J.Culbert.
Substitutions Not Used – 36.A.Brady.
Yellow Cards – 23.J.Culbert 20’, 3.N.Spice 90+1’, 31.S.Long 90+3’.
Dunbar Rovers – Inter Lions FC 1-4
Inter Lions strengthened their grip on fifth position with a convincing 4-1 win against Dunbar Rovers at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday afternoon.
Inter took the lead after 15 minutes through a corner after Alex Beccera rose highest to head it home.
A sublime free kick from Dunbar’s latest signing Tadhg Purcell saw the hosts restore parity only two minutes later.
Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for Dunbar as Inter took the game by the throat for the remainder of the tie.
The visitors found themselves on the front foot once again in the 40th minute when Dom Di Mento slid it into the far post after some impressive build up play.
Not happy to rest on their laurels, Inter pushed continued to push forward in the second half and they found themselves 3-1 up after 50 minutes as Di Mento drove the ball past Charles Samushonga.
Inter put a fourth past the home side with a quarter of an hour left in the contest thanks to a terrific long-range drive from Domenico Tripodi.
Dunbar’s afternoon went from bad to worse when they had captain Andrew Doddy sent off after he received his second yellow card, only two minutes after they conceded their fourth goal.
Parramatta FC – Bankstown United FC 1-2
Parramatta succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against Bankstown United at Melita Stadium on Saturday night.
The Eagles found themselves trailing early after the visitors struck 11 minutes into the encounter.
A second goal to Bankstown on the 66th minute mark saw them double their lead.
However, their two-goal advantage was short-lived with Justin Micallef on hand to reduce the deficit for his side.
Late drama saw the Eagles strike the crossbar in the 90th minute but it was the hosts who were able to secure the three points when the full-time whistle sounded.
Stanmore Hawks FC – Sydney University SFC 8-0
Stanmore Hawks could not have responded any better after being dished out their first defeat of their season last round as they inflicted some serious damage on Sydney University with an 8-0 thrashing at Arlington Oval on Saturday night.
Hawks’ defenders Angus Chance and Timothy Wohlfiel proved too much to deal with for Uni’s defence with both the left and right back wreaking havoc down the wings.
The hosts found themselves 1-0 up on 7 minutes thanks to a Peter Yannopoulos header after Chance’s pinpoint cross found him in space to head home.
They doubled their lead just under five minutes later from the head of Jovan Blagojevic after Wohlfiel’s cross expertly picked out the number nine.
A signature corner from Alberto Perea Henche fell to Blagojevic who made it 3-0 on the 20th minute mark.
The home side’s fourth goal of the night began with Conor Quilligan in the middle of the park after he dispossessed Uni’s Michael Loupis before slotting in Yannopoulos who blasted his effort into the top corner.
Stanmore added a fifth five minutes before the break after Wohlfiel found the back of the net from a tight angle after linking up with Yannopoulos on the edge of the box.
The ‘students’ tried their best to close the gap in the second half, but it was to no avail as the Hawks added to their misery with another three goals.
Their sixth of the contest was off the back of another Perea Henche corner after he found Conor Quilligan unmarked at the front post to head it into the net on the 65th minute mark.
A seventh goal arrived around the 75th minute or so after Chance’s peach of a through ball fell to an onrushing Blagojevic who cannoned the ball into the goal.
Stanmore’s mauling did not stop there as Blagojevic scored his side’s eighth goal on 80 minutes after he redirected Nathan Niski’s free kick with a deft header at the front post.
Bankstown City FC – Granville Rage 7-0
Bankstown City put Granville Rage to the sword with a 7-0 thumping at Jensen Park on Saturday night.
The Lions began the scoring via the boot of Ante Tomic before Nikola Todoroski scored from a one on one to make it 2-0
Marko Filipovic scored his side’s third of the night after he curved it past the Rage goalkeeper while Todoroski grabbed his second of the night from another one on one to ensure that his side took a 4-0 advantage into the sheds.
The hosts did not lift their foot off the gas in the second half and scored their fifth goal through Lawrence Hanna after he was picked out by Todoroski’s cross.
Filipovic got on the scoresheet yet again with a fierce strike that flew into the top corner of the goal before Hanna rounded the keeper to make it seven as the Lions completed their mauling.
SD Raiders FC – Camden Tigers FC 1-1
SD Raiders and Camden Tigers could not be split in their affair as the match ended a 1-1 draw at Ernie Smith Reserve on Saturday night.
Raiders were slow off the block in this encounter and found themselves behind after 25 minutes.
Tigers’ Dean Mugridge scored for the visitors with a well-placed effort that landed in the top corner of the goal.
Mugridge was the first to react to his teammate’s cross which rebounded off Raiders’ James Letta on the edge of the 18-yard area.
Camden’s lead lasted until ten minutes after the restart after Daniel Bittar stepped up with the equaliser for the home side.
Raiders continued to push men forward and placed loads of pressure on the visitors defence. The hosts were awarded a penalty midway through the second half after John Fahmi was taken down in the box.
Leading goalscorer Anthony Proia uncharacteristically failed to convert the penalty as the Camden goalkeeper managed to keep the score locked at 1-1 with a routine save.
The Tigers had a chance to steal the points at the death when they caught the hosts sleeping in defence with three players left unmarked however they failed to capitalise as they headed wide.
Gladesville Ryde Magic – Dulwich Hill FC 2-2
Gladesville Ryde Magic and Dulwich Hill shared the points as they drew 2-2 at Christie Park on Sunday afternoon.
Magic took a 1-0 lead into the break however it took until the second half before the game sparked to life with three goals scored after the restart.
Two of those from Dully as Jayme Canhada Alves got on the scoresheet while Dean Krkovski also weighed in for the visitors.
The draw sees Magic consolidate third position on the ladder while the point was enough to see Dully leapfrog Bankstown United on the table.
-By NPL 3 NSW Men’s Chief Writer Samuel Greco Schwartz (Twitter handle: @SamuelGS97)
