Round 15 Preview – NPL 3 NSW Men’s
Gear up for another weekend of exhilarating football as we knuckle down for round 15 of the National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition.
This week’s match of the round is as clear as day for all to see with the second installment of the Bankstown derby set to light up this weekend’s proceedings.
Dulwich Hill FC head west on Saturday as they prepare to face Western NSW Mariners at Proctor Park at 4pm.
The Mariners continue to prop up the ladder and faced the full brunt of SD Raiders last time out when they fell to a 7-2 defeat.
Kenny McCall and Jeremy Judge have stood out for the men from the west this season, having put in good shifts week in, week out.
While they may still languish at the bottom, only one win separates themselves from second last Parramatta.
Dully were unfortunate not to escape with at least a point from their last outing against Bankstown City.
They put a brave fight for the full 90 minutes but were pipped at the finish line with two late goals from the league leaders.
The inner west outfit find themselves in eighth place after a rough couple of weeks which has seen them collect three points from their last five matches.
Finals challengers Inter Lions FC will look to return to winning ways when they come up against Parramatta FC at Valentine Sports Park No.3 at 6:30pm on Saturday night.
Inter’s five game winning streak came to a halt last Sunday when they were picked off by Stanmore.
The defeat may not come as a big surprise if one were to look at the league standings and they will be hoping that they can reboot this weekend against the Eagles.
Parramatta’s woeful season shows no signs of slowing down, they arrive into this fixture on the back of three defeats and continue to occupy second last position on the league table.
The Eagles will be in desperate need for their new signings to start firing as they aim to kickstart a revival over the second half of the campaign.
The battle of the Hawks will unfold at Arlington Oval as Stanmore Hawks FC entertain Hawkesbury City FC on Saturday night at 7pm.
Stanmore would have been pleased with their routine victory over Inter which saw them keep a clean sheet in the process.
The ever-reliant Jovan Blagojevic paved the way for their win, and they will see Saturday’s opponents as a comfortable three points.
Three straight home games has significantly helped Hawkesbury’s case for finals football.
They recorded five points from those three fixtures and have not been on the wrong side of the score line since their round 11 defeat against Inter.
An injury to young gun Daniel Morsillo is just what Dean Bertenshaw’s did not need at this stage of the season as he looks to make the difficult trip to Arlington with only a small pool of players available.
An exhilarating clash will take place at Ernie Smith Reserve as SD Raiders FC meet Dunbar Rovers FC at 7pm this Saturday.
Raiders’ steady performances see them sit in fourth place, only one point behind third placed Magic.
The home side tore apart Western in their last outing and will undoubtedly be confident that they can make it two from two this weekend.
Dunbar secured a much-needed win last time out against the Eagles and are one of four sides in firm contention to land the coveted fifth place at the end of the regular season.
The influx of new players has benefited the squad with Tadgh Purcell and Heo Wookbum having been standouts since their arrival at Rovers.
This will most likely be a tight contest and home advantage could help Raiders get over the line in this tie.
Granville Rage will be eager to build upon last week’s draw when they host Gladesville Ryde Magic at Garside Park this Saturday night at 7pm.
Rage were able to stop the rot last Saturday when they shared the points away to Hawkesbury.
Prior to that encounter, they had endured a torrid run of results which would have significantly affected the team morale.
Magic’s patience finally paid off last round when they enjoyed a 5-2 triumph over Sydney Uni – Their first win in the three games.
Prior to that match against Uni, Gladesville had picked up three consecutive draws against three well performing outfits.
Going off the league standings, they will be odds on favourites to secure another victory come Saturday night.
All eyes will be fixed on this week’s fiery derby as Bankstown City FC and Bankstown United FC go head to head at Jensen Park on Saturday night at 7pm.
City were given an almighty scare in their contest last week against Dully but again they proved their credentials as they placed yet another win next to their name.
Captain Nikola Todoroski just can’t help but find the back of the net in each game that he plays with the Lions number nine having contributed to 15 out of his side’s eye catching 50 goals so far this campaign.
United are like silent assassins this season by slowly pipping off their nearest rivals, they sit in a respectable fifth position ahead of this mammoth clash.
Having not tasted defeat for five rounds, they have enjoyed their best run of the season of late and will be in high spirits – raring to go for the main event on Saturday night.
United were one of only four sides that the Lions dropped points to in the first round so this will only add to the passion and intensity of the spectacle as we countdown to kick off.
Camden Tigers FC will think they have what it takes to claim all three points from their latest fixture at Ron Dine Stadium as they do battle with Sydney University SFC at 7pm on Saturday night.
The Tigers were narrowly beaten last week away to United, that loss put a blemish on what had otherwise been a positive couple of weeks which saw them register two wins and a draw.
With just one defeat from their home fixtures this campaign, Camden are a side who know to make home advantage count.
They currently sit in 10th position on equal points with their opponents, with only their superior goal difference separating them.
Aside from a 6-0 thumping of Rage a fortnight ago, Sydney Uni have been in freefall.
The last month has not been kind to them and they sit at an all time low this season in 11th spot.
They are in desperate need of a return to form but given the Tigers near exemplary record at home, it is hard to see a change of fortune arriving this Saturday.
-By NPL 3 NSW Men’s Chief Writer Samuel Greco Schwartz (Twitter handle: @SamuelGS97)
