Round 6 Review – NPL 2 NSW Men’s
A windy weekend gave us the usual amount of excitement in the National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Men’s competition.
Plenty of young players made their mark in this round, while two sides were able to grab their first win of this revamped season.
Northern Tigers 3 (Sam Wilson 54’, Oliver Scott 56’, Ollie Wiggin 90+4’) Blacktown Spartans 0
The Tigers extended their home unbeaten run to 13 games after an excellent second half performance.
Both sides started cautiously, perhaps conscious of the strong winds blowing through North Turramurra. Connor Eldridge has been on fire for the Spartans, and his persistence led to a chance which he put into the side netting, while Lachlan Rose had a couple of shots which were easily saved by Elliot Carwardine. For the hosts, their best chance in the opening period came when Shervin Adeli showed great technique to control a long pass from Sam Wilson, however his 20 yard strike flew just past the post.
Whatever Tigers coach Adam Hett said at halftime, it must have worked. His side opened the scoring on 54 minutes when Ollie Wiggin won a free kick 25 yards from goal – Wilson curled the ball over the wall and into the bottom corner, leaving Mitchell Evans with no chance. It was 2-0 a couple of minutes later and Wilson was the creator this time, racing onto William Foristal’s diagonal pass and crossing the ball for Oliver Scott to score with a diving header.
The Spartans did threaten as substitute forward Christian Long sent a couple of headers wide of the target, and Rose was inches away from pulling a goal back with a free kick of his own. However, the Tigers always looked likely to score again. Rhys Williams nearly did just that when he linked with Wiggin, but Evans was able to tip his effort over the crossbar. Instead it was Wiggin who rounded off the scoring in stoppage time as he took a cross from Nick Drummond and blasted the ball into the net.
SD Raiders 1 (Charles Abou Serhal 90+6’) Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Jack Armson 2’)
The South West Derby ended in stalemate, but not before some late action at Ernie Smith Reserve.
Bonnyrigg raced out of the blocks and Jack Armson grabbed his third goal of the season in the early stages. The White Eagles also went close to adding to their tally as they were stopped by two goal line clearances from Diego Molina. SD Raiders then began to gain a foothold and Molina had a scoring chance of his own, but the big swing in momentum came when David Vrankovic was dismissed for a second yellow card on the stroke of halftime.
The Raiders chased an equaliser in the second half – Daniel Bittar had a goal ruled out for offside, substitute Anthony Proia had a couple of headed chances, and Mathew Barkho also went close. Bonnyrigg stood firm with plenty of excellent defending and were able to hold the lead despite being a player short, however just as it looked like the White Eagles would finish the job with ten players, they were undone deep into stoppage time when Proia won a penalty. Charles Abou Serhal stepped up and calmly placed the ball into the net to secure a point, so both sides maintain their positions on the table, with SD Raiders in sixth and Bonnyrigg in fourth.
St George FC 0 Newcastle Jets 0
These two sides battled to a standstill at a very blustery Ilinden Sports Centre.
The closest either team came to scoring in the opening period was when Shaqil Ali received a switch of play from Bruno Pivato, dinked the ball over a defender and smashed a shot off the crossbar. Newcastle didn’t really threaten Saints goalkeeper Jacob Botic in the first half, although Lucas Mauragis impressed with some dangerous runs from left back.
Daniel McBreen’s side stepped up a gear after the break, and a Jack Simmons free kick was kept out by a full length dive from Botic. At the other end, Spanish goal wizard Juan Carlos Romero had a couple of half chances but wasn’t able to convert. Things became stretched in the final 15 minutes and Jets substitute Adam Zervas looked lively on the counter, playing some nice passes. A late dismissal for Bradley Bartels wasn’t enough to change matters, with both sides having to settle for a point.
Central Coast Mariners 2 (Damian Tsekenis 15’, Daniel Hall 90+2’) St George City FA 3 (Christopher Arditti 21’, Nathan Roberts 45+3’, Tarik Ercan 68’)
St George City FA are on the board for season 2020 after prevailing by the odd goal in five at CCM Centre of Excellence.
There were opportunities for Hiten Satoh and Jason Romero in the opening minutes, but it was the hosts who drew first blood. Damian Tsekenis chased a lost cause and when the ball fell to him, the forward took advantage by blasting it into the roof of the net. It wasn’t long before the scores were level, as Steve Kuzmanovski combined with Satoh to set up Christopher Arditti for a nice finish from inside the area. Things swung the way of the visitors when Louis Khoury was sent off with halftime approaching. City immediately took advantage: Nathan Roberts turned the ball home from point blank range at a Kuzmanovski corner kick to put his side in front.
Early in the second half, Mariners goalkeeper Luca Meggetto was forced into good saves by both Roberts and Satoh. Central Coast then had a golden chance to equalise when Tsekenis won a penalty, but James Bayliss could only roll the spot kick wide of the post. City made them pay for that miss. Midway through the second half, Satoh swung in a corner and Ercan popped up at the near post to make it 3-1. Tsekenis had a one on one chance saved soon afterwards, but City finished stronger with the extra player – Roberts hit the post and Morfitis couldn’t convert a one on one chance of his own. Daniel Hall made the final few seconds interesting when he sidefooted into the bottom corner at a set piece, but City managed to see the game out and earn a valuable win.
Hakoah Sydney City East 1 (Matthew Nezval 9’) Hills United 0
Hakoah made home advantage count, recording their first victory of the campaign.
After an early Hills chance for Adolph Koudakpo, the hosts took the lead, with Matthew Nezval racing onto a through pass and curling the ball expertly past Harrick Sinpraseuth. There were chances at both ends midway through the first half: Dominic Cox headed over at a long throw, and Alex Vlismas rounded Hakoah goalkeeper Niki Loe, only to see his effort cleared off the line. Hills threatened in patches as the half drew to a close, but Jarrod Dodds, Koudakpo and Jacob Basden could only send their shots over the crossbar.
The visitors started the second period well, and Hakoah defender Connor Shaddock made a great challenge to prevent Daniel Fogarty getting a shot away. Hakoah then took control – Joshua Da Silva fired wide from range, Harry Jones blasted over following a penalty box scramble, and Nezval forced a save from Sinpraseuth after he found space on the edge of the area. Glen Kelshaw was inches away from equalising in the closing stages, as he took a pass from Fogarty and rattled the underside of the crossbar. That was as close as the away side would get, and the game ended on a sour note when Kelshaw was dismissed in time added on.
Bye: NWS Spirit FC
By Eric Subijano (@eric_subijano)
