Round 7 Review – NPL 2 NSW Men’s
Make sure you stay to the very end! That’s the message from the latest round of the National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Men’s competition, as every game had a goal in the final 15 minutes. There was plenty of good news for those based north of Sydney: Central Coast now occupy top spot, while Newcastle Jets earned their first win in this division.
Northern Tigers 5 (Ally Brown 32’ 90+2’, Shervin Adeli 53’, Ollie Scott 61’ 71’) SD Raiders 0
Northern Tigers were on the prowl in the Saturday afternoon game, recording their biggest victory since the 2014 Finals Series.
Milan Parenta nearly gave the Raiders the lead in the opening minute, and Elliot Carwardine needed strong hands to parry the shot to safety. As the Tigers worked themselves into the game, lively youngster Oliver Scott had their first chance – he tried to catch Michael Rutherford off his line but his lobbed effort didn’t have enough height. On the half hour, the assistant’s flag stopped Shervin Adeli from opening the scoring, however the hosts didn’t have to wait much longer as soon afterwards Ally Brown received a switch of play and beat a defender before coolly rolling the ball into the net. Anthony Proia then had a couple of chances to equalise, while at the other end Rutherford made a sharp save from Scott.
Northern Tigers shifted up several gears after the restart. Adeli fired just over from 40 yards and Brown was denied in a one on one by Rutherford, so the second goal seemed inevitable. It duly arrived when Ollie Wiggin danced around an opponent before cutting the ball back for Adeli, who picked out the bottom corner. Raiders substitute John Fahmi then went close with a 25 yard free kick, but this was to be the Tigers’ afternoon. Scott continued his dream start to life as a 1st Grader by making it 3-0: he blocked a clearance, dribbled around Rutherford and found the open goal. He wasn’t done though: with just under 20 minutes left Scott doubled his tally for the game when he got a toe to Brown’s low cross.
To their credit, SD Raiders didn’t give up, as there were late chances for Daniel Bittar and Charles Abou Serhal. However, the Tigers finished strongly, creating chances until the very end. Sam Wilson drew a fine save from Rutherford, William Foristal had a goal ruled out for offside and Andrew Head’s goal line clearance prevented Scott from grabbing a hat trick. The final goal came in time added on when Brown broke free of the defence and sidefooted home to complete his brace.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 0 Newcastle Jets 1 (Archie Goodwin 78’)
Newcastle Jets soared to their first ever NPL 2 Men’s win on Saturday night.
Bonnyrigg were out of the blocks quicker than their opponents, with Asmir Kadric and Aaron Peterson having chances in the early minutes. Both goalkeepers made brilliant stops in the first half: James Chronopoulos saved low in a one on one against Maki Petratos, and Noah James was at full stretch to keep a Ray Miller strike away from the net. Peterson looked dangerous again when he rose highest at a corner kick, however the header was off target.
Chronopoulos was needed again in the second half, getting his angles right when Maki Petratos pounced on a loose ball in the penalty area. Maki Petratos would also go close to setting up a goal as his cross was headed inches wide by Jack Simmons. White Eagles substitute Joshua Okan headed one off the crossbar after being set up by Miller, however it would be two Jets substitutes combining for the game’s decisive moment – Adam Zervas won a 50-50 challenge and the ball fell for Archie Goodwin, who made space in the area and slotted the ball in the bottom corner. Bonnyrigg threw everything at Newcastle and could have equalised when Bradie Smith played the ball through for Kadric, but his shot was straight at James. The visitors were made to sweat right up until the final whistle, and with the last action of the game Mun-soo Gil headed wide from a Jack Kuipers knockdown.
Hills United 1 (Wade Giovenali 68’) St George FC 3 (Paolo Mitry 44’, Juan Carlos Romero 46’, Mani Gonzalez 90+3’)
St George FC are now unbeaten in four games after an efficient performance at Lily Homes Stadium.
Hills started brightly, and Wade Giovenali flashed a long range effort inches over the crossbar in the opening minute. Bradley Robertson was the next to go close, drawing Saints goalkeeper Jacob Botic into a fingertip save from his free kick. St George FC gradually played their way into the contest, and Paolo Mitry was denied by Eoin Montford’s last ditch challenge after being set up by pinpoint diagonal passes from Botic and Anthony Morabito. However, there was no denying Mitry in the closing stages of the first half – he was first to the loose ball when Mani Gonzalez’s shot was parried by Harrick Sinpraseuth.
Having scored just before halftime, St George FC then scored just after the restart. Juan Carlos Romero didn’t look to be in a dangerous position when he latched onto a long pass, but the Spanish goal wizard weaved some magic, sending an angled 30 yard strike flying into the top corner. Hills then pulled one back midway through the second period when Wade Giovenali caught Botic in possession and slammed the ball into an open net. The hosts also emptied their bench as they searched for an equaliser, however the Saints stood firm in the face of mounting pressure. St George FC would seal victory in stoppage time when Mitry won a penalty, Gonzalez sending Sinpraseuth the wrong way from the spot to round off the scoring.
The victory continues St George FC’s excellent record against Hills United: they have now won eight of their last nine meetings with the 2019 Champions.
Central Coast Mariners 3 (Matthew Cahill 46’ 81’, Alou Kuol 53’) Hakoah Sydney City East 1 (Sunny Chang 90+2’)
The Mariners made their fans wait until the second half for the goals that took them back to the top of the table.
The first half was an armwrestle and scoring opportunities were in short supply. Central Coast’s best chance of the opening 45 minutes came when Harry McCarthy linked with Matthew Cahill, the latter’s strike blocked by a scrambling Hakoah defence. At the other end, we saw a rare indirect free kick inside the penalty area, which resulted in two Joshua Da Silva efforts being blocked by the crowd of Mariners players in the six yard box.
The second half was a different story. Mere seconds after the restart, James Bayliss crossed and Cahill headed home to open the scoring. Alou Kuol would join Cahill on the scoresheet seven minutes later when he won possession on halfway, sprinted for goal and finished clinically. Hakoah weren’t giving up without a fight though – Dominic Cox forced a fine save from Zenden Hart and Jack Green rattled the post with a free kick.
Cahill put the game to bed in the final ten minutes when he took advantage of some hesitancy at the back to net his seventh goal of the campaign. Hakoah now had to go for broke and Green sent a low shot inches wide. Green did play a part in Hakoah’s late goal as his cross made its way to Sunny Chang, who found just enough space to curl one home.
St George City FA 4 (Steve Kuzmanovski 2’, Jordan Morfitis 20’, Tarik Ercan 31’, Christopher Arditti 61’) NWS Spirit FC 2 (Andy Robertson 23’, Duncan Stewart 80’)
Two wins in two weeks for St George City FA!
City got the perfect start, drawing first blood inside two minutes when Steve Kuzmanovski converted Christopher Arditti’s cross from close range. However, the home side didn’t have it all their own way in the opening stages and Spirit almost equalised within a minute, Louis Bozanic hitting the crossbar from a Duncan Stewart cutback. Stewart was in the creating mood, and another cutback found Michael Konestabo, with Tomi Romic making an excellent stop from point blank range.
Unfazed by the near misses in their penalty area, City then made it 2-0 as Jordan Morfitis was in the right place to capitalise after Nathan Roberts sent a 25 yard free kick crashing off the post. Spirit again responded well to conceding and this time they were able to find a goal via Andy Robertson, whose shot took a massive deflection and looped over Romic into the net. The goals kept coming, and the hosts took advantage of another set piece: a Troy Danaskos free kick was knocked into the six yard box where Tarik Ercan was waiting to apply the finish.
City could have grabbed another goal early in the second half, but Arditti headed Hiten Satoh’s dinked cross over the bar. The chance Arditti did score from was arguably more difficult, as he showed wonderful athleticism to reach a long diagonal pass from Danaskos and volley the ball into the bottom corner. Jack Greenwood twice prevented Kuzmanovski from making it five, first by blocking with his legs as City counter attacked, then guessing correctly to save Kuzmanovski’s penalty kick. Instead it was Spirit who scored the game’s final goal through Stewart, the striker following up with a nice volley after Konestabo hit the underside of the crossbar. Konestabo also threatened with a couple of long range shots as time ran down, but City had done enough to earn three points and move up into eighth.
Bye: Blacktown Spartans
By Eric Subijano (@eric_subijano)
