Round 2 Preview – NPL 4 NSW Men’s
With Round 1 of the National Premier Leagues 4 NSW Men’s competition in the books, it’s time to look forward to another weekend of thrilling NPL 4 action.
Last weekend’s fixtures were full of high-quality football and entertaining match ups – a surprise to many considering only half the teams managed to get a goal last week.
On the cards for Round 2, our Match of the Round takes us to David Bertenshaw Field as Hawkesbury City take on Parramatta FC in a game where both sides will expect to take all three points, Nepean FC and UNSW FC face off in a potential finals matchup, whilst Hurstville will be put to the test when they go against Newcastle Jets in the hunter.
Friday 12th March 2021
Hawkesbury City FC vs Parramatta FC, 8pm @ David Bertenshaw Field (Match of the Round)
Hawkesbury head into this matchup on the heels of a heartbreaking loss to Nepean last Friday and expect to give their home fans their opening win of the season. Hawkesbury will hope to be more clinical when given goal-scoring opportunities and hold on to the ball to dominate the opposition like last week.
Parramatta will be without Clement Ebahece Waoci who is serving a one-week ban for last week’s red card, last week proved how resilient Gert Disha’s men were, surviving seventy minutes of the game with ten men and still managing to score and hold on for victory.
This is set to be a mouth-watering matchup as both sides may throw caution to the wind in order to secure a victory
Saturday 13th March 2021
Nepean FC vs UNSW FC, 7pm @ Cook Park
These two sides are set to meet after coming from both sides of a 1-0 result in Round 1.
Nepean impressively took down Hawkesbury City with ten-men, holding off an attacking onslaught throughout the last ten minutes in order to so. Joe Di Miglio will be without defender Zeke Prisuda who also will serve a one week ban for last week’s red card.
Nepean will be wary of a strong UNSW side who travel to Cook Park with a chip on their shoulder after a 1-0 defeat from Hurstville. UNSW dominated the early stages of last week’s encounter and will hope for more of the same this Saturday to mount some early pressure and have the Nepean defence on the back foot.
Fraser Park FC vs Western Rage, 7pm @ Fraser Park
Another noteworthy game for Saturday, as Western Rage look to test themselves against the elite of NPL.
Western Rage head into this game full of confidence after last week’s late winner from Leonardo De Leo and will test the limits of the Fraser Park defence especially on the counter-attack. They will be cautious of the attacking presence that Fraser Park presents and will hope to improve on their first half performances to allow themselves the best chance of causing an upset.
Fraser Park return home again after an impressive 2-0 victory over Prospect United – a game that should of seen them score more.
They head into this fixture as heavy favourites and if they can replicate their early dominance from last week, they could give Vic Zappia’s men a tough night, alternatively if they have another second half where they are constantly on the back foot and are forced to sit deep in their own half it could be a completely different story and upset could be on the cards.
Camden Tigers FC vs South Coast Flame FC, 7pm @ Ron Dine Stadium
Camden Tigers battle the South Coast Flame in the final game on Saturday, both sides are hungry for points as they were both held to goalless losses last round.
Camden’s physical encounter with Parramatta was not an ideal way to start the season. Coach Dean Bradley was disappointed with his sides performance last weekend and will be pushing them to convert their chances and get their first win of the year.
South Coast travel to Camden following a discouraging 5-0 loss to Newcastle. The Flame will look to be re-ignited come Saturday night as they aim to prove to the rest of NPL 4 that last week’s result was nothing more than an outlier in what they hope to be a successful season.
Sunday 13th March 2021
Prospect United SC vs Western NSW, 3pm @ Blacktown International Sports Park
Kicking off the Sunday fixtures are Western NSW and Prospect United, both sides will be hungry to kickstart their seasons, which could leave us with a drama filled game of Football.
It was a game of two halves for Prospect last time out, showing an impressive second half performance against the reigning premiers after a dismal first half. This would not go un-noticed and would give Darren Camilleri plenty of confidence in getting a result on Sunday.
Western NSW made the long trip back to Bathurst on Sunday night incredibly disappointed not to have taken anything from the match, Mark Rooke’s men look set to capitalise on their chances this week and hope to take advantage of Prospect, if they can control the tempo and possession of the game.
Newcastle Jets FC vs Hurstville FC, 7pm @ Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility
A close runner-up for Match of the Round sees Hurstville FC lock horns with Newcastle Jets.
Hurstville are buzzing after knocking off competition heavy-weights UNSW last week and will feel they can pull off a similar result against the Jets. They’ll look to have more consistent periods of possession and continue to work the ball through Paul Gagro.
Newcastle Jets made a statement last week putting five past the Flame and look will be looking for another emphatic victory in their first home game of the season. The Jets will again look for, up and coming youngster Adam Zervas as a spark in attack.
Written by NPL 4 NSW Men’s Writer, Dominic Criniti
