Round 3 Review – NPL 4 NSW Men’s

Round 3 of the National Premier Leagues 4 NSW Men’s competition, like most competitions was largely put on hold due to the wild weather across the state.

The round was salvaged at the Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre, which was one of the only grounds to have a playable surface available over the weekend. Hurstville hosted Western Rage in the only game of the round.

Hurstville FC vs Western Rage

In the lone game of Round 3, Hurstville walked away with an impressive 2-0 victory over Western Rage.

Western Rage kicked off the action pressing hard against the Hurstville defence, causing them to give away a multitude of free kicks in the opening half. Hurstville didn’t cave into the pressure and produced a phenomenal defence display, not allowing the Rage to gain any good looks on goal from open play.

The Rage continued in their pursuit and had a few chances off set-pieces that looked threating but were unable to find the back of the net.

The game slowed down in the later stages of the first-half, allowing for Hurstville to re-gain momentum. The deadlock was broken shortly after this when Aleks Trenoski’s cross found Paul Gagro at the back post giving Hurstville a 1-0 lead

They were agonisingly close to doubling their lead before the break as Paul Gagro cut his pass back to Jesse Gagro who sent his shot narrowly wide.

The second half was a wildly physical encounter that threatened to explode towards the end of the game, with six second-half cards.

Hurstville netted the second after a tremendous ball from Jesse Gagro found Anthony Krkovski through on goal as he neatly placed it past the keeper.

Western Rage had their share of chances and could of levelled the game, if not for a world-class from Michael Rutherford, after they pounced on a defence error gifting them a golden chance for the opener. They had an appeal for a penalty towards the end of the game which was denied – the culmination of an unlucky day for the Rage.

John Gagro was happy to see his side’s hard work begin to pay off.

“We’ve been putting in a lot of effort as a team, but we haven’t been able to get a performance out.

“We deserved the win, it was a great performance overall and I was quite pleased with the team”.

Postponed Games

Parramatta FC vs Nepean FC

South Coast Flame FC vs Hawkesbury City FC

UNSW FC vs Fraser Park FC

Camden Tigers FC vs Western NSW FC

Newcastle Jets FC vs Prospect United SC

#Rescheduled fixtures to be announced shortly on www.footballnsw.com.au