Round 4 Review – NPL 4 NSW Men’s

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It was raining goals this week in Round 4 of the National Premier Leagues 4 NSW Men’s competition with 30 goals across this weekend’s action.  

It was the Sunday fixtures that stood out with 21 goals scored in the last two games of the weekend where Parramatta and Newcastle both enjoyed statement wins. There was still plenty of action around NPL 4 in another exciting weekend.

Fraser Park FC 2-1 Hurstville FC

The Match of the Round lived up to all the hype, in an entertaining encounter that went down to the wire with two late goals from either side.

Both sides pressed eagerly early on leading to a fast paced opening to the game. They both struggled to find real chances, as a result either goal-keeper wasn’t called into action until later on in the half.

Fraser Park broke the deadlock in the 37th minute after a deflected corner went through the Hurstville defence and was headed into an empty net by Oliver Stickland. The hosts continued on throughout the rest of the half pressing for another goal but were held at 1-0 going into the break.

Hurstville immediately made their presence felt upon the resumption of play, after an awkward save gifted Paul Gagro a header at the back post which he narrowly put wide.

The hosts came close to doubling their lead at the hour mark, as Cam Philpot sparked a brilliant counter attack and placed a perfect ball to Shu Torihara who hammered his shot directly at Michael Rutherford.

Hurstville finally levelled the game in a wild sequence of events in the 75th minute. Elvir Catovic’s long range effort deflected off his teammate Yianni Niopilas and sailed in, giving Hurstville the chance to hold on for the point.

Fraser Park pushed hard to regain their lead and rewarded in the 80th minute after Shu Torihara found space out wide, beat his man and sent it low to Matteo Pandolfo at the back stick giving his side their one-goal advantage back, which they held on until the final whistle

Ultimately it was a deserved win for Fraser Park who missed their chances to extend their lead at many stages throughout the game. For Hurstville it was a disappointing effort which saw them perform below their regular form they’ve showed in the early stages of this season

Fraser Park FC 2 (STICKLAND 37’, PANDOLFO 80’)

Hurstville FC 1 (NIOPALIS 75’)

 

South Coast Flame FC 0-1 Nepean FC 

Nepean have held off a valiant South Coast side to hold on for a 1-0 victory. The Flame showed vast improvement in this fixture giving their all to Nepean, who were up the for fight and impressively maintained their lead.

Zeke Prisuda netted the only goal for the visitors with a world-class strike from long-range in the second half. The Flame had their chances to level the game but struck out.

Flame coach George Kulscar was disappointed to walk away empty handed.

“Football like life can certainly be unfair at times, we should have come away with at least a point.”

 

UNSW FC 2-2 Prospect United SC 

On the heels of a mid-week FFA Cup loss to South Coast Flame, it was Deja-Vu for UNSW as they again gave away a lead in the second half.

UNSW looked to kick-start their season and looked likely to do so as they led going into to halftime courtesy of two incredible strikes from Victor Anyimba which gave them a 2-0 lead

Prospect eventually levelled the game in the second half with a brace from David Moriera Muller, which included a remarkable free kick from 30 yards out. Both sides were reduced to 10-men late and after Daniel Mihajlovic and Claudio Fabiano were both shown their marching orders.

Darren Camilleri was impressed with his sides fight and was happy to share the points on the day after his sides impressive comeback.

 

Newcastle Jets FC 14-0 Western Rage 

No that’s not a typo, the Jets pumped the brakes on Western Rage’s promising start to the season with a fourteen goal thrashing. Newcastle out-classed the Rage for the entire match and were ruthless in front of goal.

Newcastle enjoyed an empathic 6-0 lead heading into the second half and capitalised in the second netting eight more goals to round the scoring out. Tete Yengi sent himself to the top of the golden boot race with seven goals to his name. Blake Archbold, Joshua Benson, Matthew Buettner, Archie Goodwin, Jack Kenny, Bailey Wells and Adam Zervas all contributed with goals for the Jets.

Newcastle simply out-performed the Rage in all aspects of the game and gave them a memory they will want to put behind them going forward in 2021.

 

Western NSW FC 2-7 Parramatta FC

Our final game of the round dished out nine goals as Parramatta put on an attacking display against Western NSW. The score line got away from Western NSW in the later stages of the first half. They opened the game with a few clear chances that could have been converted.

Parramatta did not make any mistakes after the opening period putting five past Western NSW in the first half before adding the final two in the second half. Charles Abou Serhal, Ashour Chiba and Ali Duleh all starred for the Eagles with two goals each, whilst Milorad Cubrilo rounded out the scorers for Parramatta with his goal.

Parramatta remain with Newcastle at the top of the table, being the only two undefeated sides in NPL 4 after both of their impressive wins.

By NPL 4 NSW Men’s Writer, Dominic Criniti.