Round 5 Review – NPL 4 NSW Men’s

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With another action packed weekend of fixtures it’s time to look back at Round 5 of the National Premier Leagues 4 NSW Men’s competition.

Parramatta FC, Newcastle Jets, Nepean FC and Fraser Park all secured their spots in the top four with impressive victories, whilst Camden got off the mark with their first win in a thrilling match.

Parramatta FC 1-0 South Coast Flame FC

Parramatta extended their win streak to four after holding back a resilient South Coast Flame.

Both sides started off rapidly and continued at a fast pace for the remainder of the game, resulting in a load of chances for both sides. The first genuine chance of the game came for Parramatta after a brilliant save from Nicholas Armand denied Charles Abou Serhal in the 26th minute.

The Flame also had their chances to go into the lead before the break, an audacious shot from near halfway from Liam Dowling bounced off the top of the bar, whilst Louis Connell was denied a perfect sight of goal courtesy of an impressive tackle from Allie Jayee.

Shortly after the resumption of play the Eagles found their opener through Jayden Young after he was sent through on goal and won a tough challenge with Armand for the ball and tapped it into an open net.

Parramatta could of easily doubled their lead in the 68th minute when Young crossed the ball across goal to Abou Serhal. Kasey Kulscar desperately lunged at the ball and forced it away from the open net to save his side for the interim.

The Eagles finished the remainder of play on the front-foot and had their chances for a double but were denied by Armand who kept his side’s hope of salvaging a point alive until the last minute.

Parramatta walked away with a 1-0 win, preserving their spot in second. The Flame will be ruing their missed chances in the first half as they failed to get a result for the second consecutive week.

 

Western NSW FC 0-8 Newcastle Jets FC

The Jets have continued their white-hot form with a dominant 8-0 victory over Western NSW. Western NSW started off the game promising showing a real attacking threat but were punished by the clinical Jets attack as they lead 2-0 going into halftime.

The floodgates opened for the Jets in the second half with six goals. Patrick Bond, William Ingram and Archie Goodwin all bagged braces whilst Sascha Montefiore and Joseph Langlois finished out the scoring for Newcastle. Given the circumstance surrounding the Western NSW squad, the early first half performance will give them hope for continued improvement going forward.

 

Nepean FC 2-1 Prospect United SC

Nepean continued their unbeaten run with a competent 2-1 win over Prospect United. Nepean shot out to a two goal lead heading into halftime with goals from Christopher Godoy Bascur and Joshua Viera.

The hosts continued to assert themselves on United but lacked the finishing touch in the second half. Prospect netted one back courtesy of a Thomas Kasunic goal but struggled to find a chance for a second.

Darren Camilleri was disappointed with his sides efforts throughout the game and wasn’t happy with his side being down 2-0 at the break for the second consecutive week.

 

Fraser Park 4-1 Hawkesbury City FC

Hawkesbury returned to NPL 4 after a three week lay-off. After not being able to train they were met with the tough task of travelling to Fraser Park where they were handed a 4-1 loss.

Shu Torihara netted a double in the first half after converting a penalty then scoring a world-class bicycle kick from outside the box which could easily be the goal of the year. Fraser Park also had a goal disallowed from a free kick before the break.

Jonah Carragher scored the third for the hosts, Hawkesbury answered with a neat free kick from Gregory Kondek. Cam Philpot finished his one-on-one to round out the scoring for Fraser Park in a professional victory for the reigning premiers.

 

UNSW FC 0-0 Western Rage

Two sides eager to get a result but were both forced to share the points in a goalless draw. UNSW had a golden first half chance, however Mike Kenny missed his shot one-on-one with the keeper.

Western Rage were a much improved side from last week’s loss and were on the front-foot throughout the second half. They were denied on several occasions by Conor Winn who was an easy candidate for man of the match. UNSW have now drawn their last three and have the daunting task of heading up the Hunter to face Newcastle next week.

 

Camden Tigers FC 5-3 Hurstville FC

Camden and Hurstville played out a wild eight goal thriller which included fourteen minutes of injury time due to a floodlight shortage. In the added period the sides went all in with three goals and two red cards.

Stephen Lloyd had the lone first half goal for the hosts. Anthony Krkovski and Michael Kotzambasis had Hurstville back in the lead with goals minutes apart. Dean Mugridge had the Tigers sensationally back in the lead with a double in the 60th and 70th minute shortly before a floodlight went out causing a stoppage in the game.

Stephan Perak and Jarred Morley were sent off in the early stages of injury time, setting the sides up for a thrilling final minutes. Mitchell Hall caught the Hurstville defence on the counter for his sides forth, however Yianni Niopalis’ goal in the 9th minute of added time gave Hurstville hope for a miracle comeback. Hall put the final nail in the coffin with his second in the 14th minute of injury time, finishing off a utterly wild game.

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