Round 7 Preview – NPL 3 NSW Men’s

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The inaugural Stroke Recovery Cup headlines this weekend’s action in round 7 of the National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition.

All eyes will be on Christie Park come Sunday as Gladesville Ryde Magic entertain Bankstown United in the inaugural Stroke Recovery Cup at 3pm.

The two sides have joined forces to support and promote the ‘Stroke Recovery Cup’ in a bid to raise awareness for people suffering strokes and going through rehabilitation across Australia.

This weekend’s tie will form the first of the two match series, with the second set to take place in the reverse fixture at Jensen Park on Saturday, July 3.

In terms of the form book, the teams are evenly poised on the ladder with Magic occupying fifth while United sit in third.

The home side suffered their second straight defeat of the season at Dully last Saturday while United’s unbeaten record remains intact.

Two winners at the death in their last two fixtures have been instrumental to Bankstown’s rise up the table. This will be a habit that Magic will undoubtedly be aiming to break on Sunday!

The round will kick off at Pluim Park at 5pm on Saturday as Central Coast United host Macarthur Rams.

There may be some distance between the two clubs geographically however on the ladder they are almost within touching distance.

Both sides have seven points to their name, but it is the Rams’ superior goal difference which places them ahead of their upcoming in 6th position ahead of their meeting.

The visitors almost rescued a point against Bankstown in a seven-goal encounter last time out while Pirates coach, Stu Davis, was aggrieved with a penalty decision that cost his side two points against Bankstown United.

A bottom of the table clash will take place at Arlington Oval as Inter Lions make the short trip to face off against Inner West Hawks with kick off set for 7pm.

Inter have been down on their luck this season. Like the Hawks, they are yet to register a win while they have forfeited the lead on more than one occasion in 2021.

Hawks will see this as the perfect opportunity to pounce as they aim to secure their first points of the season.

Table toppers Dulwich Hill have a date with Dunbar Rovers at Heffron Park with proceedings set to get underway at 7pm on Saturday.

This match-up will make for compelling viewing given the two sides results in round 6.

The visitors are sitting pretty at the league summit and will be on cloud nine after making light work of Magic last round.

Meanwhile, Dunbar finally broke the duck last weekend when they claimed their maiden victory of the campaign at Majors Bay Reserve.

Jensen Park will be the venue for the battle between Bankstown City and Canterbury Bankstown which is also scheduled for a 7pm kick off.

The fourth placed Lions have been purring of late with three wins on the bounce to complement their unbeaten start to the season.

They were able to put four past Macarthur in their most recent outing and are equal second in the goals scored (14) department, with only Dully having struck the back of the net on more occasions (16).

A multitude of draws coupled with a narrow defeat against Uni last weekend has made for a quite average start to the season for the Berries.

Wally Savor’s men have been putting in some solid performances, but it has not equated into points on the board as they occupy 10th spot ahead of Saturday’s fixture.

Round 7 proceedings will be wrapped up at Rydalmere Park at 8:15pm as Sydney University SFC take on Rydalmere Lions.

The Lions will have to be wary of Sydney Uni, who have fast become one of the teams to watch this season after stringing together two consecutive league wins.

However, the hosts have not exactly been in strife themselves with three straight wins to show for their efforts.

The ‘students’ will have to be as creative as possible in the final third as they look to cut through a Rydalmere defence which has not conceded in their last two matches.

-By NPL 3 NSW Men’s Chief Writer Samuel Greco Schwartz (Twitter handle: @SamuelGS97)