Round 8 Review – NPL 4 NSW Men’s

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With Round 8 of The National Premier Leagues 4 NSW Men’s competition in the books it’s time to look over a thrilling weekend of dramatic results across the state.

Fraser Park secured their second win of the week in the Match of the Round after defeating Nepean.

Parramatta returned to the winners circle after a derby win over Western Rage, whilst  Hurstville got the points in Bathurst.

Camden, Prospect and Newcastle also all secured important wins over the weekend.

Match of the Round

Fraser Park 3-1 Nepean

Fraser Park turned around a first half deficit into an impressive 3-1 victory after an enormous second half performance. Nepean were up for the fight but eventually were overcome by the clinical Fraser Park attack.

Mitchell Mclintock scored an incredible goal from near the hallway circle after catching Patrick Ferrara off his line to lead his side to a one goal advantage heading into the break.

Fraser Park answered back in the second half with three unanswered goals from Oliver Stickland, Daniel Marques and Cam Philpot to secure the victory

Matteo Pandolfo gave his side the first real chance of the game after he was awarded a free-kick close to goals, his shot narrowly clipped the crossbar and went over.

Fraser Park came close just minutes later when Jonah Caragher picked out an open Shu Torihara in the box. His shot was denied by an outcoming Thomas Hamilton who happily palmed the ball away for a corner.

Nepean turned the game on its head after Mclintock caught Ferrera off his line and audaciously shot from near halfway.

Much to everyone’s surprise the ball sailed over Ferrera’s head and into the back of the net, giving Mclintock and Nepean a goal they’ll never forget and importantly the lead heading into the break.

Nepean rode the momentum of the early goal into the late stages of the first half and came within inches of adding a second. Ben Welch found space at the edge of box for a shot but painfully saw his shot bounce back off the bar.

Fraser Park had their equaliser in the 48th minute after Oliver Stickland was perfectly placed to find the rebound of a shot as he dribbled past the keeper and through to an open goal.

The hosts found themselves in the lead in the 57th minute after a wild couple of clearances from the Nepean defence landed to Marques, as his shot managed to get over the line after coming off the bar

Robert Morsello made his presence felt of the bench after he perfectly sent Mclintock down the line and through on goal. The Nepean goal scorer was met by an oncoming Ferrera who made a world-class save to keep the scores level.

Cam Philpot finished off the game with a goal in the 87th minute after Caragher found him open at the back stick for a goal which would send him to the top of the golden boot race in NPL 4 with 8 goals.

Fraser Park Head Coach Alex Araujo credited his side’s performance in a challenging encounter.

“Nepean I thought were the better side in the first half, I guess we didn’t have that killer instinct in the final third in the first half”

“In the second half we took our chances and that was the difference in both halves, it was an even game, I thought we were the better side”

Match Stats

Fraser Park 3 (Stickland 48’, Marques 57’, Philpot 86’)

Nepean FC 1 (Mclintock 29’)

Fraser Park: 1. Patrick Ferrara, 2. David Adjassou, 3. Alexis Wenzel (14. Oliver Stickland), 4. Paul Turrin, 6. Daniel Marques, 7. Cam Philpot (8. Dominic Siu),  9. Jonah Caragher, 11. Shu Torihara, 16. Nico Muscio, 17. Matteo Pandolfo, 18. James Duvcevski (13. Rodrigo Cataldi)

Nepean FC: 1. Thomas Hamilton, 3. Mitchell King, 4. Edward Stewart, 6. David Scott (22. Majid Eslami), 9. Mitchell Mclintock, 10. Matthew Crossley (17.Zeke Prisuda), 13. Joshua Viera, 14. Rory McGeown (18.Robert Morsello) , 20. Anthony Trimboli, 31. Richard Stewart, 99. Ben Welch.

 

Round 3 Catchup

Fraser Park FC 6-1 UNSW FC

A Cam Philpot hattrick has helped Fraser Park secure a dominant 6-1 victory over UNSW midweek. Fraser Park were ruthless in-front of goal as they put the UNSW defence to the sword.

Shu Torihara, Oliver Stickland and Matteo Pandolfo rounded out the scoring along with the Philpot hattrick for Fraser Park. Whilst for UNSW Cristhian Martinez netted his first goal for the season to give his side their lone goal on the night.

 

Western NSW 1-3 Hurstville

Hurstville have kept pace with the top three as they added their fifth victory of the season in Bathurst. They were thrown a spanner in the works early after Michael Rutherford was sent off in the first five minutes of the game whilst also conceding a penalty. The penalty was converted and Western NSW sat in the lead with an extra man.

Hurstville were a determined outfit and played on the front foot for the remainder of the half. They were rewarded with three goals and held that lead for the remainder of the game. Substitute keeper Matthew Masarotto saved a penalty in the late stages of the second half to kill off any chances of a Western NSW comeback, as Hurstville walked away deserving of three points.

 

Parramatta FC 3-0 Western Rage

Parramatta have returned to the winners circle with a win over local rivals Western Rage. In a highly competitive first half that could of went either way both sides were lacking the final touch in the final third to find the opener.

Parramatta were clinical in the second scoring three unanswered goals to secure the victory. Ali Dulleh opened the scoring for the Eagles just after the hour mark. Dulleh doubled his tally after capitalising on a mis-placed pass, Zoran Kolundzic rounded out the scoring in the dying minutes after catching the Rage defence out of place. The Rage would be disappointed with the score considering their effort in the game until the final minutes.

 

UNSW 0-1 Camden Tigers

Camden walked away from a physical encounter with three points giving them a huge boost in their finals pursuit. UNSW have been battling an injury crisis of their own and were not helped by the extra injuries picked up in this match.

Bailey Simpson netted the lone goal for his side giving them the much needed win. Dean Bradley was thrilled with his squads performance in a hard fought win for the Tigers and will hope that he can continue this form when they host the Rage next week. For UNSW it may be a tough couple of weeks as their first team squad has become decimated with injuries

 

Prospect United South 1-0 Coast Flame

Prospect returned to the winners circle with a tough victory over South Coast Flame. Prospect opened the scoring in the 5th minute with a powerful header from David Moreira Muller. The Flame will consider themselves unlucky to not have equalised with their chances denied on several occasions by the resilient Prospect defence.

Prospect showed plenty of improvement on the back of last week’s 4-0 defeat to Hawkesbury and will need to continue improving when they host the in-form Hurstville next week.

 

Newcastle Jets FC 4-2 Hawkesbury City FC

In the final game of the round Newcastle continued their red-hot form with another victory, this time against Hawkesbury. Newcastle opened the game with an early brace from Blake Archbold shortly before Anthony Pedavoli answered back for the Hawks.

Sascha Montefiore and Bailey Wells restored their sides breathing room as Newcastle began to set their footprint on the game. Hawkesbury continued to fight and were rewarded in the final minutes of the game after Marco Turpeinen added to his goal tally. The Hawks were unlucky to not have had another one after hitting the bar and missing a few golden chances shortly after their second.

The Jets continue on their hunt for a maiden trophy in NPL and again have proven how clinical they are when shown a sight of goal

By NPL 4 NSW Men’s Writer, Dominic Criniti @DominicCriniti