Round 9 Review – NPL 4 NSW Men’s
It’s time to recap another eventful weekend of the National Premier Leagues 4 NSW Men’s competition as Round 9 shook up the competition.
Camden Tigers and Western Rage shared the points in a physical encounter for the Match of the Round.
Fraser Park went six points clear after a last minute winner saw them beat Parramatta FC, Hawkesbury City put five past Western NSW and Nepean upset the jets with an impressive 3-0 win over Newcastle.
Elsewhere, UNSW gained their first win of the Season against the Flame and Hurstville played out a 1-1 draw with Prospect United.
Match of the Round
Camden Tigers FC 1-1 Western Rage
Camden Tigers and Western Rage have shared the spoils in a fast-pace and intense matchup.
From start to finish both sides pushed the ball rapidly and weren’t worried about holding possession for long periods of time.
This resulted in both sides struggling to gain any real momentum in the first half before trading blows in the second.
Matthew Lane netted the opener for the hosts when he neatly finished his header from the six-yard box.
Leonardo De Leo answered back shortly after with a phenomenal effort that bounced off the bar and in.
Camden were arguably the better side in the first half creating more chances and would have been disappointed to not off had a goal going into the break.
Bailey Simpson had the best chance of the half after he was put through one on one with Samuel Bortolazzo, the imposing keeper made a valiant effort to come out and save the shot keeping the scores level.
The Tigers could have had their opener shortly after, however Stephen Lloyd’s header from a set piece went just inches over the bar.
Both sides went back and forth trading chances with each other to end the first half.
Just before the break Leonardo De Leo had a perfect sight on goal but was deemed offside in what could have easily been the Rage’s opener.
The hosts had one last chance in the first half, Harrison Jones had a deflected cross fall perfectly to him, his shot on the half volley narrowly sailed past the post, much to the relief of the Rage defence.
Camden began the second half on the front foot as they found their footing in the game.
The Western Rage defence held out several chances from the Tigers and were helped out by Bortolazzo who made a handful of crucial saves, including a world-class double save from point blank range.
As the second half progressed both sides didn’t show any signs of slowing down as they continued their rapid pace.
The Rage had their best chance of the game when De Leo again found himself in on goal, however his shot had too much power and only just went over the frame of the goal.
The opener came shortly after the hour mark, Matthew Lane caught Bortolazzo off his line and attempted an audacious chip from distance. His shot agonisingly rattled off the bar but the Tigers retained possession in goal-scoring territory.
Just moments after his shot Lane found himself on the end of a picture perfect cross gifting him an open net to head the ball into for his side’s first goal.
Western Rage were determined to find an equaliser and began to look likely as Kurvdan Abduljabbar took over the team, orchestrating his side’s attack from the middle of the park.
De Leo had his side back on level terms in the 77th minute after a wonderfully hit shot scrapped underneath the bar and bounced over the line, giving him his second goal of the season.
As the game entered its final stages both side’s upped the physicality in search of a winner that wouldn’t come as they had to settle for the draw.
Match Stats
Camden Tigers FC 1 ( Lane 64’)
Western Rage 1 ( De Leo 77’)
Camden Tigers FC: 1. Michael O’Rourke, 3. Jordan Cracknell, 4. Callum Rogers, 5. Matthew Lynch, 6. Andrew Head, 9. Stephen Lloyd, 11. Bailey Simpson, 13. Blake Brooker, 15. Harrison Jones, 17. Danny Martinez, 33. Matthew Lane.
Western Rage: 1. Samuel Bortolazzo, 2. Adrian Razov, 6. Mitchell Luc, 9. Leonardo De Leo, 11. Paul Bortolazzo, 13. Nikola Blagojevic, 14. Kurvdan Abduljabbar, 15. Blake Mottram, 16. Ijaz Miskin, 18. Mitchell Whalley, 20. Hyeonseop Lee.
Western NSW FC 0-5 Hawkesbury City FC
Hawkesbury City have added more pain to Western NSW’s start of the season with an emphatic five goal win. It was a story of two halves as the Western NSW defence put on a great display keeping out the Hawkesbury attack for the most of the half, however the visitors couldn’t be denied and went into the break 1-0 up.
The game was blown open in the second after keeper Jordan Bruce was sent off, leaving the Western NSW defence a man down. The Hawks took over in the second half scoring four to put the result beyond doubt. Marco Turpeinen starred with a hattrick sending him to equal second on the golden boot tally. Kwadwo Boamah-Addai and Gregory Kondek rounded out the scoring with their efforts.
Parramatta FC 0-1 Fraser Park FC
A defiant second half performance from Parramatta was undone by a 90th minute winner at the hands of Matteo Pandolfo after he converted a David Adjassou free-kick. The Eagles were left to rue on their missed chances in the second half, after a phenomenal defensive display from Fraser Park, headlined by keeper Patrick Ferrara.
After an even first half Parramatta looked the more likely in the second but struggled to convert on their chances and lacked the final touch in goal-scoring territory. With the win at the Melita Stadium, Fraser Park now sit six points clear at the top of league still yet to lose a match and only dropping points once this season.
Nepean FC 3-0 Newcastle Jets FC
The match that sent shockwaves around NPL 4 as Nepean comfortably took a 3-0 win over Newcastle. Nepean have turned around from a disappointing April and made a statement of intent with this victory. The hosts were sitting on the backfoot for larger periods of the game as the Jets saw the lion’s share of possession.
Nepean shut down the lethal Jet’s attack allowing few chances throughout the game and turned their defensive pressure into three goals on the other end. Ben Welch, Zeke Prisuda and Majid Eslami all found the back of the net for Joe D’Ermilio’s side as they celebrated their first win since Round 5.
South Coast Flame FC 1-3 UNSW FC
UNSW have overcome a first-half deficit to gain their first win of the season. Both sides traded blows in the first half, however it was the Flame that gained the lead through Daniel Cooper. UNSW came out of the gates rapidly in the second half equalsing shortly after the resumption of play through Dylan Walz.
They found themselves in the lead at the hour mark after a Kevin Lopes header went past the Flame defence, Callum Fitzpatrick netted the third and final for UNSW, gifting them their maiden win of the campaign. The Flame will be without Carlo Stella next win after he shown a second yellow in the 82nd minute. UNSW will expect their winning ways to continue as they look to put a rough start to the season behind them.
Hurstville FC 1-1 Prospect United SC
In the final game of the round Hurstville were left frustrated as they had to settle for a draw with Prospect. Hurstville found themselves in the lead after Paul Gagro sent Anthony Krkovski through for the opener. They remained on the front foot and were denied by the sticks twice and missed a number of chances to double their advantage.
After a disappointing opening half Prospect began to make their presence felt in the game as they duelled with Hurtsville in the later stages of the game. They were rewarded in the dying stages as Alexander Gorgievski snagged the equaliser as his side held on for the draw.
By NPL 4 NSW Men’s writer, Dominic Criniti, @DominicCriniti
