FFA Cup Round 6 Update: Four more teams progress to the final stages
National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s top tier clubs APIA Leichhardt, Manly United, Mt Druitt Town Rangers and Rockdale Ilinden all progressed to the final stages of the FFA Cup Preliminary rounds after winning their respective Round 6 matches.
Tuesday evening at Cromer Park saw Manly United defeat courageous Football St George outfit Banksia Tigers 6-0. Hussein Akil’s Tigers came into the match in a buoyant mood after knocking out NPL 2 NSW Men’s side Mounties Wanderers but were no match for a ruthless Manly United squad. A double from veteran attacker Scott Balderson and goals from Alen Aganovic, Jack Fulton, Luca Kmet and Dejan Pandurevic ensured Adam Griffiths’ men a passage to round 7 of the knockout cup competition.
North Turramurra Recreation Area played host to a cliffhanger of a match as APIA Leichhardt needed extra-time to defeat tricky NPL 2 NSW Men’s side Northern Tigers 2-1 on chilly Wednesday evening. Shervin Adeli opened the scoring in the 68th minute from the spot before Blake Powell returned serve in the 81st minute thanks to yet another penalty. The game finished 1-1 as both teams went close on various occasions in clinching the match winner. The match looked destined for penalties but APIA’s Michael Kouta had other ideas scoring in the 118th minute which sent Paul Dee’s men into the final stages of the Cup.
Ilinden Sports Centre took centre stage as a local derby lit up between Rockdale Ilinden and St George FC. It was Steve Zoric’s men that proved too strong as first half goals from Tomoki Wada and Bai Antoniou were enough to see the side progress to the next round with a 2-0 victory.
Finally, Popondetta Park almost saw a huge shock take place as Football South Coast side Wollongong Olympic pushed Mt Druitt Town Rangers to the limit as an 85th minute strike from Jack Stewart put Stewart Montgomery’s men to the next round. Mitchell Smith got the hosts off to a brilliant start with a goal in the 6th minute before an unfortunate own goal was scored by Tarek Elrich to level things up. When the match looked likely to head into extra-time, one of the NPL NSW Men’s form players stepped up as Stewart proved to be the hero with his goal in the latter stages of the match.
To finalise round 6, Liverpool Olympic host Sydney Olympic next Wednesday 26th of May at Ernie Smith Reserve with kick-off set for 7:30pm.
The Round 7 draw will be announced at 2pm on the Football NSW Facebook page.
Round 7 FFA Cup Qualified Teams
- APIA Leichhardt FC
- Blacktown City FC
- Hakoah Sydney City East
- Manly United FC
- Marconi Stallions
- Mt Druitt Town Rangers
- Rockdale Ilinden
