Round 14 Preview – NPL 3 NSW Men’s

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It is well and truly heating up in the National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition as we examine all the action coming our way in round 14 this weekend.

There is one fixture that particularly stands out with two of the competition’s big-hitters in Dulwich Hill and Bankstown City facing off against one another while we will be treated to a derby on Sunday as Gladesville Ryde Magic entertain Rydalmere Lions.

Round 14 gets underway at 5pm at Pluim Park as Central Coast United entertain Inner West Hawks FC.

A dip in form of late has seen the Pirates drop out of the top six. A loss to a 10-man Dunbar side last weekend would not have done their confidence any favours ahead of this fixture.

However, they will be coming up against a Hawks side who have just one win to their name all season.

These two sides only met at the back-end of April after at Valentine Sports Park – it ended in a 1-1 stalemate on that occasion which would give the inner west club some hope ahead of Saturday’s encounter.

All eyes will be fixated on Arlington Oval at 7pm as Dulwich Hill FC welcome Bankstown City FC in what is undoubtedly set to be the match of the round.

A professional performance saw Dully dispatch of Inter last weekend while their upcoming opponents demonstrated that they have what it takes to go one step further this season as they overcame first placed, Rydalmere.

Both sides have not exactly been shy in the final third. Dully lead the league in that department with 38 and also have the competition’s top goal scorer in their ranks in Daniel Fornito (15).

Meanwhile, Bankstown have hit the back of the net 35 times this season but their goals have been shared more evenly across the squad with Nikola Todoroski their top scorer with eight to his name.

Well you may be asking how these two sides fared in their first meeting? Well, it ended 4-3 in favour of Bankstown in what could only be described as a thriller.

Heading to the eastern suburbs where Bankstown United FC will be hosted by Dunbar Rovers FC at Heffron Park with kick off scheduled for 7pm.

Back-to-back wins against their fiercest rivals as well as the added bonus of two straight clean sheets has United in perfect form ahead of this fixture.

Their opponents have also mustered up a relatively good run, with a draw and win to show from their last two matches.

It was United who prevailed last time they faced off, with 2-1 the score line at Jensen Park.

An intriguing tie is set to be played at Lynwood Park as Macarthur Rams FC go head to head against Sydney University SFC at 7pm.

The Rams sit in sixth and are undefeated in their last three fixtures while Uni are in season best form – undefeated in their last four encounters.

A Macarthur win would see them consolidate their top six position and it could be a likely outcome given that they edged out the ‘students’ 2-1 in the reverse fixture.

It will be a case of 11th taking on 8th at the Crest as Canterbury Bankstown FC do battle against Inter Lions FC with kick off set for 7pm.

Inter are in the midst of a two game losing streak while Berries’ record is quite considerably more alarming, they are winless since the end of April.

If past results are anything to go by then Saturday evening could be another disappointing night out at the office for Wally Savor whose side went down 6-2 to Inter at Majors Bay Reserve.

Round 14 will not exactly peter out with a derby set to unfold at Christie Park on Sunday as Rydalmere Lions FC make the short trip to take on Gladesville Ryde Magic at 3pm.

Both sides enter this clash on the back of defeats with Rydalmere losing at Jensen Park for the second time this season last Saturday while Magic fell to Uni.

A business-like performance from Rydalmere saw them seal all three points against Magic, coming out on top 2-0 in their round three meeting.

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