Round 16 Preview – NPL 4 NSW Men’s
With Round 16 of the National Premier Leagues 4 NSW Men’s competition approaching it’s time to look forward to another week of action.
Our Match of the Round takes us to Rockdale, as Hurstville look to regain their finals spot as they take on Camden.
Elsewhere, Western NSW host the league-leaders Newcastle, Parramatta travel south to take on the Flame, Hawkesbury hosts Fraser Park, Western Rage prepare for tough matchup with UNSW, whilst Prospect host Nepean to round out the weekend.
Saturday 19th June, 2021
Match of the Round
Hurstville FC vs Camden Tigers FC, 7pm @ Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre
Hurstville enter this crucial matchup in a poor run of form with just one point from their last five outings. Hurstville earlier in the season found themselves as high as third, but with a mix of injuries and suspensions they know find themselves in seventh. They’re still within striking distance of regaining their finals spot and may have caught Camden at an opportunistic time.
The Tigers have drawn their past two in three-all draws. It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks for Camden with a string of injuries seeing their squad depth depleted heavily. Camden remained in third place but with anything other than a win they face the prospect of being leapfrogged by Parramatta and being dragged into the battle for fifth. One thing that has remained solid for Camden is their goal scoring, if they can continue their attacking ways, they’ll feel confident of a result come Saturday.
Previous Matchup: Hurstville FC 3-5 Camden Tigers FC
Western NSW FC vs Newcastle Jets FC, 6pm @ Proctor Park
Western NSW head into this matchup on the heels of a bitter loss to Parramatta where they let the game get away from them in the second period. Western NSW have been a much improved side, however they haven’t been able to translate their performances into wins as of yet. It’s a tough ask when going against Newcastle but stranger things have happened in NPL 4 and Western NSW will be up for the challenge.
The Jets are flying, they’ve survived the tough period without their A-League players and will hope to welcome the likes of Archie Goodwin, Lucas Mauragis and Blake Archbold back for this matchup. Newcastle sit two points clear of Fraser Park with a game in hand, with a win here and a Fraser Park slip up, the Jets could all but secure the premiers plate. If the Jets are without their A-League players they’ll look to players like Adam Zervas and Joe Langlois to lead line as they’ve done for much of the season.
Previous Matchup: Western NSW FC 0-8 Newcastle Jets FC
South Coast Flame FC vs Parramatta FC, 6:30pm @ Ian McLennan Park
Parramatta look much more like the side that started the season on a five-game win streak, the Eagles a couple weeks back looked likely to fall out of the finals race but have turned their form around. Parramatta have been scoring goals for fun with eight in their last two and will hope to add more misery to the Flame’s season.
South Coast had high hopes for their second half of the season but have been thrown a massive spanner in the works with George Kulcsar departing the Wollongong-based side last week. Darren Jones has been appointed as the interim coach for the remainder of the season, his start as first-grade coach kicked-off in the worst fashion with a 5-1 loss at the hands of Nepean. They’ll be boosted by the return of goalkeeper Nicholas Armand after a two-month absence due to an illness, there’s a positive vibe buzzing around the South Coast now, consequently they will be keen on shaking up the top five and sending Parramatta home empty handed.
Previous Matchup: South Coast Flame FC 0-1 Parramatta FC
Hawkesbury City FC vs Fraser Park FC, 7pm @ David Bertenshaw Field
Hawkesbury enter this matchup with Fraser Park eager to return to the winners circle and get level with the sides fighting for fifth. The Hawks displayed their fighting spirit last week coming back from behind twice against Camden. Hawkesbury’s main man Marco Turpeinen entered double digits for the season, netting his tenth last week, whilst Ben Gibson has hit fine form and new addition Pedj Bojic looks to be key for the Hawks going forward.
Fraser Park are revving their engines as they look to retake first place off Newcastle. Fraser Park have held the upper hand in this fixture of late, notably a semi-final win last year and an impressive 4-1 victory in the corresponding fixture. With their key men back and firing Fraser Park will feel confident of walking away from Bensons Lane with a win. David Adjassou could be the key man for Fraser Park as he has proven this season he is arguably the most dangerous set-piece taker in the league thus far.
Previous Matchup: Hawkesbury City FC 1-4 Fraser Park FC
Western Rage vs UNSW FC, 7pm @ Ray Marshall Reserve
Western Rage are in the midst of their toughest run of games thus far, coming off games against Fraser Park, Hurstville and Newcastle, it doesn’t get any easier as they are now tasked with taming the red-hot UNSW side. Uni turned the tide of their season at the mid-way point and now look to extend their unbeaten run to eight. They were held to a scoreless draw in the reverse fixture but will hope to inflict some damage on the young Rage side.
The Rage had an impressive second-half outing last week and were disappointed to not have anything to show from it as they squandered their chances in front of goal. If the Rage can find their clinical finishing ways, they can give UNSW a problem and could prove to be the side to break the unbeaten run. Uni will head into this match as the favourites but will have to meet the physicality of Western Rage in order to get all three points
Previous Matchup: Western Rage 0-0 UNSW FC
Sunday 20th June, 2021
Prospect United SC v Nepean FC, 2pm @ Blacktown International Sports Centre
It’s been a frustrating season for Prospect, with four draws from their last seven they are now left wondering what could have been. They head into this matchup on the heels of a disappointing outing against UNSW and will have to bounce back quickly to the matchup with the rejuvenated Nepean outfit.
Nepean were lethal last time out scoring four second half goals to round out a comprehensive win over South Coast. For Nepean one of their issues was falling behind and putting themselves on the backfoot in the first half, with more ninety minute performances like this it won’t be long before they’re knocking back on the door of finals. Prospect will be desperate for a result to keep their finals hopes alive, whereas Nepean with a win and results going their way elsewhere can find themselves back in the top five by the end of the week.
Previous Matchup: Prospect United SC 1-2 Nepean FC
By NPL 4 NSW Men’s Reporter, Dominic Criniti (@DominicCriniti)
