Round 1 Review – League Two Men’s

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Round one of Football NSW Men’s League Two is done and dusted and it was an entertaining opening to the season.

Gladesville Ryde Magic came out victors in the Stroke Recovery Cup against Bankstown United in a back forth encounter for the match of the round.

It was raining goals across the league, in a round where a few teams turned heads with impressive outings.

 

Match of the Round: Stroke Recovery Cup

Gladesville Ryde Magic 1-0 Bankstown United FC

Gladesville Ryde Magic and Bankstown United battled it out in the final game of the round in the Stroke Recovery Cup.

Panayoti Gotsis’ early goal was enough to give Magic the sentimental win, he was named the Stroke Recovery Player of the match for his efforts throughout the game.

It was a very entertaining opening period of the game with both sides going back and forth in search of an early opener.

Alex Boyadijan had the real first chance of the match after he found his way through the defence and knocked it past Kiriakos Tohourglou leaving him with an open net,

However the referee deemed there was a foul in the process, denying him of an open net and sure fire opener.

Gladesvile fired back shortly after as Nicholas Drummond found himself one-on-one with Tyron Geany, his powerful effort was matched with an equally as impressive save from the United shot-stopper.

Gotsis found the opener not long after as paced his way through the United backline and made no mistake by neatly tucking it past Geany.

After an opening period where Bankstown saw the majority of good chances, the game was slowly moving in the hosts favour as they capitalised on the momentum for more chances.

Anthony Gallo looked certain to score after a brilliant passing display in the opposition box, his powerful shot sailed past the posts as Bankstown were forced to try and regain control.

Bankstown ended the half with their best chance for an equaliser after Oscar Nieto Rava’s cross deflected into the path of Boyadijan, who narrowly sailed his shot over the bar.

Gladesville Ryde entered the break up 1-0.

Bankstown were the aggressors early on in the second, pushing it forward numerous times but were just lacking the a crucial final touch in dangerous areas.

Gladesville had an appeal for a penalty when Gotsis intercepted a poor back-pass and looked for a chip over Geany, the two collided but the referee allowed play to continue.

Magic came within inches of doubling its lead after Gallo’s perfect pass found Chris Gailatzis, his driven shot smashed against the post and was cleared from danger.

Bankstown pushed hard in the final minutes searching for an equaliser and played some enjoyable football in the process.

Thomas Jordan’s dangerous shot from outside the box forced Tohourglou into a good save, in what would be the last real chance for United to salvage a draw.

Gladesville held out for a hard-earned win and celebrated with the Stroke Recovery cup post-game

Result aside, it was a day that proved Football is more than a game as the fans, players and staff came together to support of stroke recovery.

“I thought we started the game positively and were on top in the early stages, but let them settle into the game,” Bankstown United coach Scott Belgre stated to Football NSW.

“We threw everything we could at them in the second half but couldn’t convert our attacks into any real chances.

“It’s a tough place to go and take the points but I thought we did enough in the end to take a point, credit to Gladesville for seeing out the game,” he said.

 

Bankstown City FC 1-3 Rydalmere Lions FC

Rydalmere took little time picking up where they left off from last season, with an assertive victory over Bankstown City.

Nicholas Trimble opened the scoring for the visitors after a neat finish from a corner.

Tai Smith levelled proceedings for City on the back of some notable team effort in the build-up, as the hosts got their foot back in the game.

However the class of Rydalmere proved to be much on the night as they would run away with two unanswered goals, whilst holding out a motivated City attack.

Goals from Garang Awac and Mitchell Gibbs, meant Rydalemere walked away from Jensen Park with all three points.

Bankstown City will feel the score got away from them as they surrendered a few chances in front of goal, however the quality of the Lions proved their worth in the season opener.

 

Macarthur Rams FC 3-3 Central Coast United FC

It was an instant classic as Macarthur and Central Coast were resigned to sharing the points in a six-goal thriller.

Macarthur headed into this fixture down nine players and seemed to be outsiders because of this.

Christian Torrelli opened the scoring for the hosts, before two quick fire goals from Daniel McFarlane and Cade Mapu saw United go into the break up 2-1.

Mapu’s incredible finish will undoubtedly see him go down with a contender for goal of the season.

Kye Soares had the Rams back on level pegging in the 48th minute, however United found themselves back in front in the 68th minute through Joshua Swadling.

Fighting until the final seconds of the game paid off for Macarthur, as Soares sensationally equalised the game in the 92nd minute.

In a game where either side could of ran away with it, a draw only seemed fitting for a match full of drama.

 

Dunbar Rovers FC 0-0 Inner West Hawks FC

Dunbar and Inner West played out a tough goalless draw, in a game where both sides looked to shake off the rust from a long lay-off.

The Rovers were dealt a massive blow prior to kick-off with coach Christian Soares in isolation and unable to attend the game or the training session prior in the week.

Without their coach, Dunbar played a respectable brand of Football and would consider themselves unlucky to have not scored.

The Hawks will undoubtedly share this same sentiment as they also stringed together some dangerous attacks but were unable to find the finishing touch.

Both sides will look for an improved performance heading into round two.

 

Dulwich Hill FC 1-0 Sydney University SFC 

It was a tale of two halves as a resilient Dulwich Hill showed out in an impressive second half display to get a hard-earned three points

Uni will be disappointed to not have a goal to show from the opening period after missing some golden opportunities for an opener.

Dulwich Hill came out of the blocks with loads of momentum and began to turn the tide of the game early on in the second half.

It was young striker Emmanuel Zervas making his mark on League Two with what would be the eventual winner, as he converted on his own saved shot to get Dulwich into the lead.

Sydney Uni were depleted in the second half with Alan Kearney and keeper Anthony Costa both forced off for the final half hour of play.

Dulwich Hill showed plenty of improvement in the second half to walk away with the win, meanwhile Sydney Uni will be left to ponder what could have been in the first half as they enter round two empty handed.

 

Inter Lions FC 4-2 Canterbury Bankstown FC

It was the Fikret Berisha for the Lions as he left Majors Bay reserve with a hat-trick, leading his side in a 4-2 victory.

Gabriel Lopez opened the scoring for the visitors as they led within the first two minutes.

It took Inter a while to get into the game as the Berries looked the better of the sides in the opening exchange.

Berisha got his first of the night when he followed up on a Sam Armson shot, shortly before Ollie Green capitalised on a defensive error to give his side the lead at the half hour mark.

Berisha poached his second after a getting on the end of a loose ball from a corner, giving his side a 3-1 buffer.

Green and Berisha linked up for the final goal, after a phenomenal solo run from Green saw him beat three defenders, giving Berisha a golden chance for his hat-trick which he seized.

Berries found a consolation in the 83rd minute when Leo Guzman perfectly tucked his shot away.

Inter now look forward to a blockbuster clash against Rydalmere, whereas Canterbury will have to dust itself off as a matchup with Dulwich Hill awaits in round two.

By Football NSW Men’s League Two reporter, Dominic Criniti @DominicCriniti