Round 9 Preview – League One Men’s
Fresh off an enticing weekend of action, we turn our attention to Round nine of the Football NSW League One Men’s competition with a Super Saturday of action.
Highlighted by another top four battle, we have games to suit any need you have with Northern Tigers looking to bounce back from their first defeat, SD Raiders and Western Sydney Wanderers looking to keep their momentum going. While our pick for the weekend takes us to the Arctic circle to see how two last start winners go against each other. And unlike the Star Wars sequel trilogy, this league never disappoints.
Our Pick: NWS Spirit FC v St George FC; Saturday 7 May, 7:30pm, Christie Park
Another St George team awaits NWS Spirit who are searching for back-to-back wins for the first time in 2022 when they welcome St George FC to the Arctic circle.
After a slow-ish start to the season, it feels like David Perkovic’s side have finally got going offensively in recent weeks. Last weekend, it was a confidence building victory over last year’s runaway leaders in St George City.
Two Richie Darko penalties are bound to give the attacker more confidence coming into this one. But let’s focus on their defense this week, David Perkovic’s side have made a noticeable improvement at the back conceding only ten goals so far this season. With Musashi Kokubo, Grant Cornwell and Jake Mamone forming a formidable back three. Spirit have scored ten straight goals in head-to-head meetings with this week’s opponents, so that’s sure to give them confidence to get the job done at home.
That’s not to downplay their opposition though. If you’ve watched every game of St George FC this season, the improvement week to week is apparent. Last week Mark Milligan’s side secured their second win of the season against Hills United at home.
Anthony Morabito continues to be their main attacking threat with three goals so far this season including a brace last weekend. A clash which also saw the return of captain Cam Philpot to the side, who along with Jay Mcgowan completes the front three. Getting that little bit better every week, confidence will be growing in the Saints camp, and they’ll be desperate to turn around a poor head-to-head record against their hosts.
Northern Tigers FC v Hakoah FC; Saturday 7 May, 5pm, North Turramurra Recreation Area
After tasting defeat for the first time this season, Northern Tigers return home to face Hakoah FC hoping to return to their winning ways on their club weekend.
In what is becoming an unfortunate yearly occurrence, Northern Tigers drove back down the motorway on the back of a heavy loss on the scoreboard. But let’s look back at it to get the full picture cause the score line may well have been lying to us.
Very much a game of two halves, Northern Tigers were impressive in the opening stanza almost pinning the Mariners into their own half. Yet unlike weeks previous, they were unable to capitalize instead going into the break behind on the scoreboard despite a goal to Shervin Adeli. A deficit which ultimately cost them as they searched for an equalizer in the second. Still, it remains to be seen if that was just one of those days or something more concerning. Between this and a cup game (tonight), a few eyes will be on the Tigers this week.
They face a Hakoah FC team who are in desperate need of a victory after sliding down the table in recent weeks. Yeah, last weekend was ugly for the Eastern Suburbs based team who were on the end of a dominant Western Sydney Wanderers performance.
Without Luiz Lobo and Dominic Cox in the starting eleven, they started positively opening the scoring through Steven Sohn who scored his first league goal for the club. But heads quickly dropped as they conceded five unanswered goals in the remainder of the match. Watch out for Connor Earley though who is gaining fitness after missing the opening rounds of the season. History isn’t on their side as neither side has won this match as an away side, but we’ve seen weirder things in a competition that always has a surprise up its sleeve.
Hills United FC v Central Coast Mariners FC; Saturday 7 May, 7pm, Blacktown City Sports Centre
Central Coast Mariners will be looking for their second win on the road when they travel to Sydney’s West to take on Hills United.
On Paper, last week will go down as another defeat for Hills United but there were definitely signs of progress in their round eight outing.
But let’s focus on the performance against St George FC cause if we’re being honest, there was a lot to be encouraged about for Bomber’s men. In a youthful front four who started the game, one combination stood out. That being Jacob Lattuga and Vincent D’Ermilio, Lattuga showing a good passing range which almost saw D’Ermilio find the net if not for Ryan Norval. All this without the leadership of Daine Merrin who missed his first match of the season last weekend. Returning to the scene of their most recent triumph, don’t count them out just yet.
Here’s a stat for you, Home sides are winning 48% of games across the competition this season. That tells you how important away wins are going to be come end of the season and it also explains the hit and miss form for the Mariners in recent weeks.
Coming in off a round seven defeat to Blacktown Spartans, The Mariners looked a completely different side at Pluim Park in knocking off the previously undefeated Northern Tigers. Dor Jok showed a striker’s instinct for his brace, while Harry McCarthy capped off his return to the side with a goal as well. But it would be amiss for me not to mention both Lachlan Bayliss who is coming into his own for Andrew Christiansen’s side and the ever-present Sasha Kuzevski who had a brilliant game at right-back.
St George City v Mounties Wanderers FC; Saturday 7 May, 7pm, Penshurst Park
Another week, another top four battle awaits us when St George City and Mounties Wanderers square off at Penshurst Park.
It’s the last game of a four-game home stand for St George City who have claimed two wins and one defeat so far. The defeat coming last weekend against a disciplined NWS Spirit side who have proved themselves as a team tough to break down.
Yeah, that does sound familiar doesn’t it as they look ahead to this weekend’s clash. Mirko Jurilj’s side however are yet to reach the heights we know they can reach this season going forward, their main threat coming through a Jay Jay Morfitis who’s just got back to fitness. Yet with a stable defense conceding just the eleven goals so far, they always give themselves a chance of coming away victorious. A result here and they will reflect on a successful month at home, however failure to pick up a result will be a disappointment.
Now in possession of the longest winning streak in the league, Mounties Wanderers continue to push in an upward direction in 2022. And we’re running out of new things to say about them, which is a good thing in this case.
What is clear is that Jerry Bilokapic and his team have done a tremendous job turning their fortunes around after a tumultuous 2021 and they will be hard to stop. Last weekend, they extended their run to four which a victory over Blacktown Spartans at Cook Park. Brad Bartels continued his goalscoring run with nine in eight games in an all-round polished performance. Now an away day against St George City and home game against Northern Tigers will be a good measuring stick for the second placed side.
SD Raiders FC v Western Sydney Wanderers FC; Saturday 7 May, 7pm, Ernie Smith Reserve
Fresh off a derby victory, another tough challenge awaits Goran Ljuboja’s SD Raiders when Western Sydney Wanderers come to Ernie Smith.
If ever a result is going to spur SD Raiders onto greater things, it’s going to be a derby victory over Bonnyrigg White Eagles. Ljuboja’s side came out with a score to settle scoring twice in the opening ten minutes before showing off their defensive attributes late in the contest.
Those two early goals came from the feet of Daniel Bittar who seems to have stepped up a gear in recent weeks impressing against St George City before terrorizing Bonnyrigg White Eagles five days later. While Mario Aleksik continued to show his value making some crucial second half stops to deny their hosts the chance to get back into it. It’s the first time in a while we’ve seen the Raiders “dominate” a game and with two matches in a week against higher opposition, you get the sense they would love to throw a cat amongst the pigeons on their turf.
When Western Sydney Wanderers win, they win handsomely. Need evidence? Just look at last weekend when the young Wanderers put on a clinic at Hensley Athletic, their third game of the season in which they’ve scored five goals or more.
Now another tough away venue awaits the young Wanderers who are on the edge of the top four. Since we covered Alex Badolato last week, let’s spread out the love in the attacking third by mentioning Connor Rose and Jakov Malbasa who played as the two most advanced players against Hakoah. Rose in particular showing good awareness in his runs in behind while Malbasa scored his fourth goal of the season. While Nectarios Triantis is showing versatility in his role in central midfield lining up alongside Dean Pelekanos.
Blacktown Spartans FC v Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC; Saturday 7 May, 7pm, Blacktown Football Park
In the context of the season, there is perhaps no bigger game this weekend than Blacktown Spartans hosting Bonnyrigg White Eagles in what nearly is a must-win contest.
With nine home games remaining in the 2022 season for Blacktown Spartans, they will be looking to continue their unbeaten start at Blacktown Football Park this weekend. Having beaten Central Coast Mariners in the upset of the season? the week previous, Andy Montgomery’s men were unable to replicate the success against Mounties Wanderers away from home.
Although it could have been so different with the Spartans arguably edging their hosts in the first half in terms of chances. However, despite piling on the pressure late, they fell victim to a Brad Bartels brace at Cook Park. It’s an important fixture for both teams but with a home ground advantage, Spartans may just be slight favourites for this one.
We’ve touched on the struggles to get points on the road earlier in the preview and Bonnyrigg White Eagles are no exception to that rule having claimed just the one point from their past three away matches so far in 2022.
Last week however it was a defeat at home which would’ve stung the Eagles losing to neighbors SD Raiders FC. Drawing positives from the match, Aaron Peterson, and Asmir Kadric both continued on their respective scoring runs but a sluggish start ultimately cost them in a game they were second best in. Two points from their last four games, the games are starting to run out if they want to get the coveted promotion of which the club are aiming for.
This fixture has largely been a successful one for the home side in recent times with 2019 the last time an away side prevailed.
By Football NSW League One Men’s Reporter Justin Smith (Twitter: @smiththejustin)
