Rapidly approaching the halfway mark of the League One Men’s competition, it’s sink or swim time for all our promotion chasing clubs.
And it’s yet another weekend of intriguing fixtures in round ten of the competition, so make sure you join us at the ground or via NPL.TV for an action-packed weekend.
Our Pick: Mounties Wanderers FC v Northern Tigers FC; Saturday 14 May, 7pm, Cook Park (Mt Pritchard)
In our pick of the weekends action, Mounties Wanderers play host to Northern Tigers in a top five matchup in Sydney’s South West.
We’ll start with the hosts shall we. After five straight victories, Jerry Bilokapic’s side tasted defeat after a close contest with St George City away from home. Now losing against last years runaway leaders is far from a disaster but they’ll enjoy coming back to a familiar venue. One which they haven’t tasted defeat at so far this season, the only unbeaten side at home in the division (granted they’ve played less games there).
So… who are we looking out for in this one in the Mounties line up? Well at risk of not mentioning the leading goal scorer in the division. Peter Pelekanos and Matthew Khalil are two players who recently made a return to the starting line-up which have given Bilokapic a selection headache in the dugout. While Carlo Imola continues to impress in midfield. Defeat has become an unfamiliar feeling for Mounties in recent times and you can be sure they’ll be up for this one hosting the league leaders.
After a few weeks of wondering when their unbeaten streak was going to end, Northern Tigers are now staring down the barrel of three straight defeats. In quite the turn of form, they have lost to both Central Coast Mariners and Hakoah FC in as many weeks. Yep, it’s an unpredictable competition, even for one of the better sides in it. However, if they needed any motivation, this game presents a good opportunity to restore the gap between them and fifth place on the ladder.
So, what happened last weekend? Putting my speculation hat on, it seemed to be a case of conceding a goal right when they were starting to get going, something that has happened two weeks in a row. If they cut that out here, it’s hard to see them conceding defeat for the third straight week.
Western Sydney Wanderers FC v St George FC; Saturday 14 May, 7pm, Wanderers Football Park
After two games on the road, Western Sydney Wanderers return to familiar surroundings as they take on St George FC, Saturday night.
In an ominous sign for the competition, Tomi Vidovic’s Wanderers side have impressed in recent weeks having scored eight unanswered goals in fixtures against Hakoah and SD Raiders. Last weekend, the Wanderers showed maturity getting the three points at one of the tougher venues to play their football.
Connor Rose took the plaudits in that one with a brace and his combination with Jakov Malbasa is beginning to bear fruit for the academy side. However, the next month or so is bound to be challenging for this young side with the conclusion of the A-league season bringing its own challenges with any points gained over the period considered a bonus.
They face a St George side who had a reality check in round nine action. After starting their fixture off well against NWS Spirit FC, their opponents stepped up to a gear the Saints couldn’t match eventually conceding four.
This could be a big fixture for the Saints as one of their club stalwarts Jacob Bandur reaches 100 games for the club with his next appearance. And perhaps that will be the boost Mark Milligan’s side needs after last weekend’s defeat. While it’s also worth mentioning Jordan Wang who picked up the goal they did score and continues to impress at left back as the weeks go by.
The scene is set for an intriguing clash Saturday night and with “the people’s champion” in commentary, you just know this will be fun.
Hakoah FC v Blacktown Spartans FC; Saturday 14 May, 7pm, Hensley Athletic Field
Two round nine victors collide when Hakoah FC host Blacktown Spartans at Hensley Athletic Field.
Well, who saw that coming? After a lengthy winless streak, Hakoah FC turned their bad form around with a victory over competition leaders Northern Tigers. It was a performance which they will hope sets the tone for the remaining weeks of the season.
But let’s not get to far ahead of ourselves as we preview their fixture against Blacktown Spartans here. They will be without Luiz Lobo who saw red late on against the Tigers, although the return of Dominic Cox makes them all that bit better. In terms of who to look out for, George Tuson-Firth stands out as their go-to in the attacking third whilst Jordan Koton also found the net last weekend. And let’s not forget Nikolas Loe who saved a penalty late. Things look a lot more positive for Luka Hrzina’s side after last week, can they make it two straight here?
It will be by no means easy though as their opponents too had a similar victory last weekend against Bonnyrigg White Eagles. And I don’t think it’s a stretch to call it the Spartans best performance of the season in a match they controlled for large amounts.
Yes, Andy Montgomery’s side are proving tough to beat at home but there’s improvement to be made on the road having just four points in six fixtures while only scoring five. In better news for Spartans fans though, they have their attack ticking with the likes of Hamish Lamberton, Emmanuel Gonzalez, and Mason Ireland showing good form. While Keith Buckley is beginning to find his feet at the club with a season best performance last weekend.
These two sides can’t be separated on the table, both sitting on 11 points from the opening nine games. With top four beginning to build a buffer, this is an all-important fixture.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC v St George City; Saturday 14 May, 7pm, Bonnyrigg Sports Club
After a disappointing trip on the road, a challenging round ten fixture awaits Bonnyrigg White Eagles who welcome St George City to Bonnyrigg Sports Club.
Winless in five games, it’s desperate time for Bonnyrigg White Eagles and their promotion tilt in 2022. In what we touted as nearly a must-win fixture against Blacktown Spartans, the side from Sydney’s South West perhaps had half an hour where they matched it with their hosts.
Yeah, after going a goal down early, Abbas Saad’s side played their way into the fixture and created a few good chances after the half time break. But for whatever reason, they weren’t able to capitalize in the attacking third. A strange thing to say when they have the likes of Aaron Peterson, Asmir Kadric and Marie Gauthier in the side. With a solid defensive record though, if one of them do begin to fire consistently you would imagine they’ll climb up the table. Will it happen too late though?
Do not go to Penshurst Park! I repeat, Do not go to Penshurst Park!
With that reminder to St George City players and staff out of the way, we can now get to their section of the preview. Yes, after four weeks at home, you’d forgive City players for second guessing themselves as they take to the road this weekend.
Overall, their four-game home stand was a fruitful one claiming nine points from a possible twelve. Last weekend they put in what I would label a more traditional City victory with Jay Jay Morfitis scoring twice in the second half, just reward for a good performance all round. There’s a lot to like about the side Mirko Jurilj has assembled and with a good win last season against their opponents, City will be confident coming into this one.
If there’s one thing the stats tell us, it’s that this game will be tight so three points will be well earned.
NWS Spirit FC v Hills United FC; Saturday 14 May, 7:30pm, Christie Park
Well, if these two teams weren’t familiar with each other before… NWS Spirit and Hills United play out the first of a League/Cup double at Christie Park, Saturday night.
Here’s a thought which is lingering in my mind writing the preview. The fortunes of both NWS Spirit and Northern Tigers seemed to flip at half time in their derby a few weeks ago. Since then, the Spirit have won two games in the league and one in the cup.
In fact, if you look back at their last five games as a whole, the Spirit have acquired ten points of a possible fifteen. Last weekend they prevailed against St George FC, a game in which they showed their rising confidence going forward. Richie Darko scored a goal of the week contender while Geoffry Lino grabbed a brace before Jack Berte added a fourth. Looking ahead at another winnable fixture, it’s quite possible they’ll end the weekend in the top four.
On the form guide, last weekend went down as a defeat for Hills United. But at the risk of sounding patronizing, there were some positives in the way Hills went about their game last weekend against Central Coast Mariners.
Yeah, it’s safe to say Patrick Beach earned his clean sheet against the side from Sydney’s North-west with the Mariners keeper making quite a few saves with the likes of Darcy Ellem, Thomas Makko and Andre Takimi all having chances. Unfortunately though, the losses are beginning to tally up for “Bombers” men and they will be entering this one as underdogs. This is League One Men’s though so anything can happen in these two back-to-back fixtures.
Central Coast Mariners FC v SD Raiders FC; Sunday 15 May, 1pm, Pluim Park
And to cap off the round, SD Raiders make the trip up to Pluim Park as Central Coast Mariners await them.
The good times keep on coming for Central Coast Mariners who have now won four of their last five fixtures in the league. Last weekend they overcame a brave Hills United side on the road which gained them another three valuable away points.
Central to that victory were the performances of Lachlan Bayliss and Teng Kuol amongst others. With a feature on Bayliss coming out in the near future (if not already), lets focus on the latter for now. Kuol made a noticeable impact for the Mariners with his introduction last Saturday night bringing a period of dominance rarely seen by an away side in this division. With their away form clicking into gear, it’s only going to give Christiansen’s side more confidence at home which is ominous for this week’s opponents.
Speaking of, you don’t usually think of SD Raiders as a tougher team to face on the road than at home, yet that is proving the case in 2022. Last week was a taxing one for Goran Ljuboja’s side as after their derby victory over Bonnyrigg White Eagles, they lost to both Northern Tigers (Cup) and Western Sydney Wanderers (League) at home.
It’s been a tough period for the Raiders who are missing several first teamers to injury, a consequence of little time on the training paddock. With that though there has been a silver lining of letting youth players have their opportunity in the first team, several debuting in recent weeks. Survival is the name of the game this weekend before hopefully seeing players come back over the next couple of weeks.
By FNSW League One Men’s Reporter Justin Smith
