Round 11 Review – League Three Men’s

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Another invigorating round of the Football NSW League Three Men’s competition has come to a close, with some crucial results making for an ever fascinating second half of the campaign. 

UNSW FC began round 11 with a 4-0 victory over Camden Tigers on Friday night, before Nepean FC drew 1-1 with South Coast Flame the next day.

On Sunday afternoon, Hawkesbury City defeated Prospect United 3-1 to regain their place on the summit of the league table.

In the evening, Fraser Park recorded their second win of the season, defeating Parramatta FC 2-0, before Newcastle Jets defeated Western Rage 3-1 to conclude the weekend of action.

On Tuesday, Parramatta will host South Coast Flame at Melita Stadium, with the away side looking to continue their strong form over the last five games.

 

UNSW FC 4 – 0 Camden Tigers

UNSW FC opened the weekend of League Three Men’s action with a 4-0 victory over Camden Tigers at Hensley Athletic Field.

UNSW made a quick start, after capatalising on a lost ball from their opponents on halfway.

Matias Da Silva Santos received the ball and glided past three defenders to finish from six yards out, and give his side the opening goal within two minutes.

Seven minutes later, UNSW doubled their advantage through Luke Burke.

Over the next 20 minutes, the home side continued to apply pressure and created chances without another goal to show for it.

Camden Tigers made two changes at halftime and they had an immediate impact with a few chances created early in the second stanza, but UNSW added a third in the 48th minute.

Kevin Lopes took advantage of Camden losing possession, and dribbled the ball again past multiple defenders before striking from eight yards to add a third for his side.

Dylan James Walz added a fourth for UNSW in the 54th minute, finishing from a corner.

UNSW will be looking to take their form into next Friday’s match against Hawkesbury City, whilst Camden Tigers will look to regroup when hosting Newcastle Jets on Wednesday night.

 

Nepean FC 1 – 1 South Coast Flame

In the only Saturday match of the weekend, Nepean FC and South Coast Flame split the points, with two penalties deciding a tense game.

Both sides had opportunities to strike in the opening half an hour of the match, with Christopher Bascur and Jack Balmforth having early chances for Nepean and South Coast respectively.

The away side were the first side to score, with Jack Balmforth winning a penalty off a handball for his side.

Off the penalty in the 33rd minute, Matthew Mazevski sent Nepean goalkeeper Jade Jonsson the wrong way to give Flame the lead.

A few minutes before halftime, Lucas Ayala went close for South Coast Flame, bringing down a long ball from Mazevski and just missing a shot from six yards out.

After the resumption of play to begin the second half, Nepean dominated play, but almost saw their deficit increased to two, with a mistake in possession seeing Jack Balmforth steal the ball and cut back to find Fabian Iacovelli, who missed an open target.

In the 59th minute, Nepean won a penalty of their own, after a run and cross from Andre Cavallaro seeing a handbal be called.

Mitchell King converted calmly for the home side to bring the scores level.

Both sides had chances to take the lead following the penalty, but the points remained shared at the final whistle.

Nepean coach Joe D’Ermilio was disappointed in his side’s performance in the opening forty five minutes, stating “the first half was easily the worst performance of the year in terms of application and execution”.

Meanwhile, Darren Jones was relatively pleased with the display on show from South Coast.

“It was a really solid performance away from home against a quality side in at times tough conditions,” he said.

“The boys are learning to grind out results which is pleasing to see – everyone is working hard and we are improving with every week.”

Nepean will next face Fraser Park on Saturday Night, while South Coast Flame will play Parramatta FC in a midweek match on Tuesday.

 

Prospect United 1 – 3 Hawkesbury City

Hawkesbury City have defeated Prospect United to take back their place at the summit of the League Three Men’s table.

Hawkesbury opened the scoring early through James Thurtell off a corner, before doubling their advantage thanks to a Daniel Morsillo cracker from outside the box.

Prospect United clawed a goal back just before halftime through Cristian Martinez, and they took that ascendancy into the second half, with Hawkesbury looking to play more on attacking transitions.

They almost equalised with twenty minutes of play to go, but a crucial save from Hawkesbury Daniel Schwarzer prevented a Poda Da header to keep the away side ahead.

A counter-attacking goal from Harry Drew sealed the result for Hawkesbury in the 75th minute, with Schwarzer making another good save to prevent Prospect from coming back into the match a few minutes after.

Hawkesbury will next face UNSW FC on Friday night, while Prospect United will be given a week off with a bye.

 

Parramatta FC 0 – 2 Fraser Park

Fraser Park have defeated Parramatta FC 2-0 on Sunday night to record their second win of the season.

Parramatta had the first shot of the match after a tense opening five minutes, with a left footed effort from just outside the box being blocked by Fraser’s defence.

Parramatta continued to dominate the ball in the five minutes that followed, but struggled to create any opportunities with their lofted passes into the box.

When dropping off their opposition’s midfield line, Fraser players were allowed time on the ball, with Parramatta happy to sit deeper and congest the space in between their defensive and midfield lines.

Fraser showed good intent in playing through the lines, but struggled to penetrate Parramatta’s block in the opening fifteen minutes, and were yet to have a shot on goal.

Meanwhile, Marko Jez went close to opening the scoring for Parramatta in the 12th minute, with fantastic interplay around the box controlled by Milorad Cubrilo resulting in the midfielder placing a shot narrowly wide of the post.

Cubrilo was showing his quality in the middle of the park for Parramatta, creating fantastic short combinations to progress play through the centre.

He was able to play into the space between Fraser’s midfield two and their backline with intelligent disguised passes, and was involved in the majority of Parramatta’s better attacks in the opening quarter of an hour.

Parramatta continued to attack with intent and positivity, with Mubarak Saeed taking the ball wide of a defender and striking just wide of the near post in the 20th minute.

Fraser had a good sustained passage of possession across a few minutes which resulted in their first shot of the match, with Parramatta’s goalkeeper making a good save one on one after a beautiful pass from Keanu Huber found his teammate unmarked.

Two minutes later, Fraser went close through Miki Bisceglia, with the advanced midfielder finding the side netting after cutting inside from the right flank.

Parramatta continued to rotate positions and players in search of the opening goal, as Cubrilo became the central striker in their system after playing the opening fifteen minutes as the deepest midfielder.

Fraser continued to threaten Parramatta’ goal, but the latter side missed a fantastic opportunity to strike, with Patrick Ferrara smothering well in a one on one.

Fraser went down the other end a minute later and forced a good save out of Parramatta’s goalkeeper, with Huber striking a driven low shot from just outside the box.

Off the resulting corner, Bisceglia opened the scoring for Fraser, guiding home a near post header to give his side the crucial first goal of the match.

Fraser looked to kick on from their opener, and started to penetrate Parramatta’ defence, finding pockets in half spaces between the wide and central parts of the field.

Bisceglia went close to gaining himself a brace in the 37th minute, with Parramatta looking to regroup and gain a stronghold on the match.

Parramatta began to work their way back into the game in the last eight minutes of the half, putting consistent lofted crosses into the box to trouble Fraser’s backline.

However, they struggled to find space to strike, and were unable to win second balls in and around the edge of the box.

Parramatta began the second half with more intensity and attacking intent, as Fraser Park looked to attack on transitions in the opening five minutes.

Fraser did well to settle and stagnate Parramatta’s energy in the moments to follow, slowing play down by retaining possession.

Fraser continued to look dangerous on counter-attacks, and in the 57th minute, they doubled their advantage with a scintillating attacking transition, capatalising on a loose touch in Parramatta’s defensive line.

Bisceglia won possession and drove forwards, before playing a nicely weighted pass through to Shu Torihara.

With the goalkeeper advaning, the forward guided a shot over the goalkeeper’s head to convert clinically for Fraser.

Parramatta almost looked to immediately retaliate with a goal of their own, but their opposition’s defence held strong in numbers to make a good block to prevent a goalbound effort from Cubrilo in the moments to follow Fraser’s second goal.

Fraser moved to a back three in order to cope with Parramatta’s increasing attacking impetus following their second goal.

After a quiet spell, Parramatta began to work themselves back into the game, looking to strike from outside the box with multiple shots as the 70th minute neared.

In the 69th minute Cubrilo feinted his way around his marker, before narrowly missing the near post with a cheeky toe poked effort as he veered inside.

Parramatta began to increase their intensity and urgency as they pressed high, as they looked for some leadway back into the match.

Thomas Todd almost found the back of the net for Parramatta FC with 11 minutes remaining, as he just couldn’t wrap his foot around a bouncing ball at the far post to convert.

A minute later, Jez saw his goal bound shot from outside the box off a corner cleared off the line, as Parramatta edged closer to finding an equaliser.

Parramatta couldn’t find a target off an indirect freekick just inside the box, with a powerful shot unable to find the target with six minutes remaining.

Fraser continued to slow the intensity, and picked up their second victory of the season and their first clean sheet of the campaign in an impressive performance against Parramatta FC.

Fraser Park will next face Nepean FC again at home, while Parramatta FC will host South Coast Flame at Melita Stadium on Tuesday night.

 

Newcastle Jets 3 – 1 Western Rage

Newcastle Jets have defeated Western Rage 3-1 as they look to move closer towards the top end of the League Three Men’s table with their games in hand.

The Jets prevailed thanks to a double from Archie Goodwin and a goal from Adam Zervas, but coach Ric Marchioli has declared his side are “far from the standard we expect to be playing at”.

Western Rage halved their deficit at the beginning of the second stanza, reducing Newcastle’s lead to the solitary goal after a good through ball over the top from Jacob Carluccio found Mitchell Whalley, who converted well from a tight angle.

They then won a penalty but couldn’t convert to bring the scores level, with Newcastle goalkeeper Jack Kenny making a good save from the spot.

Western Rage coach Jarrad Carluccio praised both sides for their performances, while saying that they’ve built a good platform to enter the second half of the season, and that their first win is coming with increasingly positive performances.

Bye: Hurstville FC 

Preview: Parramatta FC vs South Coast Flame – Tuesday 8pm, Melita Stadium

Parramatta FC will host South Coast Flame at Melita Stadium in a midweek match after a postponement from round two.

Parramatta are coming off a 2-0 loss to Fraser Park, following a victory over Western Rage last weekend.

They’ll be looking to return to winning ways midweek, in attempt to overcome the disappointment of a loss away to Fraser.

However they’ll be coming up against a tricky opponent, with South Coast Flame losing just once in their last five matches.

They drew to Nepean FC on Saturday night, and prior to a defeat to Newcastle Jets, beat Camden Tigers and Hurstville FC 5-1 and 3-1 respectively.

Both sides will be looking to continue their good form in what is set to be an exciting clash at Melita Stadium.

By Football NSW League 3 Men’s Reporter, Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)