Round 21 Review – League Three Men’s
A mammoth penultimate round of Football NSW’s League Three Men’s competition has come to a close, with seven matches played across the week.
Two Thursday night games set the games rolling, with Nepean defeating Parramatta FC 1-0 and Prospect United winning against Newcastle Jets by four goals.
On Saturday evening, Parramatta FC defeated Western Rage 3-1, before later that night, Fraser Park emerged victorious in a 3-2 win over South Coast Flame.
At the same time, Nepean FC and Hurstville FC played out a 1-1 draw, with a later match seeing Hawkesbury City going down to Camden Tigers by a single goal.
On Sunday night, Newcastle Jets headed to the top of the table with a narrow win over Prospect United at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility.
Meanwhile, two Tuesday night matches are previewed, as Camden Tigers and Parramatta FC host Nepean FC and South Coast Flame respectively.
Nepean FC 1 – 0 Parramatta FC
Nepean FC has defeated Parramatta FC by the solitary goal in a midweek match at Jamison Park.
The first half was an intense affair, while both sides had chances to score in the second half, with the opportunities albeit being limited.
Nepean’s goal came in the 70th minute through Zeke Prisuda off a good individual effort.
Parramatta had multiple chances later in the match, with Milorad Cubrilo, Mubarak Saeed, Marko Jez and Adrian Epifanino all taking shots, but it wasn’t enough to get an equaliser.
Coach Gert Disha was disappointed with the result but happy with the performance, while Nepean coach Joe D’Ermilio praised the shift of Andre Cavallaro, Christopher Godoy Bascur and Kamran Qayumi.
Prospect United 4 – 0 Newcastle Jets
In another Thursday night fixture, Prospect United defeated Newcastle Jets 4-0 at Blacktown City Sports Centre.
Cristian Gerardo Leiva Martinez opened the scoring early in the first half before David Muller doubled Prospect’s lead.
In the 36th minute, Martinez earned himself a brace and Prospect rounded out the scoring in the second half through Jeromie Dawo.
Parramatta FC 3 – 1 Western Rage
Parramatta FC has defeated Western Rage to move up to 10th on the table and continue their good run of form.
In the first half, Parramatta had multiple chances to find the net, with Mubarak Saeed eventually converting late in the opening stanza.
In the second half, Western Rage upped their intensity and pressure on their opponents, but Parramatta did well to defend and remain dangerous on attacking transitions.
In the 58th minute, Matthew Joseph got in behind and took the ball around the goalkeeper, but a backtracking defender made a great save on the goalline.
However, Marko Jez was following up well and converted on the rebound to double Parramatta’s advantage.
Western Rage halves the deficit thanks to a fantastic goal from Andrew Foster, but Parramatta rode the wave of pressure and James Pelletier converted off a one-on-one late on to secure the three points for Parramatta.
Parramatta will next take on South Coast Flame on Tuesday night, while Western Rage will come up against Newcastle Jets next Saturday.
Fraser Park 3 – 2 South Coast Flame
Fraser Park have continued their unbeaten streak with another win, as they defeated South Coast Flame 3-2 at home.
A quickfire brace from Shu Torihara within six minutes as well as an own goal got Fraser over the line, while South Coast Flame’s two goals weren’t enough to get anything out of the match.
Fraser Park have had a fantastic second half of the season – despite sitting ninth on the ladder, they now have the longest unbeaten run of any side on the ladder.
They will conclude their season next weekend when facing Parramatta FC, while South Coast Flame will come up against Nepean FC earlier on the Saturday.
Nepean FC 1 – 1 Hurstville FC
Nepean FC has drawn 1-1 with Hurstville FC in a Saturday night match at Cook Park in the away sides’ last regular season match of the competition.
Nepean troubled Prospect in the opening stages off a set piece, with multiple rebounds and blocked shots eventually seeing Hurstville goalkeeper Jacob Botic make the save.
Five minute later, the home side again looked threatening from a corner, as Andre Cavallaro forced a save from Botic directly from the set piece.
Nepean lined up in a 4-2-3-1, with the attacking midfielder in Matthew Crossley often moving in line with the striker to make a front two.
The two wingers also often overloaded attempted to help overload Hurstville’s defensive line by forming a four versus four, which allowed them to play directly forwards and press intensely to regain possession after losing the ball.
Nepean opened the scoring in the 13th minute through Zeke Prisuda.
The home side got in behind off an overload, and after an attempted cross, Prisuda buried the follow up shot with a clinical finish.
Prisuda’s goal came in a brief spell in which he rotated with Kamran Qayumi up front – following the finish, he moved back to the left flank.
Throughout the first half, Crossley acted as a key player for Nepean.
He was the player that most often looked to drop off the attacking line in an effort to win second balls off central headers from Hurstville’s defence, with the attacking midfielder then able to look to play another pass in behind if winning back the ball.
In the 30th minute, Jesse Gagro found himself in behind off a loose ball, but took a heavy touch while advancing into a one on one and lost possession.
Nepean looked to press intensely when losing possession, while they were equally comfortable in sitting in a deeper, resting defence, which remained intense in its pressure to close down compact central areas.
In the 35th minute, Nepean were inches from making it two, as they almost completed a clinical counterattack.
After winning the ball, they transitioned with intensity and authority, and a cross saw Jack Hoban’s header just glance off the crossbar.
In the final third, Nepean only looked to attack with one fullback, with the other remaining in the defensive line to form a back three.
In the second half, Hurstville came out strongly, as they attacked with purpose and forced Nepean to become more desperate in their defensive efforts and blocks.
Hurstville went close off a set piece five minutes into the half, as a fantastic low free kick powered in by Jacob Ritchie from an acute angle just couldn’t be converted by a teammate in the area.
Ritchie was playing in a different role, as he acted as one of the midfield two in Hurstville’s system rather than the left back.
He was tidy in the double pivot, as he showed good composure to retain the ball in central areas before looking to play mainly simple passes wide to allow for the fullbacks to advance into space and look direct through central or wide passes.
Nepean struggled to impose themselves on the match in the first ten minutes of the second half, with the home side struggling to create any chances or find themselves in good positions as they mainly sat in a defensive block.
The home side had their first good opportunity of the second half in the 60th minute through goalscorer Prisuda.
Crossley played a good ball towards the back post which found the head of the winger, but Prisuda couldn’t find the target from inside the box.
Hurstville followed by going close through no. 15, with the winger finding the target from close range and Nepean goalkeeper Jade Jonsson responding well by retaining the ball well with a good catch.
In effort to find an equaliser, Hurstville made numerous changes, which resulted in Samuel Shainfeld joining Dario Borovickic in the double pivot and Ritchie moving to the left wing.
The changes paid dividends for Hurstville, as a substitute equalised in the 68th minute.
A good ball found Juan Esteban Puentes Botero, and the striker made no mistake in converting with a guided header to draw the scores level.
Nepean responded positively to the concession by regrouping and sticking to their game, but Hurstville also remained strong after their goal as they looked to intensify their pressure to earn themselves a highly valuable three points.
Raajdeep Singh was a bright spark for Nepean when coming off the bench, as he troubled Botic with a near post show after a good run, which led to a corner for his side.
Off the set piece, Edward Stewart narrowly stuck over a good chance from close range.
Hurstville created a good chance off good play from Ritchie and Puentes Botero, with the former just unable to connect with a low cross.
It was a frantic finish to the match, with the contest becoming increasingly exciting and end to end but not resulting in a winner for either side.
Nepean coach Joe D’Ermilio stated his thoughts to Football NSW post match.
“It was a game that reflected the conditions (the muddy and bumpy field) and players’ technical ability goes to nothing in conditions like this. We’ve just got to work on those football moments like getting done in one v ones in critical moments in the game. We also missed around four open goal headers and it makes it hard when we don’t convert our chances. We found it difficult to back up after having a game two days ago and three players unavailable for tonight.”
While Hurstville FC skipper Paul Gagro praised some of his young troops on the night.
“Nepean had a better start than us and that’s what got them their goal. I thought we settled in well after and controlled the game and created a fair few chances, but Nepean have been a good defensive side all season. We had a few boys out tonight as well and the young boys that came in really stepped up. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens now.”
Hurstville have played their last match of their regular season campaign, while Nepean will travel to Ron Dine Stadium to play Camden Tigers on Tuesday night.
Hawkesbury City 0 – 1 Camden Tigers
Camden Tigers have defeated Hawkesbury City 1-0 at Valentine Sports Park to propel themselves up to seventh spot on the table.
The lone goal went to Bailey Simpson off a counter-attack in the 54th minute after a tense first half, and despite their efforts, Hawkesbury City couldn’t find an equaliser as the game progressed.
Camden picked up their first win in five matches with this result, while Hawkesbury succumbed to their second consecutive 1-0 defeat.
Hawkesbury will next face Prospect United in their final match of the season, while Camden will play Nepean FC in a Tuesday night clash.
Newcastle Jets 2 – 1 Prospect United
Newcastle Jets have moved to the summit of the League Three Men’s table with a victory over Prospect United on Sunday night.
Prospect opened the scoring off a David Muller header from a corner, with the away side then maintaing the lead until midway through the second half.
A red card to Prosepct allowed the Jets to propel themselves back into the clash, and two goals after that period gave them a crucial three points.
Newcastle will take on Western Rage next Saturday night as they look to wrap up the League Three Men’s ladder, while Prospect will be playing for a spot in the finals when facing Hawkesbury City later on the same day.
Bye: UNSW FC
Preview: Camden Tigers vs Nepean FC – Tuesday 7:30pm, Ron Dine Stadium
Camden Tigers will take on Nepean in a midweek match at Ron Dine Stadium in a catchup game from round 20.
The home side for this match secured their first win in five games with a victory over Hawkesbury City away from home and will be looking to extend on that winning run in this fixture.
Nepean FC, meanwhile, is on a four-game unbeaten streak with their three-match winning run coming to an end as they drew 1-1 with Hurstville FC on the weekend.
Prior to that, they defeated UNSW FC, Western Rage and Parramatta FC to gain their victories.
Nepean will be looking to continue to push into the top three, while Camden will be aiming to stay ahead of the pack in the lower half of the ladder.
Preview: Parramatta FC vs South Coast Flame – Tuesday 8pm, Melita Stadium
In another Tuesday night fixture, Parramatta will take on South Coast Flame at Melita Stadium.
Parramatta will be continuing their heavy run of fixtures to end the season, which has seen them play two games since Thursday and will see another three before Saturday when they conclude their campaign.
The home side for this match could leapfrog above Camden with a victory in the congested lower end of the table.
South Coast Flame, on the other hand, haven’t won in four games and will be looking to move clear of Parramatta with a victory on Tuesday night.
By Football NSW League 3 Men’s Reporter, Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
