Round 21 Review – League Two Men’s
Round 21 of League Two Men’s football produced some exhilarating fixtures with 26 goals scored across the weekend.
Our match of the round gave us one of the best games of the season, as Dunbar Rovers secured promotion with a tough win over Gladesville Ryde Magic.
Elsewhere in League Two, Central Coast United extended their incredible home form against Sydney University, Rydalmere Lions and Dulwich Hill played out a tense draw, as Inter Lions flexed their attacking muscles against Macarthur Rams.
Canterbury Bankstown kept their finals hopes alive against Inner West Hawks, as Bankstown City defeated their local Rivals, Bankstown United.
Match of the Round: Gladesville Ryde Magic 0-2 Dunbar Rovers FC
Dunbar Rovers have secured promotion in a dramatic 2-0 win over Gladesville Ryde Magic in the final game of the round.
In what was arguably the most important game of the regular season, the players took the intensity up a notch in a thrilling contest.
After an even first half of the game, Dunbar took the advantage and began to show real promise in attack throughout the second half.
Calvin Lovric gave the visitors the lead at the hour mark, before Olivier Beltran-Woodward sealed promotion for Dunbar in the final minute of regulation.
In the opening minutes of the game, both sides had a conservative approach to their attacks as they began to feel each other out.
After a back and forth opening half hour, Dunbar found themselves on the front foot and put the Magic under the pump defensively.
Jonny Ross came within inches of an opener after a perfect cross from Beltran-Woodward found him open in the centre of the box, with his header just going over the target.
Dunbar continued to apply pressure and it was their skipper, Laureano Gomez Castro who was sensationally denied by Kiriakos Tohouroglou moments before the break.
The Magic had a chance to send themselves into the break with an advantage after Bailey Stevens found himself through on goal and with just the keeper to beat, his effort narrowly missed the front stick.
The Rovers started off the second half strongly and forced the Magic defence into a conceding a handful of free-kicks in dangerous areas.
After numerous set-piece chances Dunbar eventually cracked the Magic defence after Peter Crevani picked out Lovric from a free-kick where he smashed his chance home.
Dunbar’s goal forced Gladesville Ryde to put all their focus on attack as they began to send numbers forward in order to keep their season alive.
The final half hour of play had a grand final feel to it, with the packed crowd adding a chaotic atmosphere to the final period of play.
The sides began to go back in forth in attack, with Dunbar being caught on the counter-attack a few times.
Ben Wrigley put his body on the line to keep Dunbar in the lead, meeting an oncoming Stevens to the ball and bravely heading the ball away metres away from his box.
Tohouroglou kept the Magic alive in the later stages of the game, making a world-class save in a one on one situation with Beltran-Woodward.
As the seconds began to tick away there was a sense of desperation from the Magic as they threw everyone besides the keeper forward in attack.
The referee was kept busy in the final ten minutes, with tempers flaring on the Gladesville Ryde side as they could feel the result slowly slipping away.
The desperation in attack from the Magic was the source of their eventual undoing as they were out-numbered in one last one attack from Dunbar that resulted in a goal.
It was Beltran-Woodward that finished off a chaotic bit of play around the six-yard box, to send the Dunbar bench and players into a wild sequence of celebration as they had all but sealed promotion for 2022.
In what was one of the most intense games of the year, it was the Rovers who walked away as victors and celebrated long into the night.
Dunbar coach, Christian Soares was ecstatic at his side’s promotion and noted his relief in their hard work finally paying off.
“We’ve been unlucky for a couple of weeks now in the games we have controlled in possession, sometimes luck counts in football, fortunately today we got the win,” he said.
“The ball went in today, we’ve been up there for 20 rounds so it’s more than deserving that we got promoted, we’re going up a division!”
Central Coast United FC 3-0 Sydney University SFC
Central Coast United kicked off Round 21 with a 3-0 win over Sydney University, securing a finals spot in the process.
The Pirates returned to Pluim Park for one last time in the regular season looking to get a ninth home win of the season – giving themselves the best home record in the league.
The hosts continued on their exceptional home form in the early minutes as Cade Mapu setup Daniel McFarlane for the opener in the sixth minute.
The dream start didn’t stop there for the hosts, as the skipper stepped up once again and slotted home his free-kick in the 12th minute.
It was a tough start for Uni, going down by two goals in the opening 15 minutes after starting off the game looking solid on both sides of the field.
Central Coast continued in their ruthless pursuit of goals and were rewarded in the 25th minute as Luke Corcoran picked out Mapu in the box for the third goal.
As the sides went into the sheds for the break, United held a three goal lead but would have to remain wary of a second half revival from their opponents.
The second half was a much calm affair, but it did seem like the long trip up the coast began to take its effect on Uni.
Uni were unlucky to have not found the back of the net in the second half after a much improved showing in both attack and defence.
The win for Central Coast puts them in prime position for a third place finish, as a win against Inter Lions next week could see them finish as high as third.
Sydney Uni will return home for the final game of the season they face Gladesville Ryde Magic next Friday night.
Rydalmere Lions FC 1-1 Dulwich Hill FC
After going down early, Rydalmere came back to share the points with Dulwich Hill in an tense affair.
Coming off a mid-week game with the Berries, fatigue was bound to play apart in Rydalmere’s performance after playing on a damp field at the Crest.
Dulwich Hill looked the better of the two sides in the first half, with fresh legs seemingly separating the teams.
The visitors got off the mark in the 8th minute as Harry Browell capitalised on the strong start from his side.
Dulwich Hill continued to impress in the first half but were unable to crack the strong defence of Rydalmere, as the sides were separated by just one goal heading into the break.
It was a tale of two halves for Rydalmere, flipping the script on their opponents and putting them on the backfoot early.
Rydalmere’s captain, Ali McKie made his presence felt in the game by scoring the equaliser just minutes after the restart.
The Lions continued to put Dulwich Hill on the backfoot as the second half progressed, but to their credit the visitors held up in defence.
With the game coming to a close, Dulwich Hill were dealt a massive blow with Daniel Fornito receiving a second yellow-card, which will effectively end his season.
Dulwich Hill can still have a say on the top five as they face Bankstown City next week, with Rydalmere battling Macarthur in the final round of the season.
Macarthur Rams FC 2-8 Inter Lions FC
In one of the more shocking results of the season, Inter Lions have put eight goals past the Rams who held the best defensive record in the league.
Macarthur needed a positive result to give themselves breathing room on the Berries in sixth, but walked away with the worst possible result.
After opening the scoring on the half hour mark, the Rams were blown out of the water by a ruthless Lions’ attack.
Macarthur started off the game looking the stronger of the two sides, gaining the majority of possession and holding off the potent attack of Inter.
Christian Torelli opened the scoring in the 29th minute, but their lead was short lived as Daniel Georgievski equalised within a minute.
It was all one-way traffic from here as Inter looked likely to score every time they were in range of the target.
In an wild final ten minutes of the first half, Inter entered the lead after Alex Becerra’s strike in the 32nd minute.
A quickfire brace from Owen Duke sent Inter three goals clear heading into the break, with all the momentum in their corner.
The Rams gave themselves an avenue back into the game upon the resumption of play, with Mark Symington reducing the deficit to two goals in the 48th minute.
However, the rest of the second half was much of the same for the visitors with four more goals to round out the comprehensive victory.
The skipper, Sam Armson restored the three goal buffer minutes later, shortly before Georgievski popped up once again to secure a double.
Inter’s ruthless pursuit for goals didn’t end until the final minutes of play, as Ollie Green and Patrick Scibilio found the back of the net, putting the finishing touches on an outstanding night for the league leader’s.
The statement win for the Lions not only puts them on an impressive +27 goal difference for the year, but secures first place and another bit of silverware.
Inter return home for one last time in the regular season as they look for revenge against Central Coast, as Macarthur will be fighting for finals against Rydalmere.
Inner West Hawks FC 1-5 Canterbury Bankstown FC
Canterbury Bankstown bounced back from a tough mid-week loss, dispatching Inner West courtesy of a hat-trick from Bonmyeong Koo.
The odds were stacked against the Hawks before the game, with a handful of first-team regulars missing the fixture.
The Berries were on the back of a tough game against Rydalmere on Wednesday night but were able to put their opponents on the backfoot in the opening stages.
After surviving an ambush of Berries’ attacks, the Hawks struck first after Peter Yannopoulos setup Mark Younes in the 29th minute.
The lead was short lived however, with Koo converting from the penalty spot minutes later before Jake Bradshaw sent the Berries into the lead after finishing off a rapid counter-attack.
With the momentum firmly shifted to the visitors, they continued to extend their lead with Andre Guzman ensuring a two-goal cushion heading into the break.
The second half was controlled by the Berries, as the young Hawks were put to the sword by the clinical Berries.
Koo capped off a successful night with two second half goals to give him a well-deserved hat-trick and putting him just one goal off securing the golden boot for 2022.
The Hawks found a second-wind in the final stages of the game, but it was no match for the Berries who kept their finals hopes alive with a massive victory.
Canterbury Bankstown enter a tricky end to the season when they face Bankstown United midweek before a Round 22 fixture with Dunbar, as Inner West look to get off the bottom of the table when they also play Bankstown United.
Bankstown City FC 2-1 Bankstown United FC
Bankstown City have remained supreme in the Bankstown Derby after a hard fought battle with their bitter rivals, Bankstown United.
United were out for revenge after being outclassed by City in the reverse fixture that ended in an emphatic 5-0 victory for the Lions.
As per the script, it was an incredibly physical and intense game that saw nine yellow-cards given out in the match.
The first half was a very even contest, as United set the tone for the tense match-up in the early stages of the game.
Jair Fernandez was kept busy from the United attack, being called into action and making a couple of crucial saves to keep the score level.
After a physical opening 45 minutes, it was City who took the upper hand in the second half and began to put their lethal attack on full display.
After an eight minute brace in the first derby in Round 11, Nikola Todoroski came back to haunt United and bagged two goals in five minutes in the second half.
Jefferey Issa’s cross gave Todoroski a clear path at the near post to open the scoring, before heading home his second from a perfectly placed corner.
After going down by two goals in a matter of minutes, United began to look more assertive and found some promising chances in attack.
United’s chances at a result looked slim after Oscar Nieto Rava was shown a second yellow-card in the 72nd minute.
Although they were down to ten men, United gave the derby one last twist as Mitch Edmunds was brought down in the box and left it to Mouhamed Hamdache to open the scoring in the dying minutes.
United continued to push but were unable to find an equaliser as City walked away with their second derby win of the season.
City will now look for another positive result to secure finals when they face Dulwich Hill next week, as United battle Inner West in a battle for the spoon.
By Football NSW Men’s League Two Writer, Dominic Criniti @DominicCriniti
