Round 5 Review – League Two Men’s
Round Five of the Football New South Wales League Two Men’s competition saw one team win their fifth match from five as the competition well and truly took shape.
The Match of the Round saw Parramatta FC and Fraser Park FC play out a thrilling draw, while league-leaders Nepean FC continued their perfect start to the season against Western Rage.
Elsewhere, Bankstown United held off Hawkesbury City FC at home, while Inner West Hawks FC and Sydney University SFC couldn’t be separated late.
Meanwhile, Gladesville Ryde Magic continued their form away to Prospect United SC, Camden Tigers FC saw off Hurstville FC in a nine-goal thriller, while the Newcastle Jets lost for the first time this season, at home to UNSW FC.
South Coast Flame SC had a bye this round.
Saturday March 4th, 2023
Match of the Round – Parramatta FC 2-2 Fraser Park FC
The Match of the Round this week saw Fraser Park come from behind to rescue a 2-2 draw away to Parramatta FC.
It was an end-to-end start as both teams created chances.
This included a corner for Fraser Park in the 6th minute, where a header from Fraser Park captain Alexis Wenzel forced a fingertip save from the Parramatta goalkeeper.
Nikola Bratic was very vocal between the sticks for Fraser Park as he organised his troops in defence.
Neither team were afraid to put tackles as they won the ball in midfield, as well as in transition, early on.
16 minutes in, Lazar Drakulovic ran down the left flank and crossed the ball to Alexander Nicolosi, who headed the ball just over the crossbar.
Parramatta thought they had hit the front in the 22nd minute through Youssef Badr, but he was ruled offside in the build-up.
Parramatta applied pressure from the front as they looked to win the ball up the field.
They had two shots in two minutes as they put pressure on Fraser Park within their own penalty area.
Dominic Siu set up a chance for Drakulovic after he held up the ball and crossed it into the box, but he headed his effort just over the bar from six yards out under pressure.
Siu was involved again as he took a deflected shot which led to a corner.
Fraser Park scored from the resulting corner.
The corner led to a goal-mouth scramble, which eventually fell at the feet of Paul Turrin, who set up Shu Torihara, as he powered a right-footed shot into the bottom-left of the goal.
However, in the 45th minute, Parramatta earned a penalty after Marco Sama was fouled in the box.
Youssef Badr sent the goalkeeper the wrong way as his right-footed shot found the top-left corner.
The scores were locked at 1-1 at half-time.
Fraser Park created the opening two chances inside the first 10 minutes of the second half as they pushed to find the front.
The match went back-and-forth as both sides created chances.
Fraser Park headed an effort wide before Sama made a solo run into the box; his eventual shot missed the goal by a few inches.
Parramatta built some pressure as Badr rounded the Fraser Park keeper; his effort was saved before Badr had a shot which was also saved.
The pressure told as Parramatta took the lead in the 67th minute.
Sama best his defender on the right of the pitch after he got on the end of a long ball in behind.
He squared the ball into the box for Yuto Mochizuki, who shot at the goalkeeper before he slotted home the rebound.
However, the match had exploded with pace as the end-to-end play continued.
Just three minutes after Parramatta’s goal, Fraser Park levelled proceedings.
Fraser Park had worked the ball down the right before a ball played across the box from Samuel Shepherd found Alexander Nicolosi at the back post on the left.
He tapped the ball home into the roof of the net with power before he picked up the ball quickly to restart play.
Nine minutes passed before the next shot of the match; it was Badr this time with a right-footed shot which blazed over the bar.
A minute later, Parramatta’s goalkeeper denied Fraser Park once again with a smart near-post save.
The intensity in the match picked up and chances were more frequent as both teams searched for the winner.
Daniel Marques tried his luck with a long range effort off the back of a corner but his shot flew wide of the left-hand post.
Fraser Park were resilient in defence as they held Parramatta out.
In the 85th minute, Samuel Shepherd was played in behind but his strong right-footed shot was saved well by the Parramatta goalkeeper.
The noise from the crowd, benches and players rose as the match entered the final five minutes; the tension was high.
With two minutes left, more Parramatta players had shots at goal but they flew high and wide as the match end drew closer.
In the 92nd minute, Alhaj Bangura pulled off a crucial tackle to prevent Nicolosi getting in behind for Fraser Park.
That tackle was the last meaningful action of the match; neither side could make their pressure count as it ended all square, 2-2.
Speaking after the match, Parramatta FC head coach Luis Contigiani said he was proud of his squad and knows it’s all a good learning process for them.
“All in all, I think it was a good game by both teams, I’ve got to give them credit but I think we played, as well, “ Contigiani said.
“[it’s] a new team, a young squad, were trying to implement a game model…
“its going to take time, were going to be patient as a club, as a team…
“I’m grateful that the performance was acceptable and I hope to build on that.”
Fraser Park FC head coach Alex Araujo said he’s hoping to see his team out together a 90-minute performance in the future after the draw in this match.
“I felt like, the first half we didn’t play out game,” Araujo said.
“In the second half, we started playing our game, I felt like we controlled a lot of the ball and created a lot more chances…”
“I felt like we deserved at least a point today…”
“If we can play our game, I feel like we can beat a lot of teams, but until we can do that for 90 minutes, then we’re gonna get these disappointing results.”
Friday March 3rd, 2023
Nepean FC 3-1 Western Rage
Nepean FC won their fifth match in a row as they claimed a convincing 3-1 at home to Western Rage.
Nepean controlled the first half with good ball speed and tempo as Leonard Abdo found the opening goal 10 minutes in.
That lead was doubled after 32 minutes as Bradley Whitworth converted a penalty.
Nepean’s tempo dropped in the second half as Western Rage searched for a way back into the match.
However, Nepean captain Edward Stewart scored Nepean’s third to put the result beyond doubt on the 82nd minute.
Nepean’s clean sheet didn’t survive, though, as Timothy Borg-Williams scored a late goal for the visitors to make the final score 3-1.
Nepean will look for their sixth-straight win away to UNSW FC next week, while Western Rage will chase their first win of the season as Camden Tigers FC visit.
Bankstown United FC 2-1 Hawkesbury City FC
Scott Belgre’s 100th first grade match in charge of Bankstown United FC saw his side hold off a fast-finishing Hawkesbury City FC at Padstow Park.
It was a tough match in rainy conditions on the synthetic grass.
The hosts started the match strong as Amaury Gautier, Tyrone Geany and Mitch Edmunds all had chances but failed to convert.
At the other end, Hawkesbury had chances on the counter, including a shot which hit the crossbar.
However, the breakthrough came after 28 minutes when Ali Nasreddine got in behind the Hawkesbury defence.
He put a dangerous cross into the box, which was attacked well by Mitch Cross as his header found the bottom corner of the goal.
Bankstown’s lead was doubled after 36 minutes from a corner as Steve Wright thundered a header home at the back post.
Anthony Pedavoli hit the crossbar with an effort shortly after, as the Bankstown goalkeeper kept their clean sheet from another Pedavoli effort.
The second half was an even contest as both sides created and missed chances.
Hawkesbury were rewarded for their pressure in the 85th minute as Stuart Gosling headed the ball home from a corner.
Despite late pressure from Hawkesbury, Bankstown held on to secure the three point, 2-1.
Bankstown United FC travel to face Hurstville FC next week, while Hawkesbury City FC will look to bounce back against Parramatta FC in Round Six.
Saturday March 4th, 2023
Inner West Hawks FC 1-1 Sydney University SFC
Inner West Hawks FC and Sydney University SFC could not be separated as the sides played out a tense 1-1 draw at Arlington Oval.
Sydney University had the better of the match early as the Hawks started slow.
They overloaded the midfield and pressed the Hawks in the opening exchanges, which led to their opening goal.
Marcus Del Vecchio capitalised on the strong start as he scored to put Sydney University in the lead.
The Hawks started the second half strong as Hesan Soufi scored after some passing interplay between Lawrence Claxton and Andre Guzman.
Hawks’ captain Peter Yannopoulos missed a header from a Soufi Cross as the scores remained level.
Emanuel Koumis and Guzman also had chances to score from Yannopoulos through balls played them in on goal but they both narrowly missed their respective shots.
Sydney University had multiple changes, themselves, to score but were unable to find the back of the net.
Yannopoulos had a chance himself late for the Hawks but his shot from outside the box just scraped the outside of the bar as the match ended 1-1.
Inner West Hawks FC have a bye next week, while Sydney University SFC will make the long trek to face South Coast Flame FC.
Prospect United SC 2-5 Gladesville Ryde Magic
Gladesville Ryde Magic picked up a strong win away from home as they beat Prospect United SC 5-2 at William Lawson Reserve.
Prospect had the perfect start to the match as they hit the front through Adam Sayour after he broke through Magic’s defence.
They held the Magic out for the next 30 minutes Koki Hiyaoko tapped the ball home from a low cross to level the scores.
Both sides looked to get their fast wide players in behind the respective defences with long balls.
The Magic took the lead into half-time as Hiyaoko scored his double; he created space for himself inside the box and slotted his low driven shot home.
The Magic led 2-1 at half-time.
However, Magic captain Chris Gaitatsis scored with a powerful strike from 20 metres out to give the Magic a 3-1 lead 30 seconds into the second half.
Prospect hit back, however, as Sayour scored his double through a low strike.
Bailey Stevens was brought down into the box for the Magic after he broke through; Gaitatsis slotted the ball home for his second goal of the match.
With the match at 4-2, desperate defence from both sides halted attacking raids.
Davis Ustimenko made a solo run down the left and finished off the play with a goal to give the Magic a 5-2 win.
Gladesville Ryde Magic host the Newcastle Jets next week, while a run of three matches in seven days ended for Prospect as they travel to Fraser Park next week.
Camden Tigers FC 5-4 Hurstville FC
Camden Tigers FC overcame Hurstville FC 5-4 in an epic encounter at Carbiz Stadium.
Francesco Giannetto opened the scoring for Camden in the second minute with a powerful strike.
However, Hurstville hit straight back after some Camden pressure.
Camden responded with a goal of the season contender from Giannetto, who swivelled with his back towards goal before slotting home a left-footed volley into the top-right corner.
However, not long after Hurstville equalised again after some poor Camden defending.
Giannetto was the one to put Camden in the lead again with his hat-trick; he got on the end of a cross after a 20-pass sequence.
Hurstville’s captain equalised off a free kick as the Camden keeper fumbled the shot on target; 3-3.
After half-time, Hurstville took the lead after an individual error in the Camden defending.
However, Leandro Guzman pulled the score back to 4-4 for Camden with a strong finish.
In a bout of possession, Bayley Simpson was hit in the air unintentionally by a Hurstville player as a red card was shown.
Camden pushed for a winner from there and eventually found it through Jack Harris.
He powered a header home from a corner to give Camden the win in a thriller, 5-4.
Camden travel to face Western Rage in Round Six, while Hurstville will look to bounce back at home to Bankstown United FC.
Sunday March 5th, 2023
Newcastle Jets 1 – 3 UNSW FC
Newcastle Jets suffered their first defeat of the season, 3-1 at home to the hands of UNSW FC.
The Jets opened the scoring early in the ninth minute through Ezra Palombini.
However, they conceded just before half-time in the 44th minute to Jack Fulton from a header from a free kick, as the sides went into the break level.
Midway through the second half, Newcastle found themselves behind in the match for the first time to a Matias Da Silva Santos.
Ten minutes out from full time, UNSW FC sealed the result with a third goal, this time from Fulton again who whipped the ball into the top corner from 20 yards.
The Newcastle Jets will look to bounce back from their first defeat next week as they travel to face Gladesville Ryde Magic, while UNSW FC will face Nepean FC in another top-of-the-table clash.
By Football New South Wales League Two Men’s Writer, Dylan Costa @_dylancosta
