Round 19 Review – League Two Men’s
There were plenty of big scorelines in a limited Round 19 of the 2024 Football NSW League Two Men’s season.
The Match of the Round Sydney University SFC vs South Coast Flame FC, as well as Parramatta FC vs Camden Tigers FC, were both rescheduled and will be played at a future date.
Friday, 7th June 2024
Granville Rage 5-2 Fraser Park FC
Granville Rage won back-to-back matches for the first time this season after they came from behind against Fraser Park FC 5-2 at Rydalmere Park to complete the league double over the visitors.
Fraser Park took the early lead in the contest in the 7th minute through Shu Torihara, ensured Fraser Park got off to the perfect start at 1-0 up.
The Rage caught Fraser Park off guard in the 23rd minute when Fraser Park goalkeeper, Amaro Ferreira challenged for the ball but caught a Rage attacker instead – Ante Tomic scored from the penalty spot to level the match at 1-1.
Timothy Borg-Williams gave the hosts a 2-1 lead in the 26th minute, before Nikita Andricopoulos scored the Rage’s third goal in the 33rd minute.
Fraser Park responded one minute later when Alexander Nicolosi scored his 10th goal of the season after he fired a powerful shot from the edge of the 18-yard-box, which found the bottom-right corner of the goal, to make the score 3-2 to the Rage.
A frantic scoring period saw the Rage convert for their fourth goal of the night before half-time when an error from a Fraser Park player in the box gave the Rage another penalty – Tomic slotted the ball away for his 10th goal of the season to give the Rage a 4-2 half-time lead.
Both sides created good chances in the second half, but Fraser Park were unable to find the back of the net, including from a shot which hit the right post.
The Rage wrapped up the match in style with their fifth goal, this time to Nikola Todoroski, who scored his 13th goal of the season, to ensure a 5-2 home win for Granville.
The win for Granville saw them rise two spots into 8th place on the ladder, while Fraser Park lost back-to-back matches for the first time since Round 12 as they stayed in 13th place.
Granville Rage will hope to win a third-straight match and continue their resurgence when they travel to face and in-form 6th-placed Hurstville FC in Round 20, while Fraser Park will hope to end a run of back-to-back losses when they travel to take on 11th-placed Hawkesbury City FC.
Granville Rage 5 (Ante Tomic 23’ pen, 37’ pen; Timothy Borg-Williams 26’; Nikita Andricopoulos 33’; Nikola Todoroski 71’)
Fraser Park FC 2 (Shu Torihara 7’; Alexander Nicolosi 34’)
Saturday, 8th June 2024
Inner West Hawks FC 5-1 Gladesville Ryde Magic
Inner West Hawks FC continued to be in the hunt for the top two this season after recorded their biggest win of the season in a strong 5-1 win over Gladesville Ryde Magic at home.
The Hawks started the match quickly and almost scored from a corner, but they did open the scoring in the 25th minute when Lawrence Claxton headed home from close range after a long ball was played into the box to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Gladesville hit back relatively quickly in the 34th minute after some team build-up play saw Genki Kohyama get in behind the Hawks defence and finish the move to level the match at 1-1.
Just before half-time, however, the Hawks re-took the lead from a corner kick, which Tomohiro Ishii headed home to give the Hawks a 2-1 half-time lead.
After the break there were more chances to both sides, but the Hawks scored their third in the 70th minute when a free-kick from around half-way was delivered into the box by Jacob Palamidas – Ishii was on hand to head the ball home to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead.
Five minutes later, the Hawks added a fourth goal when Palamidas found space on the edge of the box and played a through ball to substitute Stavros Palapanis, who slotted the ball into the far corner of the net.
Hawks substitute Nathan Chakanetsa wrapped up the scoring for the Hawks at 5-1 in the 88th minute when he stepped up and converted a penalty, after he had initially won the spot kick – that gave the Hawks their biggest win of the season.
The win for the Hawks was their fifth in a row as they kept flying in 4th place on the ladder, while despite the loss for the Magic, they stayed in 14th place.
The Hawks will hope to continue to fly high when they host 12th-placed Parramatta FC in Round 20, while the Magic will hope to respond and avoid falling to last-place when they face last-placed Sydney University SFC.
Inner West Hawks FC 5 (Lawrence Claxton 25’; Tomohiro Ishii 41’, 70’; Stavros Palapanis 75’; Nathan Chakanetsa 88’ pen)
Gladesville Ryde Magic 1 (Genki Kohyama 34’)
Hurstville FC 4-2 Bankstown United FC
Hurstville FC continued their strong form after they ended Bankstown United FC’s three-match winning streak with a big comeback 4-2 win at home.
After a fast and intense match opening, Bankstown opened the scoring early in the match in the 9th minute when Corey Freeman crossed a ball in from the right to Mitchell Cross in the middle of the box, who headed home for his 20th goal of the season to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Hurstville bounced back quickly in the 12th minute when Conor Earley scored from a direct free-kick from range – the ball went over the Bankstown wall and into the back of the net to level the match at 1-1 for Hurstville.
Bankstown looked dangerous on transition early, while Hurstville looked to hurt the visitors out wide early.
Bankstown struck back and re-took their lead at 2-1 in the 25th minute when build-up play from the left from Cross ended with a ball being played in for Jovan Blagojevic, who volleyed home for the visitors.
Hurstville rallied from there and had a shot from Juan Da Silva saved by Bankstown goalkeeper, Mitchell Evans, while Bankstown had a header which went over the crossbar from close range shortly after.
Earley ensured the two teams went into half-time level at 2-2, however, when he took a shot on from 25 yards, which found the bottom-right corner from distance to give Hurstville momentum heading into half-time.
In the second half, Hurstville found plenty of joy down their left side in attack and forced Bankstown into turnovers.
Hurstville took the lead for the first time in the match in the 60th minute when Earley whipped a free-kick into the box – that was saved by Evans, before the ball fell to Jesse Gagro, who scored on the rebound to give Hurstville a 3-2 lead.
Da Silva forced Evans into a one-on-one save following that goal as Hurstville looked to ensure the victory late.
Jacob Botic came off the bench for Hurstville and wrapped up the match at 4-2 in the 82nd minute when he beat his defender and smashed the ball home to give Hurstville another big victory.
The win for Hurstville was their third from their past four matches and saw them rise from 9th up into 6th place on the ladder as their resurgence continued, while the loss for Bankstown saw them stay in 2nd place, temporarily.
Hurstville will hope to win a fourth match from their past five when they host 8th-placed Granville Rage in Round 20, while Bankstown United FC will have to wait for their next match as they have a bye in Round 20.
Hurstville FC 4 (Conor Earley 12’, 37’; Jesse Gagro 60’; Jacob Botic 82’)
Bankstown United FC 2 (Mitchell Cross 9’; Jovan Blageovic 25’)
Sunday, 9th June 2024
Newcastle Jets 6-0 Prospect United SC
The Newcastle Jets sent yet another warning to the rest of the competition and remained undefeated for the season after they hit Prospect United SC for six in a big 6-0 home win in Round 20.
The match was tight early with the Jets holding possession and Prospect utilising their wingbacks effectively out wide.
Xavier Bertoncello opened the scoring for the Jets in the 30th minute for his 9th goal of the season as the Jets took another step towards an 18th-straight match without a loss this season.
Bertoncello doubled the Jets’ lead ten minutes later after he finished off a good attacking Jets move to give the hosts a 2-0 lead at half-time.
The Jets scored a third goal less than a minute into the second half through Janni Rafty, who dented Prospect’s chances of a comeback in the match.
Amos Okumu scored the Jets fourth goal in the 57th minute as the league leaders looked set to pick up another big win this season.
The Jets continued to assert their dominance and prove their sharpness in front of goal in the 85th minute when Rafty completed his double for his 11th goal of the season.
Despite missing Alex Nunes and Zac Bowling, the Jets finished off the scoring with a sixth goal in the first minute of stoppage-time through Wil Southcombe as the Jets recorded a commanding 6-0 home win over Prospect.
The win for the Jets kept them flying high in 1st place and put them six points ahead of the 2nd-placed Bankstown United FC, as well as eight points ahead of 3rd-placed Mounties Wanderers FC, who have two matches in hand, while the loss for Prospect was their fifth in a row and saw them drop from 9th to 10th.
The Newcastle Jets will hope to continue their unbeaten season when they host 5th-placed South Coast Flame FC in Round 20, while Prospect will hope to win a first match in six weeks when they host 9th-placed Camden Tigers FC.
Newcastle Jets 6 (Xavier Bertoncello 30’ pen, 40’; Janni Rafty 46’, 85’; Amos Okumu 57’; Wil Southcombe 90+1’)
Prospect United SC 0
Central Coast United FC had a bye this round and dropped from 6th place to 7th place.
The result of Mounties Wanderers FC’s home match against Hawkesbury City FC will be included in the Round 20 preview.
By Football New South Wales League Two Men’s Reporter, Dylan Costa (@_dylancosta)
