Round 21 Review – League Two Men’s
More history and memorable moments highlighted a big weekend of Round 21 action in the 2024 Football NSW League Two Men’s season.
The Match of the Round this week saw a special goal separate Central Coast United FC and Granville Rage.
Saturday, 22nd June 2024
Match of the Round: Central Coast United FC 1-0 Granville Rage
10-man Central Coast United FC recorded a big 1-0 win in the pouring rain over fellow mid-table rivals Granville Rage in a tense Match of the Round to create a small gap between the two sides.
The Rage’s Timothy Borg-Williams had the opening shot of the match within the first two minutes, while at the other end in the 8th minute, Central Coast’s Alex Arbelo had an audacious attempt from 22 yards saved at full stretch by Rage goalkeeper, Branko Vidakovic.
Central Coast held the ball well early in the match, with the Rage looking to counter and make good forays forward.
Central Coast were in control of opportunities in the match, with their next two shots going wide, before one shot forced the ball to be saved for a corner.
In the 37th minute, Central Coast’s Anthony Zullo had a long shot from 22 yards on goal, which forced a spectacular save from Vidakovic at the top-right corner of the goal.
Two minutes later, Cade Mapu wriggled his way past a few Granville defenders and forced Vidakovic into a save, before the ball was cleared off the line by the Rage defence.
The match took a turn in the 40th minute when the Rage’s Jad Moussa was in behind the Pirates’ defence, through on goal, but was pulled down to the ground by the Pirates’ Yuki Morikawa – he was shown a straight red card for the challenge and the hosts were down to ten men for the remained of the match.
The Rage made a few good runs late in the half and despite Central Coast’s dominance in chance creation, the two teams went into half-time scoreless with the match on the edge.
The Pirates had the first two opportunities of the second half, including one from Mark Partridge which was pushed away by Vidakovic, before the Rage had a header go wide from Borg-Williams.
The tough, wet conditions meant ball control was harder, and keeping footing was also a problem.
Strong defending from Central Coast kept the Rage at bay early in the second half before the match took another turn in the 69th minute.
After a few scraps for the ball in midfield, the ball launched into the air after a challenge from Pirates substitute Jarrod Steen – Mapu waited for the ball to come down, surrounded by Rage players, and fired a left-footed volley from 25 yards out, which cannoned the ball into the back of the net to the surprise of everyone at the ground.
The wonderstrike from Mapu gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead with ten men.
The match opened up from there with the Rage hunting the equaliser, with counterattacks from the hosts unable to be finished and a chance from a corner from the Rage collected by Central Coast goalkeeper, Zayd Husain.
The Rage created the next two chances in the 85th and 87th minute, respectively, with a strong run and show from the Rage’s Jad Moussa which went wide of the right-hand post and a header from close range saved well down low by Husain.
The Pirates had the final three chances of the match, with a volley over the bar, a shot deflected wide right by substitute Caleb Murray and a shot which went wide of the right-hand post by Steen.
The crowd erupted for a strong Central Coast tackle late and following six added minutes, the referee blew his whistle for full-time – the Pirates had held on for a big 1-0 win, playing more than half the match with ten men.
Speaking post-match, Central Coast Head Coach Shannon Cole spoke on how proud he was of his side to win with ten men.
“Really pleasing just to see the character and team spirit from the boys… A difficult challenge going a man down in the first half, but I thought from start to finish, we had a really good attitude.”
Cole also spoke on his view of Mapu’s winning strike.
“Jarrod Steen put his body on the line to win the ball – it dropped and Cade backed himself; it was a top strike, one of those where everyone freezes as you are watching and wait for the net to bulge.”
The win for the Pirates was their second 1-0 win in a row and kept them in 6th but move them four points clear of the Rage, who stayed in 7th place with a pack of teams chasing them and had their three-match winning streak ended.
Central Coast United will hope to win a third-straight match when they travel to face last-placed Sydney University SFC next week, while the Rage will hope to bounce back when they host 11th-placed Parramatta FC.
Central Coast United FC 1 (Cade Mapu 69’; Yuki Morikawa 36’ red card)
Granville Rage 0
Gladesville Ryde Magic 2-0 Hurstville FC
Gladesville Ryde Magic took a big step away from the bottom of the ladder with a big 2-0 home win over Hurstville FC.
Hurstville had possession early in the match but could only muster a few chances – one to Hurstville’s Daniel Maras – but neither shot tested Gladesville goalkeeper, Kiriakos Tohouroglou.
Gladesville opened the scoring in the 27th minute when a diagonal ball from Christopher Guyot found Oscar Felipe Nieto Rava, who then squared the ball to Christopher Gaitatzis – he calmly beat his man and slotted the ball home from just inside the box with his left foot to give Gladesville a 1-0 lead.
Gladesville doubled their lead in first-half stoppage-time when Guyot won the ball back from the Hurstville defence and played through Nieto Rava, who calmly slid the ball into the back of the net to give the Magic a 2-0 half-time lead.
In the second half, both sides had their opportunities to create chances but could not find the final pass.
Hurstville had a lot of possession throughout the match but were unable to find a decisive goal, with shots once again from their defenders unable to hit the back of the net.
In the end, the two decisive first-half strikes for the Magic led them to a big 2-0 home win.
The win for the Magic was their second in three matches and moved them four points clear of last-placed Sydney University SFC, while the loss for Hurstville was their second in a row and saw them stay in 8th in a tight mid-table.
Hurstville will hope to respond after their bye in Round 22, while the Magic will hope to shake up the promotion race when they host 2nd-placed Bankstown United FC.
Gladesville Ryde Magic 2 (Chris Gaitatzis 27’; Oscar Felipe Nieto Rava 45+1’)
Hurstville FC 0
Inner West Hawks FC 3-0 Hawkesbury City FC
Inner West Hawks FC kept their promotion charge going after a strong 3-0 home win over Hawkesbury City FC in the battle of the hawks.
Both teams started evenly in the rain in the first 25 minutes, but the Inner West took the lead following a corner in the 27th minute – a cross from deep by left-back Matthew Morris was cleared away by Hawkesbury, but Peter Yannopoulos was waiting at the top of the box for Inner West and volleyed the ball into the back of the net to give the hosts a 1-0 lead at half-time.
Inner West had the perfect start to the second half in the 48th minute when a cross from Morris found Lawrence Claxton, who outjumped the Hawkesbury defence and headed home from the penalty spot to double the hosts’ lead at 2-0.
Inner West goalkeeper Gene Marantos pulled off a strong save to deny Hawkesbury’s Daniel Morsillo, before a long ball into the box late saw Takuma Hirano challenge for the ball for the hosts before he was brought down in the penalty area.
Hirano stepped up and converted the spot-kick as his prolific season continued, while Peter Kontis was strong in midfield for the hosts, as Inner West wrapped up a strong 3-0 win at home.
The win for the Hawks meant they moved up into 3rd place, one point behind 2nd-placed Bankstown United FC in the title race, while the loss for Hawkesbury kept them 12th in a tight table.
Inner West will hope to continue to put the pressure on near the top when they travel to face 5th-placed South Coast Flame FC next week, while Hawkesbury will hope to respond to back-to-back losses when they travel to face 9th-placed Prospect United SC.
Inner West Hawks FC 3 (Peter Yannopoulos 27’; Lawrence Claxton 48’; Takuma Hirano 87’ pen)
Hawkesbury City FC 0
Camden Tigers FC 1-4 Bankstown United FC
Bankstown United FC kept up their potential promotion charge with a big 4-1 away win over Camden Tigers FC.
Bankstown started the match strong in the 3rd minute when a ball from Daniel Slane found Mitchell Cross in space, who chipped the ball into the back of the net to give Bankstown an early 1-0 lead.
One minute later, Bankstown’s Marie Gauthier found space of the left and squared the ball to Cross inside the box, who scored his 23rd goal of the season for his double and to double the hosts’ lead.
Bankstown’s third goal came in the 18th minute when Raoel Yakub played Jovan Blagojevic in behind, who slotted the ball home to give Bankstown a 3-0 lead.
The hosts added a fourth goal before half-time when Yakub played a diagonal pass to Gauthier, who slotted the ball home for the 4-0 lead at half-time.
Camden scored a consolation goal in the 67th minute when Liam Gregory found the back of the net, but Bankstown came away but 4-1 winners.
The win for Bankstown ensured their top two charge stayed on track as they stayed in 2nd place on 41 points, while the loss for Camden saw them stay in 10th in a tight mid-table.
Bankstown will hope to continue their charge when they travel to face 14th-placed Gladesville Ryde Magic next week, while Camden will hope to win their first match in seven weeks when they travel to face 13th-placed Fraser Park FC.
Camden Tigers FC 1 (Liam Gregory 67’)
Bankstown United FC 4 (Mitchell Cross 3’, 4’; Jovan Blagojevic 18’; Marie Gauthier 42’)
Sunday, 23rd June 2024
Newcastle Jets 4-0 Parramatta FC
The Newcastle Jets’ historic unbeaten season continued into a 20th match after they recorded another clean sheet in a big 4-0 home win over Parramatta FC.
The Jets had 28 shots to 16 in a highly-entertaining match and took the lead in the 9th minute through Alex Nunes as the hosts looked to signal their intent early.
Ten minutes later, Amos Okumu doubled the Jets’ lead, before they added a third goal through Kierry James as the hosts took a 3-0 lead into half-time.
Christian Bracco added the Jets fourth goal in the first minute of stoppage-time as Newcastle recorded another big win this season, this time a 4-0 victory over Parramatta.
The win for the Jets meant their unbeaten season continued into a 20th match as their lead at the top of the table stayed at 9 points, with the Jets sitting on 50 points already this season, while the loss for the Eagles kept them in 11th in a tight mid-table.
The Newcastle Jets will look to continue their historic season when they travel to face 4th-placed Mounties Wanderers FC next week, while Parramatta will look to end a five-match winless run when they host 7th-placed Granville Rage in a local western Sydney derby.
Newcastle Jets 4 (Alex Nunes 9’; Amos Okumu 19’; Kierry James 21’; Christian Bracco 90+1’)
Parramatta FC 0
South Coast Flame FC 2-1 Prospect United SC
Ten-man South Coast Flame FC won their first match in four weeks after they recorded a big 2-1 home win over Prospect United SC.
The Flame bad possession early and chances to Samuel Alston and Daniel Mihajlovic, but could not find the opening goal yet.
South Coast took the lead in the 17th minute when Michael Trajkovski got on the end of a ball played for him and slotted the ball into the back of the net to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Trajkovski and Genki Iwata had shots which just missed the target and were saved, respectively, shortly after, while Trajkovski also had a shot smothered late in the half as they took a 2-0 lead into the break.
Yianni Perkatis forced a big save from Prospect in the 53rd minute as the hosts looked to continue their first-half momentum.
In the 59th minute, Jay Gouveia combined with Iwata, who crossed the ball into the box for Alexander Alston – he slotted the ball home at the back post to double the hosts’ lead at 2-0.
Prospect looked to hit back in the 62nd minute when a strong shot from Jacob Micallef forced Flame goalkeeper Rocco Zinnato into a big save, before Zahra had a shot from range which forced Zinnato into another save.
The Flame were reduced to ten men in the 64th minute when Matthew Mazevski was shown a second yellow card.
Trajkovski had a shot saved late for the Flame, before Prospect had a big chance in the 76th minute for Anthony Idehen, but his shot just went wide of the goal.
Prospect had shots from Tallon Zahra and Leo Hirose tipped over the bar late, as well as a header from six yards by Shaan Birring which went over the bar.
Namito Tsuchiya had a shot for the Flame saved well at the near post as the match drew nearer to its conclusion.
Prospect scored a consolation goal in the fourth minute of stoppage-time when Idehen scored from a corner to make the score 2-1, which was how the match ended.
The win for the Flame kept them in 5th place, while the loss for Prospect saw them stay in 9th in a tight mid-table.
The Flame will hope to win back-to-back matches when they travel to face last-placed Sydney University SFC in a mid-week catch-up match before they host 3rd-placed Inner West Hawks FC, while Prospect will hope to respond when they host 12th-placed Hawkesbury City FC.
South Coast Flame FC 2 (Michael Trajkovski 17’; Alexander Alston 59’; Matthew Mazevski 64’ red card)
Prospect United SC 1 (Anthony Idehen 90+4’)
By Football New South Wales League Two Men’s Reporter, Dylan Costa (@_dylancosta)
