Round 23 Review – League Two Men’s
An unprecedented season continued for the league-leaders this week amid another wet round of football in Round 23 of the 2024 Football NSW League Two Men’s competition, with the battle for second place looking like it will go down to the wire.
The Match of the Round between Parramatta FC and Gladesville Ryde Magic was washed out, as was Mounties Wanderers vs Inner West Hawks FC and Hawkesbury City FC vs Hurstville FC, so here is the best of the rest of the action.
Friday, 5th July 2024
Bankstown United FC 0-3 Newcastle Jets
The league-leading Newcastle Jets’ unprecedented unbeaten season continued into a 22nd match after they dispatched of 10-man, 2nd-placed Bankstown United FC 3-0 away from home as they inched closer to the league title and promotion.
Despite losing Xavier Bertoncello in the 18th minute due to injury, the Jets saw out a first half where there were limited chances for both sides to score.
After an even opening hour, Newcastle finally found the opener in the 62nd minute when captain Ben Van Dorssen continued his own strong season when he scored off a scramble from a corner to give the Jets a 1-0 lead.
The match was predominately played in the middle third but in the 78th minute, an error from Bankstown at the back allowed the Jets through into the penalty area with the ball – Daniel Slane committed a foul in the box, and it was a double-whammy for Bankstown, with both a penalty given and a second yellow card shown to Slane.
Amos Okumu made no mistake from the penalty spot and gave the Jets a 2-0 lead away from home in the big match.
Both teams had their chances in the match, with Bankstown having 15 shots on goal and the Jets having 16.
The Jets wrapped up the 3-0 victory in style in the 82nd minute when Alex Nunes scored his ninth goal of the season with a strike from outside the box to continue the Jets’ stunning season. The win also secured the perfect double for the Jets over Bankstown, with clean sheets in both wins against them this season.
The loss for Bankstown saw them stay in second place on 44 points, 12 points behind the Newcastle Jets, who continued their unbeaten season in first place and took another step towards the title as they moved to 56 points.
Bankstown will hope to bounce back from the defeat and continue to fight for the all-important promotional playoff position when they travel to face third-placed Inner West Hawks FC in a crucial match.
Bankstown United FC 0 (Daniel Slane 78’ red card)
Newcastle Jets 3 (Ben Van Dorssen 62’; Amos Okumu 79’ pen; Alex Nunes 82’)
Saturday, 6th July 2024
Central Coast United FC 0-1 South Coast Flame FC
South Coast Flame FC left it to the death in the battle of the coasts after they took out a tight 1-0 victory away to Central Coast United FC for their first-ever win at Pluim Park, keeping their top-two hopes alive.
Both sides looked to dictate the match with the ball; Central Coast had a few good chances to score in the first half but were unable to find the back of the net, while they also had a few penalty shouts waved away by the referee.
Ten minutes in, the Flame’s Jyden Harb ran at the Pirates’ defence and hooked a shot just across the face of goal in a good chance for the Flame.
The Pirates had a solid chance through Alex Arbelo, who skied a shot over the bar from inside the box as both sides hunted the breakthrough goal.
Central Coast peppered the Flame goal with chances to Daniel McFarlane, Jack Ragen and Michael Singh, but were unable to find the back of the net as the two teams went into half-time scoreless.
In the second half, the Pirates started strong and had a few more good chances to score, including chances to Cade Mapu, who hit a shot over the bar, and another saved by Flame goalkeeper, Jordan Bruce, respectively.
South Coast Flame had a chance in the 73rd minute to Yianni Perkatis, whose half-volley from the edge of the area went just wide, while the final minute of regulation time saw Mapu in behind the Flame defence before the situation was shut down by Flame defender, Jacob Poscoliero.
Despite the Pirates having 18 shots to eight in the match, the Flame withheld the Pirates’ pressure and secured the three points in the fifth minute of stoppage-time.
Substitute Namito Tsuchiya played a ball to James Baldacchino, who made an underlapping run from deep before playing a good cross to Michael Trajkovski who delivered a first-time finish inside the box for his 21st goal of the season, giving the Flame a late 1-0 win away from home.
The loss for the Pirates kept them in sixth place however fell seven points behind a fifth-placed Mounties Wanderers FC, who also have two matches in hand, while the Flame’s win jumped them into fourth, just three points behind second-placed Bankstown United FC (having played one match more).
Central Coast United FC will hope to respond to their first defeat in four weeks when they host tenth-placed Camden Tigers FC next week, while South Coast Flame FC will look to make a statement when they host fifth-placed Mounties Wanderers FC.
Central Coast United FC 0
South Coast Flame FC 1 (Michael Trajkovski 90+5’)
Camden Tigers FC 0-1 Sydney University SFC
Sydney University SFC ended their 15-match winless streak with a big 1-0 away win over Camden Tigers FC as they picked up just their third win of the season.
University was hit with early adversary when goalkeeper Harrison Walsh suffered a knee to the head in the 31st minute and was replaced by Jasper Sarkies.
Camden had the better of the match in the first half and created dangerous situations for the visitors but were unable to create a big chance to take the lead as the two teams went into half-time level.
A tweak to their formation at half-time allowed University to negate the threat that Camden posed in the match.
Camden held the ball well while University looked to hit the hosts on the counter, however, the Tigers created two good chances which they could not take.
Shortly after, in the 71st minute, University substitute Peter Zervos made an impact within five minutes of entering the field when he skipped past Camden goalkeeper Joshua Glasson outside of his box, before he squared the ball to debutant Joseph Roddy. Roddy took a few touches to compose himself before he beat the Camden defender with a shot which went across him into the bottom-left corner to give the students a 1-0 lead.
University saw out the match from there in a match where Camden had 16 shots and University had seven – the students held on for just their third win of the season, 1-0.
The loss for Camden meant their winless streak extended to eight matches as they stayed in tenth place in a packed mid-table, while University’s own 15-match winless streak ended as they moved to within one point of 14th-placed Gladesville Ryde Magic.
Camden Tigers FC will look to end their winless streak when they travel to face sixth-placed Central Coast United FC in Round 24, while Sydney University SFC will look to win back-to-back matches when they host 12th-placed Parramatta FC.
Camden Tigers FC 0
Sydney University SFC 1 (Joseph Roddy 71’)
Granville Rage 1-1 Prospect United SC
Honours were shared in the western Sydney derby as Granville Rage and Prospect United SC played out a 1-1 draw at Rydalmere Park in an intense match.
Both sides created plenty of chances in the match, but it was Prospect who took the lead in the 45th minute when forward movement from Youssef Badr found Leo Hirose free inside the six-yard-box, who slotted the ball home to give Prospect a 1-0 half-time lead.
Prospect had an early chance in the second half when Tallon Zahra took a shot on, but his shot went wide of the Rage goal.
The visitors continued to create and had another shot from Jacob Micallef which was saved by Rage goalkeeper, Branko Vidakovic.
The Rage equalised in the 57th minute when a cross played into the box found Adrian Neoklis, who slotted the ball home from 10 yards to level the match at 1-1.
In a match where Granville had 15 shots and Prospect had 13, neither were able to find the winner as the points were shared.
The draw for Granville kept them in seventh place as they moved to 29 points, while Prospect stayed in ninth place, five points behind the Rage on 24 points.
Granville will look to continue to fight when they travel to face 11th-placed Hawkesbury City FC in Round 24, while Prospect will look to win their first match in four weeks when they travel to play against eighth-placed Hurstville FC.
Granville Rage 1 (Adrian Neoklis 57’)
Prospect United SC 1 (Reo Hirose 45’)
Fraser Park FC had their bye in Round 23 and stayed in 13th place.
By Football New South Wales League Two Men’s Reporter, Dylan Costa (@_dylancosta)
