Round 9 Review – League One Men’s
Another big weekend of FNSW League One Men’s saw some big results and a potential game of the season as players took to the field for round 9 action.
Bulls FC Academy secured a big win in our match of the round while our top of the table clash didn’t disappoint at North Turramurra Recreation Area.
Match of the Round: Bulls FC Academy 3-1 Bonnyrigg White Eagles
Bulls FC Academy took out a high stakes match of the round with a 3-1 win over Bonnyrigg White Eagles at Valentine Sports Park.
We all know goals can change a game and a Flynn Madden goal on the brink of halftime set Bulls FC Academy on their way to three points.
Perhaps motivated by the colour of their opponents jersey, Bulls FC Academy very much controlled the opening quarter hour rewarded with a goal nine minutes in through Sebastain Krslovic from a set piece. Krslovic heading home from a corner to put his side in the lead.
While Bonnyrigg had their best chance of the opening twenty in the 19th minute, a rare turnover allowing Phillip Gigliotti to float a ball over the Bulls defence, Daniel Bittar nearly paying it off with a chipped finish going wide left of the target.
They were to find an equaliser before the half hour through Charles Mendy. Another searching ball bringing them the opportunity before the ball eventually fell to Mendy who took it past the keeper before finishing.
That chance coming soon after a chance for Zane Helweh at the other end who missed his shot wide right.
Both sides continuing to exchange chances at either end as we approached the half time whistle, the academy side were the next side to find the back of the net on the brink of half time.
Zane Helweh playing a key role in the lead up with a cross to the back post which was headed down to Flynn Madden who controlled the ball before firing past the keeper for the 2-1 advantage.
The game resuming in a familiar pattern, the Bulls then had a chance to make it a two goal buffer in the 54th minute but Luke Turnbull showed all his experience to make a couple of saves from Levi Sciuriaga and Atiya Waraga efforts in quick succession.
An opportunity for a third would eventuate though with the academy side given a penalty in the 57th minute when Flynn Madden was fouled. Zane Helweh stepping up and converting straight down the middle for a 3-1 lead.
Proceedings then opening up with Bonnyrigg now forced to push a few players forward, their best of the afternoon Phillip Gigliotti looking the most likely to create something. While Daniel Bittar headed a corner wide as they looked to chase the game in the 68th minute.
Before Alexander Robinson made a brilliant save to deny Aleks Zecevic in the 70th minute from close range after a quick counter down the right.
While Michael Krslovic was denied twice by Luke Turnbull as Bulls FC Academy nearly found a fourth.
The win taking Bulls FC Academy into fourth while Bonnyrigg White Eagles sit four points behind them in ninth after as many games.
Bulls FC Academy 3 (S.Krslovic 9’, Madden 45+3’, Helweh 58’
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Mendy 29’)
Northern Tigers 1-2 SD Raiders
Didn’t this one deliver! SD Raiders came from behind in the final fifteen minutes to overcome Northern Tigers in a potential game of the season at North Turramurra Recreation Area.
This was a game of high quality from the start with both sides showing why they have started the season well. All three goals coming in the final fifteen minutes through Jesse Spang who gave the Tigers the lead in the 76th minute. Before a pair of SD Raiders substitutes in Thomas Santarossa and Riley Cox-Barlow turned the game around in the final ten minutes.
Before that, both sides had their chances throughout in an entertaining fixture from the get go. Tigers starting the better with their early press causing the SD Raiders difficulty. Olivier Beltran-Woodward and Nic Petrillo both having good chances in the opening quarter hour.
While SD Raiders had their best chance just before the 20th minute, Noah Chianese hitting the post with his effort after the hosts failed to clear a corner. The visitors working their way into things as the half went on with further chances for Yuto Sugiura.
Like the first half, it was the hosts who once again grabbed control of the game in terms of chances early in the second period, both Kai Denton and Koya Nakano having chances of on goal, the latter of which saw Nakano hit the left post.
Tigers not to be denied on their third good chance of the half through Jesse Spang. A throw in routine ending up at the feet of Jesse Spang who found the bottom left corner with his shot from outside the area.
However there was always a feeling that there would be more goals in this. SD Raiders then rallying for two goals in the final ten minutes. Thomas Santarossa with the first goal after a patient build up saw him played through in the channel. Santarossa’s shot from the left taking a touch off the right post on it’s way in.
Before Riley Cox-Barlow found their winner six minutes later, the striker on hand to finish at the back post to give them a big three points with an impressive back-flip celebration to match it.
That win taking SD Raiders three points clear of the Northern Tigers with a game in hand.
Northern Tigers 1 (Spang 76’)
SD Raiders 2 (Santarossa 82’, Cox-Barlow 88’)
Canterbury Bankstown 2-0 Bankstown City
Canterbury Bankstown claimed derby bragging rights with a 2-0 win over Bankstown CIty at Jensen Park, Saturday evening.
A tight contest with not much between the two sides, the Berries broke through with two goals in the final ten minutes to take the spoils.
It was Bankstown City who had the first major chance of the fixture, when they drew a save from Berries keeper Luke Greenfell before it was cleared off the line Finley Hayhurst in the follow up. Before the hosts came back into things as the game went on.
Just as the game looked headed for a stalemate, the breakthrough came for the ‘hosts’. Christian Torrelli making the crucial difference for his side, beating the keeper with his effort in 82nd minute to give the Berries the advantage.
That one goal lead becoming a two goal lead as Bankstown City pushed for an equaliser. Berries adding their second after Jordan Metcalfe and Joel Beattie combined in the lead up, Metcalfe the scorer of the goal.
Canterbury Bankstown 2 (Torrelli 82’. Metcalfe 86’)
Bankstown City 0
Hills United 0-3 Rydalmere Lions
Rydalmere Lions extended the woes of Hills United with a fast start seeing them claim a 3-0 win over their hosts at Valentine Sports Park.
The visitors started hot and opened their account inside two minutes. Robert Eremugo found out left from a central position, Eremugo making no mistake with a finish from a tight angle.
That lead doubled just before the 20th minute from the set piece. Jihad Alsayed heading home from the near post to double their advantage.
Ominous signs for the hosts compounded before the half hour, a poor turnover in a dangerous position seeing them go down further, Ahmad Taleb picking the ball up, taking a touch before drilling home the finish to make it 3-0 inside the half hour.
While it was a case of the hosts making it too hard for themselves chasing the game, an issue compounded by the performance of Rydalmere goalkeeper Riccardo Rizzo who made numerous saves in the final hour of this one.
Most notable of which saw a Rizzo deny Cameron Philp with a fingertip save before the break. Before he saved a second half penalty with around twenty minutes left.
Hills United 0
Rydalmere Lions 3 (Eremugo 3’, Alsayed 19’, Taleb 26’)
Blacktown Spartans 0-5 UNSW FC
Kicking off our weekend, UNSW FC responded to a disappointing couple of weeks with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Blacktown Spartans at Blacktown Football Park.
A result which saw UNSW jump their hosts in the standings, both Thomas Quilligan and Jack Fulton claimed braces before Corby Fowler added a fifth goal late on.
Their first came through a lovely strike from Thomas Quilligan, Quilligan combining with a team mate after a throw in from the right before his strike from an angle found the back of the net inside ten minutes.
That lead doubled ten minutes later, Jack Fulton scoring a trademark free kick up and over the wall from 25 or so yards out into the top left corner.
A comprehensive first half performance completed with another Tom Quilligan goal. Quilligan this time on the end of a free-kick from their defensive half which caught the Spartans defence out before a first touch finish past the keeper in the 34th minute.
Two further second half goals rounding out the students win, Jack Fulton scoring from the spot in the 51st minute to put the game beyond doubt, before Corby Fowler added their fifth in injury time after winning the ball from a high press.
Blacktown Spartans 0
UNSW FC 5 (T.Quilligan 8’ 34’, Fulton 17’ 51’, Fowler 90+1’)
Inter Lions 2-2 Hakoah FC
Inter Lions and Hakoah FC traded blows in their round nine fixture before settling for a two-all draw at Majors Bay Reserve.
Both sides will perhaps see this as a win that slipped through their fingers having both held the lead in a back and forth first half before the game settled into a transitional affair during the second half.
It was the hosts who got off to their dream start scoring in just the third minute through a Owen Duke goal. Duke finding space in behind before applying a great finish past the keeper. However that lead didn’t last long with the visitors then scoring two goals to take the lead.
The first through Nicholas Tooley who scored his first of the season just a minute later in his sides first attack. Before George Tuson-Firth put them ahead for the first time in nearly a month of football. Those three goals all scored before the 10th minute.
Chances continuing to come at either end before Inter found their own equaliser, Harry Rushton finishing on the end of a sweeping passage of team play.
Both sides having further opportunities in the second half for a winner before having to settle for a point.
Inter Lions 2 (Duke 3’, Rushton 35’)
Hakoah FC 2 (Tooley 4’, Tuson-Firth 8’)
Newcastle Jets 2-2 Mounties Wanderers
One of the surprise results of the weekend saw Mounties Wanderers hold Newcastle Jets to a draw away from home.
Coming from behind on two separate occasions, a Wanderers goal on the brink of half time was a crucial factor and one point nearly became three in injury time. Whereas the result keeps the Jets in third with two draws in their last three matches.
The Jets opener came inside the first twenty minutes, a quick transition from one end of the park to the other resulting in a Alexandro Nunes goal in which he rounded the keeper one-on-one before finishing.
A lead which they held till the 44th minute, Ejin Kishimoto equalising with his head from a set piece to give the visitors confidence for the second half.
Three points up for the taking, the Jets once again took the lead in the final fifteen minutes, Oliver Cockie scoring a tap in after an initial shot was saved onto the post.
They were struggling to defend set pieces though and that proved their undoing for the second equaliser. Anthony Windsor scoring a tap in finish from a corner with three minutes left. A late free-kick from a last man foul saved in the dying stages to deny Mounties the three points.
Newcastle Jets 2 (Nunes 17’, Cockie 76’)
Mounties Wanderers 2 (Kishimoto 44’, Windsor 87’)
Macarthur Rams 0-0 Dulwich Hill
Macarthur Rams and Dulwich Hill couldn’t be separated in their fixture in Sydney’s South-West, Saturday evening.
The first game of the season at Lynwood Park, both sides had their chances throughout this one but couldn’t be separated after the ninety minutes.
With the sun setting, the first half saw both teams making unforced errors with a fair amount of broken play. Rams in particular struggling with an organised Dulwich Hill press which created chances for Daniel Fornito and Jamal Belkadi. But it was both defences on top throughout this one.
Dulwich Hill having to hold firm at the other end in the second half under a fair amount of pressure from the hosts, the Rams hitting the post and drawing a few saves from Andrew Di Blasio in the second half. Back-to-back clean sheets a pleasing aspect of the home sides performance.
Macarthur Rams 0
Dulwich Hill 0
-By Justin Smith
