Round 12 Review – League Two Men’s
Round 12 of the 2025 Football NSW League Two Men’s season saw many unexpected winners, multiple-goal heroes and plenty of goals as the competition continued to be unpredictable.
The Match of the Round this week saw Inner West Hawks FC surprise the league-leading Hurstville Zagreb FC with a big win away from home.
Sunday, 27th April 2025
Match of the Round: Hurstville Zagreb FC 1-3 Inner West Hawks FC
A hat-trick hero in Peter Yannopoulos led Inner West Hawks FC to a big 3-1 away win over the league-leading Hurstville Zagreb FC in the Match of the Round.
The Hawks put Hurstville under pressure early and were rewarded in the 16th minute when the returning Peter Yannopoulos capitalised on a mistake from the Hurstville defence, drove into the box and found the back of the net to give the Hawks an early 1-0 lead.
The Hawks kept their pressure up and found a second goal in the 35th minute when Peter Kontis, Angelo Pezzano and Jacob Palamidas combined well in the midfield, with the latter passing a ball to Jeremy Siarakas; the full-back then found Yannopoulos in the box with a ball across, where Yannopoulos scored to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead at half-time.
Hesan Soufi came off the bench and made an impact for the hosts in the second half, with chances being saved and going wide in the second half.
The Hawks were rewarded a penalty in the 57th minute when Yannopoulos was fouled in the box; he stepped up and sent Hurstville goalkeeper Michael Rutherford the wrong way, slotting the ball into the right side to secure his hat-trick and a 3-0 Hawks lead.
The Hawks defence stepped up well on multiple occasions to stop the Hurstville attack, who were increasingly looking to attack in the match.
The hosts continued to have shots on target but were missing the clinical edge to grab a goal back.
Hurstville were rewarded for their pressure in the 83rd minute when Michael Neill was played in behind with a well-weighted through ball; he made no mistake one-on-one and found the back of the net down the right to give Hurstville hope of a late comeback.
Hurstville had four more shots to end the match but were unable to find another goal back, with Inner West picking up a big 3-1 away win.
Speaking post-match, Hawks’ hat-trick hero Peter Yannopoulos was happy to make a big impact on his return to the team.
“That is the best we have played this season and we know we have that quality there – we showed it last season and this season as well, so we can only go forward from now.”
Yannopoulos hopes this result can bring some more belief to the squad.
“We have the belief now and we can push forward and go from there.”
Yannopoulos was especially pleased with how his side has been in front of goal and hope that continues.
“We have that confidence now in front of goal and we are hoping to go forward from there.”
The loss for Hurstville ended their seven-match winning and eight-match unbeaten streak while they remained top of the table, while the win for the Hawks ended their five-match winless run as they remained in 12th.
Hurstville will hope to find a response to this loss when they host 14th-placed Central Coast United FC, while Inner West will hope to build off this win when they host 2nd-placed Prospect United SC.
Hurstville Zagreb FC 1 (Michael Neill 83’)
Inner West Hawks FC 3 (Peter Yannopoulos 16’, 35’, 57’ pen)
Central Coast United FC 2-1 Hawkesbury City FC
Central Coast United FC ended their 10-match winless streak in emphatic fashion after they came from behind to grab a big 2-1 home win over Hawkesbury City FC.
Hawkesbury took the 1-0 lead in the 19th minute when a cross from Duncan Stewart found Stuart Gosling in the box, who finished well to give the Hawks the perfect start,
Central Coast responded in the 38th minute when Cade Mapu got in behind the Hawks defence and squared the ball to Ben Flakus, who scored with a first-time effort to restore parity in the contest at 1-1.
The Pirates held the ball well against the Hawks in the second half and created four big chances; one of those was converted in the 78th minute when Mapu set up Flakus to secure his double, Flakus slotting home to give Central Coast a 2-1 lead late.
Hawkesbury pushed hard for a late equaliser, forcing Central Coast to deal with many crosses, direct balls and runners in behind, while both sides missed chances from inside the box throughout the match.
In the end, Central Coast held on for a big win over Hawkesbury, coming from behind to win 2-1.
The win for Central Coast was their first since Round One as they grabbed a valuable three points, sitting 14th on the ladder, while the loss for Hawkesbury was their second from their past three matches as they dropped from 3rd to 5th.
Central Coast will hope to build off this big win when they travel to face the league-leading Hurstville Zagreb FC next week, while Hawkesbury will hope to return to find consistency when they return after their Round 13 bye.
Central Coast United FC 2 (Ben Flakus 38, 78’; Matt Kairouz 90+3’)
Hawkesbury City FC 1 (Stuart Gosling 19’)
Sydney University SFC 1-2 South Coast Flame FC
South Coast Flame FC held on late to secure back-to-back victories in a 2-1 away win over a Sydney University SFC side playing at home for the first time this season.
The Flame started well with shots to Kade Kinsella and Jack Deale as they looked to take an early lead.
South Coast’s pressure paid off in the 12th minute when Jyden Harb got on the end of a bouncing ball in the box and fired a shot at goal which took a deflection and wrong-footed University goalkeeper Jasper Sarkies, the ball finding the back of the net to give the Flame a 1-0 lead.
Six minutes later, a long clearance from the Flame’s Dylan Caton found Harb up the field; he beat his defender to the ball and slotted the ball home for his and the Flame’s second goal of the match.
The students worked their way into the match, with a shot from Stefan Visscher saved by Flame goalkeeper Nenad Vekic, as well as two consecutive corners which caused the Flame trouble.
Charles Hely-Hammond and Jethro Thornton had chances for the hosts, as well as Riley Egerton who had a shot cleared off the line by Alexander Alston, but the Flame took a 2-0 lead into half-time.
Harb had a chance to start the second half for the Flame cleared off the line by Zachary Kalogerou, Takuni Kayano almost scored an own goal with a back pass and Hamza Sweedan had a headed effort as the students ramped up the pressure.
In the 63rd minute, Harb had a big chance to secure a hat-trick but skewed his shot wide from close range.
Egerton had another chance for the students as they looked to continue their attack and they were awarded a penalty in the 69th minute when the students were fouled in the box.
Thornton stepped up and converted the spot kick to set up a big finish in the match.
Will Provino had a chance for the Flame to add a third, while the students had two big chances to Alistair Colvin and Aidan Hardiman but they had their efforts saved and go just wide, respectively.
The Flame held on for a big 2-1 away win over the students.
The loss for University saw them remain last and winless from their eleven matches, while the win for the Flame saw them jump from 6th to 3rd.
University will hope to continue their hunt for their first win of the season when they host 11th-placed Gladesville Ryde Magic, while South Coast will look for a third-straight win when they host 8th-placed Dunbar Rovers FC.
Sydney University SFC 1 (Jethro Thornton 69’ pen)
South Coast Flame FC 2 (Jyden Harb 12’, 18’)
Prospect United SC 1-2 Gladesville Ryde Magic
Prospect United SC had their five-match unbeaten run broken by Gladesville Ryde Magic, who ended a three-match losing streak, after the Magic held on for a big 2-1 away win.
Without their top scorer in Anthony Idehen, as well as missing Dimos Vlachos, Prospect struggle to create early and Gladesville took full advantage in the 37th minute off a quick counterattack, finished off by Bonmyeong Koo to give the Magic a 1-0 lead.
Jamie Dib got Prospect back level at 1-1 in the 58th minute when he, Andre Cavallaro and Praneet Singh combined in attack; with the pair finding Dib just outside the box, he struck the ball into the bottom corner to restore parity.
Gladesville continued to counter and caught Prospect out in the 72nd minute when Ewan Perrott converted his chance to give Gladesville a 2-1 lead.
In a match where both teams had 14 shots on goal, Gladesville made the most of their chances to pick up a big 2-1 win over Prospect.
The loss for Prospect was their first since Round Six as they remained in 2nd place, while for Gladesville the win saw them stay in 11th.
Prospect will hope to bounce back when they travel to face 12th-placed Inner West Hawks FC next week, while Gladesville will hope to build off this big win when they travel to face last-placed Sydney University SFC.
Prospect United SC 1 (Jamie Dib 58’)
Gladesville Ryde Magic 2 (Bonmyeong Koo 37’; Ewan Perrott 72’)
Bankstown United FC 2-1 Nepean FC
Ten-man Bankstown United FC won a first match in five after they held on for a 2-1 win over Nepean FC.
The hosts had the perfect start when they took the lead in the 10th minute courtesy of a Harrison Fox own goal.
In a first half where they had four shots to eight and held less possession, Bankstown took a 1-0 lead into the break.
Marie Gauthier doubled the host’s lead in the 55th minute as they looked to get a firm grip on the match.
Bankstown were reduced to ten men in the 64th minute when Steven Wright was shown a red card for his actions which resulted in a Nepean penalty.
Nepean’s Mathew Crossley converted from the spot to reduce the visitors’ deficit to one goal at 2-1 down.
Despite having 20 shots to 12 in the match, Nepean fell 2-1 away to Bankstown, who ended their winless run.
The win for Bankstown saw them stay in 7th, while the loss for Nepean was their first in four matches as they fell from 9th to 10th.
Bankstown will hope to build off this win when they travel to face 6th-placed Granville Rage, while Nepean will hope for a response when they host 9th-placed Fraser Park FC.
Bankstown United FC 2 (Harrison Fox 10’ own goal; Marie Gauthier 55’)
Nepean FC 1 (Mathew Crossley 65’ pen)
Dunbar Rovers FC 5-1 Granville Rage
Dunbar continued their good form and scored their biggest win of the season after their 5-1 home win over Granville Rage.
The hosts pressed high and applied intensity from the start; that was rewarded in the 12th minute when Guilherme Mazurkievicz Pansonato found the back of the net with a strike from outside the box to give Dunbar a 1-0 half-time lead.
Jad Moussa replied immediately for Granville in the first minute after the break when he found the back of the net to level the match at 1-1.
Dunbar found themselves in the lead less than two minutes later, however, when Gianni Constantino hit a powerful shot into the back of the net to give Dunbar a 2-1 lead.
Pansonato had a double in the 55th minute when he cut inside and curled a shot into the top corner to give Dunbar a 3-1 lead.
Daniel Paridis added a fourth Dunbar goal on the hour mark when he controlled a long ball from Dunbar goalkeeper Benjamin Wrigley, beat two Rage defenders and found the bottom corner.
Paul Gautier rounded out the scoring for Dunbar when he got on the end of an Aoba Forsyth pass and was fouled in the box by Rage goalkeeper Samuel Bortolazzo; Gautier converted the spot kick for Dunbar for their fifth.
Dunbar substitute Jason Trajkovski came off the bench and had two good chances to add to Dunbar’s goal tally, but could not convert.
In the end, Dunbar created and converted their chances to pick up a big 5-1 home win over Granville.
The win for Dunbar saw them win back-to-back matches for the second time this season as they moved up from 10th into 8th, while the loss for Granville saw them drop from 5th to 6th.
Dunbar will hope to continue their attacking improvement and hunt a third-straight win when they travel to face 3rd-placed South Coast Flame FC, while Granville will hope for a response when they host 7th-placed Bankstown United FC.
Dunbar Rovers FC 5 (Guilherme Mazurkievicz Pansonato 12’, 55’; Gianni Constantino 48’; Daniel Paridis 60’; Paul Gautier 73’ pen)
Granville Rage 1 (Jad Moussa 46’)
Fraser Park FC 2-2 Parramatta FC
Fraser Park FC went a seventh-straight head-to-head match without defeat against Parramatta FC in a match where both sides took the lead and shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw.
Despite Fraser Park’s eight shots and Parramatta’s four in the first half, neither goalkeeper was called into a big save as the two teams entered half-time level at 0-0.
There was early action in the second half in the 47th minute when Shu Torihara and Christian Dos Santos combined well for a cross into the box down the right, with the ball into the box handled by Parramatta’s Travis Oughtred when trying to clear the ball.
Harry Skotadis dispatched the ensuing penalty to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the contest.
Six minutes later, the match turned when Greogory Ehiozee was shown a second yellow card, which gave Parramatta more possession and attacks in the match.
Parramatta were rewarded for their pressure in the 60th minute when a penalty was awarded for a foul in the box; the penalty was converted by Jordan Gomez to level the match at 1-1 for Parramatta.
The visitors continued to press and took the 2-1 lead when a through ball was cut out by Fraser Park goalkeeper Amaro Ferreira, but the ball fell to Yusuf Aydin who scored into an open net to give Parramatta the advantage.
Fraser Park hit back less than two minutes later, however, when Dos Santos got on a loose pass in defence and set up Stavros Palapanis who struck the ball home to level the match once more at 2-2.
In the 89th minute, Fraser Park had a chance to snatch all three points when a ball in the air on halfway was launched forward by a Matthew Lecce bicycle kick into the path of Skotadis, but Parramatta goalkeeper Jameson Hinwood saved the one-on-one chance from point-blank range to ensure the match finished level at 2-2.
The point for Fraser Park saw them drop one spot to 9th on the ladder, while for Parramatta they went a fourth-straight week without a win as they stayed in 4th.
Fraser Park will hope to grab a win when they travel to face 10th-placed Nepean FC next week, while Parramatta will hope to end their winless streak when they host Camden Tigers FC.
Fraser Park FC 2 (Harry Skotadis 47’ pen; Stavros Palapanis 78’; Gregory Ehiozee 54’ red card)
Parramatta FC 2 (Jordan Gomez 60’ pen; Yusuf Aydin 76’)
13th-placed Camden Tigers FC had a bye in Round 12.
By Football NSW League Two Men’s Reporter, Dylan Costa
