Round 27 Review – League Two Men’s

Another wet and wild weekend saw a few washouts amid some big results in the fight for second in Round 27 of the 2025 Football NSW League Two Men’s season.

The Match of the Round this week focused on one of those promotion hopefuls as South Coast Flame FC’s hopes took a hit following a home draw to Sydney University SFC.

Match of the Round: South Coast Flame FC 3-3 Sydney University SFC

South Coast Flame FC came from behind to earn a 3-3 draw at home to Sydney University SFC as their hopes of a 2^nd-placed finish took a hit.

The students had the first chance of the match in the 8^th minute when Jethro Thornton found space on the left before he crossed the ball to Charles Hely-Hammond, who headed over from inside the six-yard-box.

University took the lead in the 10^th minute when they cleared a Flame corner up to Joseph Roddy, who shrugged off the Flame defence and slipped the ball into the back of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.

In the 16^th minute, University shot wide from 10 yards through Hely-Hammond as they looked to extend their lead.

The students doubled their lead in the 34^th minute when Isaac Folkes picked up the ball in midfield and drove towards goal before he fired a shot on target; the ball was partially saved by Flame goalkeeper Nenad Vekic, but trickled towards the goal line and crossed it despite a late lunging attempted clearance by Takayuki Kayano.

Just before half-time, University almost took a 3-0 lead when Folkes headed the ball on from a corner but saw the ball go just over the crossbar.

The Flame had a chance on the stroke of half-time when Alexander Alston played a cross for Adam Timpano-Voloder, but he was unable to get on the end of the ball, with University up 2-0 at the break.

In the 48^th minute, Roddy played a dangerous cross to Hely-Hammond at the far post, with the latter denied the ball by a lunge from Samuel Alston, who got the ball away from danger.

The Flame grabbed a goal back in the 59^th minute when Jyden Harb and Matthew Mazevski combined from a set piece, before the former slotted the ball home for his 26^th goal of the season, the league’s top scorer in 2025 making his mark in this match to reduce the Flame’s deficit to one goal.

South Coast put pressure on University and were rewarded in the 80^th minute when Harb fired a shot on goal, which was saved by University goalkeeper Jasper Sarkies but only into the path of William Provino, who scored from close range to level the match at 2-2.

Parity only lasted six minutes, however, when a loose ball played along the backline was intercepted by William Lane, who scored to give the students the lead once more at 3-2 up.

South Coast fought back, however, and found the equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time when Timpano-Voloder half-volleyed a shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner of the goal to rescue a point for the Flame in a 3-3 draw.

The point for the Flame saw them remain in 3^rd as they fell to be eight points behind 2^nd-placed Prospect United SC, albeit with a match in hand, while the point for University saw them remain in 13^th.

South Coast will hope to stay in the race for 2^nd when they travel to take on 8^th-placed Dunbar Rovers FC, while University will hope to grab a win when they travel to take on 12^th-placed Gladesville Ryde Magic.

South Coast Flame FC 3 (Jyden Harb 59’; William Provino 80’; Adam Timpano-Voloder 90+2’)

Sydney University SFC 3 (Joseph Roddy 10’; Isaac Folkes 34’; William Lane 86’)

Parramatta FC 4-1 Fraser Park FC

Parramatta FC snapped a seven-match head-to-head winless run against Fraser Park FC with a big 4-1 home win in wet conditions at a relocated match at Rydalmere Park.

With a starting debut for Christian Claps at right-back, Kerrar Alkhazaaly making his third start of the season and Noorullah Afzaly moving from right-back to the midfield, Parramatta’s reshuffle looked to serve them well early.

The Eagles opened the scoring in the 4^th minute when build-up play from the back to the midfield saw Jacob Basden play a long ball to Alkhazaaly; he beat his defender and found the back of the net with a clinical finish to give Parramatta a 1-0 lead.

Marco Sama had a shot saved from inside the six-yard box shortly after as the hosts looked to extend their lead.

Fraser Park struck back in the 18^th minute when a corner delivered into the box saw a header saved by Parramatta goalkeeper Jameson Hinwood before the rebound was smashed home by Harry Skotadis to level the match at 1-1.

Another corner following that almost resulted in the same outcome for Fraser Park, but this time the offside flag went up.

Parramatta took the lead on the stroke of half-time when a free kick from Tarek Elrich was saved onto the crossbar by Fraser Park goalkeeper Jude Azar, before Claps headed home for the Eagles amid a flurry of bodies to give Parramatta a 2-1 lead at the break.

Following the interval, Parramatta pressed to extend their lead and did so in the 54^th minute when Sama continued his strong season and strong recent form with a left-footed finish from inside the box to give the hosts a 3-1 lead.

Sama scored his 19^th goal of the season to wrap up a 4-1 home win for Parramatta in the 80^th minute with a similar finish as Parramatta snapped their seven-match head-to-head winless run against Fraser Park in style.

The win for Parramatta saw them stay in 7^th on the ladder, while the loss for Fraser Park saw them stay in 9^th.

Parramatta will hope to continue to tweak and build their side when they travel to take on last-placed Camden Tigers FC next week, while Fraser Park will hope to respond when they host 11^th-placed Nepean FC.

Parramatta FC 4 (Kerrar Alkhazaaly 4’; Christian Claps 45+2’; Marco Sama 54’, 80’)

Fraser Park FC 1 (Harry Skotadis 18’)

Gladesville Ryde Magic 1-4 Prospect United SC

Prospect United SC took a big step towards securing the all-important 2^nd place in 2025 following their 4-1 away win over Gladesville Ryde Magic.

The visitors opened the scoring in the 20^th minute when mid-season signing Mathew Crossley, signed from Nepean FC, scored his first goal for his new club when he finished off a counterattacking move to give Prospect a 1-0 lead.

Prospect doubled their lead in the 41^st minute when a corner delivered into the box by Praneet Singh was headed home by Shaan Birring for his third goal of the season.

Prospect took a 3-0 lead into half-time when Anthony Idehen found space in the box and found the corner of the goal for his 11^th goal of the season.

Gladesville grabbed a goal back on the hour mark when a shot from distance skidded across the wet surface and was saved by Prospect goalkeeper Brenden Allen, but only into the path of Genki Kohyama, who reduced the deficit to two goals at 3-1 down.

Prospect sealed the 4-1 win in the 85^th minute when 20-year-old substitute Laclan Cremona found time and space in the box before he slotted the ball into the bottom corner.

The loss for Gladesville saw them drop one spot from 11^th to 12^th, while the win for Prospect saw them extend their advantage in 2^nd to eight points to the teams below them, with the potential for 2^nd spot to be wrapped up in Round 28.

Gladesville will hope to end their four-match winless run when they host 13^th-placed Sydney University SFC next week, while Prospect will look to potentially wrap up 2^nd when they host 10^th-placed Inner West Hawks FC.

Gladesville Ryde Magic 1 (Genki Kohyama 60’)

Prospect United SC 4 (Mathew Crossley 20’; Shaan Birring 41’; Anthony Idehen 45’; Laclan Cremona 85’)

Nepean FC 1-1 Bankstown United FC

Bankstown United FC came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw away to Nepean FC, with neither side able to find a winner in wet conditions and Bankstown’s hopes of a 2^nd-placed finish this season taking another hit.

Following a first half where Nepean had four shots to Bankstown’s 12, the hosts took the lead in the 39^th minute through Kye Hickman, who scored his fourth goal of the season to put Nepean 1-0 up at the break.

In the second half, Bankstown continued to attack the Nepean goal with 13 more shots to Nepean’s four and found the equaliser through William Bailey, the Brit scoring his second goal for the club.

In the end, neither side was able to find a winner, with the spoils shared in a 1-1 draw.

The point for Nepean saw them rise one spot from 12^th to 11^th on the ladder, while for Bankstown the point saw them rise from 5^th to 4^th.

Nepean will hope to build when they travel to face Central Coast United FC in a mid-week catch-up match before they travel to take on 9^th-placed Fraser Park FC next week, while Bankstown will hope to stay in the mathematical fight for 2^nd when they host 5^th-placed Granville Rage.

Nepean FC 1 (Kye Hickman 39’)

Bankstown United FC 1 (William Bailey 73’)

Inner West Hawks FC 1-1 Hurstville Zagreb FC

Inner West Hawks FC’s best unbeaten run of the season extended to four matches after they became the only side to not lose to Hurstville Zagreb FC this season following a comeback 1-1 draw in wet conditions.

Both teams looked to play direct in the first half with Inner West looking dangerous off set pieces, while Hurstville could not find the final pass in the final third at the other end.

The Hawks hit the crossbar late in the first half through Peter Yannopoulos, while they also had shots from Hesan Soufi and Lawrence Claxton as the two teams went into half-time scoreless.

In the second half, Hurstville looked to control the match more, especially through their substitutes, and found the opening goal in the 79^th minute when Alessandro Lacalandra scored with a low drive from outside the box to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Inner West equalised in the 84^th minute when a throw-in into the box was flicked on into the path of Yannopoulos, who headed the ball into the back of the net for his 10^th goal of the season to level the match at 1-1.

The Hawks almost found the winner with the last kick of the match when captain Christopher Phillips, playing his 100^th match for the club, had a header inside the box from a Soufi free kick, but saw his header saved by Hurstville goalkeeper Luka Babic.

In the end, in the wet conditions, both sides settled for the 1-1 draw.

The draw for the Hawks saw them remain in 10^th and go unbeaten against Hurstville head-to-head in 2025, while the draw for Hurstville saw them extend their unbeaten streak to fourteen matches as they continued their title-winning celebrations.

Inner West will hope to take points off another top side when they travel to take on 2^nd-placed Prospect United SC next week, while Hurstville will look to further extend their unbeaten run when they travel to take on 14^th-placed Central Coast United FC.

Inner West Hawks FC 1 (Peter Yannopoulos 84’)

Hurstville Zagreb FC 1 (Alessandro Lacalandra 79’)

Hawkesbury City FC vs Central Coast United FC and Granville Rage vs Dunbar Rovers FC were both washed out and will be played at a later date.

Last-placed Camden Tigers FC had a bye in Round 27.

By Football NSW League Two Men’s Reporter, Dylan Costa