Round 28 Review – League Two Men’s
Big results in the battle for promotion saw the battle reduced to three teams amid a vast round of action in Round 28 of the 2025 Football NSW League Two Men’s season.
The Match of the Round this week saw the team primed in second, Prospect United SC, suffer a big loss at the hands of Inner West Hawks FC in a result which shook up the race for promotion.
Match of the Round: Prospect United SC 1-5 Inner West Hawks FC
Inner West Hawks FC shook up the promotion race with a big 5-1 away win over promotion-hopeful 2nd-placed Prospect United SC in a result which kept 3rd-placed Granville Rage and 4th-placed South Coast Flame FC in contention.
Inner West started the match strongly and shocked Prospect in the 3rd minute when build-up play from Peter Kontis and Peter Zdralis saw them find Peter Yannopoulos, who in turn played a through ball for Hesan Soufi; the latter got in behind the Prospect defence and slotted the ball home to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, the Hawks doubled their lead when Yannopoulos was fouled just outside the box and slotted the free kick directly into the top-right corner of the goal to give the Hawks a 2-0 advantage,
Yannopoulos had a chance to grab his second a few minutes following that but was offside.
The Hawks’ attack continued to fire, however, and in the 28th minute found their third goal when a free kick floated into the box was headed into the back of the net by James Reed to give the Hawks a 3-0 lead.
Inner West were shocking the team who were on the verge of a 2nd-placed finish this season in Prospect and added a fourth on the half-hour mark when Kontis and Kristopher Nicolaou combined, sending Soufi in behind who then sent Yannopoulos through; Yannopoulos slotted the ball home for his double to give the Hawks a 4-0 lead.
Inner West had a chance to add a fifth goal a few minutes later when Kontis played Yannopoulos in behind, who then crossed the ball to Soufi, but the latter was unable to slot the ball home.
Prospect grabbed a goal back in the 36th minute when they took a shot on, which deflected off the Hawks’ captain Taro Regan Williams and into the back of the net to reduce the deficit to 4-1 at the break.
In the second half, Prospect dominated the ball and chances, with the Hawks sitting back.
The Hawks struck on the counter in the 70th minute when substitute Freddie Cobb played a ball to Soufi, who chipped the ball into the back of the net to give the Hawks a 5-1 lead.
Hawks’ goalkeeper Gene Marantos made some good saves late to keep the score against the Hawks low, while 20-year-old Daniel Hopper made his first-grade debut for the Hawks off the bench late.
In the end, the Hawks shook up the race for promotion, securing a big 5-1 away win over Prospect.
The loss for Prospect saw their lead in 2nd to Granville Rage below them in 3rd cut to just six points, with the Rage having a match in hand, while the win for Inner West saw them extend their unbeaten run to five matches as they stayed in 10th.
Prospect will hope to bounce back in Round 29 as they look to get their promotion charge back on track away to 13th-placed Sydney University SFC next week, while Inner West will hope to continue their strong end to the season when they host 5th-placed Bankstown United FC.
Prospect United SC 1 (Taro Regan Williams 36’ own goal)
Inner West Hawks FC 5 (Hesan Soufi 3’, 70’; Peter Yannopoulos 5’, 30’; James Reed 28’)
Central Coast United FC 0-2 Hurstville Zagreb FC
Premiers Hurstville Zagreb FC completed the perfect league double over Central Coast United FC and went fifteen matches unbeaten after a 2-0 away win.
Central Coast started the match with more possession as they looked to hold the ball, but the Hurstville defence, including Luke Vlastelica and James Tsokos, kept the Pirates at bay.
At the other end, Jesse Gagro hit the post and a few other balls into the box by Hurstville went close, but they were unable to find the back of the net in the first half, both teams scoreless at the break.
Hurstville came out with more intent in the second half and found the opening goal in the 51st minute when Joshua Lazzaro whipped a free kick into the box for Nikola Todoroski, who had his header saved but only into the path of Jacob Botic, who slotted away the rebound to give Hurstville a 1-0 lead.
Hurstville added a second goal in the 65th minute when a rebound fell to Samuel Shainfeld on the edge of the box; he slotted the ball into the top corner to give Hurstville a 2-0 lead.
Central Coast got into some dangerous areas late, but the Hurstville defence saw out the rest of the match to keep their clean sheet and give the visitors a 2-0 win.
The loss for Central Coast saw them unable to back-up their mid-week 5-2 home win over Nepean FC as they stayed in 14th place, while the win for Hurstville saw them go fifteen matches unbeaten as they moved to 69 points and extended their league-winning margin at the top to 18 points.
Central Coast will hope to respond when they travel to take on last-placed Camden Tigers FC in what will be a battle which could decide who finishes last in 2025, while Hurstville have their bye in Round 29.
Central Coast United FC 0
Hurstville Zagreb FC 2 (Jacob Botic 51’; Samuel Shainfeld 65’)
Gladesville Ryde Magic 1-3 Sydney University SFC
Sydney University SFC continued their strong end to the season with a fifth win from their past eight matches following a comeback victory away to Gladesville Ryde Magic, who went winless at home for a seventh-straight match, as they secured the 3-1 win with ten men.
Gladesville grabbed the opening goal in the 8th minute when they pressed high and forced an error; Ewan Perrott was the beneficiary as he scored from inside the box to give the Magic a 1-0 lead.
University struck back two minutes later, however, when a free kick delivered into the box was headed into the back of the net by Isaac Folkes, who got University back level in the match at 1-1.
University was awarded a penalty in the 25th minute when Joseph Roddy was fouled in the box; Jethro Thornton stepped up and converted from the spot to put University in the lead, 2-1.
The visitors grabbed a third goal in the 43rd minute when a cross into the box was headed by the students back across goal, where Isaac Folkes was on hand to slot the ball away to complete his double.
In the second half, in the 59th minute Thornton was shown a red card, but University saw out the threat of the Magic to secure a 3-1 away win.
The loss for the Magic saw them remain in 12th, while the win for University put them to within two points of the Magic as they stayed in 13th.
Gladesville will hope to snap their winless run when they travel to face 4th-placed South Coast Flame FC in Round 29, while University will hope to grab another win and have their say on the promotion race when they host 2nd-placed Prospect United SC.
Gladesville Ryde Magic 1 (Ewan Perrott 8’)
Sydney University SFC 3 (Isaac Folkes 10’, 43’; Jethro Thornton 25’ pen, 59’ red card)
Fraser Park FC 5-2 Nepean FC
Fraser Park FC snapped Nepean FC’s five-match head-to-head unbeaten run against them following a strong 5-2 home win, with a haul hero to thank.
The hosts had the perfect start in the 4th minute when Francis Mcalpine, on return from injury following eight matches out, got on the end of a through ball from Paul Turrin and slotted the ball home to give Fraser Park a 1-0 lead.
Nepean levelled the match in the 21st minute from the penalty spot when Jack Hoban converted the spot kick.
Mcalpine restored Fraser Park’s lead in the 37th minute following build-up play from Christian Dos Santos to Paul Turrin, who in turn found Matthew Lecce and then Mcalpine, who scored to give Fraser Park a 2-1 lead at half-time.
In the 49th minute, Nepean were awarded another penalty following a handling of the ball in the box by the Fraser Park defence; Hoban stepped up and slotted home his second penalty of the match to level the scores once more at 2-2.
Three minutes later, Mcalpine completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot to put Fraser Park in the lead for the third time in the match at 3-2.
Lecce secured the three points for Fraser Park late when he slotted the ball home from the edge of the box to give Fraser Park a 4-2 lead.
Mcalpine completed his haul in the 86th minute when he found the back of the net to grab his 14th goal from 14 appearances this season and rounded out a 5-2 home win for Fraser Park.
The win for Fraser Park saw them rise one spot from 9th to 8th on the ladder, while the loss for Nepean saw them go six matches without a win following their mid-week 5-2 away loss to Central Coast United FC as they stayed in 11th.
Fraser Park will look to build on this win and have their say on the promotion race when they travel to face 3rd-placed Granville Rage next week, while Nepean will hope to snap their winless run when they host 6th-placed Hawkesbury City FC.
Fraser Park FC 5 (Francis Mcalpine 4’, 37’, 52’ pen, 86’; Matthew Lecce 81’)
Nepean FC 2 (Jack Hoban 21’ pen, 49’ pen)
Camden Tigers FC 2-0 Parramatta FC
Camden Tigers FC won their first match at home since the opening round of the season and kept their first clean sheet since Round 14, which was also their third clean sheet of the season, in their 2-0 home win over a ten-man Parramatta FC.
Camden looked to fight hard for second balls, flooding the midfield with played to pounce on loose passes.
The Tigers scored the opening goal in the 8th minute when Francesco Giannetto received the ball in midfield and dribbled the ball to the edge of the area before he slotted the ball home across into the back of the net at the far post to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Parramatta was reduced to ten men in the 32nd minute when Christian Claps was shown a second yellow card for a foul on a Camden attacker off the ball, reducing the Eagles to ten men for the rest of the match.
Bailey Simpson was dangerous for the Tigers in the first half but could not finish off the chances he had as the Tigers took a 1-0 lead into the break.
In the second half, Camden looked to push for a second goal while Parramatta looked to hit them on the counter, with a chance for Marco Sama direct in behind stopped by the Camden defence.
Camden secured the 2-0 win in the 85th minute when Dean Mugridge got in behind the Eagles’ defence and slotted the ball home to wrap up the Tigers’ victory.
The win for Camden saw them win a second match from their past three as they reduced the deficit to 14th-placed Central Coast United FC ahead of them to just three points, while the loss for Parramatta saw them stay in 7th.
Camden will hope to have their say on the promotion race when they host when they host 4th-placed South Coast Flame FC in a mid-week catch-up match, before they host 14th-placed Central Coast United FC next week in a match which could determine who finishes in last in 2025, while Parramatta will hope to respond when they host 9th-placed Dunbar Rovers FC.
Camden Tigers FC 2 (Francesco Giannetto 8’; Dean Mugridge 85’)
Parramatta FC 0 (Christian Claps 32’ red card)
Dunbar Rovers FC 2-2 South Coast Flame FC
South Coast Flame FC’s hopes of promotion this season took another his following a 2-2 away draw to ten-man Dunbar Rovers FC in a match where the Flame surrendered a two-goal lead.
The Flame grabbed the early lead in the 3rd minute when the ball fell to Thomas Dunn, who took a shot on which took a deflection and found the back of the net to give South Coast a 1-0 lead.
Dunbar’s Paul Gautier forced Flame goalkeeper Nenad Vekic into a save shorting after, while at the other end Adam Timpano-Voloder had a one-on-one chance saved by Dunbar goalkeeper, Benjamin Wrigley.
In the 29th minute, the Flame doubled their lead when Dunn found space on the left and curled the ball into the back of the net at the far post to complete his double and give the Flame a 2-0 lead.
Dunn and Jyden Harb had efforts on target following that but were denied by Wrigley as the Flame hunted more goals but settled for a 2-0 half-time lead.
Dunbar was reduced to ten men in the 54th minute when Dylan-Goran Bozicevic was shown a second yellow card.
Two minutes later, however, Dunbar’s Gianni Costantino combined with Colin Callil, who found the back of the net to get Dunbar back into the match at 2-1 down.
Dunbar pushed and had back-to-back chances through Gautier and Kosei Fukuyoshi, with Flame goalkeeper Nenad Vekic called into action.
The hosts grabbed the equaliser in the 75th minute when Dion Bregianos brushed off the Flame defence and slotted the ball under Vekic to level the match at 2-2.
A few minutes before full-time, the Flame had the chance to win the match, but Kade Kinsella was unable to find the final touch needed to have a good shot on goal.
Dunbar almost completed the comeback win in stoppage time, themselves, but Jason Trajkovski saw his one-on-one effort kept out.
In the end, the two teams shared the points in a 2-2 draw, with both sides left with the thought of how they could have grabbed the three points.
The draw for Dunbar saw them drop from 8th to 9th on the ladder, while the point for the Flame saw them drop from 3rd to 4th as they fell to be seven points behind 2nd-placed Prospect United SC in the battle for promotion.
Dunbar will hope to show the same fight when they travel to face 7th-placed Parramatta FC next week, while the Flame have a catch-up match mid-week away to last-placed Camden Tigers FC in a match which is crucial for their season, before they host 12th-placed Gladesville Ryde Magic in Round 29.
Dunbar Rovers FC 2 (Colin Callil 56’; Dion Bregianos 75’; Dylan-Goran Bozicevic 54’ red card)
South Coast Flame FC 2 (Thomas Dunn 3’, 29’)
Bankstown United FC 1-2 Granville Rage
Granville Rage picked up a big win in their hopes for promotion this season and ended Bankstown United FC’s hopes following a comeback 2-1 away win in a tight match.
Bankstown grabbed the opening goal from the penalty spot in the 12th minute, Mitchell Cross on hand to slot the ball away to give the hosts an early 1-0 lead at the break.
Following half-time, the Rage came out strongly and found the equaliser in the 50th minute through Yuto Shinagawa, who scored his first goal of the season and first goal for the Rage to level the match at 1-1.
Shinagawa completed his double and the Rage comeback just four minutes later to give the Rage a 2-1 lead.
Following a tight match where Bankstown had two shots on target to Granville’s four, Granville bolstered their promotion hopes and ended Bankstown’s following a big 2-1 away win.
The loss for Bankstown saw them ruled out of the race for 2nd as they dropped from 4th to 5th with 43 points, eight points behind 2nd-placed Prospect United SC with two matches left, while the win for the Rage saw them rise from 5th into 3rd as they moved to 45 points, six points behind Prospect with a match in hand.
Bankstown will hope to bounce back when they travel to face 10th-placed Inner West Hawks FC next week, while Granville will hope to grab another big win in their bid for promotion when they host 8th-placed Fraser Park FC.
Bankstown United FC 1 (Mitchell Cross 12’ pen)
Granville Rage 2 (Yuto Shinagawa 50’, 54’)
6th-placed Hawkesbury City FC had a bye in Round 28.
By Football NSW League Two Men’s Reporter, Dylan Costa
