Round 9 Preview – League One Men’s

A quarter of the way into the FNSW League One Men’s season, the table has begun to take shape ahead of round nine of the competition this weekend. Second placed Blacktown Spartans host Canterbury Bankstown in our streamed match. While there’s another good fixture at Jensen Park elsewhere.

Match of the Round: Blacktown Spartans v Canterbury Bankstown

Saturday 4 April, 5pm, Blacktown Football Park

Our Easter weekend match of the round takes us to Blacktown Football Park as the Blacktown Spartans host Canterbury Bankstown this Saturday afternoon.

Going in favourites for this one will be Blacktown Spartans who have the opportunity to really stamp themselves as top two contenders with a four game home stand (including last weekend). Sitting in second, they come into this game on a four game unbeaten run, three of which saw them victorious.

Last weekend, a strong second half performance saw them take a 4-1 win over Central Coast Mariners courtesy of four different goalscorers. Aside from leading goalscorer Aedon Kyra, Dion Carle scored his first league goal last weekend. Another player to watch being Anthony Bouzanis in net for the Spartans. Three wins in four at home this season, they looked to have rectified their 2025 record at the venue.

Featuring in a match of the round for the first time this season are Canterbury Bankstown. After two months of the season, they currently sit in eighth position with a record of two wins, three draws and three defeats. Most recently sharing the points with Prospect United away from home.

After which, Canterbury Bankstown coach Wally Savor said he was pleased with his team’s response following their defeat to Hurstville Zagreb the weekend before. In terms of players to watch, William Kounnas has been their main goal-scoring threat with six goals so far this season while Dejan Bakrdanikoski is an influential part of their defence. The pressure will be off the Berries this weekend so could that bring out their best?

You can catch this game this Saturday on the Football NSW YouTube page under the live tab.

Elsewhere

Hakoah FC v Hills United

Thursday 2 April, 8:30pm, Hensley Athletic Field

A rare Thursday night fixture awaits us at Hensley Athletic Field this weekend. Hakoah FC’s winless run continued with a draw against Hurstville Zagreb last weekend. They had multiple chances to turn one point into three in the final thirty minutes when a response was required. Cam Philpot the scorer there, the possible return of Nicholas Drummond could be a boost.

Hills United drew their last game against Inter Lions on the weekend. They simply couldn’t find a way through the Lions defence despite creating multiple chances. Positives from the fixture being their first clean sheet of the season, as such their standouts being centre backs Daniel Djorovic and Byron Ginn as well as Cam Philp for his work-rate.

Northern Tigers v Central Coast Mariners

Saturday 4 April, 4:30pm, North Turramurra Recreation Area

Similarly to the team we just touched on, Northern Tigers backed up their draw against Hills United with another character building point against Newcastle Jets away from home. Coach Milad Popalzay in particular pleased by his side’s reaction to trailing in both those fixtures displaying their strong character.

The challenging fixtures continue to come for Central Coast Mariners with a trip to the league leaders this Saturday. They were competitive against Blacktown Spartans last weekend throughout the opening 65 minutes with Cooper Hall scoring their equaliser but faded late on. You get the sense that a point here would be big for the young academy side.

Macarthur Rams v Prospect United

Saturday 4 April, 4:30pm, Lynwood Stadium

Despite tasting defeat in round eight action against Bankstown City, there were positives to find for Dan Mijovic and his side last Saturday. They controlled a lot of possession in the opening half and only conceded from the spot in the second half. It’s probably in attack where the Macarthur Rams could just be that little better, can they do that here?

Prospect United will not be an easy side to get away from in this fixture however. Five of their last six games have been decided by less than a goal which is a testament to Darren Camilleri and his side. Last weekend, they drew 1-1 with Canterbury Bankstown coming from behind to equalise in the 94th minute through Praneet Singh.

Newcastle Jets v Western City Rangers

Saturday 4 April, 5pm, Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility

After an improvement in performances of late, Newcastle Jets will be looking at this game as a chance of picking up three points. Last weekend against the competition leaders Northern Tigers, they weren’t far away taking the lead in the second half. Coach Chris Zoricich wanting to make particular mention of young goalkeeper Cayden Lobach who was promoted from the youth set up after the game alongside Jesse Hill who was their hardest working player.

They face a Western City Rangers side who have a point to prove in this game on the back of two defeats. They paid the price for a slow start to their fixture against Rydalmere Lions last weekend though they did grow into the game. Something they’ll look to improve on in this game as they look to return to winning ways. They have won one and lost two on the road this season.

Bankstown City v Bulls FC Academy

Saturday 4 April, 5:15pm, Jensen Park

Including last weekend, four straight games at Jensen Park will give Bankstown City every possible chance of continuing their unbeaten run which has stretched to five games. Last weekend, their patience was tested against a well set up Macarthur Rams side before Shun Maeta won an important spot kick to break the deadlock. The defensive duo of Blake Ricciuto and Braden Sorge also playing a key role.

Bulls FC Academy were brought back down to earth in a single goal defeat to Dulwich Hill last weekend. Definitely not a result they would have seen coming, it’s the start of an interesting five game month including a rare midweek fixture at Popondetta in a week’s time. They are capable of scoring goals but they are yet to have that statement/confidence building victory against a side in the top half.

Rydalmere Lions v Inter Lions

Saturday 4 April, 6:30pm, Rydalmere Park

One of the big winners of last weekend were Rydalmere Lions who took out our match of the round to secure back-to-back victories. Now sitting in fourth, their outlook looks good ahead of a run of fixtures where they should be favourites in. Sa Huk Yang a player to watch with goals in consecutive games but they will be missing defender Nikola Pintur for this one.

Inter Lions got their season underway with a draw against Hills United last weekend away from home. Keeping their first clean sheet of the season in the process, it should give them confidence going forward from here. Probably one of the shorter away trips they will take this season, they do have a goal-scoring issue to solve.

Dulwich Hill v Hurstville Zagreb

Saturday 4 April, 7pm, Arlington Oval

Dulwich Hill picked up their first win of the season last weekend and a return home here gives them the chance to build momentum on the back of it. Prevailing over Bulls FC Academy by a single goal, the trio of Marcus Lal, Jack Mitsoulas and Micaiah Te Rata were all influential in the win while three others in Isaac Hovar, Jesper Webber and Kaya Akdeniz also did well against their former club.

Hurstville Zagreb were able to secure a point on the back of a win for the first time this season against Hakoah last weekend. It’s definitely a step forward cause if a game like that happened a month ago, they probably would have lost. Look out for Nikola Todoroski in this one who was influential in them getting their goal last weekend.

By Justin Smith