Round 18 Review – League One Men’s
Round 18 was a round of fine margins in FNSW League One Men’s action across Friday and Saturday night.
Our Match of the Round saw a spirited Bulls FC Academy comeback, while a top-three matchup took place at Jensen Park.
Match of the Round: Hills United 2-2 Bulls FC Academy
Bulls FC Academy came from two goals down to take a share of the points in their Match of the Round showdown with Hills United.
On the back foot for large parts of the game, they withstood significant pressure against a wasteful Hills United side.
Fresh off their goal-scoring exploits last week, it took the hosts under 60 seconds to take the lead. Walid Moutaouakkil drove down the right byline before cutting the ball back to Lachlan Sepping, who made no mistake from around six yards.
Hills United then doubled their lead after 20 minutes through Jesse Michel, who finished from inside the six-yard box after a Jordan Lane cross from the left.
The hosts controlled the game well past the half-hour mark, with Darian Daghero and Zen Gigliotti doing a lot of good work in midfield.
Bulls Academy goalkeeper Joshua Lakkis then denied Sepping again with a sharp stop, while at the other end Bulls had a chance of their own, with an Ali El-Sabeh effort through defenders’ legs saved by Ryan Wood.
The visitors cut the deficit in the 38th minute after a strong spell of pressure. Sebastian Krslovic scored with a right-footed half-volley inside the box after a throw-in from the left wing.
Bulls then equalised in the 43rd minute with a drilled finish from Massimo Marrone through a sea of legs, restoring parity. Bulls Academy were arguably the happier side going into half-time.
There was still a goal for the taking for the hosts before the break, with another flowing move seeing Jesse Michel just unable to control his close-range effort from a Moutaouakkil cross, followed soon after by an even better Sepping chance which he hooked past the right post.
Hills looked the most likely for much of the second half but lacked a clinical edge in front of goal, while Bulls focused on remaining compact and hard to break down.
A final chance in injury time fell to Hills substitute Luka Sterjovski, who went agonisingly wide, as the hosts were forced to settle for a point after a scrappy second half.
Hills United 2 (Sepping 1’, Michel 20’)
Bulls FC Academy 2 (Krslovic 38’, Marrone 43’)
Elsewhere
Bankstown City 1-1 Northern Tigers
An enthralling top-of-the-table contest saw Bankstown City and Northern Tigers share the points at Jensen Park on Saturday evening.
The first half featured all the key action, with both sides scoring once. Northern Tigers struck first with a slick transition move involving Lachlan Lloyd, Ryan Attard and Jesse Spang, with Attard delivering the assist for Spang to finish into the bottom-left corner.
Bankstown City FC responded with their best spell of the match, with their goal coming from a Peter Kekeris set piece. Aleksandar Gvozdenovic headed down before a deflection in the box fell kindly for Jonathan Grozdanovski, who finished in the 37th minute.
Both sides then played out a tense second half with further chances at both ends, with the draw a fair reflection of a high-quality contest.
Bankstown City now have a massive match against the Blacktown Spartans where all eyes will be on this fixture.
Bankstown City 1 (Grozdenovski 37’)
Northern Tigers 1 (Spang 9’)
Hakoah FC 2-1 Blacktown Spartans
Hakoah FC came from behind to record a shock 2-1 win over competition leaders Blacktown Spartans.
Coach Craig Sharpley described it as a gutsy performance against the odds, with Blacktown opening the scoring through Austen Booth, who netted his second in as many weeks.
A key moment came via a missed penalty, which proved to be a turning point as Hakoah grew into the game.
They equalised before half-time through Cam Philpot, before Nicholas Tooley scored the winner in the 78th minute. The hosts held on despite being reduced to ten men to secure their best result of the season.
Hakoah FC 2 (Philpot 40’, Tooley 78’)
Blacktown Spartans 1 (Booth 28’)
Rydalmere Lions 0-1 Macarthur Rams
Macarthur Rams continued their strong form with a narrow win over Rydalmere Lions despite finishing with 10 men.
The result sees the Rams move into the top four, just two points off second, with Olivier Beltran-Woodward scoring the decisive goal before later receiving a red card.
Before the goal, the match was evenly balanced with chances at a premium, though the Rams looked more dangerous through Chan Yelchan and Aaron Green.
Their goal came from Beltran-Woodward’s header off a second-phase corner, before they held firm defensively after the dismissal.
Rydalmere Lions 0
Macarthur Rams 1 (Beltran-Woodward 58’)
Inter Lions 2-1 Hurstville Zagreb
Inter Lions bounced back from last week’s defeat with a 2-1 home win over Hurstville Zagreb.
Moving four points clear of 15th, they had James Khoury to thank again, with the striker scoring a brace.
Hurstville started strongly and nearly scored early through Andre Guzman and Alessandro Lacalandra, with the sides level at half-time.
Lacalandra eventually opened the scoring for Hurstville, before Khoury struck twice in quick succession, including a superb free-kick into the top corner.
Inter Lions 2 (Khoury 68’, 70’)
Hurstville Zagreb 1 (Lacalandra 55’)
Newcastle Jets 2-2 Prospect United
Newcastle Jets rescued a point after coming from behind against Prospect United in an end-to-end contest.
Jets started strongly, with Oliver Cockle opening the scoring after recently signing an A-League scholarship contract.
Prospect responded through Caleb Kirkegaard, who finished after a high press forced an error.
Prospect then led through Dimos Vlachos in the 65th minute before Jake Goodwin restored parity in the 70th.
Newcastle Jets 2 (Cockle 1’, Goodwin 70’)
Prospect United 2 (Kirkegaard 27’, Vlachos 65’)
Western City Rangers 1-1 Canterbury Bankstown
Western City Rangers earned a point against Canterbury Bankstown, their first in three games.
Both goals came inside the opening quarter-hour before the match settled into a tight contest.
Canterbury led through Fikret Berisha at the back post from a John Fotopoulos cross, before Rangers equalised eight minutes later via a deflection off Dejan Bakrdanikoski.
The second half became a battle, with neither side able to create clear attacking fluency.
Western City Rangers 1 (Bakrdanikoski 11’)
Canterbury Bankstown 1 (Berisha 3’)
Dulwich Hill 1-1 Central Coast Mariners
Dulwich Hill bounced back from last week’s heavy defeat to claim a point against Central Coast Mariners.
Goalkeeper Andrew Di Blasio was influential on his return, making key saves to keep his side in the match.
The Mariners led at half-time through Max Miller, who scored from a well-struck volley after a clearance.
Dulwich Hill equalised early in the second half through Jacob Palamidas, who finished smartly after a high press.
Both defences were largely on top for the remainder of the match.
Dulwich Hill 1 (Palamidas 57’)
Central Coast Mariners 1 (Miller 23’)
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