Round 27 Review – League Two Men’s
The battle for promotion took another twist in Round 27 of the 2026 Football NSW League Two Men’s season, with Parramatta FC taking a big step towards that all-important 2nd spot.
The Match of the Round this week saw Fraser Park FC drop crucial points in the promotion race away to Granville Rage.
Match of the Round: Granville Rage 2-1 Fraser Park FC
Fraser Park FC’s promotion hopes took a big hit after they failed to complete the comeback, falling 2-1 to Granville Rage away from home.
Following a Fraser Park corner, Granville took the lead at the other end in the 36th minute through Nicholas Issa, the 22-year-old scoring his first goal of the season to open the scoring for the hosts.
Granville’s lead was doubled to 2-0 in the 43rd minute, Rhett Desilva scoring in consecutive matches, this one off Granville’s third shot on target of the half.
Fraser Park got back into the contest just after half-time, in the 52nd minute, through Christian Dos Santos, who scored his second goal of the season, both of which came against the Rage.
Down 2-1, Fraser Park continued to pressure Granville, firing shots on goal and earning multiple corners, but to no avail.
Granville also continued their attacking intent, with three more total on target and five off target in the second half.
Ultimately, Granville held on for a big win in the context of the promotion race this season, denting Fraser Park FC’s hopes, in a revenge 2-1 home win after their 9-0 loss to Fraser Park earlier in the season.
The win for Granville saw them remain in 7th on 38 points, keeping their slim chances at promotion alive, while the loss for Fraser Park saw them drop from 3rd to 4th, now six points behind 2nd-placed Parramatta FC with three matches to play.
Granville will hope to continue to hunt a positive end to the season when they host Hawkesbury City FC next week, while Fraser Park will hope to make up ground in the promotion race when they host Central Coast United FC.
Granville Rage 2 (Nicholas Issa 36’; Rhett Desilva 43’)
Fraser Park FC 1 (Christian Dos Santos 52’)
Mounties Wanderers FC 4-2 Bankstown United FC
Mounties Wanderers FC came from behind twice to continue their title celebrations with a 4-2 home win over Bankstown United FC.
Mitchell Cross gave Bankstown the early lead in the 3rd minute, before a Mitchell Van Der Saag penalty levelled the match at 1-1 for Mounties in the 9th minute.
Cross completed his first double of the season in the 54th minute to give Bankstown their lead back, but Josh Symons once again brought Mounties back level just three minutes later.
Mounties made a raft of substitutions mid-way through the second half, those players making a difference when 19-year-old Rickson Odisho scored to give Mounties the lead for the first time in the match in the 84th minute, before substitute 20-year-old Nima Jafari scored his first senior goal for Mounties in the 90th minute to round out the 4-2 comeback win.
The win for Mounties saw them move to 65 points for the season, the Premiers winning their twenty-first match from twenty-five played this season, while the loss for Bankstown saw them remain in 14th.
Mounties Wanderers FC 4 (Mitchell Van Der Saag 9’ pen; Josh Symons 57’; Rickson Odisho 84’; Nima Jafari 90’)
Bankstown United FC 2 (Mitchell Cross 3’, 54’)
South Coast Flame FC 1-3 Parramatta FC
Parramatta FC picked up another crucial three points in their battle for promotion, overcoming South Coast Flame FC 3-1 away from home.
Parramatta opened the scoring in the 28th minute when Marco Sama bundled the ball home from a corner, his 21st goal of the season giving Parramatta a 1-0 lead.
The visitors doubled their lead in the 54th minute when Declan Reynor played Travis Oughtred down the line, who crossed the ball to Sama; Sama’s shot rebounded to Mahamed Osman, who smashed the ball home to give Parramatta a 2-0 lead.
Parramatta took a 3-0 lead in the 65th minute when Justin Biega played a ball to Oughtred, who in turn found Alistair McKie, into Osman, then to Sama who scored a double in back-to-back matches; the Flame scored a late consolation goal off a free kick through Jordan Roberts, who slotted home from inside the box, but Parramatta ran out 3-1 winners.
The loss for the Flame was their third in a row and saw them remain in 9th, while the win for Parramatta extended their advantage in 2nd to five points over 3rd-placed Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC, moving to 48 points for the season, with three matches to play.
South Coast Flame FC 1 (Jordan Roberts 68’)
Parramatta FC 3 (Marco Sama 28’, 65’; Mahamed Osman 54’)
Sydney University SFC 4-1 Nepean FC
Sydney University SFC completed the league double over Nepean after a comeback 4-1 home win.
Nepean opened the scoring through Gabriel Carboni in the 5th minute, who scored from outside the box, before they were reduced to ten men when Ekene Okoye was shown a red card after giving away a penalty, which was dispatched by Isaac Folkes to level the match t 1-1.
University took a 2-1 lead when Jesse Hirschowitz scored a one-on-one goal in the 68th minute, before Charles Hely-Hammond scored for a third-straight week to give University a 3-1 lead.
The hosts wrapped up the 4-1 win in the 81st minute, Folkes completing his double for his 15th goal of the season.
The win for University was their first in three matches as they remained in 8th place, while the loss for Nepean saw them remain in 12th.
Sydney University SFC 4 (Isaac Folkes 29’, 81’; Jesse Hirschowitz 68’; Charles Hely-Hammond 72’)
Nepean FC 1 (Gabriel Carboni 5’; Ekene Okoye 28’ red card)
Hawkesbury City FC 2-4 Central Coast United FC
Central Coast United FC won a third-straight match after a 4-2 away victory over Hawkesbury City FC.
Zac Pezzutto opened the scoring for Central Coast in the 15th minute, hitting a powerful shot from the edge of the box into the back of the net, before Callum O’Connor doubled the visitors’ lead in the 24th minute, getting on the end of build-up play from Hayden Bolte, Kirby Wilding and Pezzutto, Bolte providing O’Connor with the ball, which he volleyed home.
Central Coast made it 3-0 in the 33rd minute when Matthew Kairouz and Pezzutto won the ball, played it to Jekai Mead, who sent Wilding in behind; Wilding then placed the ball into the back of the net.
Aaron Peterson scored a quickfire double before half-time to get Hawkesbury back into the match at 3-2 down, but Central Coast rounded out the 4-2 victory in the 59th minute when Cade Mapu converted a penalty he had earned; a late red card in stoppage time for Hawkesbury to Tate Croft saw the hosts finish the match with ten men.
The loss for Hawkesbury was their fifth in a row and saw them remain in 10th, while the win for Central Coast saw them remain in 6th on 38 points, their focus fully on a top-half finish after being mathematically ruled out for 2nd.
Hawkesbury City FC 2 (Aaron Peterson 38’, 43’; Tate Croft 90+6’ red card)
Central Coast United FC 4 (Zac Pezzutto 15’; Callum O’Connor 24’; Kirby Wilding 33’; Cade Mapu 59’ pen)
Dunbar Rovers FC 6-0 Gladesville Ryde Magic
A Guilherme Mazurkievicz Pansonato hat-trick helped Dunbar Rovers FC keep their promotion hopes alive in a 6-0 home win over Gladesville Ryde Magic.
Dunbar took the lead early in the 3rd minute through an Aaron Khan own goal, before Zachary Marinos doubled their lead in the 31st minute.
Pansonato scored his first from the penalty spot in the 36th minute, followed by Daisuke Yamaguchi in the 45th minute, also from the spot, for a 4-0 lead.
Pansonato scored in first-half stoppage time to give Dunbar a 5-0 lead at the break; even after going down to ten men in the 68th minute when Daniel Goni was sent off, Dunbar finished the match strong, Pansonato completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot in stoppage time to round out a 6-0 win for Dunbar.
The win for Dunbar saw them remain in 5th on 41 points, seven points behind 2nd-placed Parramatta FC with three matches to play, while the loss for Gladesville was their seventh in a row as they remained in 13th.
Dunbar Rovers FC 6 (Aaron Khan 3’ own goal; Zachary Marinos 31’; Guilherme Mazurkievicz Pansonato 36’ pen, 45+1’, 90+1’ pen; Daisuke Yamaguchi 45’ pen; Daniel Goni 68’ red card)
Gladesville Ryde Magic 0
Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC 4-0 Camden Tigers FC
Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC earned another big three points in their hunt for promotion, running out 4-0 winners at home over Camden Tigers FC.
The hosts took a 1-0 lead into half-time when Yugo Miyazaki capitalised on a Tigers mistake and slotted the ball home for his second goal for the club in as many weeks since his arrival from Shellharbour Football Club.
Daniel Bittar scored his 14th goal of the season on the hour mark to double Bonnyrigg’s lead, before Danilo Mizdrak scored his fourth goal in six matches for Bonnyrigg for a 3-0 lead.
Bonnyrigg rounded out the 4-0 win in the 83rd minute through Asmir Kadric, his 9th goal of the season giving Bonnyrigg a big boost to their promotion hopes.
The win for Bonnyrigg saw them rise one spot to 3rd on the ladder on 43 points, five points behind 2nd-placed Parramatta FC, while the loss for Camden was their first in three matches as they remained in 15th.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC 4 (Yugo Miyazaki 33’; Daniel Bittar 60’; Danilo Mizdrak 77’; Asmir Kadric 83’)
Camden Tigers FC 0
11th-placed Inner West Hawks FC had a bye in Round 27.
By Football NSW League Two Men’s Reporter, Dylan Costa
