Round 19 Review – League One Men’s
Blacktown Spartans and Northern Tigers restored a gap between themselves and the chasing pack in Round 19 action in the FNSW League One Men’s competition across the weekend.
Aside from those two results, Hills United moved to within a point of third while Canterbury Bankstown and Rydalmere Lions also picked up victories.
Match of the Round: Blacktown Spartans 4-1 Bankstown City
A relentless Blacktown Spartans produced one of their best performances of the season, running out 4-1 winners over Bankstown City at Blacktown Football Park on Friday evening.
Bouncing back from defeat to Hakoah last time out, they were impressive from front to back as James Demetriou’s side established a four-goal lead before Blake Ricciuto scored a consolation with five minutes remaining.
In retrospect, signs were there from the beginning that it was going to be the hosts’ night, with a high-tempo start seeing them control proceedings. The best chances of this period came from Aedon Kyra, who tested the keeper early with a long-range strike which was palmed away just inside ten minutes, before Bankstown City keeper Mario Aleksic made a sharp reaction stop to deny him again in the 19th minute.
Bankstown City had their best chance of the first half shortly after, with Jonathan Grozdanovski played through on goal, but his effort was denied by Anthony Bouzanis in the home side’s net.
Blacktown Spartans were definitely worth their goal, which came in the 35th minute through a stunning Austen Booth header after a moment of Darcy Ellem inspiration down the right side, delivering a pinpoint cross.
If much of the first half was decided by moments, the second was one of dominance from the competition leaders. Three goals before the 65th minute put the game beyond doubt.
Darcy Ellem grabbed a goal his performance deserved in the 55th minute to double the advantage, pouncing on some uncertainty from the visiting defence with an opportunistic finish.
Aedon Kyra then stretched the lead to three four minutes later, his strike taking a deflection on its way to goal, leaving Aleksic helpless in the Bankstown net.
It then became four, with perhaps the best of the lot — Suleyman Bangura producing a stunning finish from a narrow angle to put the game well and truly beyond doubt.
Bankstown City did manage a consolation late, with Blake Ricciuto scoring a one-touch finish inside the area after a Bai Antoniou cross.
The result extends the gap between the two sides to eight points with 11 games of the season remaining. Blacktown Spartans next face Dulwich Hill away from home, while Bankstown City take on Central Coast Mariners in Round 20 action at Jensen Park.
Blacktown Spartans 4 (Booth 35’, Ellem 55’, Kyra 59’, Bangura 65’)
Bankstown City 1 (Ricciuto 85’)
Elsewhere
Macarthur Rams 2-3 Hills United
In another big clash among top-half sides, Hills United took a narrow 3-2 win over Macarthur Rams at Lynwood Park.
The win takes them level with the Rams and keeps their top-two hopes alive, as they weathered a comeback before scoring a winner in the 78th minute.
The first half was a strong display of attacking football from Gary Van Egmond’s Hills United side, who took a two-goal lead. Their first came through Jordan Small, who finished a first-time Cam Philp cross, before Max Hately doubled the advantage after the half-hour mark, bundling home from a Yuki Kanai square ball.
The Rams nearly stole something before half-time, pulling themselves back to 2-2. Chan Yelchan scored the pick of the goals, cutting inside from the right before finding the bottom corner, before adding a second to complete his brace from a well-worked passage.
The crucial goal came moments later when a Walid Moutaoukkil cross took a deflection off a defender to give Hills a 3-2 lead at full time. Yuki Kanai was their standout performer outside the scorers.
Macarthur Rams 2 (Yelchan 61’, 76’)
Hills United 3 (Small 11’, Hately 33’, Gollan OG 78’)
Northern Tigers 1-0 Inter Lions
Northern Tigers took advantage of the Match of the Round result with a narrow 1-0 win over Inter Lions at North Turramurra Recreation Area.
Their tenth clean sheet of the season stretched their gap to third to four points, courtesy of a Ryan Attard first-half goal.
The key to the win was the home side’s ability to build pressure on the visitors’ defence, with the breakthrough coming late in the first half as Attard finished off a Lachie Lloyd ball in behind.
Tigers coach Milad Popalzay singled out the influence of Alen Aganovic after the victory, once again commanding in defence to secure the three points.
Northern Tigers 1 (Attard 37’)
Inter Lions 0
Canterbury Bankstown 6-5 Newcastle Jets
We were probably due a crazy scoreline, and these two delivered exactly that, with Canterbury Bankstown taking a 6-5 win over Newcastle Jets.
A match that featured two hat-trick scorers saw the Berries in control for large periods before a 86th-minute William Kounnas goal separated the sides — coming just a minute after the Jets had equalised through Ethan Debono.
It was a match for the attackers but not the defenders, with William Kounnas for the hosts and Ethan Debono for the visitors both scoring hat-tricks, while Fikret Berisha also scored a brace for the Berries. Archie Brideson, John Fotopoulos and Kai Thompson also scored in the fixture.
The Jets nearly staged a memorable second-half comeback with three goals, but were denied in dramatic fashion in the 86th minute.
Canterbury Bankstown 6 (Kounnas 2’, 58’, 86’, Berisha 14’, 77’, Fotopoulos 34’)
Newcastle Jets 5 (Brideson 12’, Debono 29’, 63’, 85’, Thompson 82’)
Bulls FC Academy 0-1 Rydalmere Lions
Rydalmere Lions returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Bulls FC Academy at Sydney United Sports Centre.
After a seven-game winless run, it was a much-needed result for the Lions, who can now look forward to the final third of the season.
Equally pleasing for the coaching staff will be their first clean sheet since Round 12, which proved crucial to the result. Their goal came late in the first half through Adil Toska, who scored his sixth goal of the season.
Bulls FC Academy are now in a difficult run of form, with one win in their last five games and three defeats in that time.
Bulls FC Academy 0
Rydalmere Lions 1 (Toska 34’)
Central Coast Mariners 2-2 Hakoah FC
Hakoah FC came from two goals down to steal a point on their trip up the M1 against Central Coast Mariners.
Despite holding a two-goal lead in the first half, the hosts were left to rue missed chances that could have put the game beyond doubt.
Described by Mariners coach Philippe Bernabo-Madrid as one of their best performances of the season, they started strongly with a Shumba Mutokoyi header from a wide set piece, before Laurence Taylor doubled their advantage before the half-hour mark.
A key turning point came in first-half stoppage time when Ben Fuchs and Valentin Cuny combined, allowing Nicholas Tooley to pull one back. That momentum carried into the second half, with Cuny then grabbing an equaliser eight minutes after the restart. Both sides had chances late but had to settle for a point.
Central Coast Mariners 2 (Mutokoyi 6’, Taylor 28’)
Hakoah FC 2 (Tooley 50’, Cuny 53’)
Hurstville Zagreb 1-1 Western City Rangers
Western City Rangers picked up their second point in as many games with a 1-1 draw against Hurstville Zagreb.
The visitors will likely be the more disappointed side, unable to capitalise on an improved away performance.
Overall, it was a game of few chances. The closest either side came was a disallowed goal for Thomas Lopez from a set piece, with a lack of quality in the final third seeing both teams go in level at half-time.
Western City were punished for inefficiency in front of goal when Hurstville Zagreb opened the scoring through Alessandro Lacalandra, who tapped home after a combination between Jonathan Maras and Michael Neil.
Western City equalised five minutes later through Jamal Belkadi, following a move involving Rocco Fragale and Jared Macerola. Shayden Sampow was also among the Rangers’ best performers.
Hurstville Zagreb 1 (Lacalandra 65’)
Western City Rangers 1 (Belkadi 70’)
Prospect United 0-0 Dulwich Hill
Prospect United were held to their ninth draw of the season by Dulwich Hill in their late Sunday fixture.
The result sees the hosts creep to within three points of 14th, while also helping Dulwich Hill maintain their buffer above the bottom three.
Both sides had chances throughout but were unable to find a breakthrough, with Dulwich Hill controlling possession.
The return of Marcus Lal was a positive for the visitors, who now face Blacktown Spartans next, while Prospect United face a challenging clash with Hills United.
Prospect United 0
Dulwich Hill 0
