PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 Grade 20s Round 10 Review

ROUND ten of the Grade 20s competition was played out over the weekend; with three games across both Saturday and Sunday.

This week’s match of the round saw Sutherland Sharks return to form with a 3-0 win over Sydney Olympic at Belmore Park on Sunday afternoon.
Match of the Round
Sydney Olympic FC 0-3 Sutherland Sharks FC, Sunday at Belmore Park
Sydney Olympic slipped to a 3-0 loss to Sutherland Sharks at Belmore Park on Sunday afternoon, falling to ninth on the ladder as round 10 came to a conclusion. Two goals from Jeremy Cox, and one from Patrick O’Shea, helped the Sharks to their win, with Andrew Depta impressive in goal for the away side as he kept his third clean sheet of the season.
Both sides opened the match at a furious pace, with gilt-edged chances at either end within minutes of the kickoff. Daniel Bonomy went close for Olympic first, hitting his shot into Andrew Depta at point-blank range after being played in by Jack Green, before Sharks striker Patrick O’Shea saw a header cleared off the line at a corner, with Cameron Devlin pulling a follow-up volley wide.
The Sharks continued to pour forward, and in the 8th minute scored the first goal of the match. Shortly after slamming the ball against the crossbar, Jeremy Cox picked up possession on the left side of the penalty area and swept a curling shot across the sprawling John Dimitrakas in the Olympic goal to give Sutherland a 1-0 lead.
Thomas Bonomy and Jack Green were dangerous on the flanks for the home side, and might have leveled the score when Green sent Bonomy through on the edge of the penalty area with a diagonal pass that split the defenders, but the shot was saved by the onrushing Depta.
While Olympic looked for an equaliser late in the half, the Sharks threatened to double their advantage when a well-worked set piece move found Cox directly in front of goal with only the goalkeeper to beat, but he sent a low shot wide.
The Sharks continued to dominate chances after the halftime break, and scored again, six minutes into the second half, when Cox broke clear of the entire Olympic backline and rounded the goalkeeper to tap into an empty net.
Thomas Bonomy and James Andrew led the home team resistance; Bonomy winning a rare corner after skipping past two defenders on the edge of the box, but Marcus Duncan’s header from the set piece was saved well by Depta.
Olympic closed out the match with a final few desperate attempts to give themselves a chance of a draw, but Green, Andrew and Bonomy couldn’t combine to give those gathered in the stands something to cheer about. In the 87th minute, the Sharks ended any remaining optimism with a third goal; Patrick O’Shea adding to Cox’s brace for a final scoreline of 3-0.
Sydney Olympic coach Harry Paras was disappointed with his side’s finishing, saying "We created chances throughout the game, we weren’t as clinical as we would’ve liked. They took advantage of their opportunities and we didn’t – that was the difference."
"We’ve been running with a very young squad for the last few weeks, so this feels good," said Sutherland coach Allan Edmonson. "In the first half we concentrated on keeping possession and created a stack of chances, but we didn’t put enough away. That’s probably the only problem after a result like this – we could’ve scored a few more."
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC 0
Sutherland Sharks FC 3 (Cox 8′, 51′, O’Shea 89′)
Sunday May 17, 2015
Belmore Sports Ground
Sydney Olympic FC: Andrew, D. Bonomy, T. Bonomy, Dimitrakas, Duncan, Everett, Green, Karimi, Katsionis, Keir, Nicolis
Substitutes: Patramanis, Nicolauo, Sadaka, Markovic
Sutherland Sharks FC: Benham, Combes, Cox, Curtis, Depta, Gioiosa, Hughes, Loe, O’Shea, Roberts, Devlin
Substitutes: Blanco, Evans, Kakavelis, Malfara, Nikas
Saturday
Manly United FC 2-0 South Coast Wolves FC, at Cromer Park
Manly recorded a 2-0 win over South Coast Wolves on Saturday afternoon, ended an unbeaten streak that the visitors had maintained since March. Manly move one place up to fourth on the ladder with the win, while the visitors dropped to sixth after three weeks in the top three of the competition.
APIA Leichhardt Tiger FC 4-0 Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC, at Lambert Park
Lachlan Scott was again on the scoresheet for APIA Leichhardt Tigers, this time notching up a brace against Bonnyrigg White Eagles as his side ran out 4-0 winners at Lambert Park on Saturday afternoon. Benjamin McCarron and Marc Warren also scored against the White Eagles, who remain rooted to the bottom of the ladder after their seventh loss of the season.
Blacktown City FC 4-1 Blacktown Spartans FC, at Lilys Football Centre
Blacktown City thrashed local rivals Blacktown Spartans 4-1 at Lilys Football Centre on Saturday afternoon, with goals from regular scorers Juan Zapata, Jonathan Grozdanovski, Robert Perre and Eoin Montford. The Spartans sit tenth on the ladder at the end of round 10, while Blacktown City move up to third.
Sunday
Marconi Stallions FC 1-5 Sydney United 58 FC, at Marconi Stadium
Marconi were left stunned by a rampant Sydney United 58 on Sunday afternoon, with the visitors running out 5-1 winners at Marconi Stadium. Marconi, coming into the match on a four-match winning streak, had Noah Chianese to thank for their only goal in the rout, which saw Sydney United move up one place on the ladder, from seventh to sixth.
Rockdale City FC 0-4 Parramatta FC, at Ilinden Sports Centre
Rockdale remain winless since March and goalless since April, following up a 0-0 draw away to South Coast Wolves with a 4-0 loss to Parramatta FC on Sunday afternoon. While Parramatta hope to continue their climb up the table with their game against Manly United next week, Rockdale will look forward to a clash against bottom of the table Bonnyrigg White Eagles to revive their season.
– by Max Grieve, PS4 National Premier Leagues Grade 20s Reporter