Round 12 Review – PS4 NPL NSW U20
APIA Leichhardt Tigers enjoyed a fine weekend thanks to a resounding victory over fellow championship contenders Sydney United 58 in the PS4 NPL NSW U20’s Match of the Round, while the stock of Sydney FC took another steep rise with the Sky Blues claiming a big win at Rockdale.
There were wins for Blacktown City, Wollongong Wolves and Sutherland Sharks elsewhere in round 12 as Bonnyrigg White Eagles lifted themselves off the bottom of the competition ladder.
Match of the Round
APIA Leichhardt Tigers v Sydney United 58, Saturday 5.30pm at Lambert Park
APIA Leichhardt Tigers staked their championship credentials with a comprehensive 5-1 thrashing of Sydney United 58 in their top of the table clash at Lambert Park on Saturday evening.
The contest between the two championship hopefuls was dominated by the excellent hosts who established a comfortable 2-1 lead at the break following Aedon Kyra’s early strike and a Luke Vlastelica own goal.
A second half brace for attacker Cameron Stephan and a lone Jordan Morfitis strike completed the rout for Michael Urukalo’s outfit who leapfrog the Reds into second place on the competition ladder.
The defeat is the heaviest of the season for the visitors who, despite forcing an excellent equalizer midway through the first half through Anthony Vrlic, never truly threatened the APIA goal and offered one of their worst showings of the campaign.
Antoni Zmire’s side were on the back foot for large portions of the encounter after a series of uncharacteristic turnovers and the tone for the performance was set early on when Kyra opened the scoring after just thirteen minutes.
The golden boot leader added his ninth of the season after taking a superb diagonal ball from Bradley Bartels on the chest before lifting the ball over United 58 custodian Lucas Pervan.
United 58 could’ve found themselves two goals down before eventually restoring parity with one of their lone forays forward. A well-crafted counter attacking move involving Tony Yang and Anthony Poljak ended with Vrlic letting fly from distance, with APIA goalkeeper Christian Theuma only able to parry the midfielder’s fierce strike onto the post and in.
It was to be the only bright spot on a miserable night for United 58, who conceded a mountain of opportunities following their equalizer. Kyra saw a golden chance to grab two go begging from in front before testing Pervan again with an effort from the edge of the area.
The hosts re-took the lead in fortunate circumstances when Luke Vlastelica deflected a cross from Bartels past his own goalkeeper, and it got worse for United 58 immediately after the break when Stephan broke the offside trap and rounded Theuma for 3-0.
The APIA attacker completed a quickfire double shortly after when Kyra robbed Poljak on the edge of the box before sliding the ball across to Stephan who planted his second into an empty net.
Chances continued to flow for the Tigers and Morfitis, who had enjoyed several opportunities throughout the match darting inside from the left channel, added his name to the scoresheet in the final ten minutes after tucking home a clever flick-on from Kyra. The former Wanderers starlet should have netted another in addition to his seventh of the season following yet another turnover from the visitors, but Pervan again made an excellent save.
There was still time for more as APIA went in search of a sixth – Bartels crashed a header over the bar and Stephan squandered a good chance to claim a treble but could only send a fine cross from Mathew Cook wayward.
APIA will be hunting another win in round 13 when they take on Hakoah as the Tigers look to keep pace with Sutherland Sharks, while Sydney United 58 host Rockdale City Suns in Edensor Park.
Saturday 27th of May 2017
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 5 (Kyra 13’, L. Vlastelica (OG) 40’ Stephan 56’, 63’, Morfitis 81’)
Sydney United 58 1 (Vrlic 34’)
APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 32. Stephan Adattini, 36. Jack Armson, 29. Mathew Barkho, 5. Bradley Bartels, 23. Mathew Cook, 38. Samuel Gulisano, 25. Aedon Kyra (24. Shaho Ismaeel Hasan 84’), 31. Jordan Morfitis (35. Jackson Volarich 84’), 21. Cameron Stephan, 26. Christian Theuma, 17. Adrian Vlastelica
Substitutes Not Used: 39. Samuel Paslis, 60. Alessandro Ramondino, 42. Nicholas Azzone
Yellow Cards: 5. Bradley Bartels 75’
Red Cards: N/A
Sydney United 58: 12. Nathan Bertolissio (24. Hamish Lamberton 68’), 27. Joshua Briskoski, 34. Liam Invancic, 31. Emilio Manos, 36. Ante Markovic, 40. Lucas Pervan, 41. Anthony Poljak, 38. Anthony Trimboli, 44. Luke Vlastelica (29. Matthew Zanon 58’), 28. Anthony Vrlic, 43. Tony Yang
Substitutes Not Used: 26. Joshua De Rossi, 75. Jeonghui Cho, 24. Hamish Lamberton
Yellow Cards: 44. Luke Vlastelica 23’
Red Cards: N/A
Sunday
Sydney Olympic 0-1 Bonnyrigg White Eagles, 12.45pm at Belmore Sports Ground
Bonnyrigg lifted themselves off the bottom of the competition ladder with a priceless 1-0 victory over Sydney Olympic at Belmore Sports Ground.
Michael Guse’s penalty proved the winner for Hamish Brown’s side who leapfrog Parramatta into ninth spot thanks to their second win of the season.
The White Eagles can breathe further life into their campaign with a win against Manly in Bonnyrigg next weekend, while Olympic will need to recover from two losses in a row when they travel to Wollongong.
Manly United 1-3 Sutherland Sharks, 1.00pm at Cromer Park
Sutherland Sharks continued their impressive form with a solid 3-1 victory away to rivals Manly United to maintain their six point advantage over Blacktown City.
Matias Da Silva Santos opened the scoring for the visitors before Manly restored parity through Sheldon Tweedie’s free-kick.
But goals to Jake Borromeo and Christian Torrelli made it two wins on the bounce for the Sharks who will be relishing the visit of second-placed Blacktown City in round 13.
An inconsistent campaign for Manly United continues but the reigning premiers have a chance to get back on track when they travel to lowly Bonnyrigg next weekend.
Blacktown City 2-1 Hakoah Sydney City East, 1.00pm at Lilys Football Centre
Blacktown City returned to winning ways after edging Hakoah Sydney City East 2-1 at Lilys Football Centre.
John Carnevale’s side had failed to score in their last three matches but Mason Ireland’s sixth of the season and a goal from Lewis Beumie was enough to see off a gritty Hakoah outfit who netted through Julian Rinaldi.
Hakoah will look to respond at home against a flying APIA Leichhardt Tigers in round 13 while Blacktown City head to Sutherland for a mouth-watering top of the table clash at Seymour Shaw.
Wollongong Wolves 2-1 Parramatta, 1.00pm at WIN Stadium
Wollongong Wolves climbed to ninth after consigning Parramatta to their sixth defeat in a row with a 2-1 victory at WIN Stadium.
Goals from Ethan Kambisios and Jack Lombo sealed the Wolves’ fourth win of the season and consigned the visitors, who scored their lone goal through Abuzar Awaz, to the bottom of the table.
The South Coast side can improve their finals chances a little more when they host an out of form Sydney Olympic at WIN Stadium in round 13, while Parramatta will be desperate to avoid a seventh consecutive loss when they arrive at Lambert Park to take on Sydney FC.
Rockdale City Suns 0-2 Sydney FC, 3.00pm at Ilinden Sports Centre
Sydney FC continued their impressive recent form with an excellent 2-0 victory against Rockdale City Suns at Ilinden Sports Centre.
John Irelade’s fifth of the campaign and a strike from Cooper Coskerie paved way for the Sky Blues who proved too canny for their opponents.
David Zdrilic’s side are now unbeaten since round five and have conceded a meagre four goals since then and with a home fixture against a struggling Parramatta side to come next weekend the Sky Blues look likely to heap pressure on the chasing pack.
The 2-0 defeat will come as a huge frustration for a Rockdale side who were beginning to build some momentum prior to the defeat but the ninth placed outfit can redeem themselves with a win over Sydney United 58 next Sunday.
-By Jacob Windon