Round 2 Review – NPL NSW Men’s 20s
A big win for Sutherland highlights round two of the NPL NSW Men’s 20s while Sydney United 58 and Wollongong Wolves kept up their perfect starts to the campaign.
Match of the Round
Sutherland Sharks v Sydney FC, Saturday 4.30pm at Seymour Shaw
A first half blitz helped Sutherland Sharks to a 6-1 victory over 10-man Sydney FC at Seymour Shaw on Saturday’s early afternoon fixture.
Blake Currey’s free kick and a brace from James Temelkovski saw the Sharks race to an unassailable three goal advantage early in the opening half with the dismissal of Sky Blues goalkeeper David Malishev compounding the damage for the visitors.
Hamish Lamberton pulled one goal back on the cusp of half time for Sydney FC who rallied hard in the second half despite their numerical disadvantage but were eventually hit with three late blows courtesy of a Mason Ingram own goal, Deren O’Brien’s volley and a Harry Sutherland header.
While Sutherland maintain a near-peerless record over their championship contenders it wasn’t a performance to rival the heights of 2017’s double-winning campaign with the undermanned Sky Blues putting on a valiant display for most of the encounter.
Giancarlo Italiano’s side were left to rue a horror start to the match in which Currey opened the scoring within three minutes following a foul on Leroy Jennings before Temelkovki bundled home Adrian Vranic’s cross for his first.
It went from bad to worse for Sydney when Malishev was dismissed following a contentious challenge on Temelkovski who dispatched the resulting penalty kick for his third goal since joining the Sharks from Rockdale.
New Sydney frontman Hamish Lamberton had already been denied by the post earlier on but pulled one goal back before half time after pouncing on a Sutherland mistake.
Lamberton’s third of the season inspired Sydney to a courageous second half showing in which the visitors gave Sutherland several scares before ultimately conceding three goals in the final ten minutes.
Sharks substitute Deren O’Brien opened his account for the season after neatly tucking away a volley from the edge of the penalty area following a comically unfortunate own goal from Sydney’s Mason Ingram.
Defender Harry Sutherland then added a sixth with a towering back post header from O’Brien’s cross to consign Sydney to their heaviest loss since joining the NPL NSW competition in 2017.
After the match Sutherland coach Nick Dimovski admitted to the misleading nature of the end scoreline but said the Sharks thoroughly merited the result.
“Every time you play Sydney FC it’s going to be a tough game and so it proved again today,” he said.
“I think for the people who weren’t at the ground today you’d look at the scoreline and think ‘oh jeez’ but Sydney were gallant in defeat and their players fought for 90 minutes so they should be proud of themselves.
“Moving forward it’s a matter of keeping the players switched on, we ended up cruising in at half time and that’s not our style – our style is to keep playing attacking football and we can’t afford to take our foot off the pedal.”
Sutherland Sharks are next in action against Hakoah Sydney City East on Saturday afternoon, while Sydney get their chance to respond at Lambert Park when Wollongong Wolves arrive earlier on the same day.
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 6 (Currey 3’, Temelkovski 10’, 27’, Ingram (og) 80’, O’Brien 82’, Sutherland 84’)
Sydney FC 1 (Lamberton 42’)
Saturday 17th March 2017,
Seymour Shaw, Miranda
Sutherland Sharks: 31. Gabriel Contigiani, 25. Blake Currey, 24. Adam Massoud, 33. Thomas Papa, 26. Harry Sutherland (28. Noah Chia 85’), 32. James Temelkovski (30. Joshua Briskoski 82’), 21. Nikolas Loe, 13. Robert Watson, 17. Leroy Jennings (23. Deren O’Brien 45’), 14. Leo Malfara, 9. Adrian Vranic
Substitutes not used: 38. Jacob Forster, 29. George Vagerakas
Yellow cards: Sutherland 58’, Temelkovski 72’
Red cards: N/A
Sydney FC: 21. Finn Ballard Mcbride, 24. Daniel Blachura, 25. Mason Ingram, 27. Hamish Lamberton, 40. David Malishev, 31. Ryan Teague (13. Jordan Swibel 63’), 19. Giuseppe Tilio, 17. Marco Tilio (32. Jacob Vasiliou 73’), 23. Nikola Ujdur, 22. Harry Van Der Saag
Substitutes not used: 1. Mitchell Evans, 29. Thomas Fay, 41. Mitchell Mattison
Yellow cards: Van Der Saag 34’
Red cards: Malishev 19’
Saturday
Sydney United 58 2-0 Blacktown City, 5.30pm at Sydney United Sports Centre
Sydney United 58 made it two wins on the trot after defeating Blacktown City 2-0 at Sydney United Sports Centre on Saturday.
Kyle Cimenti opened the scoring with his second goal of the season before Minkyeom Kim added another to kill the tie off in the second half.
The win extends an excellent recent record over Blacktown City for Sydney United 58 who have won three and drawn once against their near rivals since the beginning of last season.
United 58 will enter round three on equal points with Wollongong at the top of the table when they take on Rockdale City Suns on Sunday afternoon.
The pressure will be on Blacktown City to bounce back from two defeats in a row at home to Bonnyrigg on Saturday evening.
Sunday
Hakoah Sydney City East 1-1 Manly United, 11:00am at Hensley Athletic Field
Honours were even at Hensley Athletic Field where Hakoah Sydney City East and Manly United secured their first point of the season each following a tense 1-1 draw.
Hakoah’s Finley Hayhurst was on the scoresheet for the hosts but a goal from Manly’s Mitchell Rooke ensured United pick up a point in their first match of the 2018 season.
Hakoah entertain reigning champions Sutherland on Saturday looking to get their first win of the season while Manly travel to Sydney Olympic on Sunday lunchtime.
Wollongong Wolves 3-1 Rockdale City Suns, 1.00pm at WIN Stadium
Wollongong Wolves continued their impressive start to the season with a 3-1 victory over Rockdale City Suns at WIN Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Rockdale opened the scoring through Giuliano Airoldi but a brace from Jordan Nikolovski and a goal from Tory Musumeci secured back to back wins for James Ford’s side – a feat the South Coast outfit managed just once in 2017.
Wollongong will get a great chance to show their title credentials next Saturday when they take on Sydney FC at Lambert Park.
Rockdale City Suns face an in-form Sydney United 58 side looking to notch their first win of the campaign.
Postponed: Bonnyrigg White Eagles v Marconi Stallions, 2.00pm at Bonnyrigg Sports Club
Postponed: APIA Leichhardt Tigers v Sydney Olympic, 1.30pm at Lambert Park
-By Jacob Windon
