Round 16 – NPL NSW Men’s 20’s Review
There were missed opportunities for both Blacktown City and Sutherland Sharks in Round 16 of the NPL NSW Mens’ 20s competition, as each contender slipped to unexpected defeats to Manly United and Sydney United 58 respectively.
In the Match of the Round at Lambert Park, APIA Leichhardt Tigers eased to a 2-0 win over Rockdale City Suns.
APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC 2 – 0 Rockdale City Suns FC
APIA Leichhardt Tigers showed grit and determination to edge a 2-0 win over Rockdale City Suns on Sunday afternoon, two of the competition’s stragglers producing an underwhelming contest on an unusually warm winter afternoon at Lambert Park.
The visitors started strongly but struggled to turn their time on the ball into shots on goal, and the APIA keeper was left largely untroubled for much of the game. Dominion Nasrabadi was first to threaten at either end, cutting inside from the left flank and hitting his shot towards the far post for the keeper to dig out for a corner.
Both sides seemed sapped of energy, with the rain and wind of the last few weeks giving way to an unusually oppressive heat for late June. Few players stood out on the ball as possession changed hands every couple of passes, though one, Luca Kmet, was a constant danger to the Rockdale defence.
It was unsurprising to see Kmet wheeling away in celebration when APIA finally broke the deadlock on the half hour mark, as he followed in a rebound to loop a volley over the men in the goal and into the net. Daniel Alessi had a shot soon after, his effort far less threatening to the keeper who claimed the ball easily.
Just three minutes after going ahead, APIA had a second. Kmet was at the heart of the attack again, jinking inside his man from the right and getting a diagonal ball away for Aedon Kyra to touch across the goalkeeper and roll back inside the far post.
Halftime came and went, and Rockdale started the second period with a snapshot from a corner which flew well over the crossbar. Kmet had a strong penalty appeal turned down before smacking a volley over the bar, while fellow goalscorer Kyra couldn’t add to his tally when the ball fell to him at the back post after a corner, spinning and dragging his shot wide of the goal.
Kmet had a late shot deflected onto the post, though 3-0 might have been somewhat unfair on Rockdale given neither side had created much after the goals. APIA ran out 2-0 winners, having taken their chances much better when they came.
Frank Consentino was pleased with what he saw as a straightforward win for APIA. “I think we dominated, we were pretty comfortable to be fair. They were a good team, but were were structured and got the result we deserved.
“We’ve been unlucky the last couple of weeks, not getting results we should’ve, so this is a good one today.”
A disappointed Steve Zoric said that his side are still on the right track despite another unfortunate result. “We were on top for the first 25 until their goal, but that took the wind out of us a bit and I think that’s where they got their quick second.
“After that we settled down and the second half was pretty even. We should’ve taken a draw out of that.
“The boys’ character is brilliant. They’re starting to play some good football and getting fitter. It was good that we came out to play in the second half.”
Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC 2 (Luca Kmet 30’, Aedon Kyra 33’)
Rockdale City Suns FC 0
Sunday June 24, 2018
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC : 5. ADATTINI Stephan, 38. ALESSI Daniel (29. ABOUCHAAYA Camil), 32. ARMSON Jack, 26. AZZONE Nicholas (13. MCCARRON Benjamin), 28. CERASOLI Gino, 33. FINCH Corey, 30. KMET Luca, 14. KYRA Aedon (25. MELLINO Nathan), 37. NASRABADI Dominion (31. KAMARA Kamilou), 35. REGAN Zander, 39. TAUERNITI Matt
Substitutes: 1. GILMORE Adam
Yellow Cards: Adattini 89’
Red Cards: Nil
Rockdale City Suns FC: 29. BARTIER Caleb, 36. BRISKOSKI Joshua (61. BOTIC Noah), 34. MALFARA Alexander, 55. MEDAKOVIC George, 52. RAJANI Mohammad (59. SHAINFELD Samuel), 30. SEPAROVIC Nathan, 31. VAGERAKAS George (50. JENICEK Joshua), 43. VASTAG Anthony, 64. WARD Cameron (58. AHMED Mohamed), 44. GACIC Vinko
Substitutes: 46. BOTIC Jacob, 25. SOUTTER Jake
Yellow Cards: Vagerakas 57’, Malfara 87’
Red Cards: Nil
Saturday
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 0-0 Sydney FC, 5.00pm at Bonnyrigg Sports Club
Bonnyrigg White Eagles and Sydney FC played out a scoreless draw at Bonnyrigg Sports Club on Saturday afternoon, the leaders surprising held to nil just a week after putting seven goals past Sydney United 58.
It’s the second time these two have drawn this season, after the thrilling 5-5 draw at Lambert Park earlier in the year. Sydney FC will look to bounce back from what they will consider a disappointing result when they return to Lambert Park for a clash with APIA Leichhardt Tigers in Round 17, while Bonnyrigg will hope to go one better as they travel to first-placed Sutherland Sharks next Saturday.
Wollongong Wolves 0-3 Hakoah Sydney City East, 5.00pm at WIN Stadium
Wollongong Wolves suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat at the hands of Hakoah Sydney City East on Saturday afternoon, going behind in the first half before conceding a further two in the second.
Nathan Roberts, Satchel Kolt and Finley Hayhurst were on the scoresheet for the visitors, who jump ahead of Wollongong into fourth ahead of their Round 17 clash with Marconi at Hensley Athletic Field. Wollongong, meanwhile, will travel to Sydney United 58, where they’ll look to avoid another defeat or else risk slipping out of the top five.
Sydney Olympic 2-1 Marconi Stallions, 5.30pm at Lambert Park
Marconi’s hunt for a top five spot is all but over after a 2-1 defeat to Sydney Olympic at Lambert Park on Saturday night. The home side had Ahmad Safdari to thank for their goal as the two teams went into halftime all square.
At 1-1, though his teammates couldn’t have been too pleased with his red card later in the game. Berisha scored after the break and Olympic held on for three valuable points ahead of their away clash with Blacktown City next week, while Marconi will look to bounce back against Hakoah Sydney City East when they meet at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday.
Sydney United 58 1-0 Sutherland Sharks, 5.30pm at Sydney United Sports Centre
Sydney United 58 responded to their 7-0 thumping by Sydney FC in stunning fashion, beating competition leaders Sutherland Sharks to remain in the hunt for a place in the finals.
The only goal of the game came from a counterattack just moments before Sutherland might have gone in front themselves; the goalkeeper foiling a 1v1 and launching his side forward for a 1 v 1 of their own which was duly converted.
Sutherland coach Nick Dimovski was blunt in his analysis of his team’s defeat.
“If you don’t shoot, you don’t score,” he said.
“We didn’t take our chances.”
Sutherland take on Bonnyrigg White Eagles in Round 17, while Sydney United 58 will hope to extend their late charge towards the top five when they travel to Wollongong Wolves on Sunday.
Sunday
Manly United 2-1 Blacktown City, 1.00pm at Cromer Park
Blacktown City suffered a setback in their campaign to crack the top two, slipping to a 2-1 defeat to Manly United on Sunday afternoon at Cromer Park.
Manly capitalised on the few chances they had to snatch three points, while Blacktown will be disappointed not to have taken something from the game after bringing it back to 2-1, and peppering the Manly goalkeeper for much of the second half.
Manly still have ground to make up in their challenge for a top five spot, and will travel to Rockdale next week looking to build on this win.
Blacktown City have Sydney Olympic at Belmore Sports Ground, representing a good opportunity to rediscover some form as they head into the last few weeks of the regular season.
-By Max Grieve
