Round 7 Review – NPL NSW Men’s

It was a jam-packed Easter weekend for football fans as the National Premier Leagues Men’s competition provided plenty of entertainment with a new league-leader at the end of Round 7.

Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 4 – Northbridge Bulls FC 2 at Popondetta Park

Mt Druitt Town Rangers took home their first win of the 2022 NPL NSW Men’s season with a 4-2 victory against Northbridge Bulls FC on Good Friday at Popondetta Park.

The maiden victory of the 2022 competition came in style, with four rapid-fire goals coming for the hosts after conceding the first goal.

Bul Juach fired home a brace, while Fumota Kamada and Jack Stewart added the other two goals in the win.

For Northbridge Bulls FC, they got the perfect start when Michael Ruhs fired home after six minutes but were stunned by the Rangers’ display.

Ruhs found the back of the net again in the first half to make it 4-2 before he clattered a spot-kick against the bar, leaving the visitors sitting rock bottom on the competition ladder.

APIA Leichhardt FC 3 – Sutherland Sharks 0 at Lambert Park

APIA Leichhardt secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Sutherland Sharks at Lambert Park on Saturday evening.

Goals to Jack Armson and Josh Symons, along with a penalty conversion from Jason Romero, saw the hosts come away with three points and a clean sheet after a dominant performance in the match.

Battling it out for top spot on the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s ladder, the win gives APIA valuable points as they look to edge out Sydney FC.

The loss, and particularly the conceded penalty, leave Sutherland with their fifth loss and sixth penalty conceded this season as they struggle to find consistency despite showing some promise throughout the year so far.

Marconi Stallions FC 1 – Manly United FC 1 at Marconi Stadium

Marconi Stallions and Manly United played out a 1-1 draw at Marconi Stadium on Saturday night in Round 7 of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition.

In a game that could be best described with the old cliché ‘game of two halves’, Manly United tended to have the better of the first half, while Marconi clearly won the second stanza of play.

A spectacular goal to Lucas Rainbird was cancelled out by a Taylor McDonald finish to give the sides a goal apiece.

It was a crucial three points for Marconi that went begging in some ways, even though they have a game in hand as the Stallions face the daunting task of playing four games in two weeks: Blacktown City, Manly United, Sydney United 58 FC and Mount Druitt Town Rangers – as well as an FFA Cup clash.

Blacktown City FC 4 – Sydney FC 2 at Blacktown City Sports Centre

An incredible six-goal thriller ended Sydney FC’s unbeaten run as Blacktown City secured a 4-2 victory over the young sky blues on Sunday afternoon at Blacktown City Sports Centre.

A double from Jordan Smylie and goals from Hiroaki Ayoyama and a deflected own goal from Sydney FC gave the hosts a 4-0 lead at the half time break, and despite Jaiden Kucharski and Zac Sapsford getting Sydney FC back into the game in the second half, it was too little too late for the league leaders to salvage any points from the battle.

Sky Blues coach Jimmy Van Weeren had to also contend with losing several of his usual starters to the senior squad currently playing in the AFC Asian Champions League.

Adrian Segecic, Patrick Wood, Corey Hollman, Jake Girdwood-Reich, Clayton Taylor and Adam Pavlesic were all absent from the squad.

The loss will see Sydney FC drop out of the top spot as Blacktown City add a valuable three points to their tally after a tough start to the 2022 season.

Rockdale Ilinden 2 – Wollongong Wolves 1 at Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre

Rockdale Ilinden proved too strong for a plucky Wollongong Wolves in a tense 2-1 win at Ilinden Sports Centre in Round 7 of the NPL NSW Men’s competition.

In an evenly fought contest the home side managed to secure two through ace marksman Alec Urosevski to trump one goal to Wollonong’s Josh Macdonald.

Nick Littler and Banri Kanaizumi combined to bring down Urosevski in the area in the 15th minute awarding the home side a penalty duly dispatched by the Rockdale striker to open the scoring.

The lead lasted barely four minutes as Wollongong equalised through Josh Macdonald in bizarre fashion from a free kick from 25-yards out that drifted into the area and was missed by everyone, including David Bradasevic.

The ball caught up in the breeze and bamboozled everyone to creep its way into the net at the 19 minute mark.

Urosevski beat the offside trap when played through by substitute Will Mutch and restored Ilinden’s lead in the 80th minute when slipping a curling left-footed shot beyond the despairing dive of Durose.

Sydney United 0 – Sydney Olympic 3 at Sydney United Sports Centre

A Roy O’Donovan brace ignited a stellar team performance from Sydney Olympic, as they defeated Sydney United 58 3-0 on Easter Monday at Sydney United Sports Centre.

Olympic came into this match up with a three-game win streak and looked eager to make it four on the spin, as they continue to chase the top spot on the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s ladder.

Michael Glasslock opened the scoring for the visitors with a perfectly placed finish, shortly before Roy O’Donovan doubled Olympic’s lead 15 minutes later and finished his double in the 66th minute as Olympic’s continued persistence paid off.

United 58 were unable to make their mark on the match, with Olympic’s league-leading defence keeping out the home side.