Round 5 Review – NPL NSW Men’s

Let’s check out the mini reviews from Round 5 of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition.

NWS Spirit FC 0 v Central Coast Mariners 1 at Christie Park – Full Report and Highlights

Central Coast Mariners secured an inaugural 1-0 win in the National Premier League NSW Men’s competition over the NWS Spirit FC on a balmy Saturday afternoon at Christie Park.

A Lachlan Bayliss goal right before half time was enough for the visitors to claim the spoils, despite having to withstand a fierce Spirit onslaught in the second half.

St George City 1 v Sydney Olympic 0 at Penshurst Park – Full Report and Highlights

St George City have defeated another National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s heavyweight in the shape of Sydney Olympic thanks to a late Nathan Roberts goal as the hosts took out the match 1-0 at Penshurst Park.

Round 4 saw Mirko Jurilj’s side defeat the Stallions and this week it was Olympic’s turn to feel the wrath of the newly promoted side who have made it three wins on the trot as well as keeping its first clean sheet for 2023.

Sydney FC 4 v Bulls FC Academy 1 at Valentine Sports Park – Full Report and Highlights

Sydney FC recorded its second victory of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s season with a 4-1 win over the Bulls FC Academy on a hot Sunday afternoon at Valentine Sports Park.

The young Sky Blues had to fight back from conceding the first goal to take the three points.

Alen Harbas equalised with a delightful chip in the first half before the striker added a second before goals from substitutes Clayton Taylor and Ben Gibson sealed the result.

The Bulls took the lead from a Sunday Yona header from a corner but were unable to hold the lead.

Rockdale Illinden 2 v Sutherland Sharks 0 at llinden Sports Centre – Full Report and Highlights

Rockdale Ilinden continued its good run of form making it three successive wins defeating rivals the Sutherland Sharks 2-0 thanks to a brace from that man again, club captain Alec Urosevski at the Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday.

Urosevski’s double against the Sharks was his 96th and 97th career goals with his beloved club as Rockdale also put one hand on the Leader Cup, taking out the first leg as well as the derby spoils.

Blacktown City 4 v Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 at Landen Stadium – Full Report and Highlights

Jak O’Brien has stolen the show with a hat-trick and an assist to lead Blacktown City FC to a 4-1 victory against Mount Druitt Town Rangers FC, in a game which included multiple highlights with spectacular saves and glorious goals.

Mount Druitt opened up the scoring through Nikola Skataric in the 12th minute but failed to make it 2-0 when they were awarded a penalty in the 28th minute which was missed by Anthony Frangie.

From then on it was all Blacktown, in particular Jak O’Brien. The poacher was able to score just before the half-time whistle in the 44th minute. This was followed by two goals in the 55th minute and 88th minute.

Not to miss out on the scoresheet, Travis Major scored in the 67th minute after a lovely corner assist from O’Brien.

Wollongong Wolves 1 v Western Sydney Wanderers 0 at WIN Stadium – Full Report and Highlights

Wollongong Wolves recorded their second victory of the 2023 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s season in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon, defeating Western Sydney Wanderers 1-0 at WIN Stadium thanks to a late Jake Trew winner.

After a hard-fought contest in the Illawarra that saw clear goalscoring opportunities arise at a premium, Trew proved the difference with a powerful drive into the bottom corner deep into second half injury time.

The substitute proved to be the centre of all the late action, with his 93rd-minute winner closely followed by a straight red card in the 98th.

However, the Western Sydney Wanderers ran out of time to strike back and once again endured late heartbreak for the second week running.

Sydney United 58 2 v Manly United 0 at Sydney United Sports Centre – Full Report and Highlights

Sydney United 58 have secured three massive points defeating last season’s Grand Finalist Manly United 2-0 on Sunday afternoon at Sydney United Sports Centre, catapulting them into equal first place on the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s ladder.

In a rather uneventful first half, it was United 58 who looked the most promising in the attacking third heading into the break.

After a bucket load of chances in front of goal it was United 58’s skipper who stepped up and netted the opener in the 78th minute, after a perfectly placed cross from Yianni Fragogiannis picked out an unmarked Adrian Vlastelica at the back post.

Patrick Antelmi sealed the result with one of the final kicks of the game after a brilliant setup from Matthew Bilic gave the striker an open net from close range, where he made no mistakes.

APIA Leichhardt FC 0 v Marconi Stallions 0 at Lambert Park – Full Report and Highlights

The ‘Derby d’ Italia’ finished in a scoreless draw, with APIA Leichhardt and Marconi Stallions playing out a tense 90 minutes at Lambert Park.

The first half was intense, with the best chance coming to Marconi in the 19th minute.

After a great pressing burst to win the ball back, Domenic Costanzo slipped a precise pass through in behind APIA’s defence to Daniel Bouman, but winger couldn’t find a way past the alert Ivan Necevski to break the deadlock.

Marconi were presented with another good chance to open the scoring in the second half, but Jordi Swibel struck the ball over from point blank range after good, progressive play from Costanzo and Hiroaki Aoyama.

APIA had chances of their own, but neither side could convert and the Italian derby finished scoreless.