Round 2 Preview – NPL Men’s NSW
Round 2 of the NPL Men’s NSW competition is set to take place this weekend after an opening round chock-full of entertainment, excitement and big results.
Sydney FC vs Manly United FC
7:30pm, Friday 23 February, Rockdale Illinden Sports Centre
Sydney FC and Manly United will get the weekend underway at Rockdale Illinden Sports Centre, with the away team once more opening the round on a Friday night.
Manly’s first game of the season came in the form of a comprehensive 3-0 victory over the newly promoted St George FC.
They restricted their opponents to just one shot on target in a positive first performance, but the biggest talking point came thanks to a sensational goal from Harry McCarthy, who, after picking up the ball in his own half, nutmegged a defender and strode forwards before chipping the goalkeeper from well outside the box.
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Manly will be looking for some more McCarthy magic when taking on a Sydney FC side who drew 0-0 with NWS Spirit in their first match and will pose plenty of issues with young talent such as Zachary De Jesus and Tiago Quintal at their disposal.
Sutherland Sharks FC vs NWS Spirit FC
4:30pm, Saturday 24 February, Seymour Shaw
Seymour Shaw will host a clash in which both sides will be looking for their first win of a young campaign after Sutherland Sharks and NWS Spirit lost and drew respectively in their opening matches of the year.
Despite scoring first against their opponents Western Sydney Wanderers, Sutherland was well beaten in round one, coming up against 30 shots, eleven of which were on target compared to their seven efforts at goal.
Meanwhile, NWS Spirit opened strong against Sydney FC but struggled to create chances in the second half, and will be looking for a more fluid attacking performance in round two.
Both sides will be looking to make a statement at Seymour Shaw in what is set to be a tense, riveting matchup on Saturday afternoon.
Sydney Olympic FC vs St George City FA
5:00pm, Saturday 24 February, Valentine Sports Park
Sydney Olympic will be looking to bounce back after a shock round one loss to newly promoted Hills United when taking on St George City to continue the Saturday fixtures.
After conceding early, Olympic were given a golden opportunity to make a statement at the beginning of the season when Hills midfielder Nicolai Muller was sent off in the 34th minute.
However, despite a late equaliser from Roy O’Donovan, an 89th-minute penalty saw Hills claim a dramatic round one victory with Blues coach Labinot Haliti looking at correcting the wrongs from this match.
They will be coming up against a similarly hungry St George City, who had created lots of opportunities in their match against Rockdale Illinden, but lost 2-1, with coach Mirko Jurilj ruing “errors that cost us the game”.
St George City are blessed with some fine attacking arsenal with Jason Romero, Presley Ortiz and the Petratos brothers Kosta and Maki at their disposal so expect some fireworks from them.
Olympic may find themselves without captain and star defender Ziggy Gordon who went off injury in the 16th minute of their season opener, but nonetheless will be setting their sights on a victory over a strong St George City side in what promises to be an entertaining, exciting encounter at Valentine Sports Park.
Hills United FC vs Western Sydney Wanderers FC
7:00pm, Saturday 24 February, Landen Stadium
Hills United and Western Sydney Wanderers will go head-to-head at Landen Stadium after a successful opening weekend for both sides.
The home side for this match began life in the top men’s division of NSW with a brilliant 2-1 victory over Sydney Olympic, and will be looking for a similarly exciting result against the academy side of the Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday night.
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However, despite being full of energy and spirit, they will be without playmaker Nicolai Muller – a former Wanderer himself – who was sent off early in the storied Olympic match.
Western Sydney Wanderers also had a fantastic round one, comprehensively defeating Sutherland Sharks 3-1.
A Nathanael Blair double turned a positive performance into a successful match, with Doni Grdic also netting a towering header off a corner.
Both sides will be looking to go on an early winning streak, and with a mixture of quality football and talent on display from both sides, this is Saturday night is set to be a scintillating footballing encounter.
St George FC vs Blacktown City FC
7:00pm, Saturday 24 February, Rockdale Illinden Sports Centre
St George FC will be searching for their first win of the season in a tricky task when taking on the flying Blacktown City FC on Saturday night in Rockdale.
Blacktown’s game was the headline result of the previous weekend, with the away side for this match astonishingly beating reigning Champions APIA Leichhardt 6-3 – a score that was 6-1 until the 88th minute.
A mesmerising first half hattrick from Jack O’Brien was supplemented by another goal for him in the 74th minute, whilst a set piece routine finished by Grant Lynch and a devestating counter attack finished by Travis Major demonstrated the wide range of skillsets and threat Blacktown possess.
Lynch will not be involved as he is currently on tour with the Futsalroos at the Solomon Islands so his omission will be a decent loss in the team’s back-line.
The newly promoted St George FC opened their season with a 3-0 loss to Manly United, and will need to put in a big performance to stop the likes of Jak O’Brien, Joey Gibbs and the positive, clever system that Mark Crittenden has coached into Blacktown for this campaign.
Sydney United 58 FC vs Wollongong Wolves FC
3:00pm, Sunday 25 February, Sydney United Sports Centre
Sydney United 58 and Wollongong Wolves both came home with a 2-1 scoreline in round one, but it was the former who took the three points while the latter went down narrowly.
Sydney United’s 2-1 victory over the Central Coast Mariners was an extremely fiery affair, which saw three red cards in the space of a minute at Pluim Park.
In this match, they will be missing star striker Patrick Antelmi due to suspension, who netted what later turned out to be the winner with a 45th-minute penalty after a Mariners equaliser cancelled out an opener from new signing Carlos De Oliveira.
Meanwhile, Wollongong, despite having four more shots overall and one more shot on target in an even affair, went down to Marconi Stallions, with a lone Lachlan Scott goal not enough to grab the points at the beginning of the season.
They will be looking to bounce back against a Sydney United side ready to go on a statement winning run to open the campaign in what will be a hotly contested clash at Sydney United Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon.
Match of the Round
Rockdale Illinden FC vs Marconi Stallions FC
3:00pm, Sunday 25 February, Rockdale Illinden Sports Centre
Rockdale Illinden FC will be facing another tricky matchup this weekend, after a difficult opening game of the season which saw them edge out a quality St George City side.
Marconi Stallions, meanwhile, also came out victorious in a close 2-1 match, and both sides will be looking to back up the combination of quality and fight they put in to the three points last week with a strong victory in this match.
The match will depict another battle of forwards – always the most talked about area of the field with Alec Urosevski available – as the Rockdale superstar comes up against James Temelkovski, who after scoring 27 goals in 23 appearances last season in NPL South Australia, opened his account in the NPL Men’s NSW competition with a neat finish against Wollongong to help give Marconi that opening win.
There will also be an added incentive for the Speranza brothers Giorgio and Roberto, both of which are ex-Stallions players. Although Roberto is coming back from injury, Giorgio will want to get off on the right foot beating his former team.
It’s set to be an unmissable match at Rockdale Illinden Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon, with Urosevski and Temelkovski just two of the big names capable of producing mesmerising moments of quality on the field.
APIA Leichhardt FC vs Central Coast Mariners FC
4:00pm, Sunday 25 February, Leichhardt Oval
Reigning Champions APIA Leichhardt will be looking to bounce back from an opening day defeat when taking on the Central Coast Mariners who suffered a similar fate in a lower-scoring match.
The Central Coast Mariners – more than their defeat to Sydney United – will see their true loss lie in the red cards to Rocco Smith and Harry Menham in the latter stages of that fixture, which means the two members of their back four will both be suspended for the APIA match.
They will be coming up against a strong APIA attack, who despite losing to Blacktown still scored three goals – the first of which was a flowing, scintillating move.
The Mariners will have to be at their best to be driving back to the Central Coast from Leichhardt Oval with a positive result to conclude the weekend, as APIA will be fired up and ready to show their true quality as they search to become back-to-back Champions at the end of 2024.
-By Jack George
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