The final round of the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 competition threw up some fantastic games and with that, some great individual performances.
Luke Turnbull has been irreplaceable for Parramatta FC this year and has been a major point in his side’s survival. Another fantastic performance on the weekend meant that he helped Parramatta to an important victory over Manly United.
APIA Leichhardt Tigers had to settle for second place on the ladder but David D’Apuzzo has found his goalscoring boots. Two goals on Sunday afternoon added to his goal from last week to make it three in a couple weeks.
Nikola Zonjic was fantastic in tandem with Ben Spruce on Sunday as the Bonnyrigg White Eagles kept a cleansheet. Missing a large part of the season, Zonjic will be important for Brian Brown’s side in the Finals Series.
Parramatta FC captain Patrick Gatt would’ve been a happy man on Sunday afternoon as he led his side to victory and safety in the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 competition. Gatt has been at the heart of the Parramatta defence all year and has been an inspiration to his teammates.
It’s been a season to remember for Tynan Diaz scoring his fifth goal of the season on the weekend and being best on the park. Taking the captains armband on Sunday in the absence of Chris Tadrosse for the Bonnyrigg White Eagles, Diaz stepped up to the plate in style.
Throughout the whole season, Franco Parisi has been fantastic for APIA Leichhardt Tigers. Playing one of his best seasons to date, Parisi etched his name on the score sheet with a brace on Sunday, taking the man of the match tag with him.
A true work man, Taiga Soeda was electric in the Sydney Olympic midfield on the weekend. Picking up the ball from his defenders, starting countless attacks for his side and working hard in defence, Soeda was everywhere for his team.
Jordan Murray has exploded onto the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 scene in recent weeks. Scoring six goals in his last six games for the South Coast Wolves, he’s been an important figure for his side’s run into the Finals Series.
His teammate Peter Simonovski has been a consistent performer for the South Coast Wolves this season. An endless work-rate and an assist for the Wolves second goal earned him his place in the team of the week.
Blacktown City were one of the most prolific sides in the competition and many goals came off Patrick Antelmi assists. Antelmi was at the centre of most of his teams moves going forward again on Sunday, displaying his passing range.
Another player that hasn’t found it difficult to find the back of the net this season is Danny Choi. The speedy attacker scored a double on Sunday taking his tally to nine for the season as Blacktown City lifted the Premiership.
Blacktown City secure Premiership for 2015
Blacktown City FC brought home the Premiership in style at Lilys Football Stadium on a lovely Sunday afternoon.
City flexed its considerable muscle as it showed its Premiership credentials in stunning fashion to dominate the Sutherland Sharks in a one-sided contest that finished 4-1.
The damage was well and truly done in the first half as Travis Major and Danny Choi both notched braces to put the contest – and the Premiership race – to bed.
Truth be told, it would have taken an absolute disaster for Blacktown to fall behind APIA Leichhardt and the pressure was quickly with Major and Choi both netting their first goals before the game was even 20 minutes old.
The brilliant midfield axis of Patrick Antelmi and Daniel Araujo controlled the game for City and it was the latter who carved open the Sharks defence with a lovely bit of play to open the door for Major’s opener.
A lovely one-two combination released the Spaniard into the box and allowed him to shoot low and hard only to be denied by Sharks captain Nathan Denham.
Denham could only parry the ball into the path of the onrushing Major who tucked home easily to kick off the Premiership celebrations after just six minutes.
Major turned supplier just 12 minutes later when he lead a superb counter-attack, picking up a cleared corner in his defensive half and leading the charge at an undermanned Sutherland defence.
Choi redirected his run from Major’s right to run behind Major, losing his man in the process and opening up an opportunity just inside the left of the box which Major recognized with a nice little ball into Choi’s path, who did not disappoint with a beautiful finish.
While the Blacktown offence shredded the Sharks defence to ribbons, at the other end the battle between City defence and Sutherland offence was equally one-sided.
Nenad Vekic was largely untroubled as Matthew Lewis and captain Zachary Cairncross comprehensively covered the threat of Charles Lockolingoy and Steve Hayes.
When they were caught out, Lockolingoy was not ruthless enough to take his opportunity.
His golden moment arrived in the 29th minute when he was found completely unmarked at the top of the six-yard box, but could only muster a tame effort straight at Vekic.
City would not be so accommodating at the other end.
Major had the ball in the back of the net after 31 minutes, but was ruled offside having moved a touch to early as a free-kick was sent into the box.
The officials would not deny him four minutes later when Antelmi produced the pass of the game from just inside his own half to split the Sutherland midfield and defence with one ball to find Mitch Mallia on the left.
Mallia composed himself and centered the ball to Major, who finished easily from close range.
It was 4-0 just minutes later when Araujo did his best to outdo his partner in crime Antelmi when he produced a lovely ball of his own to find Choi speeding into the right side of the box, before beating Denham with a lovely first-time finish.
With the damage well and truly done, the second half was not played with the same intensity, but it remained a relatively one-way affair.
Mallia, Joey Gibbs and Robert Speranza all tried their luck for City to little avail, while at the other end Vekic was tested once before a terrific strike from Peter O’Shea provided something of a consolation for the Sharks as the curtain closed on their season.
Blacktown City coach Mark Crittenden – in his trademark club polo and cap – was beaming with pride after the game as he watched his men celebrate sweet premiership triumph.
“I’m ecstatic. Absolutely ecstatic. It’s such a long and hard season that starts way back in November and we’ve had a few changes to personnel, but we were confident that what we bought in would be able to do the job,” Crittenden said.
“The boys have been outstanding. They deserve everything today. The whole club does, it’s great.”
Crittenden said that while he expected a strong finals campaign to come from his boys with hopefully more success to celebrate, he felt winning the league was a huge achievement in its own right.
“Australia loves a grand final and we see it across all the sports, but after 22 rounds, you’ve played everyone twice and you come out on top, I think that’s the benchmark.
“To win this one and come out on top is special. Defensively we’ve been good an to win a league you have to have the best defensive record in the league, which we did, and we had great power going forward, too.”
A somber Steve O’Connor – who was coaching his last game at the Sharks – said it was a poor note to finish the season on, but said the club had to respond next season.
“The season as a whole was a bit disappointing. We lost some important players early on including a captain, our top scorer and second top scorer from last season and never really replaced that quality,” O’Connor said.
“We bought in some young players and new ones and worked from there and I think we had our moments. Today was our biggest loss of the year I think, so it was the only time we were completely outplayed.
“Maybe it was a game to many for us, the season had ended for us so getting the boys up for it.
“I’ve enjoyed my year at the club. It’s a reasonable club but I think they need to move forward and bring some more players in.
“That’s what I wanted to do to build the club up and challenge for top four next year, but I don’t think that’s going to be the case.”
Match Stats
Blacktown City 4 (Major 6’, 35’, Choi 18’, 39’)
Sutherland Sharks 1 (O’Shea 89’)
Sunday August 16, 2015
Lily’s Football Centre
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referees: Scott Edeling and Joon Park
Fourth Official: Tristan Harris
Blacktown City FC: Vekic, Antelmi, Araujo, Cairncross, Choi (Perre 76’), Evans (Tomaras 64’), Fragogiannis, Lewis, Mallia, Speranza, Major (Gibbs 64’)
Substitutes not used: Prendergast, Beumie
Yellow Cards:
Sutherland Sharks FC: Denham, McKenzie, Hayes (Cox 67’), Stergiou, Jovovic, Kakavelis, Caton (Combes 67’), Tratt, O’Connell, Lockolingoy, Park (O’Shea 75’)
Substitutes not used: Curtis, Depta
Yellow Cards:
-By Matthew Galea, National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Editor, at Lilys Football Stadium
Bonnyrigg triumph over Suns to finish third
Fifteen minutes was all it took to ruin a beautiful day for the Rockdale City Suns FC faithful in an afternoon that started with so much hope.
The Suns needed just a point to make the top five and play finals football, but instead those dreams were dashed by a Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC side with its eyes on third place.
Bonnyrigg opened the scoring in bizarre fashion when Yuta Kokoda sent in a corner that eluded everyone and bent into the net in the 7th minute to give the visitors one hand on third spot in the cruelest of ways for the Suns.
The lead was doubled five minutes later when Tynan Diaz was able to find space in the box to tap home the White Eagles’ second of the afternoon.
And they found a way through again when Mun-Soo Gil hit a hopeful effort from distance that rippled the back of the net in a sensational opening quarter-hour for the visitors.
Marko Jesic should have pulled one back before the third Bonnyrigg strike only for James Chronopoulos to pull off an amazing save down to his left to deny the young midfielder.
Rockdale didn’t deserve to be three down in such a fashion but when it’s your day everything turns to gold and the White Eagles were certainly not only up for it but picking passes and creating chances almost at will against a shell-shocked Suns.
Dylan Macallister headed over from a high Hristijan Tanoski cross from the left, as Rockdale battled back into the game.
Aaron Peterson and Diaz worked Ivan Necevski between the sticks, while at the other end Macallister was played through in the 42nd minute only to skew the shot wide of the left-hand upright.
Nothing, it seemed, was going Rockdale’s way.
With no further addition to the score before the break it was Bonnyrigg who hit the sheds with a healthy three-goal cushion.
With nothing to lose and all to play for a resurgent Rockdale emerged from the dressing rooms to take the game to their guests and open a few half-chances that were squandered.
It showed intent but lacked precision in the final third.
What had begun as a day where destiny was in their own hands had turned into a nightmare of dependency on other results. Fifth place was still attainable and a possibility but not by their own efforts.
Necevski needed to make a double save in the 56’ minute from yet another White Eagles corner firstly from a Reece Caira header followed up by a Peterson shot before the danger was cleared.
Idriss El Hafiane came close at the near post but saw his shot slide into the side netting in the 62nd minute as Rockdale threatened but couldn’t squeeze the ball in to the net.
Steven Hesketh was adjudged to have fouled Robbie Younis in the box. The reliable Eagles’ striker picked himself up and put the cherry on the cake for Bonnyrigg when beating Neveski to his right.
They hassled and harried but Bonnyrigg took the foot off the pedal to see out the match however for all the effort it was to be the Suns who would have nothing to show at the full time whistle, leaving player-coach Paul Reid dejected at the final whistle.
“It wasn’t that we started slowly but more a case that they hit us and at 3-0 down after 15-minutes we were the better team for the rest of the half and created a few chances of our own,” Reid said.
“Its our own fault as we were giving their players too much time and space especially out wide and they were able to slip plenty of crosses in, obviously the strikers were making good runs to get in behind us but we started poorly and we knew we had to start strongly and that is a little disappointing.
“We needed to put them under pressure and gain the ascendency but to be three behind after a quarter of an hour when we really had to win today, we presumed Marconi would lost to South Coast Wolves, it wasn’t a good start and we were chasing our tails from then on.
“We started the season poorly and that has ultimately cost us in the end.”
Bonnyrigg coach Brian Brown was somewhat happier after the game.
“I didn’t even realise we had scored the first and when someone said it was a goal I said “oh my me” because you don’t see many hit the back of the net straight from a corner,” Brown said.
“Coming here to Rockdale, last game of the season with them chasing a finals spot was always going to be a hard proposition and we knew that, particularly on a pitch that has had a hard season on it but our boys were superb today.
“We were in a similar position to this a few weeks ago at Parramatta when we went into the break 3-one up so we were mindful of that and credit the boys as they learnt from mistake.
“We felt that if we gave nothing away in the first 15 minutes of the second-half we would be ok and we took a punt today by resting a few players but they will be back for the finals and we’re looking forward to our next match now on the back of this although it’s been the culmination of the whole season and not just a single result.”
Match Stats
Rockdale City Suns 0
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 4 (Kokoda 7’, Diaz 12’, Gil 15’, Younis 89’ pen)
Sunday 16th August, 2015
Ilinden Sports Centre, Rockdale
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Assistant Referees: Nick Backo & Mitch Clark
Fourth Official: Khodr Yaghi
Rockdale City Suns: Necevski, Petkovski, Hesketh, Tanoski, Reid ©, Muruyama (Petrillo 46), Macallister, Jesic, El Hafiane (Lekoski 87’), Alameddine (Iwamoto 77’), Savor
Substitutes Not Used: Bradasevic, Loupis
Yellow Cards: Petkovski 60
Red Cards:
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: Chronopoulos, Mansueto (Taylor 18), Vraknovic, Zonjic, Diaz ©, Younis, Spruce, Jenner, Gil, Kokoda (Caira 46), Peterson
Substitutes Not Used: Miller, Douglas, Savicic
Yellow Cards: Caira 78’
Red Cards:
-By Micky Brock, National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Reporter, at Linden Sports Centre
Fortune favours Wolves following win at WIN
The South Coast Wolves will feature in the 2015 PS4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Finals Series after a 2-0 victory over Marconi Stallions FC on Sunday afternoon.
Wolves needed other results to go their way and a win in their last game of the season at WIN Stadium to secure a Finals Series berth. Goals to Jordan Murray and Joey Lavalle sealed the win as the visitors finished with nine men courtesy of two red cards.
The home side almost took the lead in the first minute but striker Peter Simonoski was adjudged to have been offside.
In the eighth minute, the home side had the numbers but chose the wrong option as the ball went out for a corner that came to nothing.
Five minutes later a beautiful cross found Jordan Murray but with only the goalkeeper to beat, he put his header over the bar.
In the 23rd minute, the visitors were awarded a free-kick just outside the area. Jacob Boutoubia stepped up and his stinging shot hit the crossbar and went clear as both sides searched for the opening goal.
It was a see-sawing affair and four minutes later the Wolves pushed forward. A cross from Peter Simonoksi found Jordan Murray but the defender got in at the last second to block his shot for a corner.
A half-chance for Marconi came in the 33rd minute when Milorad Simonovic beat multiple defenders before shooting over from outside the box.
Simonovic went even closer in the 41st minute when he found some space inside the area but it wasn’t accurate enough off the boot as it screamed across goal.
Neither side could find the back of the net as the half-time score line read 0-0.
The first real chance of the second half fell to substitute Joseph Lavalle whose shot was almost headed in by Simonoski but the goalkeeper dived to his right to make the save.
A free-kick three minutes later for the visitors was whipped into the box but the header went wide of the post.
It was getting nervy for the home side and in the 56th minute Brendan Griffin made his way down the touchline before cutting back for an on-rushing Samuel Matthews who couldn’t get to the ball before the defender.
The game took a dramatic turn in the 59th minute when Simonoski was through on goal and was brought down by goalkeeper Sam Nastic. The referee had no choice but to send him from the field as the visitors went down to ten men.
In the 64th minute, Simonoski got himself into a good position but was quickly shut down. He fed the ball to Sam Matthews who skipped past one defender before spraying his shot wide.
With twenty minutes remaining, pressure was beginning to build for the Wolves and they had yet another chance to go ahead when Jordan Murray passed to Brendan Griffin but his shot trickled at goal.
However, two minutes later the deadlock was finally broken when Jordan Murray broke free and turned on his left foot to smash the ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
The relief was evident throughout WIN Stadium and five minutes later the home side had their second when Simonoski played the ball across the goal to Lavalle who tapped it in.
Things went from bad to worse for Marconi in the 80th minute when Boutoubia received his second yellow of the game as the Stallions went down to nine men.
The further advantage almost paid dividends when Murray headed just wide, almost getting his second of the game.
The home side played out the remaining ten minutes to ensure they went into their first finals game in three years.
The last time the Wolves made a final series, Wolves head coach Jacob Timpano was a player, and he says this team is going in with nothing to lose.
“Our first half was very ordinary but maybe nerves got the better of the boys but I thought in that second half we really turned up and yeah they had a couple of guys sent off but I think we totally dominated the second half,” Timpano said.
“For the group I think is big because ten weeks ago a lot of people were writing them off; telling them they weren’t good enough so to prove a lot of people wrong I think that’s the biggest satisfaction, especially from the players end.
“We definitely have nothing to lose. We weren’t expected to make the finals so now it’s just to enjoy the week; enjoy the finals and how it really goes, it goes.”
The Wolves will head into the finals with a clash against Sydney Olympic, while for Marconi Stallions FC it’s the end of a season that never got started.
Match Stats:
South Coast Wolves 2 (Murray 72’, Lavalle 77’)
Marconi Stallions FC 0
Sunday 16th August 2015
WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Referee: Robert Nieuwenhuis
Assistant Referees: Andrej Giev & Janush Adabjou
Fourth Official: Timothy Danaskos
South Coast Wolves: Al Saad, Baldacchino, Griffin, Mackenzie, Madden, Manos, Matthews, Murray (Welch 88’), Price, Simonoksi, Zucco (Lavalle 46’).
Substitutions not used: Hamilton, Fielding Wilson
Yellow cards: Mackenzie 57’
Marconi Stallions FC: Boutoubia, Lum, Nastic, Nunes, Ott, Rhodes, Simonovic (Panayi 67’), Thompson, Mijic, Boyadsian (D’Antimo 60’), Talevski (Peterson 67’)
Substitutions not used: Brown, Drewery
Yellow cards: Boutoubia 21’, 80’, Simonovic 54’
Red card: Nastic 59’, Boutoubia 80’
– By Jake Bull, PS4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Reporter, at WIN Stadium, Wollongong.
PS4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 Grade 20s Review
ROUND 22, the final set of fixtures for the regular season, played out over the weekend, with all twelve teams in action at 1pm on Sunday afternoon as the top five settled their positions ahead of the Semi Finals.
Fourth faced off against fifth in this week’s Match of the Round, with Sydney United 58 coming off second best to a determined Sydney Olympic outfit at Belmore Sports Ground.
Match of the Round
Sydney Olympic FC 4-2 Sydney United 58 FC, Sunday 1pm at Belmore Sports Ground
Three unanswered first half goals set Sydney Olympic up for a 4-2 win over Sydney United 58 at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon in the last round of fixtures ahead of the semi finals. Braces from James Andrew and Michael Trajkovski secured the win for Olympic, while Cristian Gonzalez scored two of his own for the defeated visitors.
The match settled into a familiar pattern of play from kickoff: passes across the Olympic back line would eventually see the ball move into the midfield, before play broke down ahead of the final third, with Jason Madonis unable to penetrate a well-set Sydney United defence.
The visitors had their chances to break the deadlock early on; Tariq Maia drifted through at the top of the box to leave himself with a seemingly clear run on goal, but Marcus Duncan was quick to get across and slide in to make a vital interception.
With a place in the semi finals already assured for both sides ahead of this game, neither seemed particularly bothered by the 0-0 scoreline as the half wore on. Tariq receieved a pass from midfield at the edge of the box and laid the ball on for Anthony Vrlic, who couldn’t keep his volley from looping over the crossbar as the ball bounced ahead of him.
Chances were few but Olympic had enjoyed the majority of possession in the first quarter of the game, and made it count in the 24th minute when James Andrew scored a brilliant individual goal: skipping down the left flank to reach the byline, he pushed past his defender before facing up to goal and slotting the ball past goalkeeper Luke Babic into the far corner from a narrow angle.
A goal up, Olympic continued to roll forward in numbers, and might have had a quick second when Andrew strayed across to the right side to hit a low pass in for Michael Trajkovski at the top of the box, but the striker took the ball awkwardly in his stride and could only send a scuffed shot spinning wide of the post.
Trajkovski was presented with another opportunity to further Olympic’s lead when he was played through on the right side just minutes after Andrew had opened the scoring, and this time made no mistake with his finish; hitting a firm shot across the goalkeeper whose heavy touch was not enough to stop the ball from squeezing in at the far post.
Disciplined almost to the point of tedium, neither side felt pressured into making risky challenges in defence, though up the other end only Olympic, at this point, were making inroads in attack. With five minutes remaining until the break, Trajkovski scored his second; playing a neat one-two with Oliver Green at the edge of the box to leave himself with only Babic to beat, before knocking the ball to the goalkeeper’s left to give Olympic a 3-0 lead at halftime.
The visitors began the second half determined to make a quick dent in Olympic’s three-goal lead, and were presented with a golden opportunity to do just that when Cristian Gonzalez was tripped up on the left side of the box in the 54th minute. Gonzalez stepped up to take the penalty that he had won, and sent a cool spot kick to the John Dimitrakas’ left, the keeper getting a touch to the ball as it rolled under him for a Sydney United 58 goal.
Olympic looked to push their lead back out to three clear goals immediately, and Adrian Vranic found himself with a chance directly in front of goal after some clever interplay between Andrew and Green, but he hit a weak shot straight at the goalkeeper. The home side’s next attack was more decidedly more fruitful, and James Andrew scored his second goal of the afternoon when Trajkovski ran clear of his defender on the right to clip a cross across the face of goal for the winger, who chested the ball into an empty net under virtually no pressure from defenders or goalkeeper.
With half an hour of the match remaining, Sydney United refused to lay down and let Olympic run riot, and Gonzalez had an opportunity to make it 4-2 when Maia played a one-two with Mark Moric on the edge of the area before squaring for the midfielder, but he shot high over the bar to waste the opportunity.
The three combined again minutes later, this time for a goal, when Moric played in Maia, whose chipped shot bounced down off the crossbar for Gonzalez in the middle, the midfielder bundling the ball over the line to give United a faint hope of mounting a comeback as the match drew to a close.
Olympic carried on as they had all game; streaming forward in counters of four or five players at a time as they sought to end the match with a fifth goal. Jack Green had a run through the midfield before lashing a wild shot over the bar from the top of the penalty box, before Andrew had a final chance with a volley from range that skewed well wide of the goal. The final whistle blew on a curious match, both sides ending as they had started: Olympic in fourth place, and Sydney United 58 in fifth.
Olympic coach Harry Paras was pleased to end the regular season on a winning note: "It was the last hit-out of the season, and both teams had an opportunity to make the top three today, so I’m happy with the result. In the second half we dropped off a bit and made a few changes, but still did enough to get over the line and we might’ve had a few more, but both teams were assured of a semi final position, so the fear of elimination wasn’t there."
Sydney United 58’s Davor Bajsic remained positive despite the defeat, prefering to look ahead to the finals rather than dwell on this result. "The first half wasn’t good – the second half was better, which is understandable, because we had a few players tired after playing yesterday. But we’re looking forward to next week, we’re in a semi final, and one of the main things is being refreshed for that game."
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC 4 (Andrews 24′, 28′, Trajkovski 41′, 60′)
Sydney United 58 FC 2 (Gonzalez 54′, 70′)
Sunday August 16, 2015
Belmore Sports Ground
Sydney Olympic FC: Andrew, Dimitrakas, Duncan, O. Green, J. Gren, Keir, Madonis, C. Morris, R. Morris, Trajkovski, Vranic
Subs: T. Bonomy, D. Bonomy, Nicolis, Petrovski, Youlley
Sydney United 58 FC: Babic, Borovickic, Camera, Fraser, Gonzalez, Kermack, Maia, McGing, Vlismas, Vrlic, Agamemnonos
Subs: Dias, Ephraim, Hasiuk, Brischetto, Moric
Sunday
Manly United FC 1-2 Parramatta FC, at Cromer Park
Parramatta missed out on a place in the Semi Finals by just five points after ending their season with a win at Cromer Park, and finish in sixth place, six points ahead of Manly United.
Brandon Lemay scored a goal for Manly in a first half that ended 1-1, before Parramatta scored the only goal of the second half to come away with the win, their third in four matches.
While Parramatta closed out their season in winning form, Manly United suffered their eighth loss in nine matches after snapping the streak last weekend with a 4-2 win over South Coast Wolves.
Rockdale City Suns FC 3-0 Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC, at Ilinden Sports Centre
Rockdale City Suns sent Bonnyrigg White Eagles back to the foot of the Grade 20s competition with a comprehensive 3-0 victory at Ilinden Sports Centre, the result going somewhat against recent form with Rockdale having previously picked up just two points since playing the same opponent in Round 14.
Goals from Matthew Lecce, Matteo Pandolfo and Kody Maude secured Rockdale’s third win of a difficult season, and condemned Bonnyrigg to a second defeat in a row after last week’s 2-1 loss to APIA Leichhardt.
APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC 1-0 Blacktown Spartans FC, at Lambert Park
APIA Leichhardt Tigers finished their season on a high after recording their second win in as many weeks, a 1-0 win over Blacktown Spartans at Lambert Park.
Rami Alassmi scored the only goal of the game for the the home side in the second half, with goalkeeper Christopher Moore holding the Spartans out for the full ninety minutes to give APIA their fourth clean sheet of the season.
APIA finish the regular season in ninth place, five points ahead of the Spartans in tenth.
Blacktown City FC 3-1 Sutherland Sharks FC, at Lilys Football Centre
Premiers Blacktown City laid down a marker for their run at the Championship with a 3-1 defeat of Sutherland Sharks at Lilys Football Centre, with goals coming from regular scorer Juan Zapata and 18s player Jake Borromeo.
Borromeo scored twice as the Sharks suffered their fourth loss in six matches, ultimately finishing second, and eight points, behind Blacktown in first.
Sutherland will look forward to a Semi Final next week, while Blacktown City will have time to rest ahead of their next match after finishing top of the Grade 20s competition ladder.
South Coast Wolves FC 0-1 Marconi Stallions FC, at WIN Stadium
Marconi won 1-0 over South Coast Wolves at Win Stadium to leapfrog Sydney Olympic into third place, securing a home semi final against Olympic next weekend.
After an indifferent run of results saw the Stallions dumped from the race for the Premiership during the final weeks of the regular season, this win puts them back on track for a solid run at the bigger prize, though they will hardly relish the opportunity to face one of the competition’s form sides in Olympic in the first week of the finals.
The Wolves finish their season in eighth place after their second loss in as many weeks.
– by Max Grieve, PS4 National Premier Leagues Grade 20s Reporter