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Jordan Leading the Charge for Young Bulls

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Rory Jordan has been a standout star for the Northbridge Bulls in the 2021 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition.

At just 21-year-old the recently crowned Player of the Year for the NPL side at the 2021 Macarthur FC Awards night, has easily stepped into a leadership role within the team of emerging stars that has given him valuable experience that will be indispensable throughout his football career.

While the inexperience and of his young team makes it difficult to face up to the more experienced, physical teams in the competition, Jordan highlights the value of this experience in learning and developing as a footballer.

“We are the second-highest goal-scoring team this year, but I feel like sometimes our inexperience shows as a young team… maybe if we were a bit more experienced, we’d hold onto some of the leads and be a bit more clinical,” he explained.

“A lot of these players have a lot of NPL experience and some of the boys even have a lot of A-League experience.

“I’m not too worried about the results and whatnot I just feel like it’s a really good learning experience and I feel like that’s what we really need at this age.

“This year I think the coaching staff are putting a lot of trust into me and have given me a lot of confidence to go out and enjoy the way I like to play.

“A lot of the boys in our team are the same, they love to express themselves and I think that’s great, and I think it helps me a lot being able to rely on every single one of my teammates.”

While the lockdown has affected the rhythm of training and playing, Jordan is enjoying a bit of a break to relax while working on his fitness through a program provided by the Bulls.

“It feels a bit different having a weekend off where you can relax and not get kicked.

“Fitness-wise we’ve all got a program and we’re going to stick to it and hopefully the restrictions and the lockdown ends relatively soon, and we can get straight back into it.”

Jordan spoke about his gratitude for having a supportive group of family and friends to help him through the lockdown.

“My friends and I, we’ve known each other for a long time through school and extracurricular activities so I have a good support group, we can chat to each other anytime, anyplace, we’re a tight bunch.

“Even the group of boys in our football group that maybe we’ve only known for a couple of months really, we’ve bonded really well, and I feel like we can chat about anything and speak to each other whenever we need to.”

Looking towards the remainder of the season post-lockdown, Jordan is hoping that his side can finish strong and stand up against some of the competition’s strongest sides.

“If we can just finish strong and get a couple of results, I think that would be good for us.

“Our remaining opponents are all top six and pushing for finals so it’s going to be a tough run but I definitely back us, our coaching staff and the boys, to be able to put a few wins on and play well.”

-By Madeline Riley

 

 

 

 

 

Young Bulls stall Sydney United 58’s Premiership hopes

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Sydney United 58’s Premiership hopes have taken a major hit after they were held to a 1-1 draw with Northbridge Bulls at Edensor Park on Sunday.

It was a heartbreaking result for United 58 who drop to four points behind league leaders Blacktown City with only five games left in the regular season.

The NPL NSW Men’s current Golden Boot frontrunner Patrick Antelmi opened the scoring for United in the 36th minute but the Bulls finished strongly with Moudi Najjar netting a 76th-minute equaliser on what was his 21st birthday.

United 58 had plenty of chances to snatch a winner but they couldn’t get it done having to settle for a costly draw.

The visitors dominated the opening period, putting their classy football on full display.

United’s first chance came in the opening minutes of the game as Antelmi cut in a picture-perfect ball to Devante Clut at the edge of the box. His effort was sensationally headered away from the goal by Brodie Clarkson.

Danijel Nizic almost found himself in the assist column after his powerful kick sent Chris Payne through on goal, Payne selflessly passed it off the Antelmi who fluffed his golden chance, sending it well over the bar.

Antelmi swiftly recovered from his miss in the 36th minute after he neatly buried his shot past an oncoming Ryan Wood for his side’s opener recording his 14th goal of the year.

The Bulls were on the back foot for the majority of the half, however, they began to find their feet towards the end of the first.

Their closest chance came through Bul Jauch after an excellent cross from Yianni Nicoloau picked out the imposing striker, his forceful header smashed against the bar and was cleared from danger.

United 58 started the second half the way they finished the first, looking the likelier for a goal.

Jordan Roberts impressed down the right side for United all game.  His rapid through ball to Antelmi sent him in on goal, his shot looked destined to repeat his efforts of the first half but was denied by a world-class save from Wood.

Northbridge was a much more motivated side in the second half, going toe to toe with the tough United outfit.

Northbridge’s skipper Rory Jordan came closest with his effort after a perfect ball from Juach picked him out at the edge of the area, his shot was denied by a desperate United defence, eager to keep their clean sheet.

Antelmi came within inches of his second moments later, as Jackson Khoury played a dangerous cross into the area. The free-scoring striker’s header was denied by the in-form Wood, keeping his side’s hopes alive.

Northbridge was rewarded with their equaliser in the 76th minute after a defiant run from Nikola Ujdur picked an oncoming Najjar, he weaved his way through the defence and on towards the goal for his side’s first of the evening.

United was longing to regain their lead late in the game and had their chances to do so.

Antelmi found Glen Trifiro making a tantalising run in between the Bulls defence, through on goal Trifiro had a one-on-one with Wood, his efforts however only went as far as the side netting.

With one final chance of the game, Roberts curled a powerful effort towards goal and found the head of Antelmi, the league’s top scorer couldn’t finish his chance seeing his effort sail over the bar as the sides were forced to settle for the draw.

Sydney United 58 will view this as a huge slip-up and one that could see Blacktown City run away with first place after their late win over Sutherland.

Sydney United 58 coach Tomi Vidovic was encouraged by his side’s creativity and was hopeful about their chances going forward.

“It was a performance that had everything we wanted aside from more goals, it’s just simple as that.

“The positive is that we’re creating them, and we take that positivity through to the remaining games because these guys are quality players and eventually they’ll go in, so we look at it from that perspective”.

Northbridge Bulls coach Mile Sterjovski credited the United attack and was proud of his side’s turnaround.

“We were very lucky to have only been one goal down at halftime. United was very good so credit to them, but we turned things around in the second half and created a lot more chances.

“In the end and we could have had another two or three so I’m proud of the boys to come back in the second half.”

Match Stats

Northbridge Bulls FC 1 (Najjar 76’)

Sydney United 58 FC 1 (Antelmi 36’)

Sunday 20th June, 2021

Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park

Referee: T. Danaskos

Assistant Referees: C. Wright and L. Webb

Fourth Official: M. Limnios

Northbridge Bulls FC: 1. Ryan Wood,  4. Nikola Ujdur, 6. Lachlan Sepping (2. Jack Mcloughlin) 8. Kyle Cimenti (16. Jake Jovanovski), 9. Bul Jauch (26. Anthony Krilic) , 10. Rory Jordan, 11. Stephan De Robillard (5. Keanue Ismic), 12. Brodie Clarkson, 15. Eddie Caspers, 17. Yianni Nicolaou 24. Moudi Najjar

Substitutes not used: 18. Diego Bonilla, 21. Anthony Krilic, 40. Griffin Barry.

Yellow Cards: Ujdur, Ismic

Red Cards: nil

Sydney United 58 FC: 1. Danijel Nizic, 2. Cristian Gonzalez, 3. Jordan Roberts, 6. Christopher Payne (5. Anthony Tomelic), 7. Jackson Khoury (15. Tariq Maia), 9. Patrick Antelmi, 10. Devante Clut (17. Matthew Bilic), 14. Andrea Agamenonos (11. Yianni Perkatis), 16. Jacob Poscoliero, 18. Glen Trifiro, 22. Yianni Fragogiannis

Substitutes not used: 20. Jordan Ivanovic, 21, Josip Drlovic, 33. Michael Marcic

Yellow Cards:  Perkatis, Antelmi

Red Cards: nil

By National Premier Leagues Reporter, Dominic Criniti (@DominicCriniti)

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jennings inspires Wolves to important victory

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A man of the match performance from Leroy Jennings has spurred Wollongong to a dramatic 3-2 win against Northbridge Bulls on Monday.

Jennings was in fine form as he scored two and set up a last gasp winner for Stefan Dimoski as the Wolves snatched all three points at the death.

The free-scoring winger opened Wollongong’s account after only seven minutes but Northbridge hit back courtesy of a Nikola Djordjevic own goal.

Northbridge found themselves ahead heading into the break after a classy finish from Kyle Cimenti.

Wollongong turned the tide in the second half with an early goal from Jennings, before he capped off his exceptional night by setting up Stefan Dimoski for a dramatic last gasp winner.

Wollongong found themselves in dreamland in the early stages of the game, getting the opener in the 7th minute.

Lachlan Scott’s outstanding solo run found him in space down the line as he sent the ball back across to Leroy Jennings at the edge of the box who perfectly curled it over Ryan Wood for the opener.

The visitors looked dominant in the opening stages before being undone by a Djordjevic own goal

Lachlan Sepping played a threatening ball through to former Wolves star Bul Juach who used his rapid pace to beat his man and send it across the goal line, Nikola Djordjevic did his best to try and keep the ball out but his efforts weren’t enough as the Bulls had their equaliser.

The Wolves had a nervous moment soon after when a risky back pass found Hayden Durose trapped with an oncoming Juach rapidly approaching. Durose did his best to desperately clear the ball but it deflected off Juach’s outstretched leg going narrowly wide.

Northbridge were gifted a golden opportunity to take the lead when Brendan Griffin fouled Juach on the inside of the box.

Juach stepped up to take the penalty for the Bulls but was sensationally denied by a sublime Durose save.

The Bulls couldn’t be held out any longer as they had their second of the evening in the 35th minute.

Kyle Cimenti perfectly finished off an outstanding through ball from Rory Jordan as the hosts entered the break with a one goal buffer.

Wollongong came out the gates flying at resumption of play, levelling the score within the first minute.

Northbridge were seeing Déjà vu as Scott once again played through Jennings who powered it through the legs of Wood to get his second of the night and giving Scott his second assist. It was his sixth of the season as the star recruit continued his good run of form during the second half of the NPL NSW Men’s season.

The remainder of the second half was an intense and physical duel as the sides battled for the winner.

Marcus Beattie came within inches of getting his side ahead. After finding himself through on goal, Beattie beat Wood to the ball and chipped it over his reach before it agonisingly clanged against the woodwork.

Jordan took the action into his own hands as his made a skilful solo run into the box but his effort on goal sailed wide.

The Wolves dramatically ran away with the win in the dying minutes, after Leroy Jennings’ cross from a free-kick picked out Stefan Dimoski as he headed the ball home gifting the visitors three crucial points.

Northbridge’s season thus far has been defined by last minute goals, unfortunately for them they were again on the wrong side of a late goal giving them a huge blow in their pursuit for finals – a quality team to watch although their youth and inexperience in holding onto victories has been the team’s undoing.

Wollongong Wolves coach Luke Wilkshire was encouraged by his side’s second half performance and noted the importance of the win

“First half we weren’t really at the races. there wasn’t enough urgency or desperation.

“The second half we saw a response which I was pleased with, but we got through it and we’ll take the three points and move on.

“There’s six games to go so the way I saw it this was important we got three points to stay in touch.”

Match Stats

Northbridge Bulls FC 2 (Djordjevic OG 15’, Climeti 35’)

Wollongong Wolves FC 3 ( Jennings 5’, 47’, Dimoski 86’)

Monday 14th June, 2021

Sydney United Sports Centre

Referee: I. Libri

Assistant Referees: P. Teleki and E. Kocbeck

Fourth Official: L. Jones

Northbridge Bulls FC: 1. Ryan Wood, 2. Jack Mcloughlin, 4. Nikola Ujdur, 5. Keanu Ismic (31. Ollie Jones),  6. Lachlan Sepping, 8. Kyle Cimenti, 9. Bul Juach (21. Anthony Krilic), 10. Rory Jordan, 11. Stephan De Robillard (18. Diego Bonilla), 16. Jake Jovanovski (15. Eddie Caspers), 24. Moudi Najjar (14. Giovanni Pannucio)

Substitutes not used: 40. Griffin Barry.

Yellow Cards: Najjar

Red Cards: nil

Wollongong Wolves FC: 23. Hayden Durose, 4. Nikola Djordjevic, 5. Joshua Alcorn, 7. Marcus Beattie, 8. Brendan Griffin (17. James Stojcevski), 9. Nicholas Duarte (20. Liam Wille), 11. Leroy Jennings  16. Fletcher McFarlane (12. Harison Taranto), 18. Evan Ball, 19. Bilal Belkadi, 24. Lachlan Scott (13. Stefan Dimoski)

Substitutes not used: 1. Aidan Munford.

Yellow Cards: Belkadi, Beattie

Red Cards: nil

By National Premier Leagues Reporter Dominic Criniti (@DominicCriniti)

Stallions record incredible tenth draw for 2021

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A ten-man Marconi Stallions have fought back to snatch a dramatic 2-2 draw against Northbridge Bulls in a wild and at times fiery clash at Marconi Stadium on Sunday.

The Stallions fought back from 2-0 down to secure their tenth draw of the season in a match which had a little bit of everything.

Goals to Northbridge’s new recruit and former Rockdale Ilinden marksman Kyle Cimenti and Stephan De Robillard had the Bulls on track for a sensational upset, but Marconi’s Mitchell Mallia and Marko Jesic found the back of the net on each side of the interval to secure the home side another competition point.

The incredibly fiery match saw eight yellow cards and two red cards awarded, with Northbridge Bulls coach Mile Sterjovski and Marconi Stallions forward Anthony Frangie both sent from the field in the late stages of the game.

Three of the four goals came in the first half, with a remarkable four-minute window seeing Northbridge Bulls steal a two-goal lead from the home side.

Visiting captain Rory Jordan sent a strike firing on target and while Marconi keeper Nenad Vekic managed to get a hand to it to deflect, Cimenti was in position to knock home the deflection and open scoring as well as his first with his new colours since making the move from Rockdale.

Just minutes later the visitors earned a penalty after Marconi defender Zac Cairncross stuck his leg out to trip Jordan inside the box. 

De Robillard stepped up to take the penalty in the 34th minute and sent it past Vekic to take the lead to two for Northbridge.

Mitchell Mallia gave Marconi a sense of hope just before the half-time break, bouncing his strike off Northbridge’s keeper Ryan Wood and into the side netting in the 45th minute to score the first goal of the match for the visitors.

Despite Marconi coming out firing in the early stages of the second stanza, another goal wouldn’t come until the 82nd minute, with an action packed end to the match.

Brandon Vella set up Jesic with a well-placed ball in the 82nd minute, as the Marconi captain clinically headed the ball over Wood to equalise for the home side. 

Amongst the excitement of the equaliser, the referee reached for his first red card, pointing it to the coaches’ box after Sterjovski expressed his frustration at some of the decisions that led to the goal.

A second red card for the match was awarded to Anthony Frangie in the 89th minute after he received his second yellow card for being in the way of a Northbridge free kick, leaving Marconi to 10 men for the final minutes.

Despite being a man down, Marconi saw the last opportunity of the game through substitute Emmanuel Peters.

Peters sent a powerful shot blazing towards the sticks, however Wood was well-prepared and caught the shot to keep the game at a draw at the final whistle.

Northbridge Bulls coach Mile Sterjovski was proud of his team’s effort against a strong Marconi outfit.

“We knew it was going to be difficult to come here, Marconi are a good team and very difficult to beat,” he explained.

“They started off very strong and I thought we did well to hold them out and then get back into the game.

“A little bit disappointed conceding just before half-time but we stuck it out and, in the end, I think a draw was a fair result.

“Credit to our boys for fighting all the way until the very end.”

Match Stats

Marconi Stallions FC 2 (Mitchell Mallia 45’, Marko Jesic 80’)

Northbridge Bulls FC 2 (Kyle Cimenti 31’, Stephan De Robillard 34’ (pen))

Sunday 6th June, 2021

Marconi Stadium

Referee: C. Verdicchino

Assistant Referees: P. Teleki and S. Quinn

Fourth Official: L. Cole

Marconi Stallions FC: 1. Nenad Vekic, 2. Nathan Millgate, 3. Giorgio Speranza, 7. Christopher Hatfield (21. Emmanuel Peters 56’), 8. Connor Evans (17. Martin Fernandez 63’), 10. Marko Jesic, 11. Mitchell Mallia, 14. Anthony Frangie, 16. Liam Youlley, 19. Zac Cairncross (6. Mark Rodic 63’), 23. Brandon Vella

Substitutes Not Used: 4. Roberto Speranza, 5. Mason Ingram, 20. Dion Shaw

Yellow Cards: Nathan Millgate 69’, Anthony Frangie 69’, 89’, Mark Rodic 72’, Liam Youlley 76’

Red Cards: Anthony Frangie 89’

Northbridge Bulls FC: 1. Ryan Wood, 2. Jack Mcloughlin, 6. Lachlan Sepping (16. Jake Jovanovski 65’), 8. Kyle Cimenti, 9. Bul Juach (18. Diego Bonilla 88’), 10. Rory Jordan, 11. Stephan De Robillard, 12. Brodie Clarkson (4. Nikola Udjur 45’), 13. Scott Walker, 15. Edward Caspers, 17. Yianni Nicolaou, 

Substitutes Not Used: 14. Giovanni Pannucio, 21. Anthony Krilic, 40. Griffen Barry

Yellow Cards: Jack McLoughlin 74’, Stephan De Robillard 78’, Edward Caspers 90+2’

Red Cards: Mile Sterjovski 82’

-By Football NSW Reporter Madeline Riley (@madelineriley23)

 

 

Bulls thwart Sky Blues with late equaliser

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Jake Jovanosvski was the hero for Northbridge Bulls in their clash with Sydney FC at the Sydney United Sports Centre as his very late winner denied the Sky Blues of three much needed points on a chilly Saturday evening.

Sydney FC entered this match as underdogs going against the in-form Bulls outfit, but seemed up to the challenge from the opening whistle.

The Young Sky Blues were able to contain a dangerous Northbridge Bulls side for the entirety of the first half, sending them into the break up 1-0 courtesy of a Clayton Taylor goal.

The Bulls levelled the game at the hour mark after Stephan De Robillard perfectly served up a ball for Lachlan Sepping.

Sydney FC regained their lead in the 85th minute through a phenomenal solo effort from Corey Hollman, which seemed likely to be the winner at the time.

The hosts pushed hard until the final seconds and were rewarded with a last-second equaliser after Jovanovski’s header sailed past the crowded goal line sending the brave Bulls fans into chaos as the hosts celebrated their miraculous comeback.

Northbridge Bulls saw the first real chance of the game early on as captain Rory Jordan neatly picked out Yianni Nicolaou from a free-kick, his powerful header was defused by Tom Heward-Belle.

Both side’s defensive lines looked impressive sifting out their opposing numbers chances throughout the early stages of the game.

Sydney FC managed to breakdown the Bulls’ backline in the 20th minute after Hollman sent a dangerous ball through to Taylor.

He was met by the Northbridge defence, but out-powered the opposition defence to find himself with a clear one-on-one where he made no mistakes slotting it past Ryan Wood for the opener.

The Sky Blues remained on the front-foot and came agonisingly close to doubling the lead minutes later.

Callum Talbot played an impressive long ball over the top to Adrian Segecic, sending him through on goal. He was met by an oncoming Wood who impressively denied the rifling shot to keep his side in the game.

Jim Van Weerem’s  troops went into the break up 1-0.

Northbridge Bulls entered the second half a determined outfit and looked likely to find their equaliser and were unlucky to not have one shortly after the resumption of play.

De Robillard played an impressive ball through to Bul Jauch giving him a clear sight of goal. It was Heward-Belle’s moment to shine on this on a one-on-one this time as he made a world-class save to deny Juach and maintain his side’s one goal advantage.

Sydney FC thought they had their second after a sensational solo run from Aidain Simmons was capped off with a brilliant finish, however a foul was ruled in the lead up play denying the visitors of their second.

Northbridge made their chances count after this and found their equaliser through Sepping. De Robillard picked out his teammate after weaving his way through the Sydney defence and putting it on a platter for Sepping to level the scores.

Talbot looked keen to answer back immediately for Sydney FC and came within inches after his piercing shot narrowly missed the posts.

The Sky Blues couldn’t be denied much longer and restored their lead in the 85th minute.

Hollman will be in for goal of the season contention after taking the ball from near halfway and getting past the Bulls backline to find himself on the perfect angle for his shot to be driven into the back of the net in what looked to be the winner at the time.

Northbridge were incredibly resilient in the dying stages of the game and broke Sydney FC’s hearts after Jovanovski capped off a chaotic moment of play in the box, scoring a powerful header from a goal line clearance with what would be the final play of the game.

Sydney FC’s Head Coach Jim Van Weeren was impressed with his sides’ improved performance but was undeniably heartbroken with the last minute equaliser.

“Look I think it was one of our better performances of the season to be fair, we were happy with it.

“It was something we should have been able to deal with [the late equaliser], there was a few errors in there that some guys need to hold their hand up for, but you look at when we had an opportunity at one nil to make it two nil but we gave away a really unnecessary foul which caused the goal, they go and score a few minutes later with some sloppy defending and that’s been the story of our season.”

Mile Sterjovski admitted his side weren’t at their best but credited their resilience to push for the draw.

“To be honest I don’t think we were at the races today, Sydney performed really well, credit to our boys even though it probably wasn’t our best performance we were still able to  come back and get a point.

“This season there’s been quite a few that have gone the opposite way, especially early on in this season, credit to the boys to keep fighting to keep going to keep pushing forward and keep putting pressure on and in the end we’ve got our rewards so I’m very proud.”

Match Stats

Northbridge Bulls FC 2 (Sepping 60’, Jovanovski 90+4)

Sydney FC 2 (Taylor 21’, Hollman 85’)

Saturday 29th May, 2021

Sydney United Sports Centre

Northbridge Bulls FC: 1. Ryan Wood, 6. Lachlan Sepping ,  9. Bul Jauch (16. Jake Jovanovski), 10. Rory Jordan, 11. Stephan De Robillard (4. Lawrence Frederick), 12. Brodie Clarkson, 13. Walter Scott (2. Jack Mcloughlin), 15. Eddie Caspers, 17. Yianni Nicolaou, 21. Anthony Krilic, 23. Milislav Popovic (18. Diego Bonilla).

Substitutes Not Used: 40. Griffin Barry

Yellow Cards: nil

Red Cards: nil

Sydney FC: 30. Tom Heward-Belle, 3. Aaron Gurd, 5. Tom Fay (10. Oscar Priestman) 7. Aiden Simmons  , 9. Antonio Saracino (2. Cameron Fong), 11. Adrian Segecic, 12. Jake Girdwood-Reich (32. Kai Kamikura), 13. Clayton Taylor, 16. Stevan Stanic-Floody, 23. Callum Tablot (22. Aleksandar Duncic) 33. Corey Hollman,

Substitutes Not Used:, 15. Scott Browning,

Yellow Cards: Simmons

Red Cards: Saracino

Referee: K.Davies

Assistant Referees: J.Adabjou and E.Kocbek

Fourth Official: J.Ewin

*Player Ratings have now been hidden 

Written By National Premier Leagues NSW Reporter, Dominic Criniti @DominicCriniti