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Stallions ready for Finals following Bulls victory

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The Marconi Stallions secured a spot in next weekend’s do or die elimination final against old foes APIA Leichhardt after defeating the Northbridge Bulls 3-1 at the Sydney United Sports Centre on Sunday.

The energetic Bulls opened scoring in the 14th minute through Stephan De Robillard, but Marconi were quick to respond with Nathan Millgate equalising in the 16th minute.

The Stallions then took the lead in the 68th minute through Brandon Vella and topped it off with a goal to substitute Martin Fernandez in the 2nd minute of injury time.

The win sees Marconi progress through to the finals in fourth position on the ladder, giving them one chance to move forward in the series, while Northbridge’s season has officially come to a close.

Marconi created a chance in the 12th minute but as Jesic received the ball on his attacking run, he cut it to the centre of the park where no Marconi player was able to get it

Northbridge opened the scoring in the 14th minute as a pacey forward run from Jonathan Maras saw De Robillard with a perfect opportunity.

He capitalised on the chance and let off a shot from a tight angle on the left near the goal line, sending the ball out of reach of Nenad Vekic in goal to get the hosts on the scoreboard.

Marconi were clearly fired up by conceding so early and kicked into action, pushing forward to create more attacking pressure.

Domenic Costanzo earned his side a corner in the 16th minute, giving the Stallions the opportunity they needed to equalise.

Costanzo’s corner kick met the head of a Northbridge defender, who guided the ball outside the 18-yard box and Brandon Vella ran forward to get on the end of the ball, sending a powerful strike towards goal.

As his ball was travelling towards the target, Millgate intercepted and sent it out of the path of Northbridge ‘keeper Levi Kaye, over the line and into the corner netting.

Marconi defender Zac Cairncross, who was making his return to the starting line up due to Roberto Speranza’s red card suspension, made his way off the field in just the 18th minute after an unfortunate hamstring injury.

Northbridge’s Jesper Webber came close to a goal in the 19th minute but after taking a few touches to get into position, Giorgio Speranza blocked his shot.

Christopher Hatfield came close in the 39th minute as he curled an effort from the 18-yard box towards the target but it was just wide.

Jesic came agonisingly close to taking the lead for the Stallions through a header in the 55th minute as Connor Evans sent a brilliant ball over the top to the captain in front of the goal.

Jesic timed himself perfectly to dive onto the ball and send a header towards the target but it skimmed the outside of the netting as it glided past the goal.

Marconi took the lead in the 68th minute through Vella.

Connor Evans whipped in a ball from the left flank to substitute Samuel Gulisano on the right.

Gulisano sent a ball into the centre in front of goal and Jesic attempted to get control of the ball but couldn’t, leaving Vella to jump on the opportunity and tap the lying ball into the net.

They came close again moments later as Vella played a ball to Jesic in front of goal, who let off a shot that was just wide of the target.

Substitute Martin Fernandez looked posed to secure another goal for the visitors in the 77th minute as Marko Jesic played him a beautiful ball he seamlessly ran onto, but his shot was comfortably saved by Kaye.

Northrbidge came close to an equaliser in the 82nd minute from a corner, but Marcus Sparacino’s effort flew over the crossbar.

Marconi put the icing on the cake in the 2nd minute of injury time with a third goal coming from Fernandez.

Costanzo made a forward run and sent the ball into the area to Fernandez, who calmly tapped home to finish up the match.

Marconi coach Peter Tsekenis, was pleased his side was able to get the job done and build momentum going into the finals,

“That was the main thing, making sure that we got a good result, then wherever we finished we prepare for finals football and we accomplished that and we’re looking forward to a home semi final against our arch-rivals APIA,” Tsekenis said.

After the suspension of Roberto Speranza and injury to Zach Cairncross left Marconi with only one regular central defender, Tsekenis touched on the depth of his squad to adjust to the situation and play out of their regular position, drawing on the depth of their bench.

“Throughout the year we’ve rotated some players, and in the preseason we tried players in certain positions to make sure that if something like that happened [Zach Cairncross going off injured], we were in a position where we can make a decision,” he explained.

“Everyone that steps into any position knows their role and what’s important.

“We’ll dust off and see where we’re at, and then we’ll pick a team to win the first semi.”

Northbridge Bulls Assistant Coach Kory Babbington, reflected on the progress and positives from the 2022 season.

“The last five weeks has been positive, where we had four weeks where we didn’t lose, which was good with three wins on the bounce,” he explained.

“Today, we competed for a large chunk of the match but it got away from us at the end.

“There will be a few kids progressing into the A-League set up, the senior team, so that’s always a positive for us.

“It’s about developing the players to that next level and also it’s tough lessons each week when you compete against teams like Marconi who are stacked with guys who have played A-League, or A-League league youth, and are seasoned semi-pros.

“In youth football, players don’t usually get punished for mistakes, they can get away with a lapse in concentration.

“When you’re playing these senior teams, you tend to get punished as a young team so you have to learn from that each week and bring in new players regularly.

“It’s a constant process and they have to gain that experience because we haven’t got older players in the middle of the park or in the spine of the team where they can just steady the ship when it gets tough.”

Match Stats

Northbridge Bulls FC 1 (De Robillard 14’)

Marconi Stallions FC 3 (Millgate 17’, Vella 68’, Fernandez 90+2) 

Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park

Sunday, 31st July, 2022

Referee: Rebecca Mackie

Assistant Referees: Emma Kocbek and Patrick Teleki

Fourth Official: Ivica Covic

Northbridge Bulls FC: 2. Charlie Ragg, 4. Anthony Sparacino (5. Anthony Krilic 72’), 6. Isaac Hover (7. Mason Wells 86’), 8. Jonathan Maras, 9. Diego Bonilla, 11. Stephan De Robilliard, 14. Rhys Youlley, 15. Eddie Caspers (21. Joel Bertolissio 75’), 16. Oliver Jones, 18. Jesper Webber (12. Marcus Sparacino 72’), 20. Levi Kaye

Substitutes Not Used: 33. Alexander Trajanoski, 40. Griffin Barry

Yellow Cards: De Robillard 35’

Red Cards: Nil

Marconi Stallions FC: 1. Nenad Vekic, 2. Nathan Millgate, 3. Giorgio Speranza, 6. Domenic Costanzo, 7. Christopher Hatfield (17. Martin Fernandez 69’), 8. Connor Evans, 10. Marko Jesic, 16. Liam Youlley, 19. Zach Cairncross (13. Samuel Gulisano 18’), 22. Taylor McDonald, 23. Brandon Vella

Substitutes Not Used: 9. Thomas James, 18. Adrian Valenti, 20. Dion Shaw, 35. Justin Vidic

Yellow Cards: Millgate 32’, Fernandez 76’

Red Cards: Nil

Bulls thwarted by late Sharks fightback

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Sutherland Sharks’ last home match for the 2022 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s saw them share points in a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Northbridge Bulls at Seymour Shaw Park on Saturday evening.

Goals from Jesper Webber and Diego Bonilla for the visitors in the opening 15 minutes saw them get ahead early, but second-half goals to Lachlan MacDonald and substitute Mitch Smith cancelled out the two-goal deficit to earn a point for the home side.

It was a much-changed Sharks side that included Chris Lindsay in the unfamiliar role at left centre-back and youngster Evan Ball as his partner, with Lachlan MacDonald slotting in at right back and John Fotopoulos on the left – a very youthful and largely inexperienced defensive line at this level.

It was Webber who opened the scoring in the 6th minute with a classic forward’s goal when striding onto the ball and striking sweetly into the bottom left-hand corner to give Northbridge the early lead.

Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu couldn’t find enough purchase to trouble Levi Kaye at the other end moments later after good work from James Andrew down the right flank.

Diego Bonilla doubled the lead in the 15th minute with an exquisite shot that curled its way between the sticks from outside the box after cutting in from the left.  It was another delightfully struck effort that nestled snugly in the back of the net.

Mason Wells was played in with a ball over the top and scored a well-taken beauty only for the strike to be negated by a tight offside decision in the 25th minute that would have secured the points for the visitors.

Andrew combined with Ahmed-Shaibu once more but this time it was the latter who couldn’t get any power behind his header and the ball fell inviting for Kaye followed by Bonilla striking a thunderous shot against the upright that would have seen a very stylish hat-trick completed.

Webber skinned his marker down the right and centred for Bonilla, whose shot this time was deflected out for a corner in what was rapidly becoming one-way traffic as the Sharks were struggling to put a decent attack together.

Jason Madonis tried his luck after Ahmed-Shaibu won the ball on the edge of the area, but it was straight at Kaye who had no trouble gathering at the first attempt.

Bonilla brought a fine save out of Anthony Bouzanis, who managed to palm the ball out for a corner but the Bulls’ front man was edging closer to a second and showed he wanted it.

Even when Andrew was put through on the counter he was overstretching and slipped his effort narrowly wide of the woodwork and couldn’t find Ahmed-Shaibu at the back post in the final minute of the half as Kaye read it well and cut out the cross.

Kaye smartly turned a Madonis shot around the post in stoppage time but it would be the Bulls who took a two-goal lead to the break.

Lindsay came close to clawing a goal back two minutes into the second half with a free kick from 25-yards out that once again was inches wide of the mark and Ahmed-Shaibu followed it up with a spin and shot in the box for the same result.

Nathan Dimou, involved in an incident toward the end of the first 45’ minutes that saw Shaibu receive the first yellow card of the match, returned to the field in the number 13 shirt under the blood rule.

It was better from the home side however, the onus was on them to take the game to Northbridge who could afford to sit on their lead and look to counter quickly on the break.

Lachlan MacDonald finally found the net for Sutherland when lashing home a loose ball in the 65th minute to reduce the deficit and haul his side back into the game.

It rejuvenated the home side but also shook the Bulls out of their inertia by utilising their blistering pace down the flanks, particularly from Webber on the right.

Sutherland did find the net again but the whistle had already gone for a foul on the ‘keeper after a goalmouth scramble from a Lindsay in-swinging corner.

Kaye denied Andrew when a ball over the top allowed the Sutherland striker to get in behind in the 78th minute with the home side throwing everything forward and any semblance of caution to the winds.

The attacking mentality paid off when Bouzanis punted a free kick from inside his own half into the mix, with the ball cleared only as far as substitute Mitch Smith to lash home on the volley through a sea of bodies with eight minutes to play.

Sutherland were finishing strongly but once more during the 2022 campaign they were doing it the hard way by coming back from a couple of goals down.

It might have gotten better for the Sharks when Smith played Andrew in once more only to see Kaye pull off another fine save late on.

Bouzanis caused flutters before the final whistle when he lost the ball as Webber pounced, but he was unable to get a shot away and the match finished all square.

It encapsulated Sutherland’s campaign that all too regularly proved too big a hurdle to get over, but a point in the final home game was deserved as they head to Wollongong for the final fixture of 2022.

For Northbridge it was a case of what might have been.

“The way we played in the first half was exceptional and we were probably unlucky not to be further ahead,” said Bulls coach Mile Sterjovski.

“We knew they would come out strongly after the break and we were forced to make a few changes through injury which may have disrupted our rhythm a bit but credit to Sutherland, they fought hard until the end and earned a point.

“There is always progress, things to learn and for us the focus is on developing players and to get them to the next level and in terms of that we’ve been quite successful with three or four players making the step up to A-League so we’ll try to improve on that next season and get a few more up there.”

“We simply didn’t turn up for the first 25’ minutes,” said Sharks’ coach Steve Gordon.

“That was disappointing obviously with a young side and we made it difficult for ourselves again.

“We found our stride toward the end of the half and came out hot for the second and started performing like a playing side and we didn’t let them have a shot after the break.

“But that’s been our season, a few slack moments and we’ve been punished for them and then we have to try and get back into games but we’ve certainly proven over the last six-weeks that we can chase.

“At least we got something out of the game in what has been a difficult year for us, we got hit again with Covid this week and we started the match with two 17-year-olds on the pitch but they got the opportunity and did well.

“We came back after a slack opening, which is good and that is a pleasing response.”

Match Stats

Sutherland Sharks 2 (Lachlan MacDonald 65’, Mitch Smith 82’)

Northbridge Bulls 2 (Jesper Webber 6′, Diego Bonilla 15’)

Seymour Shaw, Miranda

Saturday 23rd July 2022

Referee: Jake Rose

Assistants: Cameron Wright and Rebecca Mackie

Fourth Official: Joel Crawford

Sutherland Sharks: 1. Anthony Bouzanis, 6. Patrick O’Shea, 7. Evan Ball, 8. Jason Madonis, 9. Jeremy Cox, 10. Lachlan Everett, 11. John Fotopoulos, 12. Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu (18. Mitch Smith 62’_, 14. Chris Lindsay, 17. James Andrew, 99. Lachlan MacDonald

Substitutes Not Used: 13. Nicholas Karavatakis, 25. Luke Sauer, 26. Jacob Cremen-Cowan, 33. Matthew Jackson,

Yellow Cards: Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu 44’, jaso Madoni 94’

Red Cards: Nil

Northbridge Bulls: 20. Levi Kaye, 2. Charlie Ragg, 3. Nathan Dimou, 4. Anthony Sparacino, 6. Isaac Hovar, 7. Mason Wells (5. Ante Krilic 63’), 9. Diego Bonilla, 11. Stephan De Robillard, 12. Marcus Sparacino (17. Nicholas Panuccio 54’), 14. Rhys Youlley (21. Matthew O’Donoghue 81’), 15. Jesper Webber

Substitutes Not Used: 8. Jonathan Maras, 18. Alexander Trajanoski, 22. Griffin Barry

Yellow Cards: Rhys Youlley 75’, Isaac Hovar 77’

Red Cards: Nil

By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Reporter Micky Brock

Ilinden’s Finals hopes take a major hit as Northbridge bag important win

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Rockdale Ilinden’s finals hopes have taken a hit as the youngsters from Northbridge Bulls FC recorded a 2-1 victory, their third successive win, at the Sydney United Sports Centre on Saturday afternoon.

Jesper Webber opened the scoring with a curler, then a late Nathan Dimou goal made it win number five for the Bulls.

The visitors did equalise through Bai Antoniou, but couldn’t find another goal in a tight tussle against the Bulls.

The loss dealt a huge blow to Rockdale Ilinden’s finals hopes with two games remaining in the season.

Northbridge Bulls FC struck first after 15 minutes as Webber curled home a fantastic goal after some slick combination work to make it 1-0.

The Bulls were on parade early in the contest as Anthony Sparacino tried his luck from range which forced Rockdale Ilinden custodian David Bradasevic to tip over.

Northbridge kept their foot on the pedal as Diego Bonilla and Stephan De Robilliard both thrashed chances wide of the mark in a bright period.

Rockdale Ilinden took their time to settle into the contest and found their range in Patrick Savor, who had a chance that was handled by Bulls’ custodian Levi Kaye.

In a fiery first half, Rockdale Ilinden had the last chance before the break when National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s top goal scorer Alec Urosevski connected well with a cross but only put it straight at Kaye.

The visitors started off the second half in fine style as a wonderful one-two from Peter Kekeris and Jaden Casella saw the latter thrash straight at Kaye then Bai Antoniou swept home for 1-1.

Rockdale Ilinden looked to build on their equaliser with Kekeris involved heavily again – the move fell to the attacker’s foot and he took it first time straight at Kaye.

The visitors, who are chasing a spot inside the top five, stepped up in the contest.

They had a few half chances through Antoniou and substitute Brayden Sorge pushing for three points.

Headed into the final ten minutes, Rockdale Ilinden had a golden chance from the set piece.

Casella stood over the free kick that went over the wall but straight into Kaye’s gloves.

Northbridge got themselves a dramatic winner in the 87th minute as a cross came in and it was

uncharacteristically spilled by Bradasevic into the path of Nathan Dimou to smash home for 2-1.

There was a late chance for Rockdale Ilinden through their main man Urosevski who stood over a free kick just outside the box but it deflected off the wall and away.

Northbridge Bulls FC coach Mile Sterjovski reflected on another solid defensive effort from his side against a strong Rockdale side.

“It was a very tough game,” he explained.

“Rockdale are a great team and put us under pressure for the majority of the game.

“Lately I think we’ve fought well and we only had a few chances and converted them in that type of contest.

“We bought in a few new boys during the window which has given the squad a new lease on life. It really is a credit to the whole squad for the effort they have shown this season.”

For Rockdale Ilinden coach Steve Zoric, he was disappointed by his side’s slow start that cost them in the game.

“We started off slow but we were much better in the second half,” he said.

“We had a few chances which included the goal to [Bai] Antoniou.

“It became backwards and forwards at the end.

“Defensive errors at the back cost us which has become a curse.

“We move onto next week, we have finals to play for, two games to go and if we played like we did in the second half we should be fine.”

Match Stats

Northbridge Bulls FC 2 (Webber ‘8, Dimou ‘87)

Rockdale Ilinden FC 1 (Antoniou ‘48)

Saturday 16 July 2022

Sydney United Sports Centre

Referee: Sebastian Andrews

Assistant Referees: Lance Greenshields & Cameron Wright

Fourth Official: Logan Jones

Northbridge Bulls FC: 2. Charlie Ragg, 3. Nathan Dimou, 4. Anthony Sparacino 5. Anthony Krilic, 7. Mason Wells (6. Isaac Hover ‘78), 9. Diego Bonilla, 11. Stephan De Robilliard, 12. Marcus Sparacino (14. Rhys Youlley ‘84), 15. Jesper Webber (18. Nicholas Panuccio ‘90+1), 16. Oliver Jones, 20. Levi Kaye

Substitutes Not Used: 17. Luka Sterjovski, 21. Matthew O’Donoghue, 40. Griffin Barry

Yellow Cards: Wells ‘28, De Robilliard ‘28, Jones ‘37, M. Sparacino ‘80

Red Cards: Nil

Rockdale Ilinden FC: 1. David Bradasevic, 2. Daniel Petkovski, 4. Mitchell Stamatellis (15. Jamie Percevski ‘35), 5. William Mutch, 7. Alec Urosevski, 8. Nicola Kuleski, 9. Bai Antoniou (14. Brayden Sorge ‘69), 11. Peter Kekeris, 19. Patrick Savor (16. Mohamed Ahmed ‘58), 23. Jaden Casella, 88. Christopher McStay

Substitutes Not Used: 17. Vincent Fedele, 25. Alex Masciovecchio, 31. Matthew Marrum

Yellow Cards: Kekeris ‘23, Bradasevic ‘28, Antoniou ‘31

Red Cards: Nil

By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Justin Davies (@JustDavies90)

 

Bulls oust Rangers in midweek catch-up

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The Northbridge Bulls recorded its fourth victory of the 2022 NPL NSW Men’s campaign following a hard fought 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Mount Druitt Town Rangers in a previously washed-out Round 18 match at Valentine Sports Park on a bitterly cold Tuesday evening.

A goal to Marcus Sparacino in the 66th minute ended up being the lone goal in the clash, which saw a tight battle between the two sides with chances few and far between.

While the points won’t mean the difference between finals football and an early finish as both teams are out of contention, the win will be valuable to the young Bulls who are always looking to develop and hold out for the full 90 to claim a win.

The Bulls came out firing and created the first chance of the match just 30 seconds after the whistle as Mason Wells capitalised on an opportunity and sent a strike towards goal, but Rangers ‘keeper Robert Fanella was quick to the task saving well.

Wells almost secured another in the 7th minute after a ball was crossed in to him in a central position.

He couldn’t manage to let off a shot and passed back to Stephan De Robillard, who fired a strike towards the target but was denied by a frantic Fanella.

Jack Stewart had an opportunity for Mt Druitt in the 20th minute but the in-form attacker failed to grab his name on the scoresheet.

De Robillard came back for the Bulls in the 22nd minute as he made a forward run and cut back inside before taking a shot that was tipped over by Fanella who was the busier of the two keepers in the first half.

A pacey run saw Northbridge with yet another opportunity through Jesper Webber in the 31st minute, but he was slightly off target as he weaved his way through opposing traffic and let off his shot.

Mt Druitt came close through Stewart in the 34th minute after Fumoto Kamada made a run upstream and passed back to Stewart, who sent a shot blistering towards goal, but Northbridge ‘keeper Levi Kaye was equal to the task.

Both sides continued to tussle and create chances through the remainder of the first half with Northbridge enjoying more opportunities than their counterparts but both sides headed into the half-time break without a goal.

The only goal of the match came in the 66th minute as Webber made a forward run down the right flank and cut back to Marcus Sparacino in a more central position.

Sparacino got on the end of the ball and tapped it home, past a diving Fanella.

It was the youngster’s maiden goal of the 2022 NPL NSW Men’s season.

The Rangers needed to reply and they went close following Northbridge’s opening goal.

Kamada made a run down the left in the 68th minute that saw Mt Druitt with a chance but his effort was deflected well outside the sticks.

Despite plenty of movement up and down the pitch, the only other real chance of the match fell in the 92nd minute.

Bulls Substitute Sebastian Hernandez pulled the trigger on a shot from range but a diving Fanella managed a sensational save to deny Northbridge of doubling their lead just before the final whistle.

Match Stats

Northbridge Bulls FC 1 (Marcus Sparacino 66’)

Mt Druitt Town Rangers 0

Valentine Sportspark, Glenwood

Tuesday 12th July, 2022

Referee: Kelly Jones

Assistant Referees: Emma Kocbek & Cameron Wright

Northbridge Bulls FC: 3. Nathan Dimou, 4. Anthony Sparacino, 5. Anthony Krilic, 6. Isaac Hovar (18. Sebastian Hernandez 74’), 7. Mason Wells, 8. Diego Bonilla (8. Jonathan Maras 90’), 11. Stephan De Robillard (17. Luka Sterjovski 90’), 12. Marcus Sparacino, 15. Jesper Webber (14. Rhys Youlley 78’), 16. Oliver Jones, 20. Levi Kaye

Substitutes Not Used: 21. Alexander Trajanoski, 40. Barry Griffin

Yellow Cards: Stephan De Robillard

Red Cards: Nil

Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC: 7. Jack Stewart, 8. Jason Perez (6. Louis Khoury 74’), 9. John Roberts (23. Leonard Abdo 74’), 11. Fumoto Kamada, 17. Cooper Coskerie, 19. Bul Juach (18. Olayinka Sunmola 64’, 20. Robert Fanella, 21. Tarek Elrich, 22. Rhett Desilva, 26. Rocco Fragale, 41. Ivan Sunjic (15. Brayden Burr 80 80’)

Substitutes Not Used: 1. Jerome Narayan, 25. Mohammed Sabbouh

Yellow Cards: Rocco Fragale, Jason Perez, John Roberts

Red Cards: Nil

Northbridge Bulls stun APIA

By

High Flying APIA Leichhardt were dealt a mental blow to its Premiership hopes following a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Northbridge Bulls at Lambert Park on Saturday night.

With points seen as Gold coming into the business end of the NPL NSW Men’s season it was a loss Danial Cummins and his troops weren’t expecting thanks to goals from Bulls stars Nathan Dimou and a late Stephan De Robillard strike.

It didn’t look as though the visitors were set to take points after the first 25 minutes which APIA dominated with Diego Celis seeing his header in the opening minute flash across the face of goal as the hosts looked to apply the early pressure right from the start after good work down the left from Walter Scott and Michael Kouta.

It was all the home side in the early exchanges with Northbridge struggling to break out of their half let alone threaten Ivan Necevski in the APIA net.

Jason Romero should have done better in the 11th minute but dragged his shot wide of the upright as APIA continued their early domination of the match.

Jesper Webber, cutting in from the right, finally produced an effort on goal and a save from Necevski when squirming his way into the area and firing in a low left-footed shot the big ‘keeper did well to push aside at full length.

Played at a frantic pace, it wasn’t until the 23rd minute when Celis brought a save from Levi Kaye at the other end despite the space being found in behind.

It was from a free-kick two minutes later, Dimou climbed highest to plant a header beyond Necevski to open the scoring for the Bulls.

It put a spring in the step of the visitors and APIA, so dominant to this point, to chase the game.

Webber nearly converted a second from a fiercely whipped in De Robillard cross but the ball went behind for a goal-kick to spare APIA’s blushes after some sloppy defending on their left.

Scott fired narrowly over from the edge of the area in response but Northbridge had grown into the game showing plenty of maturity and fight, particularly at the back.

Themba Muata-Marlow headed over from an Adrian Ucchino corner with a few minutes left to play in the half and Jack Armson had an effort blocked by Dimou but it wasn’t to be, despite their early momentum, the hosts went into the break behind 1-0.

Second half started and APIA drew the first chance.

Armson laid the ball off to Scott whose first-time shot arrowed goalward only for Kaye to acrobatically turn over the bar.

Scott and Celis had several attempts in rapid succession and once more Northbridge stood tall to thwart the danger on the hour mark.

Webber broke out from an APIA corner and slipped in Mason Wells who returned the pass but Necevski was sharply off his line to save at the feet of the pacey Bulls striker.

The reaction was immediate as Sean Symons replaced Celis but whether the desired impact would be forthcoming was yet to be seen.

It wasn’t to be for the hosts though as they were dealt a second goal and it was game, set and match as De Robillard fired home with a delightful curling shot into the net to settle the tie.

It left a pleased Bulls’ coach, Mile Sterjovski’ to comment afterwards.

“It has been a tough season for us but the boys always turn up and put in.

“I’ve told them to keep believing as we’ve had games like this where we’ve got nothing from them and we needed to weather the storm early on.

“They (APIA) dominated for the first 20-25’ minutes and were quite aggressive but we got back into the game.

“Sometimes you don’t dominate in games but get the result and tonight I felt we fought our way back into the match and obviously we are very happy with the result.

“These young guys are playing for professional contracts and I said to them at half-time they needed to show how hungry they are and how much they wanted to win and sometimes it goes your way, sometimes not, but you have to keep on trying.

“It’s a result that has been overdue but very happy with the points tonight.”

Danial Cummins was reflective when saying.

“We’ve got to start converting the chances in the first half of the game and we didn’t and then stopped playing,” he said.

“We took poor options when the players probably thought it was just going to happen for us and that’s very disappointing when we had everything to play for.

“We could have joined Blacktown City at the top with a game in hand and now we’ll have to look at winning all our remaining fixtures to have a chance of the Premiership.

“Northbridge played well tonight and deserved the three points but again, some of our thinking tonight was not up to scratch.

“It’s between the ears at times and that is something we’ll have to be working on between games.”

Match Stats

APIA Leichhardt Tigers 0

Northbridge Bulls 2 (Nathan Dimou 25’, Stephan De Robillard  82’)

Lambert Park, Leichhardt

Saturday 9th July 2022

Referee: Kurt Ams

Assistants: Lance Greenshields and Joon Park

Fourth Official: Isabella Mossin

APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 1. Ivan Necevski, 4. Joshua Symons, 8. Diego Celis (16. Sean Symons 74’), 9. Jason Romero, 14. Jack Armson, 15. Thema Muata-Marlow, 18. Adrian Ucchino, 19. Fabian Monge (7. Matthew Cahill 65’), 21. Michael Kouta, 23. Walter Scott (10. Franco Parisi 65’), 38. Yianni Nicolaou

Subs not used: 3. Paul Galimi, 6. Simon Nicholas, 22. Luke Turnbull

Yellow Cards: Ivan Necevski 80’

Red Cards: Nil

Northbridge Bulls:  20. Levi Kaye, 2. Jack McLoughlin, 3. Nathan Dimou, 4. Anthony Sparacino, 5. Ante Krilic, 7. Mason Wells, 9. Diego Bonilla (17. Luka Sterjovski 90+2’), 11. Stephan De Robillard (21. Matthew O’Donoghue 87’), 12. Marcus Sparacino, 15. Jesper Webber (14. Rhys Youlley 80’),  16. Oliver Jones

Subs not used: 8. Flynn Madden, 18. Charlie Ragg, 40. Griffin Barry

Yellow Cards: Marcus Sparacino 29’, Ante Krilic 64’

Red Cards: Nil

By NPL NSW Men’s Reporter Micky Brock