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Suns easily dispose hapless Hakoah

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Rockdale City Suns re-entered the National Premier Leagues NSW ‘stop five and heaped more misery on rock-bottom Hakoah Sydney City East with a 4-0 win at Hensley Athletic Field on Sunday.

Nick Porreca’s side had dropped out of the finals positions following their five-goal collapse against Marconi Stallions a week ago but returned at the expense of Manly United after strolling past the luckless Hakoah at Hensley Athletic Field.

Jordan Figon and Leigh Egger fired in scrappy first-half goals before Suns striker Figon sealed his double and put the visitors in the clear five minutes after the interval.

Alec Urosevski added a fourth late on, consigning Hakoah – who lost ex-A-League star Predrag Bojic and his replacement James Combes to injury inside the space of 34 first half minutes – to their eleventh defeat of the campaign.

It leaves Gavin Rae’s side seven points adrift of eleventh-placed Mt. Druitt Town Rangers at the foot of the ladder.

Rockdale made the breakthrough when Figon controlled and buried a rebound after Hakoah custodian Ryan Norval parried Aleksandar Canak’s shot into his path.

Norval produced a good near post save to deny Alec Urosevski but was beaten again on the cusp of the interval. Hakoah failed to clear Urosevski’s delivery, and Egger reacted quickest to bundle the ball over the line from close range.

Figon punished the hosts for a second time by stroking a third past Norval on the counter early in the second, while Urosevski crowned a dominant evening late on with a tidy finish – the Rockdale top-scorer’s sixth goal of the campaign.

“We’re trying to get into their heads that we need to be stronger mentally for these games,” said Suns boss Porreca.

“These are the sort of games you need to lift and make sure you get the points.”

Porreca – who replaced former coach Paul Reid in the Rockdale hot-seat in April – also remarked that star duo Figon and Urosevski could turn the club into a real finals threat based on their excellent display in Round 14’s curtain raiser.

“We’ve got a good team here. Both of those two guys can fire us there [to the finals].

“It’s about managing them for the finals. Hopefully we can work our way there.”

Match Stats

Hakoah Sydney City East 0

Rockdale City Suns 4 (Figon 26’, 50’, Egger 45’, Urosevski 82’)

Sunday 9th of June,

Hensley Athletic Field, Eastgardens

Hakoah Sydney City East: 15. Predrag Bojic (3. James Combes 29’, 5. Steven Katsionis 34’), 13. Robert Ezekiel, 24. Amauri Gauthier, 8. Oliver Green, 17. Harry Jones, 14. Jordan Koton, 1. Ryan Norval, 2. Connor Shaddock, 12. Joshua Swadling, 4. Bradley Walker (9. Shohel Okuno 60’), 23. Adrian Vranic

Substitutes Not Used: 6. Dominic Cox, 25. Max Ephraim

Yellow Cards: Green 63’

Red Cards: N/A

Rockdale City Suns: 1. David Bradasevic, 8. Aleksandar Canak, 11. Leigh Egger, 12. Idriss El Hafiane (19. Patrick Savor 68’), 45. Jordan Figon, 20. Howard Fondyke, 18. Sasa Macura (17. Matthew Lecce 72’), 3. Michael Neill, 2. Daniel Petkovski (15. Nic Petrillo 75’), 14. Braydon Sorge, 7. Alec Urosevski

Substitutes Not Used: 9. Jonathan Grozdanovski, 22. Max Rowston

Yellow Cards: 
Red Cards: N/A

Player Ratings have now been hidden due to the second half of the season commencing. 

By National Premier Leagues NSW Reporter Jacob Windon

 

Mallia hat-trick buries Sky Blues

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A Mitch Mallia hat trick has helped Marconi Stallions to a dominant 5-2 win against Sydney FC at Marconi Stadium on Sunday. 

Mallia was at his devastating best scoring twice in the first half and again in the third as the Stallions scored five goals for the second straight week.

The former Blacktown City star gave Marconi a perfect start with goals in the 16th and the 36th as they claimed a 2-0 lead at the interval.

The home side went from strength to strength in the second stanza as Mallia snatched his third before James Andrew and Damian Tsekenis also found the back of  the net.

Sydney FC claimed two goals in the second half but they proved to be mere consolation as a rampant Marconi outfit claimed their second win in as many weeks.

Sydney FC thought they had taken an early lead when Hamish Lamberton found the back of the net, however he was ruled to be offside.

In the 11th minute James Andrew forced a great save from young Sky Blues shot stopper Adam Pavlesic

A long range free-kick from Teague for Sydney FC didn’t miss the target by too much in the 15th minute as the ball sailed over the crossbar by a fine margin.

Marconi replied almost immediately and struck the lead a minute later. A long ball forward bounced awkwardly but Mallia was able to place it neatly into the far bottom corner of the net.

An effort from Liam Youlley soon after nearly made it two in quick succession but Pavlesic was able to turn it around the post.

Marconi found their second in the 36th minute with Mallia volleying past the keeper after a long throw in from Marko Jesic.

In the second stanza of play Marconi scored two goals in the first two minutes of play to virtually kill off the contest.

The first goal was a penalty which was duly awarded to the Stallions after Patrick Scibilio brought Mallia down in the box.

Mallia made no mistake from the spot to score his and his team’s third of the afternoon.

A mere 30 seconds later a long Zac Cairncross ball found James Andrew sprinting towards goal and with, all the calmness of a true professional, he drove the ball home past Pavlesic to make it four for the home side.

In the 52nd minute Andrew again was in the thick of the action and this time it was with a wonderful volley from short range that brought out the best in Pavlesic who saved instinctively to deny Marconi their fifth.

Sydney FC struck back in the 56th minute with a long range effort from Harry Van Der Saag. It had too much power on it and the ball end up directly in the back of the net before anyone had time to really notice.

In the 81st minute Marconi made it five when Damian Tsekenis capped off his debut with a classy chipped finish to score.

Benjamin Koop scored late on for Sydney FC with a tap in from close range.

Marconi boss Peter Tsekenis praised his side’s ruthless attack.

“It has been a big week and definitely goal scoring is not a problem for the boys,” he said.

“I am a bit disappointed that we have leaked some goals but sometimes when you are scoring, you take a risk and concede some too.

“Sydney FC is a young side that had nothing to lose but I am very happy with our young boys and they did a job both midweek and today.”

Sydney FC coach Jim Van Weeren accepted the defeat as a lesson for his squad.

“Early in the second half was a big learning moment for our young players and we got caught switching off,” he said.

“Even though we lost 5-2, the pleasing part was that we could have scored some more ourselves. It was an entertaining game today but now we’ll move one and prepare for another tough test against Wollongong next week .”

Match Stats

MARCONI STALLIONS: 5 (Mallia 16’, 36’ & 47’, Andrew 48’, Tsekenis 81’)

SYDNEY FC: 2 (Van Der Saag 56’, Koop 82’) 

Sunday, 9th June 2019

Marconi Stadium,

Referee: Ben Abraham
Assistant Referees: Brad Wright, Nathan Walton

Fourth Official: Sebastian Andrews 

MARCONI STALLIONS: 1.Nenad Vekic, 2.Nathan Millgate, 3.Giorgio Speranza, 4.Roberto Speranza, 7.Sean O’Connell, 10.Marko Jesic (40.Damian Tsekenis 74’), 11.Mitchell Mallia, 12.James Andrew (14.Peter Pelekanos 68’), 13.Yianni Nicolaou, 16.Liam Youlley (23.Brandon Vella 62’), 19.Zac Cairncross.

Substitutes not used: 17.Kristian Sekutkoski, 28.Martin Fernandez.

Yellow Cards: Cairncross 86’

Red Card: Nil

SYDNEY FC: 30.Adam Pavlesic, 3.Benjamin Van Meurs, 5.Patrick Scibilio (34.Callum Nieuwenhof 82’), 6.Harry Van Der Saag, 9.Hamish Lamberton (24.Jake Hollman 65’), 12.Giuseppe Tilio, 14.Thomas Fay, 15.Ryan Teague, 16.Paolo Bonanni (54.Anton Minaric 61’), 17.Callum Talbot, 18.Benjamin Koop.

Substitutes not used: 20.David Malishev, 23.Harry McCarthy. 

Yellow Cards: Teague 84’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings have now been hidden due to the second half of the season commencing. 

By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo 

Sutherland Sharks score highly rated midfielder

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Sutherland Sharks have secured the services of highly rated Sydney FC midfielder Jerry Skotadis this week for the remainder of the season after being watched by a number of scouts in what turned out to be his final match for the Sky Blues against Manly United in round 13. 

Against the physical prowess of one of the league’s high flyers, he more than held his own but youthful experience was no match for the bludgeoning onslaught meted out by their opponents going down gallantly 3-1 to a last minute decider.

A couple of stand out passes down the right to set up attacks, unfortunately not finished off, were noticeable along with a fiercely competitive hunger for the retrieving the ball when lost by his team mates.

Starting his junior football with the Mascot Kings and a variety of Eastern Suburb clubs, and of course Sutherland Sharks.

Skotadis made his way to Sydney FC with the hope of getting some first team game time this season, accomplished when coming on during their Asian Champions League game at OKI Jubilee Oval, a small taste of what he hopes will become regular sooner rather than later.

“My main objective this season was to play to my best and hopefully, if the opportunity arose, to gain a first team appearance,” he said.

“It was a great experience running onto the pitch and it’s something I want more of but I know I have to push myself to the limit to make that happen.”

His early football, played out like so many youngsters on the pitches of Sydney, has given him a down-to-earth approach to the game but he singles out one coach in particular.

“Milan Blagojovic was a very good coach when I played under him for a short time but obviously I want to learn from all my coach’s and team mates, to improve and be the best player I can be.”

The quietly spoken player is a no-compromise player in the middle of the park but has an eye for a pass but is happy to either sit in or go forward, it’s all about the team performance and where he best helps them that matters.

“The points are the important thing in the game and I want to help my team achieve that and it’s all about obtaining the result that matters.

“If everyone does their job efficiently and the team plays well, that is what matters. It’s a team game but if after the match you get noticed for your efforts of course it’s nice.”

He readily admits the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition is a tough league to play in.

“This is a strong league and a physical one so you need to stand up if you’re to make an impression.

“The players are physically strong, hard, fast which you have to adjust to and you are given little time on the ball so at times it can be difficult to play through the lines as you want to but with each game we played together at this level the more we could take away from it.

“Hopefully I can continue my progress at Sutherland Sharks and I wish Sydney FC all the best for the remainder of this season.”

Skotardis often makes the difficult look easy, never one to be flashy but matter of fact sets about getting the job done.

His progress has been keenly monitored so far and that looks set to continue as a new chapter begins and it will be very interesting to see what lay ahead for this likeable kid.

-By Micky Brock

Rangers grab vital win over Manly

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Mt Druitt Town Rangers continued on their winning ways after securing a round of 32 FFA Cup berth midweek with a come from behind 2-1 victory over Manly United at Popondetta Park on a chilly Saturday evening in Sydney’s West.

The Rangers were on cloud nine on Wednesday as they reached its first ever round of 32 entry into the FFA Cup after defying the odds knocking out current National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s pacesetters Wollongong Wolves 1-0.

Backing up from a midweek clash, Mt Druitt’s opponents Manly United had to wait till the 119th minute to secure its spot in the round of 32 of the FFA Cup as they scored a spot-kick goal that ended Rockdale City Suns run.

This game proved to be a tough test for both outfits.

Aidan Desmond’s men fought gallantly and never gave up even though Manly struck first via a Travis Oughtred header as a Toufic Alameddine penalty and John Roberts strike were enough to see the boys from Mt Druitt claim maximum points at home.

Alameddine netted from the spot in the final minute of the first-half to level the scores after Oughtred opened the scoring in the 34’ minute when meeting a corner to head home.

But it wasn’t enough as Roberts netted what turned out to be the winner in the 54’ minute with a sweetly struck shot that flew past Dylan Mitchell.

Within thirty seconds of the whistle Brendan Cholakian fired over the bar with a difficult effort to control coming over the shoulder followed by a Scott Balderson shot that went wide of the mark as the visitors showed intent.

New recruit Mirjan Pavlovic replied with a header that slipped past the post in what was a very open game from the start.

Indeed, Pavlovic was heavily involved in the early play and did find the net shortly after only to be disallowed for an offside flag.

Cholakian, always difficult to keep quiet, worked a half-opening and forced Carlos Saliadarre into a fine save however, from the corner Oughtred headed Manly into the lead.

Credit to Rangers, their heads didn’t drop and they continued to attack but found Manly a tough nut to crack.

Balderson pulled another tremendous save out of Saliadarre in the 35th minute when the keeper was able to tip the ball over the bar and keep his side in the match.

A mad goalmouth scramble, with a suspicion of handball thrown into the mix, in the 42’ minute had the home fans screaming when Pavlovic clipped onto the bar for Mitchell to gather at the end of some frantic footwork by both.

A last minute penalty for the home side was sweetly put away by Alameddine to level the scores with the final kick.

Roberts beat his marker and set up Fabricio Fernandez whose first time effort went agonisingly wide but seconds later it was the former Western Sydney Wanderer who hammered home from the right to give Rangers the lead when turning the match around.

Pavlovic refused to be kept out of the game and fired goal-ward in the 60th minute that Mitchell did well to turn around the post as Mt Druitt surged forward to exploit the space left at the back.

Substitute Charles Mendy burst quickly into the action and fashioned a half-chance but again the ever alert Saliadarre was quickly down to his left to avert the danger.

Manly were forced into throwing everything at the Rangers and a stoppage time save from Mitchell kept them in the reckoning but a combination of strong defence and wayward ball choice allowed the home side to hold out for the win and three precious points.

“We were well off the pace in the opening quarter hour,” stated Rangers coach Aidan Desmond after the match.

“We were out of sorts but then started to put our game together.

“Their goal was soft from us with the unchallenged header and we had to fight our way back into the match against a physically strong Manly side.

“Carlos (Saliadarre) made some good save as did (Dylan) Mitchell but we’ll take the three points from this game, and they are massive for us.”

“We were very poor today,” a dejected Paul Dee said.

“It was very disappointing although we created some good chances in the first-half.

“It wasn’t the game plan we devised and our execution today was poor.

“A tough midweek game and an away match on a Saturday night perhaps took its toll but Rangers are a good tough team and deserve their win.”

Match Stats

Mt Druitt Town Rangers 2 (Alameddine 45’pen, J.Roberts 54’

Manly United 1 (Oughtred 24’

Popondetta Park, Emerton

Saturday, 8th June, 2019

Referee: Hassan Jomaa

Asst. Refs: Andre Giev & Patrick Teleki

4th Official: Jake Rose

Mt Druitt Town Rangers: 1.Carlos Saliadarre, 4.Solomon Monohan-Vaika, 5.Jake Mammone, 6.Blake Thompson, 10.Fabricio Fernandez, 11.Toufic Alameddine (7.Luke Clifford 73’), 13.Lord Darkoh, 16.Joshua Gould, 18.Jacob Esposito, 19.John Roberts, 27.Mirjan Pavlovic (9.Alex Boyadjian 83’)

Subs not used: 8.Mathew Clowes, 17.Jordan Gomez, 25.Mathew Nikolovski

Yellow Cards: 

Red Cards:

Manly United: 1.Dylan Mitchell, 2.Keiran Paull, 4.Travis Oughtred, 5.Sam Gallagher (7.Sam Wilson 66’), 6.Joe Fox (8.Dom Ferguson 82’), 10.Brendan Cholakian, 11.Adam Parkhouse , 13.Scott Balderson (12.Charles Mendy 66’), 14.Dejan Pandurevic, 17.Lewis Miccio, 23.Brad McDonald

Subs not used:, 22.Jamie Glover, 32.Byron Mackenzie

Yellow Cards: Miccio 62’

Red Card

Player Ratings have now been hidden due to the second half of the season commencing. 

By Football NSW Reporter Micky Brock

Pavlovic switches to the Mt Druitt Town Rangers

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Mirjan Pavlovic is the latest star player to make a mid-season National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s move swapping the Marconi Stallions kit for the Mount Druitt Town Rangers.

Popondetta Park will now become the new home for the ace marksman who rocketed in eight goals for the Stallions but fell out of favour in the final few weeks of the first round of the NPL NSW Men’s competition prompting him to look elsewhere.

The Rangers stepped up and snared the prized signing which will no doubt add more fire to the club’s potent attack with Pavlovic set to lead it alongside former Western Sydney Wanderers young gun John Roberts.

The 30-year-old, renowned for his win at all costs attitude, will don the new Rangers jersey when Mount Druitt Town take on Manly United at Cromer Park this Sunday afternoon.

“One of the NPL’s top guns is coming home”, said Club Football Director Stewart Montgomery.

“Pavlovic was coached in his early years by club President Mark Robertson and Mirjan couldn’t wait to help us in our first year back in the NPL top flight since 1993.

“His experience and skills will be a massive asset to the club and shows the Rangers are serious about their NPL Mens program.”

Coach Aidan Desmond was eagerly anticipating Pavlovic’s arrival.

“Up until now we have bee super competitive in all our games.

“We continue to learn at this level and with every game we get better and our players know what to expect heading into the 2nd round games.

“Pav will settle the lads, give us extra power and clinical edge up top to work with John Roberts and Alex Boyadjin.

“We cant wait.”