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Sharks sting Sky Blues late to take home point

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A James Andrew goal in the dying seconds has helped Sutherland Sharks snatch a dramatic 2-2 draw against Sydney FC at Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday Night.

It was Andrew’s second goal of the game, with the pacy striker clinching a crucial point for the Sharks on the road.

Sydney FC thought they had done enough for victory after Patrick Wood and Jordi Swibel each scored in quick succession to give the Young Sky Blues the lead with only 10 minutes left on the clock.

However, it wasn’t to be with Andrew snatching the equaliser deep into added time to ensure the visitors didn’t go home empty-handed.

Sutherland’s Christopher McStay was causing trouble for Sydney FC keeper Thomas Heward-Belle in the early stages of the game, with several strikes forcing the custodian to pull out some great saves to deny the home side an early lead.

Luke Ivanovic looked poised to get Sydney FC on the scoreboard in the 24th minute after capitalising on a blunder from Sharks captain Lachlan Everett; however, his effort flew wide of the target.

The night’s first goal came from Andrew in the 28th minute as he intercepted a pass from Ivanovic and found himself one-on-one with Heward-Belle before sending the ball past him and into the netting.

Heward-Belle was back in action in the 45th minute, pulling off another great save to keep the visitors at bay.

Swibel scored the equaliser for the home side in the 75th minute after finding himself on the end of a great ball from Thomas Fay. He maneuvered through Sutherland’s defensive line before placing the ball out of reach of Anthony Bouzanis and into the back of the net.

Sydney FC took the lead just minutes later through Patrick Wood, who fired a strike from the edge of the 18-yard box. The promising young attacker has tasted A-League action a couple of teams as well as hitting the back of the net on numerous occasions for Steve Corica’s squad once again felt right at home in the NPL.

Sutherland was fighting for an equaliser in the late stages of the game, putting together some great opportunities that were well-defended by Heward-Belle.

James Andrew was the hero of the night for Sutherland, coming through with a crucial goal to snatch a point from the match. It was his sixth of the season, a double that has put the ace marksman as joint golden boot frontrunner after round 7.

Sydney FC’s Saracino mishit a ball sending it flying overhead before landing on the chest of Andrew, who steadily guided it over the line.

Sydney FC coach Jim Van Weeren was disappointed his team made errors that saw the win slip away from them.

“In the last few minutes and in injury time, we lost complete control,” he explained.

“There were some really silly decisions from players with the ball, and eventually that cost us.”

Sutherland Sharks coach Nick Dimovski was proud of his team’s efforts in creating an abundance of goal-scoring opportunities throughout the match.

“We totally dominated Sydney FC, and we created more, and I really mean it, more than enough chances to beat them twice over, yet we fell asleep for five minutes and credit to Sydney they got their goals,” he said.

“I’m proud of my team’s fightback, without a doubt.

“Andrew has been a shining light for us throughout the course of this season, and credit to him, he is combining his goal-scoring capabilities by also created chances for the Sharks.”

Match Stats

Sydney FC 2 (Jordan Swibel 75’, Patrick Wood 79’)

Sutherland Sharks FC 2 (James Andrew 28’, 90’)

Sunday 11th April 2021

Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre

Referee: H. Jomaa

Assistant Referees: N. Wotton and E. Saba

Fourth Official: H. Fenton-White

Sydney FC: 3. Aaron Gurd, 4. Nathan Grimaldi, 6. Thomas Main (5. Thomas Fay 62’), 8. Patrick Yazbek, 17. Jayden Trenkoski (16. Stevan Stanic-Floody 75’), 21. Harry Van Der Saag, 23. Callum Talbot, 24. Luke Ivanovic (9. Antonio Saracino 62’), 27. Jordan Swibel, 28. Patrick Wood, 30. Thomas Heward-Belle

Substitutes Not Used: 1. Levi Kaye, 2. Cameron Fong, 13. Corey Hollman,

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

Sutherland Sharks FC: 1. Anthony Bouzanis, 4. Brendan Hooper, 5. Nic Petrillo, 6. Patrick O’Shea, 8. Oliver Green, 9. Jeremy Cox (25. Alex Masciovecchio 69’), 10. Lachlan Everett, 14. Chris Lindsay, 17. James Andrew, 22. Patrick Scibilio (99. Jonathan Grozdanovski 60’), 88. Christopher McStay

Substitutes Not Used: 12. Harry Sutherland, 13. Charlie Jones, 16. Gerard Roebuck, 21. Luke Sauer

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings

3 – James Andrew (SS)

2 – Thomas Heward-Belle (SFC)

1 – Christopher McStay (SS)

By National Premier LeaguesNSW Reporter Madeline Riley (@madelineriley23)

Under the radar no more as Manly United continue undefeated form

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Youngster Ben Gibson stole the show with a goal minutes into his senior debut as Manly United maintained their unbeaten start to the National Premier Leagues NSW season with a 2-0 victory over Sydney FC at Cromer Park on Good Friday. 

Jack Fulton found the opener with a stunner early in the second half before turning provider for Gibson, who sparked a roar from the home crowd by slotting home a goal he’ll never forget.

Manly edged proceedings early doors during a hard-fought opening half an hour which saw both sides struggle to forge any clear strikes on goal.

The first clear-cut chance of the game arrived for Sydney as Adrian Segecic and Jayden Kucharskilinked up with some neat combination play on the edge of the area, but the latter’s low strike could not beat the outstretched leg of Sam Benton.

It took the hosts nearly 40 minutes to find their first shot on target, and if it were not for some Tom Heward-Belle heroics, they would have been in the lead.

The Sky Blues shot-stopper reacted in an instant to flick Manly skipper Sam Gallagher’s front post header onto the crossbar, ensuring the scores would remain level at the interval.

But three minutes into the second stanza, the young goalkeeper was rendered powerless by a moment of magic.

Scott Balderson won the ball back and released a precise switch into the path of Jack Fulton.

The Sydney defence just seemed to back off for a second and the attacker well and truly made them pay, unleashing a rocket into the top corner.

The goal was Fulton’s first of the season and set Adam Griffith’s side well on their way.

After a tight period that followed, Manly’s next chance arrived in the 73rd minute as some superb trickery from Dejan Pandurevic and Richie Cardozo saw Manly’s top scorer find himself with an acre of space inside the six yard box.

But on this occasion Pandurevic could not convert, denied again by a stunning reaction stop from Heward-Belle.

Gibson replaced Balderson 70 minutes in, with the vocal home crowd recognising his first grade debut with a strong round of applause. Just seven minutes later he had them on their feet as Fulton slipped the young winger in behind, before he made no mistake sliding the ball between the legs of Heward-Belle.

The youngster remained in the thick of the action during the closing stages of the contest, rising highest at the back post to head narrowly wide with two minutes remaining.

Stoppage time saw Manly goalkeeper Sam Benton pull out a pair of top-drawer saves to maintain his clean sheet – the first from a long-range Jordan Swibel half-volley and the second a sharp reaction save to deny Gurd from close range.

Post-game, Manly’s man of the moment reflected on his night to remember.

“I was just absolutely buzzing to be able to get on in a game like this,” Gibson said.

“I’ve been here since under 9’s, going all the way from the juniors to being able to come on for first grade was an unbelievable feeling. Especially in a close game, it was awesome to have some fun and score some goals.

“We played well at some moments, others were a bit scrappy but we got there in the end so can’t complain.”

On the other hand, Sydney FC captain Scott Browning was disappointed with a second straight defeat.

“It was a frustrating game for us,” he said.

“We struggled to keep it when we did have it when we do go forward we weren’t making too much up there.

“I think we defensively we were strong, but we moved to a different formation mid-game and I think that just let us down a little bit in the end.”

The result meant Manly will enjoy Easter equal on points with Sydney United 58 on top of the table, where Sydney will look to regroup and build upon a season of mixed fortunes so far.

Match Stats

Manly United FC: 2 (Fulton 48’, Gibson 77’) 

Sydney FC: 0

Friday, 2 April 2021

Cromer Park, Dee Why

Referee: Michael Bailey

Assistant Referees: Joon Park, Matt Staples

Fourth official: J. Rose

Manly United FC: 19. Sam Benton, 2. KierenPaull, 15. Jesse Piriz, 4. Jimmy Oates, 16. SeiyaKambayashi, 5. Sam Gallagher (C), 24. Finn Ashton, 7. Jack Fulton (6. Joe Fox 79’), 12. Luca Kmet (10. Richie Cardozo 65’), 14. DejanPandurevic, 13. Scott Balderson (31. Ben Gibson70’)

Substitutes not used: 1. Dylan Mitchell, 20. Alen Aganovic, 3. James Georgaklis

Yellow cards: Nil

Red cards: Nil

Sydney FC: 30. Thomas Heward-Belle, 3. Aaron Gurd, 7. Aidan Simmons (9. Antonio Saracino 45’),8. Patrick Yazbek, 10. Jayden Kucharski (16. Stevan Stanic-Floody 70’), 11. Adrian Segecic (5. Thomas Fay 54’), 22. Calem Nieuwenhof (12. Jake Girdwood-Reich 45’), 15. Scott Browning (C), 17. Jayden Trenkoski, 27. Jordan Swibel, 23. Callum Talbot

Substitutes Not Used: 1. Levi Kaye, 13. Corey Hollman

Yellow cards: Nieuwenhof 17’

Red cards: Nil

Player Ratings

3 – Jack Fulton (MU)

2 – Jesse Piriz (MU)

1 – Tom Heward-Belle (SFC)

–  By Football NSW reporter and commentator Chris Curulli (Twitter handle @ChrisCurulli) 

Sydney Olympic grab much needed victory over Sydney FC

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Sydney Olympic have pulled themselves out of the bottom three with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Sydney FC at Rockdale Illinden Sports Centre in the fifth round of National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition.

The former NSL giants were knocking on the door early when the first chance fell to Michael Glassock who head a curling Brendan Cholakian free-kick toward goal forcing Adam Pavlesic to tip over the bar in the seventh minute.

Sydney FC answered back five minutes later when Aidan Simmons danced across the box and fired a shot to the near post that rattled off the upright and out for a goal kick.

Jaiden Kucharski came close again for Sydney FC with a free-kick just on half-time, his effort outside the box had some in the crowd thinking he’d opened the scoring but it sailed just over the crossbar.

Sydney FC made a very strong start to the second half with substitute Jake Girdwood-Reich making an impact in place for Thomas Main and Kucharski firing shots at the Sydney Olympic goal.

Oliver Puflett should have broken the deadlock in the 51st minute when Jason Madonis burst toward the by-line with his hanging ball meeting the strikers who headed wide from close range.

Aiden Mostofi forced Christopher Parsons into a low save when Adrian Segecic put a slide rule pass beyond the defence, but the finish wasn’t enough.

Madonis was involved in attack again when Sydney Olympic played brilliant one-two football to find the forward on the right side of the box but his low drive was kept out by smart reactions from Pavlesic in goal.

Sydney Olympic finally got their goal when the short corner variation was swung in by Adam Parkhouse to the towering head of Benjamin Van Meurs who beat the keeper to put his side in front.

The victory was sealed for Sydney Olympic in the 84th minute when Fabian Monge won the ball in midfield and set free a charging Madonis with a long ball before he calmly lobbed Pavlesic off his line.

Cameron Fong pulled one goal back for Sydney FC with a beautiful free-kick in the 90th minute.

The second half saw a big momentum shift for both teams but Ante Juric was confident his team would put Sydney FC away.

“We missed a lot of chances that kept them in the game,” Juric said.

“In the second half, we saw a few balls over the top a few runs in behind.

“We can’t be static in attack and we changed that.

“We’ve been playing well, we might have lost to Sydney United and Rockdale but we need points on the board, they really deserved this one.”

Jimmy van Weeren was positive following the performance but believed a lapse in concentration costed his team.

“We lost it on a few moments really,” Van Weeren said.

“I think they had a lot of balls going into our box but for the most part, we kept them away.

“I thought the first half was tight, the early part of the second half we had two good chances and didn’t score either of those and they scored a well-worked set-piece.”

Match Stats

Sydney FC 1 (2. Cameron Fong 90’)

Sydney Olympic 2 (4. Benjamin Van Meurs 70’, 8. Jason Madonis 84’)

Sunday 28th March, 2021

Rockdale Illinden Sports Centre, Rockdale

Referee: Adrian Arndt

Assistant Referees: Nathan Wotton, Matt Staples

Fourth Official: Brodie Merchant

Sydney Olympic: 2. Thomas Whiteside, 4. Benjamin Van Meurs, 5. Michael Glassock, 6. Nicola Kuleski, 7. William Angel, 8. Jason Madonis (14. Peter Kekeris 89’), 9. Oliver Puflett (18. Yu Hasegawa), 10. Brendan Cholakian, 11. Adam Parkhouse, 17. Marley Peterson (11. Adam Parkhouse 57’), 18. Yu Hasegawa, 20. Luke Kairies, 21. Daniel Dias (19. Darcy Burgess 89’) 23. Fabian Monge, 70. Christopher Parsons

Substitutes Not Used: 7. William Angel

Yellow Cards: 23. Fabian Monge 20’, 6. Nicola Kuleski 45’

Red Cards: Nil

Sydney FC: 1. Levi Kaye, 2. Cameron Fong, 3. Aaron Gurd, 5. Corey Hollman, 6. Thomas Main (12. Jake Girdwood-Reich 45’), 7. Aidan Simmons (13. Corey Hollman 83’), 8. Patrick Yazbek, 9. Antonio Saracino, 10. Jayden Kucharski, 11. Adrian Segecic, 12. Jake Girdwood-Reich, 13. Corey Hollman 14. Aiden Mostofi (9. Antonio Saracino 57’) 15. Scott Browning, 16. Stevan Stanic-Floody, 17. Jayden Trenkoski (16. Stevan Stanic-Floody 75’), 18. Oscar Priestman, 40. Adam Pavlesic

Substitutes Not Used: 1. Levi Kaye , 18. Oscar Priestman

Yellow Cards: 6. Thomas Main 26’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings

3 — Benjamin Van Meurs (OLY)

2 — Jason Madonis (OLY)

1 — Adam Parkhouse (SFC)

-By Nick Rupolo

Sydney FC and Mt Druitt settle for point

By

Sydney FC has clung on for a 1-1 draw with Mt Druitt Town Rangers in wild weather conditions at Wanderers Football Park on Saturday night. 

In a match dominated by gale force winds and torrential rain as Sydney continued to bear the brunt of mother nature, The Young Sky Blues clung on for a point as a wasteful Rangers were unable to make the most of their chances.

Sydney FC looked on track to snatch a shock win as Calum Talbot latched onto a sublime pass from Patrick Yazbek midway through the first half to give the visitors the lead against the run of play.

However,  A dramatic reshuffle swung the game in Mt Druitt’s favour after the interval with substitute Jack Stewart finding a crucial equaliser.

It could’ve been three points for the home side but wasteful finishing in front of goal meant they had to settle for the draw.

The match got off to a crazy start with extreme winds and rain making it hard for players to get into their rhythm.

The first real effort of the match came from a sensational curling free-kick from Blake Thompson that forced an even better diving save from Young Sky Blues shot stopper Levi Kaye in the 12th minute.

The Rangers were thanking their keeper only a few minutes later as Carlos Saliadarre dived low to push a curling Jordi Swibel effort wide of the post.

Desperation defence was needed from Mt Druitt as Travis Oughtred snuck in and cleared the ball off the foot off Adrian Saracino inside the penalty area just as the young striker was set to shoot.

However, the best chance of the half fell to the Rangers in the 28th minute.

Mitch Smith was left dumbfounded as he had two efforts cleared off the line by a scrambling Sydney defence before Tarek Elrich was denied from only metres out after collecting the second rebound.

It was a missed opportunity which would prove costly for the home side with The Young Sky Blues opening the scoring through Talbot who hit the back of the net after a delightful lobbed pass from Patrick Yazbek put him in behind the defence.

A diving Kaye save in the dying seconds of the half ensured the visitors went into the break holding the 1-0 advantage.

Rangers coach Stewart Montgomery shook up his attack at the start of the second stanza bringing on strikers George Tuson-Firth and Jack Stewart.

The added firepower kickstarted the home side’s attack as they pushed forward with extra intent.

Sydney FC were holding tight to deny wave after wave of Rangers attack.

However, the new found energy paid off for Mt Druitt with Stewart finding the back of the net in the 73rd minute with a speculative effort from 30 yards out which Kaye could do nothing about.

With the score deadlocked at 1-1, The Young Sky Blues awoke from their attacking slumber trading blows with their opponents as the match went from end to end.

Aaron Gurd made a brilliant clearance off his own line to deny Mt Druitt in the 88th minute as the home side desperately pushed for a late winner.

John Roberts had a golden chance to snatch the win in the dying seconds but he sprayed his volley wide ensuring both sides would go home with a point each.

Rangers coach Stewart Montgomery said his side paid the price for wasting their chances.

“We dominated large periods of that match and could have scored three or four goals,” he said.

“We had plenty of chances but we were unable to make the most of them.

“The weather made it tough for the boys to find their rhythm early but I thought we deserved much more than a draw from this game.”

Sydney FC coach Jim van Weeren felt his team did well to secure a point.

“The boys played very well tonight despite the conditions and I feel a draw was a good result for us,” he said.

“Mt Druitt had a lot of chances and we showed a lot of character to hold them out as much as we did.

“I thought we could’ve even snatched the win when we still had the 1-0 lead midway through the second half but in the end it wasn’t to be.”

Match Stats

Mt Druitt Town Rangers: (Stewart 73′)

Sydney FC: 1 (Talbot 38′)

Saturday, March 20 2021

Wanderers Football Park, Rooty Hill

Referee: H Jomaa

Assistant Referees: M Allam and C Loveday

Fourth Official: J Rose

Mt Druitt Town Rangers: 1. Carlos Saliadarre, 3. Travis Oughtred, 4. Mitchell Smith (7. Jack Stewart 45′), 6. Blake Thompson, 8. Jason Perez (14. Fumoto Kamada), 9. John Roberts, 17. Cooper Coskerie , 18. Jared Macerola, 21. Tarek Elrich (2. Solomon-John Monahan-Vaiika 34′), 22. Jake Mamone (5. George Tuson-Firth 45′), 33. Marc Warren.

Substitutes not used: 10. Takumu Tsujimura, , 24. Brendan Allen,

Yellow Cards: Oughtred 26′

Red Cards: 

Sydney FC: 1. Levi Kaye, 3. Aaron Gurd, 6. Thomas Main (5. Corey Hollman 78′) , 7. Aidan Simmons (14. Aiden Mostofi 70′), 8. Patrick Yazbek, (9. Adrian Saracino 11. Adrian Segecic 70′), 10. Jaiden Kucharski, 17. Jayden Trenkoski (2. Cameron Fong 53′), 23. Callum Talbot, 26. Patrick Flottmann, 27. Jordan Swibel

Substitutes not used: 15. Scott Browning

Yellow Cards: Saracino 62′

Red Cards: 

Player Ratings

3 – Jack Stewart (MDTR)

2 – Patrick Yazbek (SFC)

1 – Levi Kaye (SFC)

Goals galore as Sky Blues grind out victory over Bulls

By

Harry van der Saag was the difference for Sydney FC as they fought hard for a 3-2 victory over new rivals Northbridge Bulls at Rockdale Illinden Sports Centre in the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition. 

Jimmy Van Weeren made six changes to his side that lost 5-2 to Sydney United last week with Jordi Swibel and Patrick Yazbek as fresh faces in attack.

Having had trouble asserting themselves against Sydney United, Sydney FC went out and did just that with Northbridge Bulls.

Van Weeren’s side had the majority of the ball in the first 15 minutes before Jaiden Kucharski tested the keeper with the first shot on target for the game.

Yazbek’s efforts in midfield saw the youngster win the ball high up the pitch before playing a ball over the top.

The subsequent shot was parried by Ryan Wood before Yazbek stormed in to finish on the follow up in the 37th minute.

Centre-back Niko Ujdar ventured into unknown territory towards the Sydney FC box.

The towering defender swung a ball in that was half-cleared by Sydney FC allowing Rory Jordan to pick up the scraps and adjust himself for a volley into the bottom left corner to equalise in the 43rd minute.

Jordan should have made it 2-1 moments later when Moudi Najjar powered forward unleashing a shot which Tom Heward-Belle couldn’t hold on to.

Jordan’s side-footed attempt trickled wide of an empty net.

Van der Saag’s mvoe to the wing saw him send a pinpoint ball onto the head of Kucharski to send the Sky Blues in front six minutes into the second half.

He made it 3-1 to Sydney only five minutes later when he tapped home Wood’s fumble from Swibel’s free-kick.

Substitute Stephan de Robillard turned inside out and won a penalty for Northbridge Bulls, slotting it into the bottom left corner in the 60th minute.

Jordan should have equalised for the second time in the match when a cross-field ball set him one-on-one. He chipped well over Heward-Belle but the accuracy was off as it went wide.

He took responsibility for his missed chances but was encouraged by his side’s attacking play.

“I feel like I’ve let the team down a little bit,” he said.

“I probably should have had two or three.

“The effort is always there, if we can build on that and put away our chances, come the next couple rounds and later on in the season we can make a strong run.

“As soon as we start taking those chances and building up confidence in front of goal we should start to run away with games as we should.”

Van der Saag’s performance was of a player relishing the chance to play in his natural attacking position.

“You could see in thee first half we were picking them out, we were waiting for the right time to get in between the lines and i got a bit of space and looked up and saw JK and Jordi in the area and jk made the ball look a bit better with his header,” he said.

“I could see (Swibel) was going to the keepers side (for the third goal) and that the floor is wet so I followed up and took a gamble and it worked out.”

Match Stats

Sydney FC 3 (Patrick Yazbek 28’, Jaiden Kucharski 51’, Harry van der Saag 56’)

Northbridge Bulls 2 (Rory Jordan 37’, Stephan de Robillard 60’ (p))

Sunday 14th March, 2021

Rockdale Illinden Sports Centre, Rockdale

Referee: Tim Danaskos

Assistant Referees: Andrej Giev, Aaron Bloch

Fourth Official: Eric Saba

Northbridge Bulls: 1. Ryan Wood (GK), 2. Jack McLoughlin, 3. Teph Teph, 4. Nikola Ujdar, 6. Lachlan Sepping, 7. Jake Hollman (15. Edward Casper 64’), 9. Bul Juach, 10. Rory Jordan, 11. Stephan de Robillard, 13. Walter Scott, 15. Edward Caspers, 17. Yianni Nicolaou, 18. Diego Bonilla, 21. Liam Rose, 22. Griffin Barry (GK) 24. Moudi Najjar, (9. Bul Juach 64’), 26. Michael Ruhs (11. Stephan de Robillard 45’)

Substitutes Not Used: 2. Jack McLoughlin, 18. Diego Bonilla, 22. Griffin Barry (GK)

Yellow Cards: 3. Teph Teph 55’

Red Cards: Nil

Sydney FC Youth: 1. Levi Kaye, 3. Aaron Gurd, 5. Corey Hollman, 6. Thomas Main (5. Corey Hollman, 83’) 7. Aidan Simmons, 8. Patrick Yazbek, 10. Jaiden Kucharski (7. Aidan Simmons 64’), 9. Antonio Saracino (14. Aiden Mostofi 64’), 11. Adrian Segecic (17. Jayden Trenkoski 45’), 14. Aiden Mostofi, 15. Scott Browning, 17. Jayden Trenkoski, 18. Oscar Priestman, 21. Harry Van der Saag, (18. Oscar Priestman 78’), 23. Callum Talbot, 27. Jordan Swibel, 30. Tom Heward-Belle

Substitutes Not Used: 1. Levi Kaye (GK), 17. Jayden Trenkoski,

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

 Player Ratings

3 — Harry van der Saag (SFC)

2 — Jayden Kucharski (SFC)

1 — Rory Jordan (NBB)

-By Nick Rupolo