Northbridge Bulls have secured their first win of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s season with a convincing 4-2 victory over Sydney United 58 at Sydney United Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon with a cameo performance from skipper Rory Jordan.
The Bulls entered Round 4 of the competition without a single point, up against a strongly fancied Sydney United 58 side at Edensor Park, but a second-half Rory Jordan hat-trick and a strike from the impressive Jed Drew saw the youngsters complete a four-goal haul.
Two goals to United 58’s Chris Payne were not enough to keep them in the game as their strong start to the season fell away.
Drew, finding plenty of space down the left, conjured a pass early on for James Cakovski, beating the offside trap, to create an opening but sliding defence from United 58 saw the opportunity spurned.
Northbridge Bulls’ Oliver Jones was adjudged to have committed a foul in the area in the 7th minute.
Chris Payne stepped up to take the penalty and slotted his shot beyond the despairing dive of Levi Kaye between the sticks to give United 58 the lead.
The early strike added extra zip into ‘visitors’ step and Northbridge were forced to endure a torrid time as some great work from Payne saw him run down the left and centre for Glen Trifiro, who knocked back the ball for Yainni Perkatis, whose curling effort from the edge of the box almost shaved a coat of paint off the upright.
The Bulls looked sharp going forward when breaking at pace, but the final ball option, so evident in the defeat to Sydney Olympic last week, remained problematic albeit appearing better for being worked on in training.
Michael Ruhs had the ball taken off his foot when preparing to shoot after clever work from James Cakovski in dummying Adrian Vlastelica down the Northbridge right and scurrying toward the box set the striker up midway through the half.
Antelmi should have scored when racing into the area from a Matthew Bilic cross on the left but for a brave save from Kaye, who wasn’t to know the Assistant Referee raised the flag for offside as he dived in bravely at the feet of the attacker to block the effort.
Northbridge were certainly enterprising, Moudi Najjar and Drew particularly standing out down the left, but the guile and strength of the United 58 was proving insurmountable and had Kaye not gotten down sharply to his left to deny Kyle Cimenti the lead would have doubled.
After a spirited opening 20 minutes, the game bogged down and slowed significantly for the remainder of the half.
Najjar didn’t reappear after the break with coach Mile Sterjovski opting to replace the midfielder with Anthony Sparacino and replace Michael Ruhs with Mason Wells.
A short corner routine nearly paid off for the Bulls on the restart but for the agility of Daniel Nizic in tipping it over, the second time the ‘home’ side had come close in the opening few minutes.
The warning wasn’t heeded when Rory Jordan was played in and his angled shot crept in at the far post, Nizic stranded, to level the scores – it was a fair result for their play after the break in squaring the ledger.
The response was swift as Trifiro worked his magic in midfield to send Cimenti away in the area, however his cutback was cleared by a scrambling Northbridge defence that saw Kaye needing treatment from an accidental knock.
It was Northbridge who took the lead, again through Jordan, in the 59th minute as the captain slipped his defender and got a low left-footed shot inside the post.
Drew extended the lead for the youngsters in the 65th minute as he cut in from the left to slide the ball under Nizic, as United 58 were again caught out by the swift counter-attack.
It was a turnaround that looked unlikely but the Bulls were well worth their lead on this second-half performance.
United 58 substitute Tariq Maia sent Cimenti through but his shot rebounded off the post and fell for Payne to slide home and reduce the deficit in the 71st minute after his team regained their composure and started to threaten once more.
Cakovski stung the palms of Nizic, who superbly put the shot wide, after yet another break down the left for the Bulls before the heavens opened to create additional problems for both sides.
Marcus Sparacino was upended in the box late on to win another penalty in the match.
Jordan stepped up and converted the penalty to complete his, and the Bulls, first-ever hat-trick in the NPL NSW Men’s competition.
It was the young gun’s fourth goal of the 2022 NPL NSW Men’s campaign.
It proved too large a task for the stoic United 58 to come back from in a thrilling end to the match.
Bulls’ coach Mile Sterjovski was delighted with how his young troops reacted against one of the best NPL NSW Men’s clubs.
“I had a good chat at the break and wanted to tighten up on the finer details of the game.
“I think that is what has been lacking from us, that and the commitment and effort but today it came together and showed what we are capable of.
“We created a lot today but in the second half we started to put the chances away, but credit to United 58 as they are a good team and always a threat but today we wanted it that bit more.
“I would say the boys really kicked into gear after the break and were hungry for the points and I believe that showed.
“We created forward runs, plenty of opportunities and perhaps could have scored more but I’m very happy with the performance and it’s something we need to build on now for the rest of the season.”
While dejected United 58 coach Joe Haywood lamented on a lack of energy against a hungrier opponent that stunned the former NSL giants.
“Overall it was a slow-paced game and we kind of got ourselves stuck in that malaise.
“We needed to up the tempo and get on the front foot more in the first-half, be more clinical with our passing and move the ball quicker.
“I cannot explain why we appeared lethargic and we need to look at that in training this week.
“I wouldn’t say that they came at us stronger in the second-half but targeted flaws we revealed in our game today and exploited them and they were certainly hungrier for the win.
“That again is something we need to look at during the week and be ready for the next round.”
Match Stats
Northbridge Bulls 4 (Rory Jordan 52’, 59’, 89’pen, Jed Drew 65’)
Sydney United 58 2 (Chris Payne 7’pen, 71’)
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Sunday, 28th March 2022
Referee: Craig Fisher
Assistant Referees: Logan Rhys Jones and Samuel Quinn
Fourth Official: Brodie Merchant
Northbridge Bulls: 20. Levi Kaye, 3. Nathan Dimou (12. Marcus Sparacino 80’), 6. Moudi Najjar (4. Anthony Sparacino 46’), 8. Brodie Clarkson, 10. Rory Jordan, 13. James Cakovski, 14. Charlie Ragg, 15. Eddie Caspers (19. Lachlan Sepping 57’), 16. Oliver Jones, 17. Jed Drew (21. Diego Bonilla, 80’), 18. Michael Ruhs (7. Mason Wells 46’)
Subs not used: 40.Griffin Barry
Yellow Cards: Oliver Jones 79’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58: 1. Daniel Nizic, 3. Jordan Roberts, 4. Adrian Vlastelica, 6. Chris Payne, 8. Kyle Cimenti, 9. Patrick Antelmi (15. Tariq Maia 57’), 11. Yianni Perkatis (10. Devante Clut 46’), 14. Andre Agememnonos, 17. Matthew Bilic (13. Jordan Ivancic 75’), 18. Glen Trifiro, 22. Yianni Fragogiannis (5. Anthony Tomelic 75’)
Subs not used: 19. Michael Marcic, 55. Goran Palecek
Yellow Cards: Adrian Vlastelica 90+2
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Rory Jordan (NB)
2 – Jed Drew (NB)
1 – Chris Payne (SU58)
By NPL NSW Men’s Reporter Micky Brock