Sydney Olympic consolidated top-spot on the League ladder with a very impressive 3-2 defeat of Sydney United away from home.
Sydney Olympic consolidated top-spot on the League ladder with a very impressive 3-2 defeat of Sydney United away from home.
The Blues couldn-t have asked for a better start at Sydney United Sports Centre as Emmanuel Giannaros opened the scoring for the Blues in only the 4- minute with a powerful 30-metre drive.
Luka Glavas had the Reds level in the 13- minute after winning his side a penalty. The striker dusted himself off and converted the spot-kick – the ball finished in the back of the net after hitting the underside of the crossbar. Sydney Olympic restored their lead prior to the break courtesy of a cool Robbie Mileski finish, though the Reds were level again after the interval with another well taken goal by Glavas. In an entertaining, and very tense, closing period, Sydney Olympic were awarded a penalty following Shane Lyons- foul on Mileski. The experienced Phil Makrys stepped up to the spot and coolly converted to hand Sydney Olympic three-points and a one-point lead over Sutherland Sharks on the League ladder.
At Seymour Shaw, despite their dominance of play over the 90- minutes, Sutherland Sharks were forced to really work for the win against Marconi Stallions on Saturday.
With the Sharks calling all the shots in the first-half, the Stallions surprisingly took the lead in the 42- minute on one of their very few forward forays. Sutherland failed to deal with a fine build up on the left and Graziano Trimboli was on hand to fire home and send the Stallions in at the break with the lead.
The resumption of play signalled further onslaught from the Sharks, though the Stallions defence seemed to soak up the pressure until Adel El Jamal was forced to leave the field with an injury. The Sharks found their equaliser shortly after courtesy of Nick Tsattalios who blasted his effort into the back of the net. Sutherland took the lead 3- minutes later as Sam Awad toe-poked a ball over the goal line following a fumbled effort by Marconi goalkeeper James Chronopoulos. Despite the Stallions protests, the goal was given and Sutherland saw out the remainder of the match to keep pace at the top of the League ladder behind Sydney Olympic.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles returned to the winner-s list with a good 3-1 win over South Coast Wolves. Despite the win, supporters did not leave Bonnyrigg Sports Club in happy spirits as goalkeeper Phil Zabaks was taken to hospital early in the second-half following a collision with a Wolves player after leaving his line to claim a cross. Concern fell over the venue as Zabaks hit his head upon impact with the surface, raising huge concern following his very serious head injury in the same goalmouth last season.
White Eagles assistant coach however stated that Phil was resting at home.
“Phil is at home after spending four hours in hospital on Saturday, the CT scans had come up all clear which we are all thankful for, thank you to everyone who passed on their well wishes as well as Football NSW.”
Bonnyrigg hit the lead midway through the first-half courtesy of a Daniel Severino penalty following David Abel-s foul on Jamie McMaster. Severino provided the assist for the White Eagles- second shortly after the re-start as David Vrankovic headed his first goal of the season into the back of the net. Despite Mark Picciolini pulling a goal back for the Wolves shortly after, Severino added his second of the evening with a fine chip over a stranded Brody Crane to secure the three-points.
Parramatta FC-s difficult re-introduction into top flight NSW Premier League competition continued on Saturday with the South Granville-based side falling to a heavy 3-0 win at home against Bankstown City. Former Parramatta FC player Frederick Graham almost single-handedly decided the encounter with an impressive hat-trick. Graham was unchallenged for the opener after receiving a pinpoint pass from Aman Hadid before slotting past Anthony Costa. Despite Parramatta FC-s best efforts, chances to Almir Dizdaric and Matt Osman failed to reap any reward and the visitors extended their lead in the 69- minute. Graham picked up the scraps from a poorly dealt with corner and fired home with a strong finish. The hat-trick was completed in the 86- minute as Graham latched onto a fine through ball and had no problem in slotting home past an oncoming Anthony Costa to round out the 3-0 result.
Rockdale City Suns notched up their third win of the season with the very impressive scalp of Blacktown City FC at Lily Homes Stadium. The Suns squandered chances early on in the match before Blacktown City found their feet to create a number of their own chances in front of their home crowd. In the end, the Suns found the winner in the 67- minute courtesy of Shay Spitz. A poor clearance by the Blacktown City defence had the ball fall to the feet of Spitz. The Suns player did not require a second invitation as he blasted the ball past Symon Jaeger to seal the deal for Rockdale City.
Manly United FC left Lambert Park with a vital three-points after defeating A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers 2-1 on Sunday. Trailing by a goal after 15- minutes courtesy of Tigers captain Franco Parisi, Manly United drew level 60– seconds later via Adam Foti who converted a Robbie Cattanach centre into the back of the net. Joseph Gibbs found Manly United-s winner shortly before the interval as he slotted home from close-range following Foti-s powerful drive that was parried by Tigers- goalkeeper Jose Bello-Amigo.
In the end, a rather flat Tigers showing failed to give the visitors any grief, as Manly United move into fifth-spot on the League ladder.
