Sydney FC’s PlayStation 4 NPL NSW Mens 2 side made it ten wins in a row as they outclassed North Shore Mariners (formerly Northbridge FC) 4-1 at Lambert Park on Saturday night.
The Sky Blues made a great start to the match and opened the scoring after just three minutes as Cristian Gonzalez blew by his defender to the by line and cut the ball back for Bai Antoniou to drill his shot high into the roof of the net.
With North Shore Mariners trying to play a high line against the mobile Sydney outfit their tactics were exploited in the 21st minute when energetic midfielder Daniel Araujo won the ball and played in a precision pass to Charles Lokolingoy who outpaced the backline and shot low and hard to bag the second goal.
The North Shore Mariners were awarded a penalty after 27 minutes when Patrick Flottmann was adjudged to have fouled in the penalty area and the Mariners Michael Cole converted the spot kick to reduce to margin to 2-1 at the half time break.
Sydney FC dominated the opening stanza of the second period and pressured the Mariners relentlessly before Araujo carved his way into the penalty area only to be scythed down in a crude tackle and the referee pointed to the spot.
Captain, Yianni Spyrakis stepped up and, sending the keeper in the other direction, slammed home the kick for a 3-1 advantage.
The Mariners threatened from set pieces, and a goal bound header was well saved by Mitchell Evans as he tipped the ball over the cross bar.
Sydney FC had the ball in the back of the net on two more occasions but the efforts were ruled offside by the assistant referee’s flag, however they did not have to wait long as Spyrakis was on hand to finish off a delightful full field transition to slide in at the far post to collect his brace and make it 4-1 on the night.
The Sky Blues gave first grade debuts to Under 20’s players Cooper Coskerie and Juan Zapata late in the match with Liam McGing the other substitute used.
Head Coach, Rob Stanton, had to go back to his AIS days to recall the last time he’d been involved with a team that had strung together ten straight wins.
“It was a clinical display tonight and I’m very happy with how the boys stuck to their tasks” he said.
“The opposition set up with five at the back and another block of four in the middle but we were patient and broke them down in the end”
Sydney FC play away on Saturday, 21st May against an in form Marconi Stallions at Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park (kick off 7pm).
The Stallions boast several former Hyundai A-League players on their roster and will be another tough test for Stanton’s young squad.
In other NPL results the Under 18’s won 3-1 while the Under 20’s drew 2-2 as both sides remain undefeated in their respective leagues.
Sydney FC 4 (Bail Antoniou 3′; Charles Lokolingoy 21′; Yianni Spyrakis 52′ / 84′) defeated North Shore Mariners 1 (Michael Cole 27′)
Line Up: Mitchell Evans (GK); Nicola Kuleski (Liam McGing); Patrick Flottmann; George Timotheou; Brendan Curtis; Yianni Spyrakis (C); Chris Zuvela; Daniel Araujo; Bai Antoniou (Juan Zapata); Charles Lokolingoy; Cristian Gonzalez (Cooper Coskerie)
Subs Not Used: Duro Dragicevic (GK); Matt Green
Sydney FC 2016/17 Memberships on sale June. Register your interest by signing up at http://my.sydneyfc.com
