Sydney FC’s Foxtel National Youth League squad headed south to the Nation’s Capital where they faced the FFA Centre of Excellence side at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on Sunday.
The Sky Blues got off to a great start in the 4th minute when a slide rule pass from Nicola Kuleski sent James Andrew away on the right wing. Andrew outpaced his fullback and cleverly cut the ball to striker George Blackwood who, with his back to goa,l turned his defender and rifled home the opener for an one nil lead.
Sydney FC continued their high pressing game and were rewarded for their efforts in the 12th minute when Andrew again was too quick for his marker. He raced forward before cutting the ball across the edge of the box where Blackwood made a dummy run over the ball leaving it for the oncoming Chris Zuvela to slam it into the bottom corner to increase the Sky Blues lead.
The should have been extended further when Andrew blazed over the bar from close range before Anthony Tomelic hit the cross bar with a free kick.
Andrew eventually snagged a deserved goal for his first half efforts when side footed into the net on the far post following good lead up work from Bai Antoniou as Sydney FC went into the break three nil up.
With the temperature rising in the second stanza to the mid 30’s the intensity dropped and the game tempo slowed which allowed FFA Centre of Excellence back into the match.
The Canberra based team pulled a goal back in the 75th minute when Kosta Petratos scored from inside the penalty area before the Sky Blues threatened on a couple of occasions as a George Timotheou header skimmed the cross bar before Tomelic again rattled the woodwork with a 25 metre shot but the scoreboard remained at three goals to one as the Sky Blues sealed a valuable three points away from home.
Sydney FC 3 (Blackwood 4’ / Zuvela 12’ / Andrew 43’) defeated FFA Centre of Excellence 1 (Petratos 75’)
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