Sydney FC have retained top spot in the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition, with a convincing and stunning 6-1 victory over Sydney United 58 on Sunday afternoon at Sydney United Sports Centre.
A Jaiden Kucharski hat-trick, along with a brace from Clayton Taylor, saw the Sky Blues put on a clinic in front of goals against a United 58 that has struggled for form in the last few weeks and has now put Jimmy Van Weeren’s troops in the eye as being one of the club’s to catch in 2022.
Taylor opened the scoring in the 17th minute, shortly before Kucharski bagged a brace to finish off the half – scoring in his fifth straight game and getting into double figures for the season.
The flood gates opened in the second-half, as Taylor secured a double and Kucharski capped off his afternoon with his third goal minutes later.
After setting up the opening two goals, Zac Sapsford netted the visitors sixth in the 65th minute.
Glen Trifiro magnificently picked out the top corner in the 86th minute, giving United 58 an earned consolation.
Sydney FC started off the game in a rapid fashion, pressing United 58’s defence in numbers and forcing some errors from the hosts early on.
In-form striker Kucharski found himself with the first real chance of the game, narrowly putting a one-on-one chance wide.
The sky blues enjoyed a successful opening period to the game, shutting down United 58 in attack while creating some dangerous chances on the other end.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 17th minute, after a clearance from the United 58 defence deflected perfectly to Taylor, who neatly tucked his chance away.
With the momentum firmly in their corner, Sydney FC quickly doubled their advantage in the 22nd minute.
After beating his man on the wing Sapsford picked out an oncoming Kucharski in the centre of the area where he chested it past Danijel Nizic and into an open net.
United 58 began to ignite their attack following the second goal, coming close to halving the deficit when Jordan Roberts picked out Jordan Ivancic in the box, with his shot being blocked by the valiant Sydney FC defence.
Jake Girwood-Reich came within an inch of an incredible third goal moments later, as his shot from long range narrowly sailed past the target.
Kucharski ensured the visitors went into the break with a three-goal lead, after a perfect over the top ball from Oscar Priestman, set the clinical-striker up to powerfully place the ball into the roof of the goal.
Sydney FC headed into the break full of confidence and importantly with a three-goal advantage.
The young Sky Blues picked up from where they left off from in the first half, scoring within minutes of the restart.
An incredible solo run from the halfway line from Taylor, saw him break through the centre of the park and on a path to goal, where he made no mistakes to give his side their fourth.
The visitors quickly found a sixth goal in the 50th minute, as Kucharski capped off an eventful afternoon with a hat trick.
After being awarded a free kick from just outside the area, Kucharski picked out the bottom corner and with an assist from the post, got himself a well-earned third.
It was his eleventh goal of the NPL NSW Men’s campaign with the young gun putting his name in lights as bein one of the hottest young prospects in 2022.
Chris Payne came within inches of finding an opener for the hosts, with his powerful effort smashing back against the bar.
It wasn’t going the hosts way throughout the game, so much so that when a fan tried to kick the ball away it came straight back to them
The hosts began to find a groove in attack, putting the young Sky Blues’ defence under some late pressure.
Sapsford got his name on the scoresheet in the 65th minute, after following up from an incredible double-save from Nizic, to tap the ball into an open net.
Immediately following Sydney FC’s sixth, Payne once again came agonisingly close to an opener, after his chip shot went past the oncoming Max Vartuli, but falling wide of the target.
Nizic stood tall in the final period of the game, making several key stops and coming out to meet the sky blue attackers head on.
Glen Trifiro gave United 58 a consolation goal in the final minutes of the game, with an incredible free kick that picked out the top corner.
It was a stellar showing from the visitors, who never looked back after starting the game on a positive note.
Sydney FC coach, Jim Van Weeren was pleased with his side’s performance and was impressed with his sides pressing off the ball.
“First-half we were extremely dominant, we had three and could have potentially had more,” he explained.
“Second-half we kind of dropped a bit, but we still scored three goals so you can’t really complain
“For us being a young team it helps if we can get pressure on the ball and stop balls from being played in behind us, the boys are capable of winning it and we are very good on the break, it’s definitely something we worked on and it’s come a long way.”
United 58 coach, Joe Haywood noted his disappointment with his side’s outing and is looking for an improvement going forward.
“Disappointing result, defensively we need to start looking at ourselves and improve,” he said.
“We didn’t come alive [in the second half], they just stopped playing.”
Match Stats
Sydney United 58 FC 1 (Trifiro 86’)
Sydney FC 6 (Taylor 17’ 47’, Kucharski 22’ 37’ 50’ Sapsford 65’)
Sunday 1st May 2022
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Referee: Karl Davies
Assistant Referees: Matthew Staples and Ivica Covic
Fourth Official: Ayad Naji
Sydney United 58 FC: 1. Danijel Nizic, 3. Jordan Roberts (4. Adrian Vlastelica 26’), 5. Anthony Tomelic (14. Andreas Agamemnonos 71’), 6. Christopher Payne, 8. Kyle Cimenti, 11.Yianni Perkatis (16. Jacob Poscoliero 71’), 13. Jordan Ivancic (23. Adrian Knez 57’), 17. Matthew Billic, 18. Glen Trifiro, 21. Mihael Marcic, 22. Yianni Fragogiannis, (10. Devante Clut 57’)
Substitutes Not Used: 55. Goran Palecek
Yellow Cards: Perkatis 49’, Knez 71’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney FC: 3. Aaron Gurd, 4. Nathan Grimaldi, 7.Aidan Simmons, 10. Jaiden Kucharski (9.Ben Gibson 64’), 12. Jake Girwood-Reich(5. Kai Kamikura 74’), 13. Clayton Taylor, 14. Zac Sapsford, 17. Jayden Trenkoski (33. Zane Schreiber 74’), 18. Oscar Preistman, 20. Max Vartuli, 28. Louis Agosti (16. Matthew Scarcella 63’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Gus Hoefsloot, 26. Aleksandar Duricic
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Card: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Jaiden Kucharski (SFC)
2 – Clayton Taylor (SFC)
1 – Zac Sapsford (SFC)
Written by National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter, Dominic Criniti @DominicCriniti
