NSWNPL1 May Review

A busy month of football in NSW, with multiple catch up games as well as the usual weekly fixtures. So let’s get straight into it.

Round 8

The cream of the crop continued to rise in Round 8 of the competition with the majority of the top 5 winning in Sydney Olympic, Blacktown City and Apia Tigers. However there was a notable result in the competition with Rockdale proving that they are a squad to fear (particularly without Branko Culina in charge). The Suns turned their fortunes around with a convincing win over Sydney United at Seymour Shaw Park. However it didn’t always look that way, with Rockdale falling behind twice before goals from Marco Jesic, Alec Urosevski and Toufic Alameddine assured the result.

Marconi Stallions                    0-5       Blacktown City FC

Sydney Olympic                      4-3       Blacktown Spartans

Manly United                          1-3       Sutherland Sharks

Rockdale City Suns                  4-2       Sydney United 58 FC

APIA-Leichhardt Tigers           3-0       South Coast Wolves.

Round 9

I cannot recall many more high scoring rounds than Round 9 of this season’s competition. The round averaged over 3 goals a game in a round where defenses went missing. The round marked a rare win for Marconi Stallions who benefited from a coaching change to overcome a hit and miss Sutherland side who seem to be suffering the effects of a youthful squad. Most importantly for the struggling Marconi is they managed to do it despite being behind after 85 minutes but 2 goals late on assured a confidence boosting win. Elsewhere, Bonnyrigg outscored Blacktown Spartans 5 goals to 3 and Blacktown City saw off Sydney Olympic at home.

Sutherland Sharks                   1-2       Marconi Stallions

Parramatta FC                        2-4       APIA Leichhardt Tigers

Blacktown Spartans                3-5       Bonnyrigg White Eagles

Blacktown City                        4-2       Sydney Olympic

Sydney United 58 FC               3-5       Manly United

Round 10

The Blacktown Derby has quickly become the one of the premier fixtures of the NSWNPL. So it’s only fair to treat that as the main game right? However once again the fixture turned into very much a one sided contest. It continues the downfall of the Spartans who continue to struggle with performances on the field. On the field however, City scored through two former A-League strikers in Mitchell Malia and Joey Gibbs. Elsewhere Parramatta FC managed to cause the major surprise shocking Rockdale away from home, the goal coming from Daniel Rezo and Sydney United returned to form beating Marconi.

APIA Leichardt Tigers                         0-0       Bonnyrigg White Eagles

Manly United                          1-1       South Coast Wolves

Marconi Stallions                    1-3       Sydney United 58 FC

Blacktown City                        3-0       Blacktown Spartans

Sydney Olympic                      2-1       Sutherland Sharks

Rockdale City Suns                  0-1       Parramatta FC

 

Round 11:

 

Well this competition certainly knows how to keep anyone who watches on their toes. This time, it was the away teams who found ways to earn the 3 points in every game bar 1. In the clash of the competitions heavyweights, Sydney United outclassed Sydney Olympic at Edensor Park. Two goals to star recruit Panni Nikas before he set up Chris Triantis ensured United came away with 3 goals for 3 points.  Elsewhere competition leaders Blacktown City left it late scoring in the 88^th minute to get past Sutherland and Rockdale ran over a hapless Bonnyrigg side.

Blacktown Spartans                1-5       APIA Leichhardt Tigers

Bonnyrigg White Eagles         0-3       Rockdale City Suns

Marconi Stallions                    0-1       South Coast Wolves

Sutherland Sharks                   0-1       Blacktown City

Sydney United 58 FC               3-0       Sydney Olympic

 

Round 12

So the last weekend of May brought in the second half of the season. With it, the two best sides in the competition mounted impressive wins. Blacktown completely demolished Sydney United with the highlight being a hat-trick to Joe Gibbs. Conversely Apia found themselves three goals down against a hot and cold Rockdale side. This hot and coldness was no more apparent than in this fixture as they conceded four goals which meant a crucial Apia win. Elsewhere Sydney Olympic couldn’t get past South Coast Wolves and Sutherland battered the Spartans.

Blacktown Spartans                2-5       Sutherland Sharks

Bonnyrigg White Eagles         2-1       Manly United

Sydney United 58 FC               1-6       Blacktown City

APIA Leichhardt Tigers           4-3       Rockdale City Suns

Parramatta FC                        0-0       Marconi Stallions

South Coast Wolves                1-1       Sydney Olympic

 

Ladder can be found at http://www.sportingpulse.com/comp_info.cgi?c=1-10179-0-337363-0&pool=-1&a=LADDER

Google+