Unfulfilled Expectations: NPL NSW & FFA Cup Review (10-11 March 2018)

Rydalmere v Spirit FC (NPL 2 Men’s)

 

Like most of my weekends during the NPL season, this blog starts with a trip to Valentine Sports Park.

Newly-promoted Rydalmere had started the NPL 2 season well, drawing 2-2 with Central Coast Mariners. Spirit FC also had a good result in the opening round, defeating Hills United 1-0 after a late goal from substitute Kevin Lopes.

After an evenly matched opening 30 minutes, we had two goals in the space of 60 seconds. Dylan Whitlock opened the scoring for Spirit after getting on the end of a flick on from Lopes, before Rydalmere levelled the scores when Daniel Ortega got on the end of a set piece.

The turning point came when Spirit FC keeper (and FFA Cup hero) Tomi Romic made an amazing save from Amaury Gauthier, somehow tipping his close range shot onto the crossbar. Spirit retook the lead soon afterwards when Mason Ireland intercepted a pass and dinked the ball over Rydalmere keeper Daniel Sadaka, and never looked like losing after that.

Spirit FC coach David Perkovic started Kevin Lopes after last week’s winning goal, and the lanky striker repaid his faith by netting a second half hat trick. Lopes made it 3-1 with a lovely chipped finish after good build-up work from Whitlock, before rounding off the scoring with two well-taken penalties.

Rydalmere were taught a bit of a lesson here: they have the talent to survive at this level, and had good periods in this game, but mistakes are punished much more readily in NPL 2 than in NPL 3, and they will need more consistency within games to avoid heavy defeats. However, it’s not all bad news for them: both their U18 & U20 sides have started the season with two wins from two games, and the performances of those two sides will be vital if they are to avoid being sucked into the relegation battle.

On the other hand, Spirit FC have started with two wins from their opening two games, and Kevin Lopes already has four goals for the season. Their new attacking signings are working well together, and if they keep this up Spirit will easily improve on last year’s ninth place finish.

Rydalmere 1 (Daniel Ortega 32’)

Spirit FC 5 (Dylan Whitlock 31’ Mason Ireland 38’ Kevin Lopes 60’, 79’ pen, 87’ pen)

 

 

Norwest v Wollongong Olympic (FFA Cup 2nd Round Qualifier)

 

The great thing about Valentine Sports Park is that there always seems to be another game after the one you want to watch, so I made the short walk from Field 2 to Field 3 to watch Hills Football side Norwest take on Illawarra Premier League outfit Wollongong Olympic in a Round 2 FFA Cup Qualifier.

It was always going to be a tough game for Norwest, one of the newer teams in the Hills area. Even so, I didn’t see this coming. Olympic scored after barely 30 seconds, and from then on it was a procession towards the Norwest goal.

With the score 5-0 at halftime, Olympic didn’t take their foot off the gas in the second half, putting another eight goals past the Norwest keeper (who actually had a good game, making several decent saves). Incredibly, Olympic could have scored 20 with more precision in front of goal. For Norwest, at least they provided a Magic Of The Cup™ moment after a defender scored an own goal and then decided to banter his teammates by saying, “I’m scoring goals, what are you doing?”

Wollongong Olympic will be heavy favourites again in the next round – they host Bass Hill RSL from the Bankstown Association.

Norwest 0

Wollongong Olympic 13 (this is not a typo)

 

 

Marconi v Sydney United (NPL 1 Men’s)

Unfortunately, expectation does not always match reality. I had been looking forward to this game for weeks: Sydney United had made a number of high-profile signings in the offseason, and there’s a reason Marconi are known as the “Fairfield Galacticos”.

With Sydney United superfan Matt Sabo taking control of the club’s Twitter account for the first time, and supercoach/Cumberland Country Golf Club superintendent Mark Crittenden in the crowd, it wasn’t long before we had a goal, as Marconi forward Sean Rooney bundled the ball over the line in the fourth minute.

Marconi were keen to play the early ball over the top, allowing Rooney to use his pace and get behind the United backline. However, after Rooney’s substitution due to injury (a collision with United keeper John Hall, who was slightly fortunate not to be red-carded), Marconi lost their main weapon, and their attack stagnated.

With Rooney going off injured, plus both Mirjan Pavlovic and former Blacktown City super-sub James Andrew unavailable, Marconi could be a bit light up front in the next few games. Bizarrely, Mateo Poljak came off the bench and was used in the no. 10 role, and while he worked hard (as always) he offered little in the way of creativity.

For their part, United had a lineup with plenty of talent, but movement off the ball was lacking. Aside from a Panni Nikas header hitting the post, and a goal-line clearance following a good save from Nenad Vekic (a.k.a. The Best Goalkeeper in NPL NSW™), Marconi’s defence were able to handle whatever United threw at them.

In the end, Marconi got the three points, and I suppose we can’t expect too much from Round 1, but it’s clear both teams need to improve massively if they are to challenge for trophies.

Marconi 1 (Sean Rooney 4’)

Sydney United 0

 

 

Melita v Hills United (NPL 2 Men’s)

 

I thought the clash between Marconi and Sydney United would be the worst game I saw this weekend.

 

I was wrong.

 

Considering the 7pm Sunday kickoff, there was a decent crowd at Melita Stadium to see Melita (Parramatta FC) take on Hills United, and it was a shame that they weren’t given much in the way of entertainment.

 

The first half was marred by a horrific injury early on to Hills midfielder Sean Mitchell, with word amongst the Hills folk that he had torn his ACL. Melita also had their own injury problems, with Jason Trifiro needing treatment in the opening minute, before being subbed at half time.

 

The game briefly flickered into life just after the restart when Hills had a couple of chances in quick succession: Inner West Magic futsal superstar Daniel Fogarty had a one on one chance saved, and Peter Cejka’s follow-up shot was blocked. However, this was only a brief respite, and both defences soon resumed their superiority.

 

About twenty minutes from the end, we thought we finally had a goal when Hills captain Daine Merrin converted a cross from Futsalroos legend Greg Giovenali. However, the referee showed Merrin a second yellow card for deliberate handball, which seemed harsh as the ball flicked up off his boot onto his arm before going in.

 

After the red card, Hills seemed happy to settle for a point, with Melita lacking the cutting edge up front to take advantage of the extra player. It wasn’t until stoppage time that Hills (and former Melita) keeper Luke Turnbull was seriously tested, making two acrobatic saves in the space of a minute.

 

So, despite the talent present in both squads, Melita and Hills are winless after two rounds. It’s not quite time to panic, but there are few easy games in NPL 2 (you can’t play Blacktown Spartans every week), and a finals place can slip out of your grasp very quickly. Also, it’s worth remembering that most clubs aren’t too big to get relegated from this division – just ask Bankstown City.

 

Melita 0

Hills 0

 

 

Eric Subijano (@eric_subijano)

Google+