The PlayStation 4 NPL NSW Men’s 1 competition kicked off and if this week’s Match of the Round is anything to go by, we are in for one thrilling season as the APIA-Leichhardt Tigers scored a rare Round 1 win, thrashing Rockdale City Suns 4-2 at the Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon.
ROUND 1 REVIEW
Marconi Stallions 1-2 Parramatta FC, at Marconi Stadium
Newly promoted Parramatta started their season with a 2-1 win against traditional giants Marconi Stallions on Saturday night.
The Eagles led 2-0 at the break thanks to a brace of near-identical free kicks from David Gullo.
Christopher Nunes, raring to go after injury problems last season, pulled one back, but it wasn’t enough as Parramatta claimed a valuable three points.
Sutherland Sharks 3-1 Blacktown Spartans, at Seymour Shaw Park
Sutherland kick-started their 2015 with a fairly convincing win over Blacktown Spartans in Miranda on Saturday night.
Seongjin Park was making his NPL debut for the Sharks and he opened the scoring after only 17 minutes.
It was a lead Sutherland took into the break and one which they double through Jordan Figon only six minutes after the interval.
Former Marconi man Shu Sasaki gave Spartans hope with a goal ten minutes from time, only for Figon’s second in the 88th minute to put paid to their hopes of a comeback.
Sydney Olympic 3-0 South Coast Wolves, at Belmore Sports Ground
Sydney Olympic put their Preseason Cup Final defeat to bed with a strong 3-0 win over South Coast Wolves on Sunday afternoon.
Go Shirai’s goal shortly after the half hour had Olympic one to the good.
But it needed late goals from Shirai again (87th minute) and Taiga Soeda (88th minute) to seal the victory over a Wolves outfit who never really showed up.
Manly United 0-3 Bonnyrigg White Eagles, at Cromer Park
Bonnyrigg flexed their considerable muscle, crushing Manly United 3-0 on Back to Manly Day at Cromer Park on Sunday.
Paul Dee’s men had no answer for Bonnyrigg’s pace and power. The White Eagles took the lead in the fourth minute through Aaron Peterson and it was all one-way traffic thereafter.
Joel Chianese made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute, before adding his second and Bonnyrigg’s third in the last minute of play.
Rockdale City Suns 2-4 APIA-Leichhardt Tigers, at Linden Sports Centre
This week’s Match of the Round was a six goal thriller between Rockdale City and APIA-Leichhardt on Sunday afternoon.
Billy McColl and Rod Williams had APIA purring as they raced to a 2-0 lead, thanks to goals from Sean Symons and a penalty to Blake Powell.
Franco Parisi’s wonderful double made it 4-0 to the visitors, after the number 10 volley home from the edge of the area, before seven minutes later embarking on a mazy run that finished with a nutmeg and shot into the bottom corner.
Rockdale sub Marko Jesic scored twice off the bench, both from set pieces, to add a degree of respectability to the scoreline.
Blacktown City 3-2 Sydney United 58 FC, at Lilys Football Centre
A superb first half hat trick to Mitchell Mallia saw Blacktown City take all three points at home to Sydney United 58 FC on Sunday afternoon.
Mallia netted in the 14th, 27th and 45th minutes to register a remarkable treble in a match that saw all five goals scored in the first half.
Theo Kofinas’ 33rd minute goal made it 2-1, and when Stjepan Paric scored only two minutes later, United looked to have made a huge comeback.
But Mallia was left to have the final say, netting his third before the break to win all three points for his side.