Congratulations to the Hills United Football Club, our 2021 NSWPFA Premier League Champions! Their round victory sees them take an unassailable lead with two rounds to spare. The Hills reserve grade side also strengthened their grip on second place as both the team in yellow and the Newcastle Jets Powerchair Football Club claimed wins in both grades.
An early strike from Jake Vidakovic gave the Jets’ reserves a strong start, but the Wanderers worked hard to gain a foothold in the match. They looked to stay close at the half, but with time winding down, Ryan Seck found Vidakovic for his second, sucking away any red and black momentum. Helping Vidakovic earn his hat-trick midway through the second half, Seck once again provided the crucial pass, setting up keeper Aseem Soti for his first of the season to seal a dominant victory for Newcastle.
Taking a leaf out of their reserves’ book, the Newcastle premier league side found the opening goal in the third minute, with Chris Hastas setting up Dimitri Liolio-Davis with a precise pass, before the roles were reversed a few moments later with Liolio-Davis setting up Hastas for a goal of his own. If the Wanderers were hoping to stage a comeback, Liolio-Davis denied them with a solo effort just before the half. With the sting out of the game, both sides set about experimenting with formations and positions, with the only goal for the half being a calmly converted penalty to Hastas matching their reserve grade victory with a fourth goal.
With second place well and truly on the line in reserve grade, Hills United and Sydney FC Powerchair Team locked horns once more. Controlling field position early, the team in yellow couldn’t find their opening, with some crucial saves by Lachlan Ninham keeping the sky blue counter-attacks at bay. Finally taking advantage of their strong territory, Josh Ryan found Samir Eshani for a neatly-deflected free kick, before a barnstorming solo run from Chris Holmes resulted in a flick pass to Ryan for a second Hills goal in the space of 5 minutes to close the first half. Despite their best efforts, a composed yellow defence stopped the sky blues from finding a response in the second half.
In the premier league encounter, Hills United knew a win would seal the title, and the pressure clearly told early with the sky blues working well to keep their opponents locked down early. Neither team could find an opening early before Chris Suffield played a difficult ball between the box defenders leading to an unlucky own goal, before moments later, a rocket sideline ball from Jacob Cross was powerfully slotted home at the far post by Suffield to double the lead. Taking their momentum into the second half, some clinical set-pieces saw Karim and Cross hit the score-sheet before keeper Chris Turnbull scored his first for the season via a Suffield corner kick. The result saw Hills United claim their maiden NSWPFA title with two matches to spare. Congratulations again to the Hills United Football Club!
Round 14 Results:
Reserve Grade:
Newcastle Jets 4-0 Western Sydney Wanderers
Hills United 2-0 Sydney FC
Premier League:
Newcastle Jets 4-0 Western Sydney Wanderers
Hills United 6-0 Sydney FC