Reserve Grade – Hills United 5-0 Newcastle Jets
Coming off the mid-season break, both the Newcastle Jets and Hills United had to contend with the challenge of regaining momentum after not having played a reserve grade match since late April. In order to get off to a strong start, both sides decided to rely on experienced players to bolster their line-ups, with the Jets’ Ryan Seck and Hills’ Chris Turnbull taking the field. Alongside Seck was Jake Vidakovic and Molly Boland in midfield, with Cooper Greenwood in goals. For Hills, Matthew Mallows and Ollie McPhail took to the outfield alongside Turnbull, with Lachlan Ninham remaining back to cover the goals. Despite not having spent much time in midfield together, Mallows and Turnbull instantly clicked, with their combination catching the Newcastle defence off guard. Two quickfire goals to Turnbull from clever Mallows’ passes to the near post netted an early lead which the team in yellow held until the halftime break.
Despite a period of late pressure, with the Jets keeping Hills camped in their own end to end the half, strong and composed defence from Hills and particularly Ninham remained resolute. The half-time break saw Seck and Turnbull retreat to the benches, with Rumeth Herath coming on to the field in goal for Newcastle to try and halt Hills momentum. But Mallows was in a powerful mood, controlling the middle of the park and working the ball downfield from the sidelines. McPhail provided a target up forward, with the Newcastle defence unable to resist giving away a few 2 on 1 infringements in dangerous areas. With McPhail sitting between defenders on the goal line, Mallows was able to direct his passes towards the youngster’s guard, a slight deflection enough to stop Vidakovic from keeping the ball out of the net.
Now with momentum well and truly on their side once more, Mallows took his own chance to thread the ball between defenders on his own, the score line getting out of hand for Newcastle before Mallows and McPhail recreated their earlier goal with a mirror image to give McPhail his second of the match. An impressive outing for Mallows saw him have a hand in all of his team’s five goals to see the team in yellow continue their dominant season with a ninth successive win. For Newcastle, a difficult season continues for them as they continue to look for a first reserve grade victory of the season.
Match stats:
Hills United 5 (Turnbull 5’ 8’, McPhail 24’ 35’, Mallows 28’ )
Newcastle Jets 0
Premier League – Hills United 1-0 Newcastle Jets
The Newcastle Jets and Hills United have seen a lot of each other over the last month, clashing twice at the recent APFA Club Championship where the Jets claimed the ultimate prize. The Newcastle side avenged a group stage loss to the Hills team with a 1-0 cup final victory, so the Hills United boys were looking for their own dose of revenge. The sheer amount of football, also including a training camp for the Australian Poweroos clearly took its toll, with Newcastle skipper Dimitri Liolio-Davis feeling under the weather with illness and replaced for the Round 9 match-up by Adelaide United star and 2022 APFA Club Championship MVP Santo Bongiovanni. Alongside him was Ryan Seck at centre, with Chris Hastas on the wing and James Kim in goals, while Hills United played their usual starting line-up of Chris Suffield, Abdullah Karim and Jacob Cross in midfield while Chris Turnbull guarded the goals.
The match started out slowly for both sides with Newcastle taking the kick off only to be repelled by their opponents immediately. Still, neither side looked to be entirely comfortable as James Kim took a flurry of goal kicks back to back, with Chris Suffield unable to find the target with a few early shots, one falling wide only for it to roll into touch just before Karim could reach it. Eventually sending the ball downfield, Newcastle worked to put the Hills side under pressure with Turnbull and his team mates unable to exit their own end via their own goal kicks. Suffield looked to shake himself up with some aggressive attacks on the ball, only to be met by a resolute Seck, the Newcastle player looking unfussed by his opponent’s efforts as he calmly took the play down the other end. Sending the ball wide, Suffield had to stretch across the goal to nudge an effort from Hastas wide, and Hills would feel fortunate to keep a clean sheet until the half.
The chess match continued into the second half, each side needing to find someone to lift the intensity after a tactical first half with few chances. A more methodical approach saw Newcastle work the ball down the sideline before looking to stretch when taking their hit-ins, while Hills looked to play some more expansive passes. Making a chance out of nothing, a tightly marked Bongiovanni fashioned a spinning shot from a Turnbull clearance, only for Suffield to watch it roll an inch wide. Having their hearts in their mouths one moment, Hills worked the ball away from danger. Cross broke through the defence with a laser of a pass, only for a surprised Suffield unable to react in time. Still, Cross had found his groove from the sideline, moments later firing a pass right at Karim, a delicate flick-on forcing Suffield to race to get a touch and find the opening goal late on. Newcastle had one final surge, but Hills would close out the match and take a well-earned 3 points to extend their lead to 7 points over the Jets. Taking heart from being in the match until near the end, Newcastle would be looking forward to welcoming captain Liolio-Davis back for the next round.
Match stats:
Hills United 1 (Suffield 32’)
Newcastle Jets FC 0
Reserve Grade – Sydney FC 4-1 Western Sydney Wanderers
Looking to regroup after the mid-season break, Sydney FC and the Wanderers went into their reserve grade clash looking for 3 points to lay claim to second place. The sky blues started with Joshua Ryan, Fletcher Ball and Cameron Moody in midfield, supported by Harry Simmons in goals, while the red and black began with Steve Shadlow in goals, backing up Jye Mokluk, Patrick Nolan and Jaxon Taylor in midfield. The opening whistle had barely been blown when Sydney FC launched an attack right from the kick off, passes between Ryan and Ball leading to Ryan scything through the defence to score in the opening 30 seconds. Not even giving their opponents time to regroup and get into the match, Ryan and Ball continued to link up with some firm passes, Ryan setting his winger up for a hard shot across the face to double the Sydney lead in the opening 5 minutes.
It took them some time, but eventually the Wanderers would work their way into the game, Mokluk using his power to launch the ball downfield for his wingers to chase, but a composed sky blue defence repelled their opponents to surge into their own attacking raids. Having the better of the first half, the sky blues looked ahead to their later premier league match as they approached half-time in control. The sky blues took their lead into the half, sending Simmons to the bench for a breather and giving Daniel O’Brien the keeper’s jersey. Once again, it looked to be the sky blues taking control of the match. Sweeping the ball wide, Moody had a few chances to stretch Shadlow, but it was only when the ball came across from Ryan to a charging Ball that Sydney FC added to their lead. The passing continued, with the Wanderers unable to stop the Sydney charge, an own goal adding to the carnage.
With the damage already done, the sky blues could be forgiven for losing concentration late on. Taking a short goal kick, O’Brien sent the ball into Ryan’s rear bar only to have it ricochet into his own goal. The consolation goal was exactly that, putting an outplayed Wanderers side onto the scoresheet. The result sees the sky blues close the gap to the Wanderers to 4 points while still having a game in hand. The Wanderers would be disappointed with their efforts, but the sky blues came into this match determined to make a statement and did exactly that. With the second half of the season now in full swing, it would be interesting to see which of these two teams would be able to go on a run to end the season.
Match stats:
Sydney FC 4 (Ryan 1’, Ball 5’ 29’, Own Goal 33’)
Western Sydney Wanderers 1 (Own Goal 36’)
Premier League – Western Sydney Wanderers 4-0 Sydney FC
The Western Sydney Wanderers claimed 3rd place at the recent APFA Club Championships, surprising a few with their tenacity and aggression. Along with this, keeper Andy Waite, and midfielders Jordan Crane and Andrew Kim were part of the Australian Poweroos training squad, rewarded for their strong performance against the country’s best. Sydney FC’s youngsters had a challenging tournament but learned a great deal about high-level football when taking on some strong teams. To make things more difficult in their ninth round match, Joshua Ryan was forced to sit out his team’s match due to a suspension carried over from the previous NSWPFA round a few weeks earlier. Setting out with Mitchell Albert in the centre, with Daniel O’Brien on the wing alongside Fletcher Ball, with Harry Simmons in goal, the sky blues were up against the Poweroos’ squad trio and Wanderers captain Ben Keyte on the wing.
The red and black made a promising start to the match, with Crane playing pivot and sweeping the ball left and right for Kim and Keyte. It was only resolute defending from Albert and Simmons that kept the scores level. One of their more promising attempts in the opening ten minutes saw Kim on the wing hit a strong pass to a spinning Keyte only for Albert to make a fine save. Even when the sky blues looked to clear the ball, an aggressive Waite refused to let it into his half and relaunched another red and black attack, with two of their forays forward leading to the ball hitting the post. Eventually, after fighting off shot after shot and getting more desperate to hold out, Albert’s efforts became a little reckless, collecting Crane above the box and giving away a free kick. Rushing to save the resulting pass, Albert went full speed in reverse to cover the post only for Keyte to attack the ball, being struck in the process. Being given a yellow card for shaking up his opponent, Albert could only watch as Crane slotted the ensuing penalty just before the half-time whistle.
After their hard work paying off in the lead-up to the break, the Wanderers had clearly breathed a sigh of relief. With the pressure lessened after finding their opener, the red and black continued their passing approach, sending the defence back and forth and working the ball methodically in general play to create openings. It was Andrew Kim who was rewarded next, Crane finding him for a trademark front guard finish, before Keyte joined the party for his first of the match with a far post finish. Crane then looked for his second, set up expertly by Kim to complete a dominant second half from the red and black. With Ryan returning next round, the sky blues would be looking for a much improved performance next week as they continue to seek their first win of the season. For the Wanderers, their gap to the second-placed Newcastle Jets had shrunk to a single point, setting up a mouth-watering clash with their rivals and a chance to avenge their semi-final loss to the Jets from the APFA Club Championships. There is still plenty to play for in the 2022 NSWPFA season!
Match stats:
Western Sydney Wanderers 4 (Crane 18’ 32’, A Kim 26’, Keyte 29’)
Sydney FC 0