Welcome to Wonderkid Watch: A weekly piece that keeps you up to date with the players and stories emerging from A-Leagues clubs playing at NPL level in Australia.
Perth teenager inspires wild win as Glory stay unbeaten
Perth Glory are yet to taste defeat in NPLM WA this season and it’s thanks to a breakthrough performance from Santiago Flores over the weekend.
The 17-year-old scored twice – his first goals at National Premier League level – as unbeaten Perth held off Armadale 4-3 in Round 4.
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Flores entered 2024 after scoring 27 goals for the Glory’s Under-18 team last year as the academy side capped off a stellar campaign by winning their Top Four Cup Final.
In turn, the teen won the Men’s U18 Golden Boot and was named one of two winners of the Men’s U18 Player of the Year award at the 2023 NPLWA Awards.
He also previously trialled at Portuguese giants Sporting CP – the club who produced five-time Ballon d’Or winner and superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. He was offered the chance to undergo extended observation alongside Sporting’s academy players. According to Total Football Development, “his feedback from the club was immensely positive”.
On Saturday, the teenager helped high-flying Perth overturn an early deficit at the Sam Kerr Football Centre.
After conceding inside seven minutes, Flores struck twice within the next six minutes to give the Glory a 2-1 lead.
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Perth and Armadale continued to go head-to-head before Sam Byrne sensationally decided the contest with an 88th-minute goal – a cross-cum-shot that looped over goalkeeper after substitute Khoa Ngo had scored into a vacant net.
The Glory are second in the standings with two wins and two draws, four points behind Western Knights.
Spectacular goal caps five-star performance for Wanderers
Can anyone stop Western Sydney Wanderers in NPLM NSW? At this rate, the answer is no.
The table-topping Wanderers put Manly United to the sword in a 5-0 rout on Sunday – a result headlined by a stunning goal from Marcus Younis.
The 18-year-old gave Western Sydney a 2-0 half-time lead with an incredible bicycle kick, while Zac Sapsford and Aydan Hammond were also on target before Adam Bugarija‘s late brace.
“I’m happy with a lot of things, but for me the clean sheet is probably the biggest take away, Wanderers head coach Andrew Christiansen said via NPL NSW. “And I’m also happy for the boys, they deserve to be there at the top.”
It was another display of Younis’ immense talent but it has not been easy for the teenage attacker.
He joined Western Sydney aged 12 and after a flying start, his rise was derailed by a series of injuries.
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Knee injuries and a snapped collarbone meant Younis missed more than two years of football.
The Wanderers are four points clear of Rockdale City atop the standings.
Neither Bulls FC Academy nor Newcastle Jets were in action in NSW’s Football League One and League Two respectively over the weekend.
Elsewhere, lowly Central Coast Mariners were swept aside 2-0 by Sydney Olympic while Sydney FC were beaten 8-0 by Blacktown City.
In NPLW NSW, Bulls FC Academy got their season back on track with a 3-0 triumph over Gladesville Ravens via goals from Daniella Naeimi, Isabella Coco-Di Sipio and Amber Luchtmeijer.
Emerging Jets lost 7-0 against Macarthur Rams.
Tim Cahill’s son Shae scores his first goal for Brisbane Roar
There was a special moment for Shae Cahill over the weekend as he scored his first goal for Brisbane Roar.
While the Roar lost 4-2 to reigning NPLM QLD champions Gold Coast Knights, Shae – the son of Socceroos legend and one of Australia’s greatest ever players Tim Cahill – was on target for Brisbane.
Gold Coast raced out to a 4-0 lead before Cahill reduced the deficit on the stroke of half-time. James Nikolovski scored his second goal in as many games for Brisbane late in the game.
It was his maiden goal for the Roar since the 18-year-old joined Brisbane from English side Everton on a multi-year agreement at the start of 2023-24.
Cahill had spent four years playing in England, rising through the academy ranks of Everton, where his father became a legend, before deciding to return to Australia.
He played nine times for Everton’s U18 side last season, registering three assists.
In December, Cahill made his Isuzu UTE A-League debut in the Roar’s 2-2 draw with Western Sydney Wanderers.
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He has made two senior appearances for Brisbane this term.
In NPLM QLD, Brisbane are eighth with one win from six fixtures and 10 points adrift of league-leading Gold Coast.
Over in NPLM SA, Austin Ayoubi scored an 82nd-minute winner as Adelaide United defeated Adelaide Olympic 3-2. Panashe Madanha and Giuseppe Bovalina also scored for the Reds.
Victorian rivals play out six-goal thriller
Casey Fields hosted an entertaining 3-3 draw between Melbourne City and Western United on Sunday afternoon.
City led 1-0 at half-time before the match exploded in the second half with five goals, three of those from visiting rivals Western in VPL1 – the second tier of Victorian football.
Second-half substitute Nicolas Koek scored twice for Western, while Noah Spaseski also scored.
“Koek is a very committed young man with strong physical attributes typical of a traditional striker but is also capable of playing in wide areas given his speed,” Western’s Academy director Anthony Frost told aleagues.com.au.
“He has an excellent eye for goal with technical quality to be clinical when chances arise. We have seen good incremental progression from Nick during his time with us and looking forward to seeing him build on the opportunities given to him at senior level this season.”
Alessandro Lopane, Medin Memeti and Kavlan Rahmani were City’s goalscorers as Arion Sulemani made his long-awaited return from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
Western are eighth in the standings after seven games, three points better off than 11th-placed City.
Melbourne Victory remain the team to beat after their 4-1 win over Werribee City.
Victory stayed unbeaten and four points clear at the summit courtesy of goals from Adem Duratovic, Luka Kolic, Eli Adams and Marc Petherlotis.
“We knew coming into the game that even though Werribee haven’t had many results go their way recently, they’ve got some really good players, especially their front three or four,” said head coach Joe Palatsides.
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“So we knew we had to be on our game. I thought the first 60 minutes of football that we played was probably the best we’ve played all year. We completely dominated the game and probably should have wrapped it up by half-time.
“We put out a great performance.” It was a bit disappointing that we let it slip towards the end – that last 20 minutes we probably got a little bit more sloppy and gave away a few chances that helped them score and get back in the game.”
In NPLW Women, Calder United lost 3-2 away to Heidelberg United in Round 4.
Over in New Zealand’s Central League, Wellington Phoenix’s reserves outlasted Petone 3-2 in a wild finish to their Round 2 clash.
Visiting Petone scored in the 82nd and 86th minute to equalise before 19-year-old midfielder Fergus Gillion won it for the Phoenix in the 90th minute.
Gillion made his Isuzu UTE A-League debut this season and has featured twice for Giancarlo Italiano’s Premiership hopefuls.
