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.
BUY TICKETS TO THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE SEMI-FINALS!
City young gun completes comeback with memorable double
The past year or so has been challenging for Melbourne City’s Arion Sulemani but he was finally back among the goals at VPL1 level over the weekend.
WONDERKID WATCH: 15yo sensation ‘ready’ for A-League after breakout game to remember
One of club’s most “highly rated” prospects, Sulemani suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in February last year.
CAST YOUR VOTE HERE FOR DOLAN WARREN AWARDS
The 19-year-old, who signed a three-year deal through to the 2025-26 season in June 2023, had been on the verge of earning his first senior minutes at Isuzu UTE A-League level before his length spell on the sidelines.
Sulemani scored his first goals since his injury in a confidence-boosting win for City having returned last month.
The academy graduate scored twice for Alessandro Diamanti’s City, who upstaged Eastern Lions 3-1 on Sunday.
GOLDEN BOYS: Liberty Next Gen Tracker: Winner confirmed as iconic A-Leagues rivalry gets perfect ending
Sulemani – backed to become a regular member of the Isuzu UTE A-League side – entered the 2023-24 season on the back of finishing fourth in the NPL3 Golden Boot standings, having helped City earn promotion to the second tier last term.
Tobenna Obani also scored for City at Casey Fields, where the team snapped a seven-match winless streak.
With just their second win of the campaign, City are 12th after 12 rounds – 22 points off the pace set by leaders Melbourne Victory.
BUY TICKETS TO THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE SEMI-FINALS!
The connection between A-Leagues Semi-Finalists and VPL1 leaders
Melbourne Victory were involved in an Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series classic on Sunday night and the next day Tony Popovic and his entire staff were out to watch the club’s VPL1 side play.
Victory booked their spot in the Semi-Finals with a wild win over Melbourne City in the Elimination Final at AAMI Park, where young gun Kasey Bos starred off the bench with an assist while he almost snatched the win deep into extra time.
Jordi Valadon also featured for Popovic’s men.
24 hours later, Popovic was out at Kingston Heath to watch high-flying Victory topple Kingston City 2-1 to remain unbeaten at NPL level.
CAST YOUR VOTE HERE FOR DOLAN WARREN AWARDS
Alex Menelaou and Adem Duratovic scored for Victory, who extended their winning streak to six games while celebrating their 10th win of the season.
“We’re so proud of the way the boys played (against Wellington Phoenix),” head coach Joe Palatsides said via the club’s website.
“The connection between this whole football club is clear to see. After a great game yesterday, the next thing you see is Tony Popovic and his entire staff at the VPL game.
“We had a few of our boys who played in that game yesterday and they did extremely well. Tony Popovic is here looking for the next few boys who are going to step up.”
“I think that says a lot about our football club and how well-connected we are.”
CAST YOUR VOTE HERE FOR DOLAN WARREN AWARDS
Victory are eight points ahead of second-placed Preston Lions.
Western United are fourth and 10 points behind Victory after they trumped Bulleen Lions 3-0.
Max Bisetto, Jake Najdovski and Mark Leonard all scored for Western.
In NPLM SA, Luka Jovanovic scored in Adelaide United’s 1-1 draw with Adelaide Comets.
Over in NPLM WA, Jaylan Pearman scored a stunning long-range goal for Perth Glory but they still lost 2-1 to fourth-placed Fremantle City.
Meanwhile, Jack Perniskie‘s goal was not enough as Wellington Phoenix went down 2-1 to Waterside Karori in New Zealand’s Central League.
BUY TICKETS TO THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE SEMI-FINALS!
Stunning hat-trick ignites Bulls
Take a bow, Amber Luchtmeijer.
The Bulls FC Academy star scored a breath-taking hat-trick to lead her side to a 3-2 win over Emerging Jets in NPLW NSW.
Luchtmeijer scored three goals in the space of just 10 minutes as the eighth-placed Bulls held on to take down the Jets at Northbridge Oval on Sunday.
She broke the deadlock in the 36th minute and doubled the lead four minutes later before Laura Knipe reduced the deficit three minutes prior to half-time.
CAST YOUR VOTE HERE FOR DOLAN WARREN AWARDS
Luchtmeijer completed her hat-trick within a minute of a second half restarting.
Alexis Collins pulled a goal back for the Jets six minutes from the end of regulation but it was too little, too late for the bottom side.
Luchtmeijer is now the joint leading goalscorer in the competition with 10 goals in 10 games, alongside Sydney Olympic’s Demi Koulizakis.
In NPLM NSW, league-leading Western Sydney Wanderers suffered back-to-back defeats following a 3-2 loss to Zeljko Kalac’s Sydney United.
With the slumping Wanderers trailing 3-0, Adam Bugarija scored twice – including once in stoppage time, to give Western Sydney a glimmer of hope.
COACHING MASTERCLASS: FIVE in a row! Mariners boss caps off incredible debut season with fifth Coach of the Month award
“Good performance, bad result, it’s obviously two losses in a row which we never want and we’re top of the table, we want to stay up there so I’m disappointed with that,” said Wanderers head coach Andrew Christiansen via NPL NSW.
“Pleased with the performance overall, we probably lost that game rather than them winning it, a few mistakes from us cost us but that’s why these boys are Wanderers Academy, they’re going to learn from the mistakes and build from it.
“It’s a hostile environment and it’s a new experience for a lot of those boys, I thought they dealt with it tremendously.”
CAST YOUR VOTE HERE FOR DOLAN WARREN AWARDS
Western Sydney’s lead atop the standings is now just one point through 13 rounds of the season.
Sydney FC and Central Coast Mariners occupy the bottom two positions after losing over the weekend.
In-form APIA Leichhardt showed no mercy in their 7-1 rout of Sydney, who found the back of the net through Mitch Glasson.
Luka Smyth was on target again but the Mariners were swept aside 5-1 by Wollongong Wolves.
In NSW’s League One, Ariath Piol‘s brace and a goal from Zane Helweh were not enough as Bulls FC Academy lost 4-3 to UNSW FC.
Meanwhile, Jake Goodwin – the younger brother of Archie – was on target for League Two leaders Newcastle Jets in a 4-0 rout of Gladesville Ryde Magic. Xavier Bertoncello, Will Dobson and Murray Peart also scored.
