Spartans lead by five points after round 14, taking advantage of some serious dropped points by Blacktown City.
Spartans lead by five points after round 14, taking advantage of some serious dropped points by Blacktown City.
Bonnyrigg could be their main rivals after a convincing 2-1 win against Sydney United 58 in the Match of the Round, while the rest of the places is anyone’s guess.
MATCH OF THE ROUND
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 2-1 Sydney United 58 FC, at Bonnyrigg Sports Centre
Bonnyrigg’s good form continued with come from behind 2-1 victory over their arch-rivals Sydney United 58.
They had to do it the hard way though as their defence was breached; Bonnyrigg had kept eight clean sheets in their last nine matches as they continued to climb the table.
Mirjan Pavlovic continued his good return in United colours opening the scoring in the first 60 seconds.
United couldn’t take advantage however, and Bonnyrigg went on to dominate the second half.
Their endeavour was rewarded in first half stoppage time when Adrian Ucchino bundled home the equalising goal, albeit with some assistance from United’s goalkeeper Anthony Costa. The gloveman flapped at a cross and Ucchino was on the spot.
Robbie Younis headed in the eventual winner midway through the second half, well assisted by his strike partner Aaron Peterson.
Round 14 Review
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers v Manly United, at Lambert Park
This match was abandoned in the 31′ minute after floodlight issues at the ground.
Manly coach Paul Dee was in no mood to hang around even though the lights were working as the players left the field.
APIA led 1-0 thanks to a fifth minute goal scored by Blake Powell.
The remainder of the match will be played in due course from the 31′ minute, with APIA leading 1-0.
Sutherland Sharks 2-1 St. George, at Seymour Shaw Park
Sutherland managed to put their recent back-to-back defeats behind them, by beating St. George 2-1 at home.
Lenox Tweneboa gave St. George an early lead.
Sutherland settled into their rhythm and started to pass the ball around nicely, and found an equaliser in the second half courtesy of Jamie McMaster.
It was left to substitute Jordan Figon to score the winner, after he had replaced Ethan Galbraith.
Sydney Olympic 1-1 South Coast Wolves, at Brlmore Sports Ground
It was all about the start and the finish at Belmore Sports Ground.
William Angel gave the home side the lead after just three minutes in a superb opening to the match.
Olympic spurned some big opportunities and the longer the score remained 1-0, the more Wolves believed they could get themselves back into the game.
Their perseverance was rewarded when Jordan Murray popped up with just two minutes remaining to score the equaliser.
Rockdale City Suns 0-1 Blacktown Spartans, at Ilinden Sports Centre
Spartans extended their lead at the top of the table to five points with a 1-0 away win against Rockdale.
The match was played in incredibly difficult conditions, with the inclement weather wreaking havoc to the playing surface.
Spartans showed that they could grind out an ugly result and that was the order of the day, the match settled by Corey Biczo’s goal just before half time.
Blacktown City 0-1 Marconi Stallions, at Lilys Football Centre
This was the shock of the round.
Blacktown City’s excellent run ground to a halt as they were stunned by Marconi, a defeat that allowed Spartans to kick five points clear at the top of the table.
It was a great result in an inconsistent season thus far for the Stallions and a welcome boost for Paul Carter.
Mitchell Thompson’s free kick was the match winner, as he curled one past Nenad Vekic in the minute before the half time interval.
Blacktown City huffed and puffed in the second half, but couldn’t breach the stubborn Marconi defence, marshalled by their captain and keeper James Chronopoulos.
