Western Sydney have claimed their first win of the season in the Foxtel National Youth League with a 3-1 triumph over Melbourne Heart on Saturday at Marconi Stadium.
Western Sydney have claimed their first win of the season in the Foxtel National Youth League with Joshua Barresi and Jaushua Sotirio’s second-half goals leading them to a 3-1 triumph over Melbourne Heart on Saturday at Marconi Stadium.
The Wanderers had managed just one draw in their previous four games heading into the encounter in Sydney but after conceding in the opening minute, the hosts recovered to dominate from the 20th-minute mark.
The Heart stunned the home side early with Hernan Espindola producing a fine finish inside the box to open the scoring.
The visitors started strongly and had the Wanderers scrambling but after an early blitz the Heart began to falter as Western Sydney gained control of the midfield.
Lawrence Hanna equalised for the home side in the 19th minute when Heart defenders failed to clear the ball from their penalty area and the Wanderers midfielder tucked away his third goal in four games.
Western Sydney hit the front just after the hour mark with a moment of quality with Barresi picking up the ball in midfield, driving forward and then curling his shot into the top corner from the edge of the area.
Barresi also played a role in his team’s third goal, taking a long ball out of defence as the Wanderers counter-attacked and released Kwabena Appiah into the left channel.
Appiah’s one-on-one shot was saved but the ball fell into the path of Sotirio, who knocked the rebound into the back of the net.
Western Sydney Wanderers 3 (Hanna 18, Barresi 62, Sotirio 80)
Melbourne Heart 1 (Espindola 1)
HT: 1-1
Western Sydney Wanderers: 1. Thomas Manos (GK) 2. Shayne D’Cunha, 3. Daniel Alessi, 4. James Baldacchino, 5. Jason Trifiro, 6. Sean Symons (8. Yianni Perkatis 45m), 7. Jaushua Sotirio, 9. Mark Cindric (10. Joshua Barresi 55m), 11. Nicholas Olsen, 13. Lawrence Hanna (6. Sean Symons 72m), 15. Martin Lo (14. Kwabena Appiah 55m)
Melbourne Heart: 1. Marko Stevanja (GK), 3. Philip Petreski, 4. Andrew Mullett (Baki Efe 45m), 5. Ross Archibald, 6. Alexander Dao, 7. Hernan Espindola (13. Tyler James 55m), 8. Sam Mitchinson, 9. Benjamin Garuccio, 10. Marcus Schroen (11. Jonathan Bounas 55m), 12. Nick Kalmar, 13. Tyler James, 14. Ersin Kaya
