NSW Premier League Round 6 Review

The White Eagles were ruthless in their demolition of the struggling Bankstown City outfit on Saturday evening, scoring four unanswered goals with the performance labeled as the side's best this season by coach Brian Brown. Bonnyrigg hit the front midway through the first-half when David Gullo and Daniel Severino combined well to get in behind the Lions defence: the latter cleverly slotted the ball past Zlatko Joseski for the opening goal. Striker Brad Boardman added a quick-fire double prior to the break, illustrating his fine run of form, before Jamie McMaster rounded out the result following a nice exchange of passes with former Melbourne Victory midfielder Nathan Elasi.

Marconi Stallions suffered their first loss of the campaign, and as a consequence their hold on top-spot, in an entertaining match against local rival Sydney United. The Reds Elsid Barkhousir stole the show for Sydney United collecting a brace on the night, his first on the stroke of half-time to lift the morale in the Sydney United camp following the disappointments of the loss against Bonnyrigg last weekend. Barkhousir added his second from the penalty-spot in the second-half before new Reds signing Mirjan Pavlovic added a third to complete the 3-0 win.

Blacktown City's charge at the top of the League ladder was temporarily halted as South Coast Wolves scored a very late equaliser to deny Blacktown maximum points at WIN Stadium on Saturday. Trailing by the single goal following Andrew Paine's opener for the Wolves on 59' minutes, Blacktown City overturned the deficit with Tolgay Ozbey (65') and Ante Deur (88') seemingly securing the win for Aytek Genc's side. In an action packed closing few minutes, the Wolves found their equaliser when Tayfun Buyokkopru's through ball sent Tynan Diaz clear on goal. Diaz did not need a second invitation to coolly slot the ball past Michael Herbert in the Blacktown City goal and secure South Coast a very valuable point against the League leaders.

At the Sydney Olympic Athletic Centre, West Sydney Berries collected a 3-2 win against Manly United FC - the side's first win since the opening day defeat of Sutherland Sharks. Kosta Lagoudakis and Dmitri Zakilas had the Berries ahead 2-0 inside of 12' minutes as both sides battled a very heavy downpour. Despite the Berries going three-up, and seemingly in an unbeatable position, Manly United FC re-opened proceedings on 73' minutes via Keith Shevlin. The Manly United midfielder rose highest inside the penalty-area to head home a set-piece.  Manly had the Berries nervous in the closing moments of the match as Justin Hayward made it 2-3 in injury-time; despite the added pressure from the visitors, West Sydney Berries administered the final moments of the match to grind out the win.

Sutherland Sharks handed A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers a very heavy beating at Seymour Shaw with an emphatic 5-1 defeat of the bottom-placed side. Yianni Fragogiannis, a double by Jim Bakis along with Steve McConologue's first goal for the Sharks, gave Sutherland a 4-0 lead after only 28' minutes - adding to the woes faced by the Tigers in this first part of the season.

Despite Robbie Younis pulling a goal back for A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt prior to the break, Blake Powell's penalty on the hour secured the points for Robbie Stanton's men, sending the Sharks into the top-half of the ladder.

On Monday afternoon, Rockdale City Suns piled the pressure on Sydney Olympic with a hard fought 1-0 defeat of the Blues at Belmore Sports Ground. Baturay Akin's 75' minute strike sealed the deal for the Suns, following a well-organised performance that saw Sydney Olympic dominate possession, though the Suns take their chance on the counter-attack. The win sends the newly promoted NSW Super League side into fifth-spot on the League ladder.

-By Joseph Carlucci

Round 6 NSW Premier League Results and Table

Bonnyrigg White Eagles 4 (Daniel Severino 28m Bradley Boardman 36/40m Jamie McMaster 79m) Bankstown City Lions 0,

West Sydney Berries 3 (Konstandinos Lagoudakis 7m Dimitri Zakilas 13m pen Ryan Jones 88m pen) Manly United FC 2 ((Keith Shevlin 73', Justin Hayward 90'+1') ),

Marconi Stallions 0 Sydney United 3 (Elsid Barkhousir 40/72m pen Mirjan Pavlovic  82m),

Sutherland Sharks 5 (Yianni Fragogiannis 9m Jim Bakis 11/18m Stephen McConalogue 27m Blake Powell 57m) APIA Leichhardt Tigers 1 (Robert Younis 37m),

South Coast Wolves 2 (Andrew Paine 59m Tynan Diaz 90m) Blacktown City FC 2 (Tolgay Ozbey 65m Ante Deur 88m).

Sydney Olympic v Rockdale City Suns - To be played today at Belmore Sports Ground 6pm