NSW Premier League Round 13 Review

The Stallions loss allowed Blacktown City, Bonnyrigg White Eagles and Sydney United the chance to close the gap at the top of the League ladder, though not one of the three top-spot chasers managed to take full advantage of the Stallions slip-up.

At the bottom of the ladder, Manly United moved from the foot of the table with a fine win at Blacktown City, meanwhile Bankstown City's poor run of results continued with another home loss, this time against Rockdale City Suns.

Blacktown City FC fell to another loss this weekend, this time to Manly United FC following last weekend's defeat at A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers. Up against a Manly United outfit struggling for confidence, Craig Midgley - in his first match as boss of the Cromer Park outfit - managed to guide his team to what seemed a highly unlikely victory.

Chris Payne capitalised on a quick counter-attacking move to go one-on-one with Blacktown City FC goalkeeper Matt Ryan before coolly slotting the ball into the back of the net for the opening goal. Robbie Cattanach doubled Manly's lead after the break with a fine individual effort rewarded with a fine goal to match. Manly kept the pressure on the home-side and really could have added a third moments later as Joey Gibbs nearly got one past Ryan in the Blacktown City goal. In the end, the three-points sends Manly United FC clear of bottom-spot on the League ladder; the side 8-points outside of the Top-Five.

Sydney United lost their chance of taking full advantage of Marconi Stallions' slip-up against South Coast Wolves, drawing 1-1 at home against Sydney Olympic in the encounter between two former NSL sides. Despite an indifferent performance by the Reds, David Zdrilic's men took the lead in the final minute of the first-half courtesy of Mirjan Pavlovic. The striker combined with Ante Tomic before stepping past both Tayfun Devrimol and Ricky Perinich, creating the space to drive the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal. The lead was short-lived as James Monie equalised for the Blues shortly after the break. A pass back to Sydney United goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic saw the goalkeeper slip with the ball at his mercy as Monie took possession and scored one of the easiest goals he has scored in his career to-date.

Tensions flared in the closing stages as Damon Collina received his marching orders, though the result would not change as both sides settled for a share of the points.

At Leichhardt Oval, A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers maintained their magical run of the past seven weeks with a hard fought 2-2 draw against Bonnyrigg White Eagles. Trailing the White Eagles 0-2 with 8' minutes remaining - David Gullo picked out Brad Boardman for the opener, before the burly striker added his second of the afternoon, both via headers - the Tigers then set about keeping their fine record of the past month-and-a-half intact.

Mark Byrnes was on the spot to slot-home for the Tigers following a poorly dealt with free-kick by the White Eagles defenders. 2' minutes from time, the Tigers' Anthony Hartshorn was fouled inside the penalty-area by Graeme Forbes, leaving the referee with no choice but to avoid the Tigers a penalty. Nick Rizzo's effort was parried by Nenad Vekic in the Bonnyrigg goal, though the rebound fell to Bishara Stephan who blasted the ball into the back of the new, securing the Tigers a share of the spoils.

Rockdale City Suns defeated Bankstown City for the second time this Premier League season with a very polished performance at Jensen Park on Sunday afternoon.

After squandering an early chance via the penalty-spot, where Robbie Mileski saw his penalty saved by Suns goalkeeper Ben McNamara, the Lions' morale dropped. Rockdale City took full advantage of the situation and found a goal in the 15' minute via captain courageous Peter Apolevski. The Suns number 7 finished with an exceptional diagonal driven effort across the face of goal, out of the reach of Bankstown City goalkeeper Zlatko Joseski. Rockdale City administered the lead for the remainder of the match, limiting the home-side to two half-chances - one to Richard Luksic and the other to Hussein Salameh. The win takes the Suns to two-points from fifth-spot, opening up a seven-point gap over the Lions on the League ladder.

On Saturday evening, Sutherland Sharks handed West Sydney Berries a footballing lesson with an emphatic 4-1 win at Seymour Shaw. Paul Kohler opened the scoring in the 42' minute, firing powerfully across the face of goal to see his effort ricochet off the post and into the back of the net. Chris Price combined with Panni Nikas and Jim Bakis to double the lead in first-half stoppage time, before Price played a neat pass to Blake Powell after the break to make it 3-0. Bakis added the fourth with an exceptional free-kick leaving Berries goalkeeper Hamish McLean helpless, much to the delight of the home supporters. West Sydney did pull a goal back in the closing stages courtesy of Ryo Maekawa, though it was way too little too late for the visitors on a night that belonged, entirely, to the Sharks.

Marconi Stallions saw their lead at the top cut back to three-points - assisted greatly by Sydney United and Blacktown City's inability to win their respective matches - as the Bossley Park outfit fell to their second loss of the season, at home against South Coast Wolves. The Wolves overcame a one goal deficit in the first-half to prevail 2-1 at Marconi Stadium on Saturday night. Brenton Rhodes had the Stallions seemingly in control on 33' minutes when his low-driven effort found its way into the back of the net for the opening goal. Chris Nathaniel drew the Wolves level moments prior to the break before the Stallions again upped the pressure in the second-half. Despite the home-side's possessional dominance, South Coast found their winner via Mark Picciolini on 79' minutes. The Wolves striker was on the mark to head home Tynan Diaz's cross, much to the delight of the Wolves squad.

-By Joseph Carlucci 

NSW Premier League Round 13 Results and Table

Sutherland Sharks 4 (Paul Kohler 42m Christopher Price 45m Blake Powell 48m Jim Bakis 55m) West Sydney Berries 1 (R Maekawa 84m),

Marconi Stallions 1 (Lawrence Braude 32m) South Coast Wolves 2 (Christopher Nathaniel 38m Mark Picciolini 79m).

Bankstown City 0 Rockdale City Suns 1 (Pece Apolevski 14m),

APIA Leichhardt Tigers 2 (Mark Byrnes 81m Bishara Stephan 89m) Bonnyrigg White Eagles 2 (Bradley Boardman 31/64m),

Blacktown City FC 0 Manly United FC 2 (Christopher Payne 37m Robert Cattanach 51m),

Sydney United 1 (Mirijan Pavlovic 45m) Sydney Olympic 1 (James Monie 47m).