Bankstown City FC vs Wanderers NPL 26/03/2016 7:00PM

PS4 NPL 2 NSW Men’s Round Four Review

Bankstown City claimed the honours in their top of the table clash against Western Sydney Wanderers, a 2-1 victory moving the Lions to the head of the Playstation® 4 National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Men’s competition, where only Mounties Wanderers, also 2-1 winners, keep them company.

Marconi’s poor start continued with their third straight loss while Spirit FC moved off the bottom with a narrow win at Mount Druitt Town Rangers.

Bankstown City v Western Sydney Wanderers

Bankstown City Lions continued their spectacular start to the year with a gritty 2-1 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers at Jensen Park on Saturday night.

After the kickoff was delayed by half-an-hour due to floodlight problems, the two sides turned on an entertaining clash that had equal amounts of dash, skill and physicality.

The match started off in a flurry with Bankstown’s Dean Bereveskos blasting into the side-netting after six minutes, while Wanderers’ Kyle Cimenti failed to control a wicked bounce, first-timing the ball over the bar from close range.

Western Sydney stroked the ball around confidently from the back, and with elusive playmaker Liam Youlley pulling the strings, the youngsters gained some early ascendancy in the midfield. But it didn’t last long, with the home side’s experience and physicality gradually taking its toll. Confronted by a combination of vigorous pressing and robust tackling, the young Wanderers found themselves backpedalling and on the defensive.

Bankstown defender Todd Halloran sent a great through ball to speedster Huseyin Jasli, but his attempt at goal merely ricocheted off Wanderers goalkeeper Matthew Symes before bouncing away to safety. The home side then launched a relentless wave of attacks, with Grant Lynch, Christopher Gomez and Dominic Hudap all going close to opening the scoring.

With momentum on their side, it seemed inevitable that Bankstown would score first. And they did in the 26^th minute when Gomez struck home a lucky but thoroughly deserved goal that ricocheted into the net. Lucky or not, the goal was a just reward for the Lions’ sustained dominance and pressure.

In the 27^th minute, Wanderers’ Mario Shabow skied an opportunity to equalise over the bar and a minute later, former Wanderers fullback and Socceroo Michael Beauchamp crudely cut down Mathieu Cordier, rightfully earning the Bankstown skipper a yellow card.

Meanwhile, Bankstown’s dominance continued, with Huseyin’s pace down the left flank and uncanny crossing ability, creating all sorts of bother in the Wanderers’ defence. Well-drilled and creative, Bankstown bombarded the Wanderers goal, a great 35^th minute save by Symes keeping his side in the game by the skin of their teeth. Bereveskos and Gomez had further opportunities to score– a volley and one-on-one with Symes respectively – but both came to no avail.

In the last five minutes of the half, lanky striker Gerard Ouffoue, Bereveskos and Gomez again failed to capitalise on an abundance of missed opportunities, their final touch deserting them in front of goal.

Bankstown led by just one goal at the break, a scoreline that not only flattered their opponents, but also did little justice to the Lions’ dominance in the opening 45 minutes.

The Bankstown offensive continued in the second half, but the Wanderers had their moments, with Liam Youlley’s guile and the pace and industry of Josh Macdonald causing some heartache.

In the 51^st minute, Jackson Bandiera sent in a low, hard cross from the left, only to see Mario Shabow’s effort clear the crossbar.

But despite Western Sydney’s efforts, Bankstown slowly gained the ascendancy, turning the screws with their superior teamwork, physicality and, in Jasli’s case, lightning pace. Centre forward Ouffoue’s size and ability to hold up the ball proved to be an effective weapon, while man of the match Jasli’s speed down the left flank caused havoc whenever he touched the ball. It came as no surprise when Bereveskos extended City’s lead to two goals in the 57^th minute, a brilliant finish created by a superb run and cross by Jasli.

A minute later, tempers boiled over as Hudap and Jasli received yellow cards, Alusine Fofanah’s resultant freekick narrowly missing the target.

Bankstown continued to rush and harrass their young opponents, Jasli again showing the afterburners and crossing dangerously in the 68^th minute, only to see Ouffoue’s tepid effort fail to breach the net.

Slowly, the Wanderers fought back, gaining some parity, but Bankstown’s well-marshalled defence proved to be a tough nut to crack. To their credit, Western Sydney not only continued to play to their structure with a calm belying their years, but they also dominated the final five minutes, providing a rip-roaring finish for the bumper crowd.

Macdonald whipped in a cross and Shayne D’Cunha scored brilliantly in the 89^th minute. Suddenly, a vibrant Wanderers were in with a sniff of an unlikely draw. Two gilt-edged opportunities followed in injury time but the acrobatic brilliance of Lions’ goalkeeper Dion Shaw kept the hounds at bay, assuring his side of a well-deserved victory.

Not surprisingly, Bankstown coach Leo Carle was delighted with the win and encouraged by his side’s performance.

“Western Sydney are a good side and we knew they’d be tough,†Carle told Football NSW. “I felt we dominated the match and should have scored more goals but we didn’t make the most of our opportunities in front of goal. But I can’t fault the boys’ commitment. Taking the three points gives me a lot of satisfaction.â€

Wanderers coach Trevor Morgan was happy too, believing the loss would provide a great learning experience for his team of precociously talented teenagers.

“Tonight showed just how invaluable it is for our boys to play in this competition,†Morgan told Football NSW. “We faced a very good team and there were some heavy tackles and a hostile crowd, things they’re not used to when playing in their own age-group. So from an experience perspective, it was great. Sometimes you learn more from a loss than a win and I think tonight was a perfect example of that. We faced an excellent, experienced side that tackled hard and played with commitment, yet there was only a goal in it at the end and we were unlucky not to snatch a draw. That’s encouraging and we’ll definitely be better for the experience.â€

Bankstown City 2 (Christopher Gomez 26’, Dean Bereveskos 57’) v Western Sydney Wanderers 1 (Shayne D’Cunha 89’)

Saturday 26 March 2016

at Jensen Park, Sefton

Referee: Adrian Arndt

Assistants: Danny Horstead and Patrick Telecki

Bankstown City:1. Dion Shaw 2. Todd Halloran 5. Michael Beauchamp © 8. Domenic Hudap 9. Gerard Ouffoue (12. Steven Veleski 86’) 10. Chris Gomez (20. Alvaro Malmierca 89’) 11. Huseyin Jasli 13. Dhari Alsaad 14. Dean Bereveskos 16. Kojiro Hori 23. Grant Lynch.

Unused Substitutes: 26. Nicholas Carosi 22. Kyohei Kimura

Coach: Leo Carle

Yellow Cards: Michael Beauchamp 29’, Domenic Hudap 58’, Huseyin Jasli 58’

Western Sydney Wanderers:18. Matthew Symes 3. Henry Davies (8. Cameron Devlin) 5. Jackson Bandiera 6. Keanu Bacchus 7. Kyle Cimenti (33. Joshua Macdonald), 9. Lachlan Scott 11. Mathieu Cordier (32. Daniel Alessi) 23. Shayne D’Cunha 31. Alusine Fofanah 34. Mario Shabow 36. Liam Youlley.

Unused Substitutes: 10. Tariq Maia 30. Daniel Axford.

Coach: Trevor Morgan