Ermm - so we're playing with ourselves? Good chance of a win then!?

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Match of the Round

Spirit FC 1 Western Sydney Wanderers 1, Valentine Sports Park

Spirit FC and Western Sydney Wanderers shared the spoils one-all in an entertaining PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues' 2 NSW Men's Match of the Round at Valentine Sports Park on Saturday night.

Andre Carle opened the scoring for Spirit, and Kyle Cimenti equalised for Western Sydney.

Wanderers dominated the early stages of the match but from around the 20th minute, Spirit enjoyed a purple patch of their own.

In the fourth minute Wanderers midfielder Charles Abou Serhal unleashed a vicious shot from just outside the box, only to be denied by a brilliant save by Spirit goalkeeper Murray Nelson. It would be the first of several fine saves by the Spirit gloveman.

Spirit's Andre Schroeder then freed Dylan Whitlock down the right flank a few minutes later but his low cross was cut out by the Wanderers defence.

Two minutes later, Wanderers' Oliver Puflett showed some skill, chipping in a nice cross from the right, but striker Kyle Cimenti could only head his effort over the bar from close range.

Spirit's Andre Schroeder taunted the Red and Black with his pace, skill and instinct for being in the right place at the right time. And in the 20th minute he went close to scoring with a glancing header. So close yet so far.

Five minutes later Whitlock again showed his pace down the right wing, beating his man before whipping in a dangerous cross. Johnny on the spot Schroeder couldn't connect and the chance went begging.

At this stage, the Wanderers were playing the better football - keeping possession and displaying the vibrance of youth with their speed and skill - but Spirit were creating more chances, and with a bit of luck, the home side could well have been ahead on the scoreboard.

Just on the half hour mark Spirit's Zoran Kolundzic beat Wanderers' keeper Mackenzie Syron from long range but his effort shaved the target by centimetres. That man Schroeder was at it again a moment later, but again he just couldn't find the back of the net. 

Spirit turned on a very committed first half performance. They played what was in front of them. They ran, they tackled, they played direct. They played with width. And of the two teams they looked the most likely to score.

But it wasn't just the likes of Shroeder and Whitlock who caught the eye. Grant Cornwell marshalled the Spirit defence brilliantly and Nelson proved to be a rock between the sticks.

In the 37th minute Cimenti missed a one-on-one with Nelson, firing his shot wide. The young Wanderer really should have done better, but credit should also go to Nelson, whose protection of his space was outstanding.

Nelson was at it again a couple of minutes later, going down bravely at the feet of Matthew Lecce, denying the Wanderers an opportunity to take the lead right on the stroke of halftime.

With the scores level at the break, Spirit showed their intent immediately after the restart, with Andre Carle getting the better of Syron in a one-on-one, and slotting home the opening goal with clinical precision. Finally the deadlock was broken and after 50 minutes the home side held a one-nil lead.

While the goal gave the home fans something to cheer about and Spirit's confidence soared, the setback seemed to give the Wanderers a kick in the pants. The Red and Black got their act together, moving swiftly through midfield and causing alarm bells to ring in the Spirit defence.

Tariq Maia chipped a free kick into the box, but Manny Gonzalez fired his header straight at Nelson.

But a few minutes later Maia showed his quality when he threaded an inch-perfect pass through for Cimenti, who fired home the equaliser past a despairing Nelson.

At one goal apiece, the Wanderers continued to attack and in the 69th minute were denied the lead when somehow Spirit defender Michael Streeter cleared off the line.

Spirit then launched their own wave of attacks. In the 79th minute a poor defensive error by the Wanderers saw Carle zero in on Syron, but one-on-one, the young keeper pulled off a superb save to again keep his side in the match. 

Schroeder delivered a great pass to Ryan Johnstone who, from inside the box, skied a golden opportunity over the bar. A minute later Johnstone was at it again, and again his effort cleared the bar. Two chances within as many minutes, but no reward.

In the 85th minute Carle looked like he'd given his side the lead when his header rocketed towards the top corner of the net. But somehow Syron pulled off the play of the day, a magnificent acrobatic save that tipped the ball away to safety. How he managed such brilliance in the blink of an eye was truly astounding.

The final play came in the 88th minute when Mohamed Najjar capitalised on a defensive mishap and slotted home what the Wanderers thought was the winning goal. But as the youngters celebrated, referee Patterson disallowed the goal for offside.

Given the flow of the game and chances created, a 1-1 draw was probably a fair result, although both sides had opportunities to steal victory.

Spirit played with confidence and conviction, with Nelson, Schroeder and Whitlock catching the eye; while the young Wanderers' fleet footedness, skill on the ball and ability to hold possession showed that they remain a serious threat for Premiership honours. Young Syron had a fantastic game and kept his side alive with some brilliant goalkeeping; while the likes of Oliver Puflett, Adrian Viggiani and Manny Gonzalez also stood out for the visitors.

The result leaves Western Sydney in fourth place on the ladder; while Spirit remain in 13th position, just three points above bottom-placed Bankstown City Lions.

Spirit coach David Perkovic was pleased with his side's performance.

"It was a healthy crowd here tonight and I think they got their entertainment for the night," Perkovic told Football NSW.

"I felt that we made them (Western Sydney) a little bit more uncomfortable than they made us feel. I think that we created more quality chances than what they did. We just tried to disrupt their buildup phase and when you do that you go a long way to getting something out of the game against the Wanderers."

Perkovic added that despite his side's lowly position on the league table, he didn't believe they'd played badly in a lot of games this season, they just struggled with taking opportunities.

"We had our midseason review a few weeks ago and came away confident that we knew what we needed to do to overcome our deficiencies," Perkovic said. "We've gone a long way to do that in our last couple of games (a 4-0 thrashing of Macarthur and Saturday's draw with Western Sydney) and hopefully we continue to progress throughout the rest of the season."

When asked what his side got out of the game against the Wanderers, Perkovic replied: "Confidence. I think when you're playing a team like the Wanderers and you can dominate them in key areas of the match, it gives us a lot of confidence that we can take it to any team in the competition."

Meanwhile, Wanderers coach Trevor Morgan was pleased with his side's efforts and the learning experience gained for his young players.

"I think it was a fair result in the end, when you count the chances," Morgan told Football NSW. "It was another good learning experience for us and important for a couple of boys. For example (goalkeeper) Mackenzie Syron played his first game tonight (and made) a couple of great saves (which) kept us in the game.     

"For us it was another test. It was another time where again we've played some young boys - Viggiani who's 16; Pagden who's still 15 - they're playing against men and they're learning. They're going to make some mistakes along the way but I'm impressed that there are improvements individually in their game and that's good to see."

Match Stats

Spirit FC 1 (Andre Carle 50') Western Sydney Wanderers 1 (Kyle Cimenti 65')

Valentine Sports Park

Saturday 17 June 2017

Referee: K Patterson

Assistant Referees: A Lyndon, A Hasnani

Spirit FC: 1. Murray Nelson, 14. Andre Carle, 8. Grant Cornwell, 10. Chris Gomez (18. Bradley Gibson), 7. Jacob Harris, 17. Ryan Johnstone, 21. Zoran Kolundzic, 20. Tim Porter, 22. Andre Schroeder, 4. Michael Streeter, 11. Dylan Whitlock (12. Louis Bozanic)

Unused Subs: 26. James Webb, 3. Sid Malhotra, 6. Adam Nisbet

Coach: David Perkovic

Western Sydney Wanderers: 30. Mackenzie Syron (GK), 8. Charles Abou Serhal, 9. Kyle Cimenti, 5. Mathieu Cordier, 10. Emmanuel Gonzalez (14. Mohamed Najjar), 25. Jordan Hall, 22. Matthew Lecce (17. Adrian Viggiani), 50. Tariq Maia, 12. Noah Pagden, 18. Oliver Puflett, 24. Tate Russell

Unused Subs: 20. Daniel Axford, 2. Lachlan Campbell, 15. Blake Currey

Yellow Cards: 9. Kyle Cimenti

Coach: Trevor Morgan

Thanks for regularly posting these Taurus.

As an aside - while I can't assess the report's accuracy - it seems to me to be another very well written report that gave me a real feel for the game and how it ebbed and flowed as each side had periods of ascendancy and gave an insight into the level of excitement as both teams created chances only to have them denied by the opposition.  Why can't the mainstream media ever report on a match as well as that?

The journo's in the main stream media (ex Gatty) are too young & inexperienced to appreciate a good ebb & flow.

This young bloke Eric Subijano who's now doing the social media coverage & match reports for WSW NPL is an exception. He gets to plenty of games & does alright with the limited space he has.

NPL Wrap: Wanderers share points with Spirit FC

image: http://www.wswanderersfc.com.au/di/library/Western_Sydney_Wanderers/ea/fc/npl_ic2t3fw5fzc51b9gxcezee7nr.png?t=-1369398596

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Our NPL 2 boys shared the points with Spirit FC

Monday, 19 June 2017 -

I'm glad someone has taken ownership of this - it's not easy work

My client is getting suitably remunerated