The Western Sydney Wanderers have lost 3-0 in the NPL 2 to league leaders Marconi Stallions on Sunday afternoon at Marconi Stadium.
Goals from Judah Cleur, Sean Rooney and Mirjan Pavlovic secured the win for the former National Soccer League giants with the result seeing the Wanderers remain fifth on the NPL 2 table.
The match began at a frantic pace with Marconi’s experienced outfit putting plenty of pressure on the young Wanderers defenders.
The Wanderers slowly began to assert themselves after a dangerous cross from Mohamed Najjar saw Kyle Cimenti almost get on the end of it before Marconi keeper Nenand Vekic was able to palm the ball to safety.
Matthew Lecce went on a fantastic run that saw him beat two defenders only for his shot to roll wide of the goal.
However, Marconi were able to withstand the pressure and opened the scoring just before the half-hour with a close range header from Cleur.
Soon it would be 2-0 to Marconi with former Newcastle forward Sean Rooney scoring with a shot from inside the box.
The Wanderers responded and Lecce got into the Marconi box after another mazy run that saw him crowded out by the defenders.
It was end-to-end play at this stage and Wanderers goalkeeper Mackenzie Syron made a good one-on-one save just before the interval to keep the score at 2-0.
The second half saw Marconi throw everything at the Red & Black to try and kill the game off. But the Wanderers defence stood tall by blocking multiple shots.
Jordan Hall made a notable save in the box to prevent Marko Jesic from having a goalscoring opportunity.
The onslaught from Marconi continued but the Wanderers backline did well to prevent former Wellington Phoenix player Troy Danaskos from getting a shot away in the six-yard box.
Syron also made a couple of good saves to prevent Marconi from extending their lead.
With under 15 minutes left in the clash, Tariq Maia went agonisingly close to pulling a goal back for the Wanderers, but his free kick was cleared off the line.
Another goal line clearance followed after Emmanuel Gonzalez set up Cimenti with another good chance.
It was not to be the Wanderers day and two minutes before full time Pavlovic made it 3-0 to Marconi.
After a draw in U18s and a loss in U20s, the Red & Black have dropped to third in the NPL 2 Club Championship.
Next weekend the Wanderers will play against Blacktown Spartans at Blacktown Football Park on Sunday 2 July. Kick-off is at 3pm.
Western Sydney Wanderers 0
Marconi 3 (Judah Cleur 27’ Sean Rooney 34’ Mirjan Pavlovic 88’)
Western Sydney Wanderers: Mackenzie Syron, Tate Russell, Jordan Hall, Lachlan Campbell, Mathieu Cordier, Blake Currey (Charles Abou Serhal 89’), Tariq Maia, Matthew Lecce, Mohamed Najjar (Adrian Viggiani 72’), Oliver Puflett (Emmanuel Gonzalez 59’), Kyle Cimenti
Unused subs: Daniel Axford, Abdelrahman Kuku
Other results:
U20s: WSW 0-1 Marconi
U18s: WSW 2-2 Marconi
U16s: Hakoah 0-2 WSW
U15s: Hakoah 2-1 WSW
U14s: Hakoah 0-7 WSW
U13s: Hakoah 1-7 WSW
