Despite a spirited performance, the Western Sydney Wanderers NPL 2 team went down to Spirit FC 3-2 at Christie Park on Sunday night.
Looking to continue from last week’s 3-1 win, the Wanderers began the match on the front foot.
However, it was Spirit FC who scored the opening goal just six minutes into the match through Mitchell Davidson.
The Wanderers responded well but were unable to equalize before half time.
The second half began the same way the first had – with the Wanderers knocking the ball around well and creating chances.
The Red & Black had their reward for a strong start with a sublime goal to Ali Auglah in the 48th minute. He picked the ball up on the edge of the box and curled a beauty into the top left corner.
The Wanderers scored again ten minutes later to take the lead. Rory Jordan rode a challenge on the edge of the box before keeping his feet and bending his shot into the bottom right corner.
It was the same man again, Rory Jordan, who looked odds-on to add to his tally, but he was denied by Spirit goalkeeper Jack Greenwood who showed good reflexes to deny the Wanderers a third goal.
This turned out to be a pivotal moment in the match, as Spirit FC got an equaliser from a long ball in the 69th minute through Emilio Manos. Oliver Kalac closed down the attacker, but the ball snuck between his legs and into the back of the net.
Spirit FC left it late last week, and they took the lead in the 84th minute through Jason De Jong. Mohamed Al Taay made a brilliant tackle in the box, but the rebound fell to De Jong who made no mistake from ten yards.
NWS Spirit FC 3 (Mitchell Davidson 6’, Emilio Manos 69’, Jason de Jong 84’)
Western Sydney Wanderers 2 (Ali Auglah 48’, Rory Jordan 58’)
Western Sydney Wanderers: 18. Oliver KALAC (gk), 2. Thomas AQUILINA, 3. Mark NATTA, 4. Mohamed AL TAAY (c), 5. Noah PAGDEN, 10. Kosta GROZOS, 11. Lochlan CONSTABLE (16. Yousef SAWALHA 85’), 14. Mo ADAM, 19. Rory JORDAN (9. Duantae MARINER 72’), 21. Ali AUGLAH (24. Peter GROZOS 81’)
Unused Substitutes: 50. Jack GIBSON (gk), 22. Paolo BONANNI
Other NPL Results
U20: Spirit FC 3-1 WSW
U18: Spirit FC 0-4 WSW
U16: Blacktown Spartans 0-5 WSW
U15: Blacktown Spartans 1-1 WSW
U14: Blacktown Spartans 0-1 WSW
U13: Blacktown Spartans 0-4 WSW
