Our NPL 1st grade completed their pre-season preparations with a comfortable 4-1 win over newly promoted Mt Druitt Town Rangers at Popondetta Park on Saturday night.
Our NPL 1st grade completed their pre-season preparations with a comfortable 4-1 win over newly promoted Mt Druitt Town Rangers at Popondetta Park on Saturday night.
The result came off the back of a Jordi Swibel hat trick while A-League centre back Jop Van Der Linden chipped in with a 30 metre free kick as he gained some valuable match minutes coming back from injury.
The young Sky Blues have shown some real promise in the lead up to the 2019 NPL campaign with wins over Parramatta FC 3-1 (Swibel; McCarthy & Tsakos); Sutherland Sharks 3-2 (Swibel; Marco Tilio & Joey Tilio) and the one loss to Manly United 3-1 (Marco Tilio).
With an average age of 19 years Sydney FC are by far the youngest squad in the league as they face the challenge of mixing it with older and more experienced opponents many of whom have played in A-League, NPL and overseas competitions for many years.
Head Coach, Jim Van Weeren, has been pleased with the progress of the team as they transition from the NYL to the NPL environment.
“We are starting to see the potential of this group, collectively and individually, and it’s exciting to see exactly what they’re capable of,” said Van Weeren.
“The boys have been rewarded for their desire to play attacking football and we are looking forward to what will unfold during the competiton and to see what levels this group can go to” he added.
Meanwhile the U20’s recorded three wins and one draw with the U18’s notching four wins in their trial matches.
The NPL season kicks off with an away fixture against Hakoah Sydney City FC at Hensley Athletic Field, on Sunday 10th March with a 5:00pm kick off for the 1st grade, 3:00pm for U20 and 1:00pm for U18.
