NPL2: Narrabundah get off the mark at home
By Rhyan Misner
Narrabundah FC picked up their first points of the season after an enthralling encounter with Wagga City Wanderers at Jerrabombera Oval on Saturday afternoon.
Winless at this point in the season, their coach Jonathan Zalunardo knew it was just a matter of time before they broke the duck with performances only getting better.
Both sides started on the front foot in the early minutes with attacking intent being shown, Duncan Harrington having his long-range effort go just wide and Nicholas Mihailakis seeing his low drive being cleared off the line.
The first clear chance came in the 27th minute when Wagga’s Zach Pinney delivered a perfect pass to Frank Macias, only to send his shot straight at the Narrabundah goalkeeper.
From then on, both sides were limited to minor chances with neither really establishing the momentum in a see-sawing affair.
The game changed completely late in the half for Narrabundah, Matthew Atkins was put through on goal fortuitously, but was pulled back on the edge of the area, with the referee blowing for a freekick and not brandishing any cards.
The resulting free kick was brilliantly curled over the wall and into the top corner of the goal, leaving Wagga goalkeeper Robert Fry grasping at thin air as he dived to his right.
After the break the second half followed the same trend as much of the first, with both Narrabundah and Wagga failing to conjure real goal scoring chances.
Nine minutes from time Jake Ploenges went close for the Wanderers to level terms but his chipped shot from the byline flew just over after a fumble from Narrabundah’s Jeremy Saleh.
The final opportunity for Wagga to draw level came with one of the last kicks of the ball. Following a free kick from the right side of the field, deep in Narrabundah’s half, Macias’ cross was glanced goalward from Ploenges forcing Saleh into a superb elastic save diving to his right to preserve the Bulls’ advantage.
The hosts held on to claim their first points of the season though, and Zalunardo was adamant that this is only the startfor them after his side were rewarded for their improving performances.
“We have kind of had a reboot and last week we put in a really good performance, training in the last couple of weeks we have really turned things around,” he said.
“And now we are settling with our new side and some new players, there was no doubt going into today that we knew we could win.”
“There has been a strong commitment to our defensive solidity, and we have made it a goal of ours to really pride our clean sheets.
“Last week we went close to doing and today was an extension from last week and we deserved that.”
Zalunardo’s side will look to build again on Saturday’s performance as they take on bottom of the table Brindabella at Everlast Enclosed on Saturday afternoon.
NPL2 Round 5 Results |
Weston Molonglo 0 def. by Canberra White Eagles 1 (Caleb Cullen-Rua 32’)
Southern Tablelands 0 def. by ANU FC 3
Queanbeyan City 1 def. by O’Connor Knights 4 (Greg Bullock (2), Jake Wilsener, Robert Hrstic)
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