The Western Sydney Wanderers remain at the top of the PS4 NPL2 table despite losing 3-2 to Bankstown Berries at the Crest Athletics Centre.
It all looked in control for the Red & Black but a devastating six minute period at the beginning of the second half saw Berries take the lead and hold out for an impressive victory.
The match itself started at a blistering pace with Wanderers’ keeper Matt Symes called into action early after a powerful shot by Berries though it wasn’t long until the Red & Black took the ascendency.
Winger Jordan Morfitis forced a save with a nice shot from the left with Cameron Devlin scoring off the resultant corner. Standing at the top of the box, the Young Socceroo found the ball at his feet and curled it onto the back of the net: his second long-distance goal in two weeks.
After the goal the Wanderers bossed proceedings and could have added to their goal tally before half time with chances to both Ramy Najjarine and Tariq Maia but they couldn’t find the decisive finish.
And Berries made them pay when they equalised shortly before the break, winning a corner through a counter-attack before Gavin Forbes slammed it home to equalise.
The Berries came out of the sheds at half time a different side, and from 1-1 at the beak found themselves 3-1 ahead after a blistering six minute spell – including an incredible free kick to Nicholas Paras.
With losing first place on the ladder a real possibility, the Wanderers rallied and wrestled back control of the match as Kyle Cimenti scored his 12 goal of the season to bring the deficit back to one goal.
Chances began to flow for the Red & Black as Keanu Baccus, Brenton Fox, Cimenti and Charles Abou all had opportunities to get the equaliser but the Berries held their nerve and claimed a famous victory.
The Wanderers maintain first position on the ladder as Sydney FC gave up a two goal lead to lose 4-2 to Macarthur Rams. Next week the Red & Black take on the in-form Fraser Park in what could be the match of the season.
Kick-off is 7pm at Blacktown Football Park on Saturday 23 July.
Bankstown Berries 3 (Gavin Forbes, Tai Smith, Nicholas Paras)
Western Sydney Wanderers 2 (Cameron Devlin 9’ Kyle Cimenti 81’)
Western Sydney Wanderers : Matt Symes (GK), Keanu Baccus, Abdelrahman Kuku, Solomon Monahan-Vaiika, Daniel Blachura (Lachlan Roberts), Cameron Devlin, Charles Abou, Tariq Maia, Jordan Morfitis (Brenton Fox), Ramy Najjarine (Michael Trajkovski), Kyle Cimenti
Unused subs: Daniel Axford (GK), Ben Morrison
Other results
20s: Berries 0-4 WSW
18s: Berries 2-6 WSW
16s: St George 0-2 WSW
15s: St George 0-1 WSW
14s: St George 3-1 WSW
13s: St George 1-1 WSW
