The Young Wanderers face a tough trip to face league leaders Rockdale Ilinden FC on Sunday afternoon.
Important Match Information can be found here.
Rockdale currently sit a point clear at the top of the table, and four points clear of the Wanderers with a game in hand, winning five games in a row.
They defeated St George City 2-0 last weekend, with Alec Urosevski and Mathieu Cordier scoring the key goals, the former now has 16 goals for the season.
The Wanderers also recorded an important 2-0 win in difficult circumstances, defeating Hills United on a wet afternoon playing with 10 men for the majority of the game after Aydan Hammond’s red card.
The winger put the Wanderers ahead in the first half, but received his marching orders minutes later and will now miss the trip to Rockdale.
It helped create a three point gap between the Wanderers in third and Blacktown in fourth, and Andrew Christiansen will hope his side can pick up momentum after stalling slightly in recent weeks due to player availability issues.
They were ably led by their scholarship stars in Zac Sapsford, Marcus Younis and Dylan Scicluna last weekend, and will need them to step up again.
The Wanderers do not have a good record against Rockdale since their promotion to the NPL NSW competition, losing twice and drawing once over the last season and a half.
Their most recent fixture came in round three, where Rockdale scored two quick goals to put the Wanderers on the back foot, and despite finishing the game strongly, Western Sydney ultimately fell to a 3-2 defeat at home.
This will be the last time the Wanderers face a team at the top end of the table for some time, but they would love to show the rest of the competition they are still contenders for the minor premiership and get a statement result against the form side in the league.
NPL NSW Round 18
Rockdale Ilinden FC vs Western Sydney Wanderers FC
Sunday 9th June 2024, 3pm
Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre
