In a very evenly matched contest, the Western Sydney Wanderers have drew 1-1 with Spirit FC at Valentine Sports Park on Saturday night.
The club’s shared the points in their clash on Saturday night after an early second half strike from Spirit FC’s Andre Carle was cancelled out by Kyle Cimenti.
The result sees the Red & Black in fifth place on the NPL 2 table but only three points off second place Northern Tigers.
The Wanderers started confidently and Charles Abou Serhal began the match with a shot from 20 yards out that was tipped over the crossbar by Spirit keeper Murray Nelson.
Oliver Puflett worked hard on the right flank and created a great chance for Emmanual Gonzalez but the striker was unable to get his header on target.
Spirit FC showed plenty of attacking intent but they weren’t able to trouble Wanderers goalkeeper Mackenzie Syron in the first half.
In the 38th minute, Cimenti went close to finding the opener except his shot from the edge of the box went just wide.
Early in the second half Spirit FC broke the deadlock after a quick counter attack with Andre Carle getting the goal.
It didn’t take long then for the Wanderers to level. A through ball from Tariq Maia found Cimenti in a space behind the defence where he finished to even the score.
A determined run from Mathieu Cordier set up another opportunity for Cimenti who was unlucky to see his shot cleared off the line.
With only ten minutes now remaining in the match, Andre Carle had a chance to put Spirit back in front, except Syron made a great one-on-one save to keep the scores level.
Wanderers substitute Mohamed Najjar briefly thought that he had nabbed a winner in the 90th minute after rounding the keeper but his goal was ruled offside.
Despite the draw, wins in the U18s and U20s ensure that the Wanderers remain second in the NPL 2 Club Championship.
The Wanderers will now switch their focus to league leaders Marconi Stallions who they take on next Sunday 25 July.
Spirit FC 1 (Andre Carle 50’)
Western Sydney Wanderers 1 (Kyle Cimenti 64’)
Western Sydney Wanderers: Mackenzie Syron, Tate Russell, Jordan Hall, Noah Pagden, Mathieu Cordier, Charles Abou Serhal (Blake Currey 46’), Tariq Maia, Matthew Lecce (Adrian Viggiani 59’), Oliver Puflett, Kyle Cimenti, Emmanuel Gonzalez (Mohamed Najjar 82’)
Unused subs: Daniel Axford, Lachlan Campbell
Other results:
U20s: Spirit FC 1-5 WSW
U18s: Spirit FC 1-6 WSW
U16s: WSW 2-0 Mounties
U15s: WSW 2-2 Mounties
U14s: WSW 4-0 Mounties
U13s: WSW 1-0 Mounties
