It was the perfect start to NPL life for Western Sydney Wanderers on Sunday after a second half explosion saw them defeat reigning champions Spirit FC 6-0 in their first ever match in the PS4 NPL2.
The win was on the back of a five goal haul by substitute Lachlan Scott following a tight first half where neither team was on top. The result also means that Western Sydney Wanderers are the first NSW-based Hyundai A-League club to win a match in PS4 NPL2.
Despite a strong pre-season heading into the match, the challenge could not have been bigger for the Western Sydney Wanderers as they took on last season’s champions Spirit FC in their first ever competition game.
From the first minute it was an even contest with a lot of contested ball in the midfield and no clear cut chances for either side.
Spirit FC were looking to spoil the welcome party for the Red & Black and while the Wanderers struggled to maintain possession in the early stages, the home team slowly began to take the ascendency leading into half time.
If the first half was an arm-wrestle, the second half was almost the complete opposite as the Wanderers came out as a much stronger unit.
Short, sharp passing was the order of the day and as the Red & Black maintained possession they began to create a number of chances despite struggling to convert.
That all changed in the 59th minute as coach Trevor Morgan brought on centre forward Lachlan Scott and midfielder Mario Shabow.
It only took Scott six minutes to open the scoring and create history by becoming the Wanderers’ first ever goal scorer in NPL as he followed up a shot by a teammate to hit home the rebound.
Only minutes later it was 2-0 and 3-0 as Scott claimed a hat-trick in seven minutes: knocking in a Mathieu Cordier for his second before combining with Tariq Maia for the hat-trick.
Scott soon wrapped up his impressive cameo with a fifth goal before Maia scored one of his own to make it 6-0 against a shell-shocked Spirit FC.
It wrapped up the perfect day for Western Sydney Wanderers who won all seven grades in their NPL debut on a day that will remain long in the club’s memory.
Western Sydney Wanderers 6 (Lachlan Scott 65’ 70’ 72’ 85’ 87’ Tariq Maia 91’)
Spirit FC 0
Western Sydney Wanderers: Matt Symes, Jackson Bandiera (Mathieu Cordier 46’), Shayne D’Cunha, Abdelrahman Kuku, Lachlan Roberts, Keanu Baccus, Liam Youlley, Tariq Maia, Alusine Fofanah (Mario Shabow 59’), Josh Macdonald (Lachlan Scott 59’), Kyle Cimenti
Unused subs: Nick Suman, Cameron Devlin
U20s: WSW 6-1 Spirit FC (Brenton Fox x5, Ramy Najjarine)
U18s: WSW 3-2 Spirit FC (Moudi Najjar, Lachlan Campbell)
U16s: WSW 5-1 Parramatta FC (Bailey Rule x3, Jarrod Carluccio, Oliver Wiggin)
U15s: WSW 8-1 Parramatta FC (Jackson Mortimer x3, Michael Osei-Adomako x2, Lochlan Constable, Nathan Tohme, Adrian Viggiani)
U14s: WSW 2-0 Parramatta FC (Dimitri Kostopoulos, Yinka Sunmola)
U13s: WSW 8-2 Parramatta FC (Gabriel Popovic x2, Harry Skotadis x2, Israel Ekundayo, Stavros Palapanis, Ryan Skender, Evan Souris)
