Western United’s NPL 3 Senior and Under 21 Men’s teams finally took to the pitch in competitive action to kick off the 2022 season, with both sides taking on Nunawading City in the opening round.
Western United NPL 3 Men’s Under 21’s
Western United 2-0 Nunawading City
Goal scorers: B.Souvlis (79’), P.Lay (84’)
The Under 21’s side played a high-tempo game in the beating sun, with both United and Nunawading having chances to open the scoring in the first half.
United began to take control in the second half with Noah Holmes controlling the midfield and Abel Walatee and Khoder Kaddour heaping pressure onto Nunawading’s defence in the wide areas.
The Green and Black finally broke the deadlock in the 79th minute with Billy Souvlis powering home a close-range header.
Peter Lay put the seal on the match just five minutes later, passing into an empty net after a defensive mix-up from Nunawading to earn Vaughan Coveny’s side three points on opening day.
Western United NPL 3 Senior Men’s
Western United 3-0 Nunawading City
Goal scorers: C.Theoharous (28’), J.Najdovski (29’), S.Lo Monaco (77’)
Western United named a very strong line-up in the seniors, with Christian Theoharous, Luke Duzel and Dalibor Markovic all in the starting XI – a trio with 46 A-League Men appearances between them.
It was the former that got the ball rolling for United. Having been heavily involved in much of the attacking play, Theoharous was on target just before the half hour mark with an exquisite left-footed drive into the bottom right corner.
Not to be outdone, Jake Najdovski took over and scored a second immediately after the kick-off. After some dazzling footwork at the top of the box, United’s No.10 sent a thunderbolt beyond the goalkeeper and nestling in the top left corner of the net.
Charlie Emery made a couple of strong saves to keep the two-goal cushion before the game was put to bed in the 77th minute.
Najdovski turned provider for the third, threading a beautiful pass through the Nunawading defence and onto substitute Sebastian Lo Monaco who slotted the ball into the net, capping off a perfect afternoon for the Western United academy.
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