Sydney FC too hot for Bankstown City Lions

Sydney FC skipper Terry McFlynn (left) shown with Bankstown City Lions captain Richard Luksic (right) prior to team's clash at Jensen Park on Wednesday 21 May (Photo by Kiril Mitusev)

A rainy night in the Harbour City has failed to put a dampener on Sydney FC’s pre-season campaign, with the Sky Blues scoring a solid 2-0 win over TeleChoice Premier League outfit Bankstown City Lions on a rainy Wednesday evening at Jenson Oval.

A number of Sydney FC’s big gun players were on show against their state league opponents but the likes of former Socceroos stars John Aloisi and Steve Corica sat the match out kindly signing autographs to the many fans that made it to the match at Jensen.

Persistent rain didn’t frighten away the fans with around 2,500 spectators braving the cold and wet conditions, and they were rewarded 18 minutes into the first half when Sydney FC opened the scoring off the boot of former Manly United striker Chris Payne.

Some nice lead up work from tireless midfielder Karol Kisel created the opportunity for the young striker.  The Slovak international threaded a pass to ex-Sutherland Sharks midfielder Brendan Gan who then squared the ball inside to Payne, putting the 18-year old in perfect position to bundle the ball over the line from close range.

Despite going down an early goal, Bankstown took the game up to its (Hyundai) A-League opponent but Vitezslav Lavicka’s men showed their class, settling into some good periods of possession play, and ten minutes into the second half the young Sydney FC side doubled its advantage to two.

A long ball into the Lions’ half again hit Gan who in turn found Terry McFlynn.  The Northern Irishman had his shot parried by the keeper but Alex Brosque was on the spot to clean up the spill and finish off the scoring for Sydney FC.

The Sky Blues gave some game time to a couple of trialists currently at the club with Wollongong Community FC's Corey Gameiro, Marconi Stallions’ Chris Nunes and Sydney United’s Glen Trifiro coming on late in the second half.

For Bankstown, the match was seen as an ideal opportunity to showcase a number of promising youngsters as well as featuring  three new faces who have been picked up during the re-opening of the TeleChoice Premier League transfer window.

Former Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United attacker Greg Owens, ex-Bankstown City Lions star Daniel Severino and former Canterbury Marrickville Olympic striker Fadi Ghosson all played a part in the match against Sydney FC.

Peter Tsekenis’ squad was not hard done by though as there were a couple of notable performances by Shane Webb, Steve Liavas, Suad Ameti and Ibrahim Haydar. Former Sydney FC Under 20s player Robbie Mileski was not available for the match due to injury while striker James Monie has been given a release by the club to look elsewhere. 

It was a proud moment for the Brosque family though as Bankstown City Lions’ Under 20s player Damian Brosque got to play against his brother Alex. Former Sydney Olympic Under 20s player David Smith and promising young Bankstown stars Chris Petrovski and Bill Tsandis were just some of the players Tsekenis used as the game wore on.

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