Thijs Van Amerongen's Half-Time Strike Seals Huge Away Win At Sydney United

NPL NSW Men's | Round 17

We claimed a massive scalp, making it two wins on the bounce after defeating Sydney United 58 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at Sydney United Sports Centre. Our first win over them since 2017.

Despite the venue being regarded as a fortress, it was no match for Dutch defender Thijs Van Amerongen, who produced the decisive moment of the match, smashing home the only goal in a statement victory for the visitors.

Thijs van Amerongen celebrating his winner

Sydney United started brightly, with Mason Wells igniting the contest in the 3rd minute after bursting through our defence on a dangerous run, before his cutback was cleared by Yianni Nicolaou. The hosts continued to push, with United forcing a pair of corners in quick succession.

We stood firm through the early storm, with Danijel Nižić again proving crucial in what is shaping as a standout season between the sticks. The goalkeeper produced key saves in the 23rd and 29th minutes — first denying a long-range strike from Koya Nakano, then rushing off his line to smother Kyle Cimenti. The match took a worrying turn in the 34th minute when Lachlan Macdonald was stretchered off following a studs-up challenge from Nakano, who was shown a yellow card.

Nižić with a huge save on Kyle Cimenti

But despite the setback, we struck at the perfect time — opening the scoring on the stroke of half-time through Van Amerongen, who latched onto a corner and rifled home from close range to stun the home side.

United pushed hard after the break, with Gabriel Tilo forcing Nižić into another sharp save at the near post before Richard Shoueiki went close on two occasions. As the hosts threw everything forward, chances came and went — Dylan Rose overran a promising opportunity in the 75th minute, while Leroy Jennings fired wide from close range with the goal gaping late on. We held our nerve to close it out.

Thijs locking things down at the back

Post-match, David Perkovic praised his side's resilience and growing identity. "We put in a fantastic performance last weekend against Spirit and once again the Boys backed it up today. For me personally I think we created the better chances and deserved the three points. At the moment we are being really insular on who we are. We didn't have a great start to the season and wanted to rectify that and now we are two from two."

David Perkovic watching on

We now sit just one point outside the Top Six after a strong turnaround in form, with crucial fixtures ahead as the season builds momentum.