Football NSW will have Bonnyrigg White Eagles, NWS Spirit FC, Sydney United 58 and Wollongong United representing the state at this year’s Australia Cup Round of 32 after each team took out their respective Round 7 Preliminary matches.
Tuesday evening saw the Bonnyrigg White Eagles defeat fellow League One side Hakoah Sydney City East in an epic 11-10 penalty shootout after the match finished one-a-piece.
The match looked like it was going to Hakoah as a Yianni Spyrakis header put the visitors in front only for it to be cancelled out by a 93rd-minute equaliser in unfortunate circumstances via an own goal.
No winner was seen after extra time, but it was the goalkeeping heroics of Michael Figueira that gave the hosts the upper hand before White Eagles striker Asmir Kadric iced the match with his decisive spot-kick that gave Bonnyrigg the win.
Wednesday evening saw Football South Coast Association side Wollongong United FC create Australia Cup history by becoming the first-ever local Association club to appear in the Round of 32 after defeating League One side St George City 2-1.
Nathan Roberts put the hosts up midway through the first half via the penalty spot before Kyah Jovanovski bagged the equaliser early in the second half with Klime Sekutkoski the United hero scoring the memorable winner.
Sydney United 58 FC also booked its ticket to the Round of 32 with a tough 2-1 win over the Northern Tigers FC thanks to goals from Patrick Antelmi and Anthony Tomelic while NWS Spirit FC caused a boil-over at Christie Park knocking out the Wollongong Wolves 5-4 on penalties after the match ended 1-1.
Darcy Madden put the Wolves in front before Richie Darko levelled.
The match ended 1-1 and after extra time, the dreaded penalty shootouts were at play.
It was Geoffry Lino who kept his composure to slot home the winning penalty and a spot in this year’s Round of 32 Australia Cup as well as a Semi-Final Waratah Cup place.
The 2022 Waratah Cup Semi-Final Draw will take place on Friday 17th of June at 3:30 pm and will appear on Football NSW’s official Facebook page.
