One scored from almost halfway. One came home. Both headlined the weekend

One scored from almost halfway and the other came home and is already changing his club's season in NPL NSW.

Round 21 of the NPL NSW belonged to Tariq Maia and Panagiotis Armenakas as Sutherland Sharks continued their surge into the top four and Sydney Olympic boosted their survival hopes.

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Maia produced one of the goals of the season in Sutherland's 3-1 win over UNSW FC, spotting the goalkeeper off his line before unleashing a stunning strike from almost halfway in stoppage time.

The spectacular finish capped another important victory for the Sharks, who have quietly become one of the competition's form sides and climbed into fourth.

At Barton Park, former wonderkid Armenakas enjoyed a dream return to Sydney Olympic.

Making his first appearance for the club since returning to Australia, Armenakas opened the scoring with a brilliant outside-of-the-boot finish as Olympic recorded a 2-1 victory over fellow strugglers St George FC.

The result handed Olympic three crucial points in the battle to avoid relegation.

The title race also took another twist.

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League leaders APIA Leichhardt suffered a surprise 2-0 home defeat to Rockdale Ilinden, who produced a disciplined display to claim one of the results of the season.

Lachlan Griffiths opened the scoring before Moudi Najjar sealed the upset, breathing fresh life into the Premiership race.

Marconi Stallions moved a point clear at the summit with a controlled 2-0 victory over Blacktown City.

Jack Armson and Golden Boot contender Damian Tsekenis found the net, although Anton Mlinaric's late red card dampened an otherwise comfortable afternoon.

Sydney FC edged closer to the top six courtesy of Zac Fowler's winner against Sydney United, while Western Sydney Wanderers and Manly United shared six goals in a breathless 3-3 draw, with Golden Boot leader Awan Lual rescuing a point in stoppage time.

Elsewhere, SD Raiders produced a strong second-half comeback to defeat St George City 3-1 through Martin Fernandez, Luka Knezevic and Lachlan McGrath, while NWS Spirit strengthened their finals push after Shoki Yoshida's first-half brace secured a 2-0 victory over an out-of-form Wollongong Wolves.