Division 1 Round 22 Review
After accounting for Hurstville City Minotaurs on Wednesday evening 3-1 at Valentine Park, the Wanderers knew all they had to do was beat Hurstville ZSC on Sunday and a final spot was theirs.
Win and win well they did, by 5 goals to 1, to finish fifth on 35 points. Unfortunately we were not provided any of the goalscorers for either of these last two wins by the time this report went to press, but congratulations to the Wanderers in what has been a great, late season surge of good form.
In the end, a loss on the last day for the Wanderers wouldn?t have mattered, because all three teams sitting behind them just outside the top five failed to win.
Of the three teams in with a chance, Mounties FC had the toughest hurdle, facing champions Spirit FC at Cook Park. They fell behind when Spirit striker Simpson put the visitors one up on 31 minutes, but Coulson equalized for Mounties just six minutes later. However, Paradisis popped up to grab a 66th minute winner for Spirit, ending the final aspirations of the Mounties for 2008.
Another Paradisis put paid to one of the other semi final aspirants, as Dulwich Hill beat Schofield Scorpions 2-1 at CSI Sport Ground. Young Nick Paradisis scored a brace of goals for Dulwich Hill in the 2nd and 18th minutes, sandwiching the lone reply from Schofields, which came from Farac on six minutes.
Dully?s win consolidates their third place position on the ladder, avoiding the elimination semi final next week.
Stanmore grabbed that elimination semi final position by finishing fourth, and will play the in-form Sydney Wanderers next week in a do-or-die match.
Blacktown Spartans were the other side that needed to win to have any chance of a semi final spot, and they duly took the lead against the Hawks through Portelli on 29 minutes, but Chavez equalized for the Hawks by converting a penalty in the 27th minute. The Spartans restored their lead when McPherson made it 2-1 just seven minutes before the break.
Stanmore bounced back with a second half brace from Hadjisocratous, scoring on 70 and 86 minutes to give the Hawks the lead. But the never-say-die Spartans refused to surrender, Hubbard equalising with an injury time goal. Unfortunately for Blacktown, this will be the last of their flambuoyant football for 2008, but they have been entertaining to watch this season.
The final two matches of the round involved teams trying to escape the dreaded wooden spoon, with UNSW doing just that by holding second placed Inter Lions to a 1-1 draw. Claridge put UNSW in front on 25 minutes, before Cklamouski restored parity for Inter just five minutes later. The point was enough to lift UNSW to 17 points, finishing in eleventh spot on goal difference.
Hurstville City Minotaurs ended bottom of the ladder, despite grabbing their fourth win of 2008 with a 2-1 victory at Second Ponds Oval against Hills Brumbies.After a scoreless first half, Iliopoulos and Dimento gave the Minotaurs a 2-0 lead on 55 and 72 minutes respectively. Hawkins reduced the deficit for Hills in the 81st minute, but they couldn?t grab an equalizer, finishing the season in 9th position on 19 points.
(Footnote ? Re;Top Goalscorers – given we are still waiting on confirmation of goalscorers for a number of matches in Division One, we will delay publishing the list of top goalscorers for 2008 until we have the completed list.)
-By Frank Speranza
