State League Division 1 Round 4 Review
Match of the Round
Inter prove too hot for Hawks
Mother Nature played havoc with five of the six scheduled matches in Division One over the weekend, with all five of Saturday?s matches postponed until further notice.
Sunday, however, produced a beautiful sunny afternoon with clear skies, crisp air and a flat surface conducive to football as fans made their way to Concord Oval in the inner west suburb of Burwood.
On show were two teams hoping to make a stance in the Division after just one win in the opening three rounds, as Inter Lions hosted Stanmore Hawks in what promised to be an intriguing match up.
The home side started the brighter in the early exchanges, with both Cevenini and De Jesus shooting over from outside the box following good leadup work on separate occasions from each of the Dimento brothers.
But against the run of play, the Hawks took a surprise lead with a cracking shot.
Stanmore knocked the ball around down the left side of the field, resulting in a swirling cross by Gorsevski creating panic in the Inter defence.
A half clearance went straight to the eagerly awaiting Bromley, 20 yards from goal right in front, and he controlled the ball on his chest before hitting a sweet half volley that sailed into the top corner of the net.
Falling behind shocked Inter Lions a little, as they struggled to take a real hold on proceedings, probably too eager to grab an equalizer in certain situations.
Domenic Dimento was proving a real menace down the left flank for the Hawks, once again racing away on 11 minutes before cutting the ball back for Cevenini. This time the tall midfielder steadied but shot too straight, the ball ending up in the grasp of Stanmore?s busy keeper, Theouli.
Inter?s ball wizard, Ivo De Jesus, was weaving his wand with some clever dribbling, and on 21 minutes he got behind the Stanmore defence before sending in a dangerous cross towards the far post. Domenic Dimento got on the end of the cross, and his sliding shot under pressure from a defender was somehow saved by Theouli almost on the goal line.
Only a minute later and Dimento was at it again, whizzing past a static defence to hit the by line, his cross managing to elude both sets of players, defenders and attackers alike.
Right on the half hour mark, Inter should have equalized when Ivo De Jesus mesmerized Stanmore defender, Heath, near the goal line, cutting in and out numerous times before clipping a wonderful cross into the mix.
Big striker, Antar, however, could only manage to glance his header wide of the mark from right in front when it looked easier to score.
But the Inter fans didn?t have to wait too much longer for the equalizer, and it came when they were awarded a free kick a minute later near the corner of the penalty area.
Shane Cevenini curled the ball perfectly over the wall and into the near side of the goal, leaving Stanmore keeper, Theouli, flat footed, and well beaten all ends up.
That?s the way it stayed until half time, with Inter getting on top and having the better of play. But it is the scoreboard where it counts, and it reflected parity, something no doubt both teams were eager to change in the second half.
Inter Lions coach, Mike Urukalo, must have had the desired effect in his half time team talk as Inter picked up the tempo in the second half, looking for that elusive goal to take the lead.
A series of corners had Stanmore well and truly on the back foot, and from one of these just before the hour mark, Paul Candalori curled a shot from 20 yards just over the crossbar.
Stanmore made a couple of substitutions to try and spark up their play, but to no avail, as Inter kept at it.
Within minutes a De Jesus cross was spilled by Theouli in the Stanmore goal, Domenic Dimento cracking his deflected shot onto the cross bar and over after being first to the rebound.
Inter almost took the lead on 68 minutes, when a Stanmore corner was grabbed by Inter?s young keeper, Robert Napoleone, and he sent captain Adrian Vizzari on his way with a quick throw.
Vizzari raced downfield, drew the defence and slipped the ball to substitute Yoshi Tachi, who sent his cheering Japanese fans into a frenzy with a quick stepover and shot that just cleared the cross bar.
Frustrations grew as Inter kept up the pressure and Stanmore defended vehemently, and referee Mr D.Goldsmith did well to keep a tight lid on the tensions by issuing three cautions in as many minutes.
Something had to give, and on 75 minutes Inter finally grabbed the lead.
Domenic Dimento was rewarded for his efforts by heading home from a couple of yards, following a teasing free kick from near the touchline by Ivo De Jesus.
Four minutes later and Inter put the match out of Stanmore?s reach with their third goal.
Some great lead up play between Yoshi Tachi and Jacob Dimento down the left resulted in yet another dangerous cross, Tachi putting the ball over this time and into the box.
Stanmore?s central defenders made a mess of the clearance, and with Ivo De Jesus hovering, that can only spell disaster.
De Jesus pounced on the loose ball inside the penalty box, clinically half volleying the ball high into the roof of the net past a helpless Theouli.
Down 1-3 and seemingly out, Stanmore unexpectedly increased their intensity in the final minutes, having no less than four good chances to at least reduce the deficit.
The first of these was on 83 minutes, Hijazi racing through on goal at an angle, the low shot being diverted brilliantly by Inter?s keeper Robert Napoleone as he came off his line.
The resultant corner dropped invitingly for James after a half clearance, his snap shot from a few yards saling high over the goal posts.
Inter were reduced to ten men in the 87th minute when substitute Lyland was marched for violent conduct, but it didn?t have too much effect on the outcome of the match, except for a couple of final goal scoring chances for Stanmore.
A counter attack right on 90 minutes saw substitute Papadopoulos latching onto a far post cross for Stanmore, Napoleone again doing his job with a great parry over the cross bar.
And the Inter keeper was at it once more when he brilliantly saved a fierce volley in injury time as Stanmore enjoyed their best period of the match.
The full time whistle finally blew, and the home fans were cheering the loudest as Inter recorded their second win of 2009 since their opening day destruction of Fairfield City.
For the visitors, captain Theodosiou was the pick in a rather sub standard team performance, as he kept at it with his workrate in a losing team.
Keeper Theouli did his best to parry the Inter attacks, and Bromley worked hard and scored a fantastic goal.
Inter?s coach Mike Urukalo lamented his team?s slowish start ? ?We were slow out of the blocks today, but settled down in the second half, and started knocking the ball around well,? said Urukalo.
?We do have some depth at Inter, and are capable of playing some great football, but we need more discipline, and time to jell, before we can get the desired results,? predicted Urukalo.
Inter?s best on the day was undoubtedly Domenic Dimento, who terrorized the Stanmore defence down the left with his energetic running, often setting up many of the team?s attacks, and getting his just rewards with a goal on 75 minutes.
Young goalkeeper Robert Napoleone was alert when he needed to be, especially in the final ten minutes when the result was beyond doubt, confident in the air and quick off his line.
Inter?s defence also deserve a special mention, and was sound throughout. Vizzari and Toscano were effective out wide, and swift to move into overlapping situations when the team needed support. Pettenon and Sansone were rarely beaten in a solid partnership down the middle of the backline, strong in the tackle and quick in their distribution.
Match Stats
DIVISION ONE
Round Four
Match of the Round
INTER LIONS 3 (Cevenini 31?, Dimento D. 75?, De Jesus 79?)
STANMORE HAWKS 1 (Bromley 8?)
Sunday, April 5, at Concord Oval, Burwood
Referee ? Mr.D.Goldsmith
Referee?s Assistants ? Mr.M.Nemorin & Mr.R.Baker
INTER LIONS ; 1.R.Napoleone, 2.J.Pettenon, 3.A.Vizzari (capt), 4.D.Toscano, 5.L.Sansone(12.L.Cole 81?), 6.P.Candalori(15.Y.Tachi 66?), 7.S.Cevenini, 8.J.Dimento, 9.P.Antar(14.E.Lyland 75?), 10.I.De Jesus, 11.D.Dimento.
Subs not used ?13.G.Iliopoulos, 21. P.Higgins
STANMORE HAWKS ; 1. L.Theouli, 2.D.Papazafiropoulos, 8.C.Fiakos (10.D.James 61?), 6.A.Caltabiano, 9.A.Heath, 11.C.Theodosiou (capt), 20.S.Bromley, 13.N.Gorsevski, 16.D.Koroma, 17.W.Hijazi, 14.O.Pecoul (15.A.Papadopoulos 52?).
Subs not used ? 5.P.Giannoulis, 22.M.Karagiannis, 45.P.Katopoulos..
DIVISION ONE REVIEW ? Round Four
Disappointingly, the wet weather that set in earlier in the week played havoc with the Division One fixtures over the weekend, with all five fixtures scheduled for Saturday evening being called off due to the waterlogged grounds.
Some matches were even postponed as early as Friday, the state of the grounds being deemed unplayable well in advance of the proposed kick off.
Football NSW will reschedule the matches to be played in the very near future, so stay tuned on the FNSW website for the all the details.
-By Frank Speranza
