State League Division 1 Round 14 Review
Match of the Round
Hurstville ZSC v Sydney Wanderers
Hurstville Oval was not affected by the weekend rain, and therefore was able to play host to the Division One match between Hurstville ZSC and Sydney Wanderers on Sunday afternoon.
Hurstville were hoping to regroup after last week?s thumping at the hands of UNSW, and a win here would take them level with their visitors.
On the other hand, the Wanderers season was on the line in terms of success, with a loss here surely putting paid to any semi final aspirations the club may have had.
And you can bet the Wanderers were aware of the importance of the three points by absolutely dominating the first half, wayward finishing in the attacking third letting them down badly.
They should?ve taken the lead as early as the eight minute. Bourke curled in a free kick from wide out on the touchline, and as the Hurstville defence moved out, the unmarked McKenzie sliced his volley wide from a few yards out.
A few minutes later and Ciampa seized on a half clearance outside the box, cracking his volley over the bar from 20 yards as the Hurstville defence looked on.
On fourteen minutes, another far post cross from out on the touchline by Bourke was smacked back across the face of goal by Froio, with all and sundry watching the ball go by.
The Hurstville defence were in disarray, and constantly under the pump, being forced to commit some foul tackles just to temporarily stop the marauding Wanderers. Central defender Jurleta was lucky to stay on the park during this period, receiving a caution for two late tackles within a minute, both on Wanderers? striker Lam.
As a result of the second foul, Gibson tapped the free kick to Pannowicz, whose low drive was well parried by Hurstville keeper, Chronopoulos.
The resultant corner was hooked back across goal by Pannowicz at the far post, Froio somehow managing to flick his header wide of the goal from a couple of yards out of goal.
It seemed a matter of time before the visitors opened the scoring, but as often happens in football, Hurstville had two opportunities themselves to undeservedly grab a goal on the counter attack.
Just after the half hour mark, Kostanic flicked on a Perak corner, only for Borges to somehow produce an air swing at the far post when merely a touch would?ve produced a goal.
A couple of minutes before the break, Kostanic latched onto a long ball punted upfield, umped off a defender as he entered the box, before laying the ball off for Borges.
Borges his time took a touch before shooting, but his left foot snap rolled wide of the upright.
Referee, Mr Terry Goodhew, blew his half time whistle, with the home fans thankful their side had not fallen behind despite being under the hammer for just about the majority of the first period.
Hurstville captain coach, Steve Zoric, would?ve been grateful to be at 0-0, and would?ve been hoping to rejuvenate his charges with some choice words at the break.
Sydney Wanderers coach, ex-Socceroo Tommy McCulloch, had a real job on his ands, knowing his team had dominated, but had nothing to show at this stage. I would imagine ?more of the same? would?ve been the centre of his team talk, with a special focus on composure, both in front of goal and in the attacking third in general.
The second half began as it finished, with the Wanderers holding the bulk of possession, but Hurstville?s and Division One?s top marksman, Stiven Kostanic, almost broke the deadlock with a brilliant piece of play on 53 minutes.
Kostanic and Perak swapped passes near the left touchline on halfway, the big striker racing away down the flank. Upon reaching the ball, Kostanic weaved back inside a defender, and hit a firm shot from an acute angle that beat Wanderers keeper, Kardum, all ends up. Alas, the ball smacked against the cross bar and out of play.
The goal that the Wanderers craved, and so deserved, finally came on 63 minutes.
A corner was whipped into the area at the near post, and referee Mr Goodhew was well placed to adjudge an infringement, the ball striking Perak on the arm.
A penalty it was, and Pannowicz sent Chronopoulos the wrong way as he stroked the ball into the keeper?s bottom left hand corner to give Sydney Wanderers the lead.
The game then deteriorated as darkness descended, with both teams making the maximum number of allowed substitutions, hoping to add some spark.
Long balls were the order of the day in the final minutes, with Wanderers substitute Cooper trying valiantly to latch onto one such ball on numerous occasions, coming closest when a goal bound lob was cleared by Luburic.
Hurstville had one last opportunity to snatch a point, coming in injury time, when a Perak corner reached Kostanic at the far post. The burly striker steadied himself, before cracking a volley towards goal, the ball bouncing down and somehow over the cross bar from a few yards.
The full time whistle brought an end to a frustrating game, the visitors fully deserving of their three points but unable to put the game to bed earlier in the ninety minutes.
The victory sees the Wanderers move to seventh on the ladder on 15 points, with an outside chance of making a late push for the semis.
As for Hurstville, they looked devoid of ideas in attack, relying on Kostanic who didn?t receive any consistent service, and it will be back to the drawing board for them.
Match Stats
HURSTVILLE ZSC 0
SYDNEY WANDERERS 1 (Pannowicz pen 63?)
Sunday, June 21, at Hurstville Oval, Hurstville
Referee ? Mr.Terry Goodhew
Referee?s Assistants ? Mr.David Findlay & Mr.Laureano Villarroel
HURSTVILLE ZSC ;1.C.Chronopoulos, 2.I.Luburic, 3.J.Galic, 4.D.Jurleta, 5.C.Leon (14.Y.Koroma 64?), 6.N.Simic, 7.Y.Tayebi (15.A.Karla 78?), 8.I.Borges (12.R.Jukic 84?), 9.S.Perak, 10.V.Zoric (capt), 19.S.Kostanic.
Subs not used ?13. A.Majetic, RGK.A.Jurleta.
SYDNEY WANDERERS ; 1.K.Kardum, 2.S.McKenzie (7.N.Cooper 82?), 3. P.Bourke (capt) , 6.T.Pannowicz, 10.A.Froio (14.A.Mendes 61?), 11.T.Mitchell, 12.B.Gibson, 16.E.Adam, 17.B.Lam (19.R.Miranda 68?), 8.J.Ciampa, 18. N.Cholerton.
Subs not used ? RGK.C.Rizzo, 9.D.Martinez.
DIVISION ONE REVIEW ? Round Fourteen
Balmain SC ? Fairfield City Lions postponed
Stanmore Hawks ? UNSW postponed
Lambert Park and Arlington Oval were deemed unplayable due to a deluge of rain, so the matches between Balmain SC-Fairfield City Lions and Stanmore Hawks-UNSW will be played at a date and venue yet to be advised.
Hills Brumbies ? Dulwich Hill SC 0-2
Division One leaders Dulwich Hill just keep on, keeping on with a 2-0 away victory against Hills Brumbies.
After a scoreless first 45 minutes, Neil Philippou put Dully in front on the hour mark with his sixth goal of the season.
Despite a brave effort by Hills, they couldn?t find an equalizer, and Nick Paradisis put the match beyond their reach with Dully?s second goal in injury time.
The victory keeps Dully on top of the ladder on 30 points, one point and a game in hand ahead of Blacktown Spartans.
Schofields Scorpions ? Blacktown Spartans 0-3
The match of the round at CSI Sport Ground on Saturday evening produced a remarkable result, with Blacktown Spartans thumping Schofields Scorpions by 3-0.
Despite the overnight rain and a host of junior matches played throughout the day, the game was allowed to go ahead, producing a typically tense, but scoreless, first half.
The match exploded around the hour mark, with the Spartans scoring three times in a seven minute spell to put the Scorpions to the sword.
Wand Jajaw and Daniel Cornett, two of the Spartans bright sparks, both scored in the first round victory against the Scorpions, and proved to be their nemesis once again by scoring on 57 minutes and 64 minutes respectively.
Sandwiched in between was a goal by Zahra in the 61st, and the victory meant Blacktown Spartans had completed the double over their fancied rivals.
Both teams remained in the same position they were in prior to the game, with Blacktown second (now on 29 points), and Schofields third (on 25 points), as the race for the championship hots up.
Inter Lions ? Mounties FC 3-2
Inter Lions climbed ominously onto 24 points with a 3-2 home victory over fellow top five team, Mounties, at Concord Oval.
Mounties came to play and get something out of the match, with Noro breaking the deadlock for the visitors with a goal in the 21st minute.
Inter?s coach Meduri read his team the riot act at half time, and the Lions responded in the second period, taking control after Iliopoulos equalized on 50 minutes.
Domenic Dimento put Inter in front in the 81st minute, and Kovas made it 3-1 just three minutes later.
The Mounties weren?t finished just yet, and Inter old boy, Steve Biviano, pulled a goal back in injury time against his old club, but Inter held on for a most welcome three points.
-By Frank Speranza
