State League Division 1 Round 17 Preview

Mounties have taken advantage of some surprise results to sneak into third position on the ladder, and will prove a tough hurdle to overcome for the inconsistent Scorpions, especially with Steve Biviano in great form.
Can Blacktown Spartans bounce back from two consecutive losses and stop the UNSW juggernaut? That question will be answered on Saturday evening at Francis Park, with the battle kicking off at 7-30pm.
UNSW are on an amazing run of six successive victories, catapulting them from the brink of the competition cellar into finals contention.
Stuart Meney will hopefully be back from illness for the students to spearhead the UNSW attack, but the Spartans will no doubt be up for it, and looking to retain their second position on the Division One ladder.
The final Saturday evening match up is at Arlington Oval, where Stanmore Hawks host Balmain SC at 7-30pm.
Lorenzo Merlino and Dane Maberley have been the talk of the Balmain town of late, the mix of youth and experience providing effective results for the ?gold and blacks?. But Wissam Hijazi and Chris Theodosiou will have other ideas, and together with influential skipper, David James, will be hoping to steer the Hawks to a home victory.
Competition leaders and favourites, Dulwich Hill, will have to contend with Stiven Kostanic if they are to topple Hurstville ZSC at Arlington Oval on Sunday afternoon, the match kicking off at 3-00pm.
The big striker has been knocking them in consistently for Hurstville, despite his team?s lowly placing on the ladder, and will prove his usual handful, no doubt, for the Dully defence.
But Dulwich Hill have been plodding away fairly consistently this season, and veterans Rafael Bove and skipper Harry James will be making certain their team mates don?t slip up in a game that they are expected to win comfortably.
Inter Lions will be looking to get back on the winner?s list when they welcome bottom placed Hills Brumbies to Concord Oval on Sunday afternoon, the game due to commence at 3-00pm.
The Lions took a stumble last weekend when they lost 0-1 to UNSW, and skipper, Adrian Vizzari, and playmaker, Lachlan Wright, will be looking to lead their team to a much improved performance this time around.
Hill?s ever alert keeper, Ben Needham, will no doubt prove an obstacle for the home side, and will have to be at his best if he is to keep the Brumbies in with a chance in this game.
The final match of Round 17 is at Norford Park on Sunday afternoon, kicking off at 3-00pm, when Fairfield City Lions take on Sydney Wanderers.
Only a point separate the two teams on the ladder, the Wanderers on 18 points and Fairfield on 17, although the Lions do have two games in hand on their opponents.
The Wanderers are backing up after a super 1-0 victory over Blacktown Spartans last weekend, but Fairfield captain Robbie Issa and veteran Nabil Codmani have seen it all before, and will have their troops ready come Sunday afternoon.
Division One
Top Goalscorers -Week Sixteen
Hurstville?s Stiven Kostanic grabbed another goal last weekend to stay abreast of the goalscorers pack, but UNSW?s Stuart Meney is hot on his heels, with another midweek brace taking him to 12 goals, whilst Steve Biviano (10) and Neil Philippou (8) also made up ground in the scorer?s list.
13     ? Stiven Kostanic (Hurstville ZSC)
12   ? Stuart Meney (UNSW)
10     ? Steve Biviano (Mounties FC), Wissam Hijazi (Stanmore Hawks), Glenn McPherson (Schofields Scorpions)          
9   ? Todd McCrae (Schofield Scorpions)
8   ? Neil Philippou (Dulwich Hill)

6   ? Daniel Borg (Sydney Wanderers), Nabil Codmani (Fairfield City),Domenic Dimento (Inter Lions), Daniel Cornett (Blacktown Spartans), Wand Jajaw (Blacktown Spartans)
5      ? Rafael Bove (Dulwich Hill), Ben Shrimpton (Hills Brumbies), Eddie Adam (Sydney Wanderers), Sam Messam (Dulwich Hill), Adrian Vizzari (Inter Lions), Rocky Luca (UNSW)
4      ? Lorenzo Merlino (Balmain SC), Semih Sozer (Fairfield City Lions),Yoshi Tachi (Inter Lions), Reece Iredale (Schofields Scorpions), George Iliopoulos (Inter Lions), Chris Theodosiou (Stanmore Hawks), Stephen Tresoglavic (Mounties FC)

-By Frank Speranza