State League Division 1 Round 19 Review
Round 19 Match of the Round
Blacktown Spartans v Dulwich Hill
Dully Demolition
State League Division One leaders, Dulwich Hill, had their attacking weapons on display for all to see in a devastating 6-0 demolition of third placed Blacktown Spartans at Francis Park on Saturday night.
The Spartans went into the match in third place, seven points behind Dully, and hoping a home ground advantage could help them topple the leaders and stay in touch for the title.
Having lost speedy flanker, Daniel Cornett, to a knee injury, would no doubt harm their chances, but they were quietly confident on the back of a win last weekend.
Dully could afford to start with top scorer, Neil Philippou, and cultured talisman, Rafael Bove, on the bench, given their array of playing talent, with the latter resting with a nerve complaint in his lower back. Ben Burrows was also absent, Dully no doubt missing his aggression in the centre of the park
Ex NSL star Norman Tome took up his position in the centre of midfield, with young Nick Paradisis partnering the experienced Dusan Mihajlovic in attack.
Dully knew a win here would go a long way towards going one better than last year, where they lost the grand final in dramatic circumstances.
And Dusan Mihajlovic set the ball rolling for the visitors as early as the 11th minute, sending Spartans goalkeeper, Carlos Saliadarre, the wrong way, by converting a penalty low to the custodian?s right. Mihajlovic had initiated the spot kick when his cross smacked against the hand of the Spartans? Zahra, and Dully were on their way.
Two minutes later and a clearance by Dully keeper, Sestak, was flicked on by Mihajlovic, and Sam Messam used his pace to race away on goal. Coming face to face with Spartans keeper, Saliadarre, the ball bobbled up and the shot skewed wide of the mark.
The Spartans didn?t heed the warning signs, and Messam made them pay on 16 minutes.
The tall Dully midfielder collected a half clearance on the edge of the penalty area, gliding into the box and past a sliding Spartan defender, before slotting the ball past Saliadarre from an acute angle to give Dully a 2-0 lead.
On 19 minutes Dully broke on a counter attack down the left, Mihajlovic whipping over a super cross which was met by Paradisis, his header saved by the busy Saliadarre.
It was all the visitors in the early exchanges, as they over powered a back pedalling Blacktown with plenty of options in attack.
On 23 minutes Norman Tome cracked a bullet of a shot from the corner of the box after another great run by Messam, with Saliadarre again parrying the danger.
Blacktown?s flat back four was again exposed on 27 minutes when Mihajlovic raced away from the centre circle, to face Saliadarre in a one-on-one. Under pressure from Spartan defender, Awola, the Dully striker shot low and wide of the mark.
Blacktown?s initial forays into the Dully half were being scuffed out by the amount of Dully players working back in defence.
They did however threaten just after the half hour mark, when a cross by Wand Jajaw was cleared to Peter Hubbard, and he returned yet another cross early, towards the edge of the penalty area.
Wilson met the cross perfectly, looping his volley over Dully keeper, Sestak, but alas, the ball struck the cross bar and bounced to safety.
A couple of minutes before half time the game was all but over as a contest, bar the shouting.
With Blacktown attacking, Dully pinched possession and a long clearance saw Nick Paradisis run clear from the half way line. Without a defender in sight, the striker strolled in and remained composed as he slipped the ball past Spartan skipper, Saliadarre, to put the visitors 3-0 up at the break.
If the home fans were hoping for some reprieve in the second half, they were in for a rude shock as Dully kept their foot firmly pressed down on the pedal.
Nick Paradisis skied his shot from a few yards on 48 minutes after some beautiful interchange of passes between Harry James, Dusan Mihajlovic and Norman Tome had left the Spartan defence at sixes and sevens.
In the 53rd minute, Norman Tome sent Sam Messam away down the right wing with a perfectly weighted pass from halfway with the outside of his right boot.
The right sided flanker powered his way down the line before drilling a low ball across the face of goal, leaving Mihajlovic the simplest of tasks to tap into the net from a yard to give Dulwich Hill a 4-0 lead.
A minute later and it was Blacktown?s turn to beat the offside trap, with Peter Hubbard slipping through to face Sestak in a one-on-one, but Jose Mendes cleared the danger for Dully just as Hubbard was about to pull the trigger.
Dulwich extended their lead on 69 minutes when Harry James slipped a short through ball on the edge of the box to Frost, and he steadied before drilling a low shot past the stranded Saliadarre to make it 5-0.
Three minutes later and Harry James was away into the clear, tapping the ball past Saliadarre as he raced outside his penalty area. The keeper had little option but to clip the Dully captain, and earned a yellow card for his troubles.
But the true punishment came in the way of an absolutely superb free kick from Norman Tome, the ball curling up and over the wall, and into the net off the bottom of the cross bar to provide a fitting end to the scoring.
The home side were clearly outclassed on the night, chasing shadows when not in possession, and having very little answer to Dulwich Hill?s attacking prowess.
The win puts Dulwich Hill on 42 points, still first with three points separating them and Mounties, but they do have a game in hand midweek against Hurstville ZSC. A win here and the engraver may start working on the premiership trophy.
For the league leaders, best on the day were ; Norman Tome was composed in the centre of the park, his passes dissecting the Spartan defence time and time again, and scored a ripper of a free kick ; Harry James and Sam Messam provided the necessary width to get in behind Blacktown, and were always effective with their distribution; whilst Nick Paradisis and Dusan Mihajlovic were the catalysts in attack, providing either the assists or the finishing touches in the front third of the park.
Blacktown will no doubt have a lot of work to do to recover mentally from this result, which will be difficult given their tough run home, which includes games against Mounties, Stanmore and Inter Lions.
For Blacktown, Saliadarre kept the scoreline to single figures with some great stops, and was constantly vocal from the back, but even he was at times helpless to the clinical finishing of the Dully attack ; Awola and Hubbard kept trying, even biting in some tackles, but were often outnumbered when defending.
Match Stats
BLACKTOWN SPARTANS 0
DULWICH HILL 6 (Mihajlovic pen 11?/53?, Messam 16?, Paradisis 43?, Frost 69?, Tome 72?)
Saturday, July 25, at Francis Park No.2, Blacktown
Referee ? Mr.James Barnes
Referee?s Assistants ? Mr.George Mplioakas & Mr.Matthew Samson
BLACKTOWN SPARTANS: 1.C.Saliadarre (capt), 3.J.Awola, 5.S.Falanga, 10.W.Jajaw, 7.M.Todd, 15.S.Zahra, 9.J.Brown (18.M.Krumah 80?), 16.B.Fitzgerald, 2.R.Wilson, 17.M.Malouf (6.J.Canessa 72?), 4.M.Hubbard.
Subs not used ? 20.N.Cordina, 8. J.Amankwalia,11.S.McNamara.
DULWICH HILL: 1.P.Sestak, 2.J.Mendes (31.R.Rao 69?), 20.A.Rao, 6.A.Scicluna, 8.S.Messam (35.M.Pinto 65?), 7.N.Tome, 18.M.Frost, 11.H.James (capt) (9.N.Philippou 70?), 10.D.Mihajlovic, 19.N.Paradisis, 34.M.Chahine.
Subs not used ?5.R.Bove,39.K.Perestrelo.
Midweek Catch up? Round Eleven
UNSW ? Schofields Scorpions 0-3
The Scorpions are back with a bang as they snapped UNSW?s long standing winning run with a 3-0 triumph at Fraser Park on Thursday night.
The ?students? were behind the eight ball as early as the tenth minute, having a man sent from the field for handling the ball on the goal line.
Glenn McPherson put the penalty away to give Schofields an early lead.
McPherson doubled his and his team?s tally with another goal on the hour mark, before Liam Delaney closed off proceedings by scoring in the 70th minute.
DIVISION ONE REVIEW ? Round Nineteen
Balmain SC – Hills Brumbies 2-0
Balmain jumped a couple of spots on the competition ladder and moved to 19 points with a 2-0 home win against Hills Brumbies.
Jake Flower converted a penalty in the 42nd minute to put Balmain in front, before big man Lorenzo Merlino sealed the points with an 88th minute goal.
The win completed a home-and-away double for Balmain over Hills, breaking their drought at Lambert Park.
Mounties FC ? Sydney Wanderers 3-0
Despite Dully?s magnificent away win against Blacktown on Saturday evening, Mounties are the thorn that just won?t go away, keeping them honest at the top of the ladder with a 3-0 home victory against Sydney Wanderers.
And it was that man, the clinical Steve Biviano, that continued his purple patch of form with a superb hatrick to steer his team to a comprehensive result.
After a scoreless first half, Biviano opened the scoring on 65 minutes, doubled the lead in the 77th, before grabbing his third goal in the final minute of play by converting a penalty, his fourteenth goal of a flourishing season.
The three points moves Mounties onto 39, three behind Dully who have a game in hand, and keeps them in the hunt for the Division One championship.
Inter Lions ? Schofields Scorpions 1-1
The eagerly awaited top five clash at Concord Oval finished all square as Inter Lions and Schofields drew 1-1.
Tall Inter striker James Kovas opened the scoring for the home side with a 27th minute strike, and the Lions hung on almost until the very end.
But Martin McCaffery had other thoughts, and the feisty midfielder equalized for the Scorpions with only a couple of minutes remaining.
The draw sees Schofields in third spot on 33 points, with a game in hand against Balmain still to play, and meant they picked up seven points in eight days with two wins and a draw over the past week.
Inter move into fourth position on 32 points with the draw, knocking Blacktown down to fifth place on goal difference.
UNSW ? Fairfield City Lions 3-0
UNSW moved back into the winner?s circle following Thursday?s loss to Schofields, accounting for Fairfield City Lions 3-0 at David Phillips Field.
Following a scoreless first period, Stuart Meney opened the scoring a minute after the break, before Charlie Claridge made it two on 56 minutes.
Meney put the match beyond reach with his second goal in the 89th minute, giving the ?students? a comprehensive victory.
With three rounds to play, UNSW are knocking on the door of the five, being just a solitary point behind Blacktown Spartans and Inter Lions, and two behind Schofields, and just won?t let up until they crack a finals spot.
Hurstville ZSC ? Stanmore Hawks 1-1
Stanmore kissed their final aspirations goodbye at Hurstville Oval on Sunday afternoon when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Hurstville ZSC.
The Hawks took the lead on 17 minutes via Stuart Bromley, but captain coach Steve Zoric equalized for Hurstville just after the hour mark, and both teams held on for a point each.
-By Frank Speranza
