State League Two Round 17 Review
Match of the Round
Prospect United v Luddenham United
Prospect United and Luddenham United shared the spoils after the two sides drew 2-2 at William Lawson Reserve on Saturday afternoon.
It was a game which could have gone either way, however the first-half was mostly dominated by the Luddenham side. P. Corso was causing havoc for the home-side with his dashing pace down the left-flank meanwhile D. Farre was providing all the support up front early on.
In the 7? minute a half-volley attempt was struck by L. Stanovski – his effort just clearing the crossbar.
However, it put the home-side on the back foot. Luddenham was far better early on and in the 15? minute they opened the scoring following a great through ball from D. Farre. The searching ball found P. Corso all on his own down the left side, inside the 18-yard box; Corso struck a sensational shot past O. Rogers?s left side to give the away side a surprise lead.
Prospect is sitting in the crucial battle between the top five sides and they were struggled to hold possession early on.
J. Vella and K. Gabara were outstanding in the midfield; however they were not creating the chances. Luddenham should have punished the home-side defence in the 22? minute when D. Farre found himself one-on-one with Rogers, again he did all the hard work but this time the effort sailed over the bar.
Prospect became frustrated – P. Landrelli struck in the 24? minute though his shot finished inches wide.
Landrelli struck again in the 25? minute but this time Luddenham goalkeeper N. Serovski was alert, producing a great save to his left. D. Miralles struck a brilliant volley in the 27? minute however Prospect could not find the answer.
Prospect was beginning to create that quality of football but before they could claim comfort a 42? minute free kick from P. Corso snuck in through all the players in the 18-yard box and past O. Rogers to give the away side a 2-0 buffer at the break.
The second-half was totally the opposite as the home-side rallied in style; P. Landrelli and J. McLeay who have been outstanding for Prospect this year were phenomenal. In the 49? minute a great side cross from P. Landrelli found J. McLeay leaping over his defender to nicely slot his header beating Serovski on his right, the scores 2-1 at this point.
K. Gabara was outstanding linking up with Landrelli with most of their attacking plays coming from the right side.
The half belonged to Prospect and in the 74? minute McLeay struck off a corner, a massive scramble with Luddenham players trying to clear the danger, however McLeay had other ideas and he found the equaliser for his side.
Prospect could have won the game in the 83? minute a cross form Landrelli found L. Isbister in the middle, however Isbister had no venom on his shot leaving Serovski to make an easy save. The game finished with both sides deserving a point after both sides produced a good half of football each.
Brian Vella was disappointed with the first-half and said Luddenham deserved the point today:
?I thought it took us too long to get our game going and we won?t want that come finals.
?I thought we had a really good second half and we had some chances to win but at the end of the day I?m happy with the point, it was a good effort to come back from two goals down.?
Luddenham coach Andrew Montgomery said that his side came into this game wanting a point:
?We came with the attitude and spirit today to try and get that crucial point.
?We played well today I thought in the second half we switched off in defence but then again we were unlucky with our own chances, I?m proud of our effort today the boys showed a lot of courage today.?
Match Stats
Prospect United 2 (McLeay 49?, 74?)
Luddenham United 2 (Corso 15?, 42?)
William Lawson Reserve
Sunday 26th July, 2009
Prospect United: 19.O. Rogers; 2.J. Lewis, 3.C. Senat, 4.M. Viera, 5.L. Isbister, 6.A. Maxwell, 7.K. Gabara, 8.D. Miralles, 9.J. Vella (17.L. Freitas 68?), 10.P. Landrelli, 16.J. McLeay
Substitutes Not Used: 1.S. Smith, 12.A. David, 13.A. Pejic, 14.D. Matan
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Luddenham United: N. Serovski; 2.D. Makrypodis, 3.S. Andrews, 4.A. Chronopoulos (13.A. Hartas 65?), 5.L. Stanovski, 6.D. Montgomery, 7.T. Safadi, 8.B. Pettit, 9.P. Corso, 11.D. Farre, 14.D. Iria
Substitutes Not Used: 12.C. Galvez, 15.P. May, 16.D. Lownds, 17.S. Urosevski
Yellow Cards: 2.D. Makrypodis 37?, 4.A. Chronopoulos 84?
Red Cards: Nil
Round 17 Review from other matches
Bathurst has stated their claim for silverware after thrashing White City 8-0 at Alec Lamberton Field on Saturday afternoon. Goalscorers included M. Rooke, M. Woodward, and D. Miljkovic who produced a double for the game. The home-side dominated and R. Guihot added one in the 67? minute and J. Christie added his double in the 82?, and 89? minute. A. Moxon also added a goal in this thrilling victory that will see them cruise with confidence come next week.
Camden Tigers defeated Hurstville 4-0 at Belmore Sports Ground on Saturday afternoon – Camden with a dominating performance, a side with potential to make the top five in 2009.
Springwood has continued their sensational form with a 1-1 draw with Sydney Cedars on Saturday at Summerhayes Park. C. Small scored in the 50? minute to give the home side the edge; however Cedars recovered in the 67? minute through M. Alhasani. Despite the draw, the home-side?s form has been outstanding of late.
Roosters FC will move into first place after a comfortable 2-0 win against Hawkesbury City on Sunday at Mona Park. A. Cikar scored in the 36? minute followed by a 51? minute penalty by in-form playmaker E. Topal which handed the home side that all important top spot going into Round Eighteen next week.
Gladesville has played out a draw in their clash against Fairfield Bulls at Magdala Park on Sunday afternoon. A. Kabbara scored in the 25? minute but his goal was cancelled out in the 57? min when R. Hirmiz struck from the penalty spot to give the Bulls are crucial away point. The home-side will be gunning for a better result next week after being knocked down to second spot.
Gazy Lansvale has picked up their form with a thrilling away win defeating Penang FC 7-0 on Sunday afternoon. The home side have struggled in 2009 and Tony Gallagher will be hoping his side can pick some better results with only four rounds remaining.
-By Johnny Casni
