State League One Round 1 Review

Fairfield hang on in nine goal thriller
The opening day of the Division One season provided a glut of goals at Norford Park, as Fairfield City Lions hung on desperately to record a narrow 5-4 win against Gladesville Ryde Magic.
The Lions got off to a great start on just four minutes when Ekinci turned inside two clumsy challenges in the penalty area before slotting a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Gladesville should?ve been on level terms just four minutes later, Nostalia cracking his far post header downwards after a great run and cross from Martinez.
Alas, Fairfeld?s keeper, Biernat, somehow produced an absolute beauty of a save to get down and steer the ball away to safety.
Fairfeld continued the early pressure and in the 11^th minute, Gabriel?s shot was tipped over by Gladesville custodian, Steell, after good lead up work by Jeremiah.
On 24 minutes Fairfeld doubled their lead in comical circumstances.
A long up and under deep into the Gladesville half seemed to be under the keeper?s control, however Steell allowed the ball to bounce, and Jeremiah, like a thief in the night, pounced on the loose ball to calmly walk it over the line and into an empty net.
Fairfield had their tails up at this stage, and skipper Robbie Issa set up a third goal for the home side just after the half hour mark.
Issa picked up a stray ball in the Gladesville penalty box, knocking a square pass to Gabriel who simply stabbed it past Steell and into the bottom corner of the net, under pressure from a defender.
Despite the clear dominance of the home side, Gladesville had two great opportunities to pull a goal back within minutes of the half time break.
Ali McKie blasted the first one high and wide after a ?one-two? with Andrew McKie, whilst Andrew himself made the second one count, clipping a bouncing ball over Fairfield?s keeper, Biernat, for Nastaila to bundle over the line and reduce the deficit.
Half time brought a much needed rest for the players, who were playing in surprisingly high temperatures for this time of year.
It only took 45 seconds upon resumption of play before Fairfield struck again, following some woeful defending in the penalty area. Robbie Issa picked up the loose ball, and was given all the time to turn and crack a shot past Steell to make it 4-1 to the Lions.
In what was almost a repeat of the first half incident and subsequent goal, Fairfield striker Jeremiah grabbed his brace on 68 minutes when he raced onto a long through ball, winning the resultant block tackle with Magic keeper, Steell, before stroking the ball into an unguarded goal.
Now at 5-1 and with twenty minutes remaining, you be forgiven for thinking the match was all but over, and the Lions had coasted to an opening day victory.
But someone forgot to tell the visitors, and Gladesville Ryde Magic commenced a comeback that inevitably finished just short of a draw.
Andrew McKie got his second on 70 minutes, after receiving the ball sandwiched between two Fairfield defenders near the right touchline.
Firstly, he cut sharply inside big stopper, Ongel, and bumped off the challenge of Madadghar before clipping a firm shot over the advancing Biernat to reduce the arrears.
Two of Gladesville?s substitutes combined just four minutes later to make it 3-5, when Turner?s cross was collected by Carlos Carniero, who promptly swivelled before hitting a firm shot into the top corner of the net.
Panic started to set in with the home team?s defence, and it was no surprise that the Magic made it 4-5 in injury time. Following an interchange of passes between Carniero and Martinez, Andrew McKie was played into a gap down the right before his low cross was turned into the net by Nostalia.
Despite a few more minutes of injury time, the Magic could not draw level, and were left to rue their defensive frailties which sent them home pointless.
It must be said the man in the middle, Mr David Finlay, had a great game, showing all his experience in allowing the match to flow, and would have almost run out of ink given the combination of goals, substitutions and cautions he had to scribe in his notebook!
The visitors, Gladesville Ryde Magic, were well served by Johhny Martinez, who worked hard in the centre of the park, always in support of the attack and constantly looking for ways to open up the Fairfield defence. After starting the match rather slowly, striker Andrew McKie had a great second half, ending the match with a goal and two assists in a bustling display.
For Fairfield City Lions, they would be most relieved to grab the three points in the end, and had a few good performers on the day. Big striker Jeremiah was a constant menace, challenging any loose ball as a big target man should, being rewarded for his efforts with two goals. Robbie Issa was his usual industrial self, working tirelessly in the midfield and getting on the scoresheet with that early second half strike. Ekinci was involved in everything in the first 45 minutes before being substituted, whilst tall flankman, Sama, made a real impact when he came on during the second half, injecting himself on numerous occasions and almost scoring a number of times.
Match Stats
FAIRFIELD CITY LIONS (3) 5 (Ekinci 4?, Jeremiah 24?/68?, Gabriel 33?, Issa 46?)
GLADESVILLE RYDE  MAGIC (1) 4 (Andrew McKie 70?, Carniero 74?, Nastaila 44?/94?)
Sunday, March 21, at Norford Park No.1,
Referee ? Mr.David Finlay
Referee?s Assistants ? Mr.Wilf Filipczyk & Mr.Steve Babamovski
FAIRFIELD CITY LIONS ; 1.A.Biernat, 2.S.Sozer, 4.E.Ongel, 8.J.Forrest, 15.F.Madadghar, 14.T.Gabriel (17.A.Sama 59?), 11.P.Bouzanis, 6.R.Issa (capt), 7.G.Ongy (12. M.Constantini 63?), 10.Y.Ekinci (16.H.Hidalgo 46?), 13.F.Jeremiah.
Subs not used ? RGK.H.Mullaney.
GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC ; 20.M.Steell, 2. G.Castellana (14. C.Carniero 70?), 3.G.Moss, 4.B.Varwyk (9. S.Benegadi 71?), 5.K.Baker, 6.A.Morris,  7.T.Nastaila (capt), 8.J.Martinez, 12.Andrew McKie, 10.Ali McKie, 11.B.Jones (13. S.Turner 61?).
Subs not used ? RGK.S.Jambozian.
Division One Review ? Round One
SCHOFIELDS SCORPIONS ? HURSTVILLE ZFC 4-0
Schofields got their season off to a roaring start with a 4-0 thumping of Hurstville ZFC at CSI Sport Ground on Saturday evening.
After a scoreless first half, the goals rained during the second forty five minutes, with Boyd opening the Scorpions sccount on 63 minutes.
Aitken made it two in the 70^th, before Harrington extended the home side?s lead on 77 minutes.
Davi grabbed goal number four minutes before the final whistle, completing a result which sends an ominous warning to fellow Division One aspirants that Schofields mean business in 2010.
MOUNTIES WANDERERS ? INTER LIONS 1-3
Inter Lions made easy work of 2009 Grand Final winners, Mounties Wanderers, with an emphatic 3-1 away victory at Cook Park.
Futsal representative, Ediz Alpkaya, got the Lions off to a great start with a goal in just the second minute, whilst Domenic Dimento doubled the visitor?s advantage just four minutes later.
Rouco ended the match as a contest with Inter?s third goal on the hour, before Bruni grabbed a consolation goal minutes from the end on what was a disappointing opening night for Mounties Wanderers.
BLACKTOWN SPARTANS ? UNSW 1-1
A stalemate was the final outcome of the match at Francis Park No.2 on Saturday evening, with Blacktown Spartans and UNSW sharing the spoils.
Reece Iredale put the home side in front on 33 minutes, and the Spartans held on until injury time for what looked like an opening day three points.
But UNSW are never quite finished until the final whistle, and Quilty grabbed a last gasp equalizer in the 94^th minute to give ?the students? an away point.
CAMDEN TIGERS ? BALMAIN SC 2-1
Camden Tigers kicked off their first season in Division One with a narrow 2-1 victory over Balmain SC at Ron Dine Reserve.
Mugridge gave Camden a dream start with a goal in only the fourth minute of play.
New signing Nick Paradisis scored on his debut by equalising for Balmain on the hour, but alas, the home side snatched all three points with a winning goal by MacKechnie in the penultimate minute of play.
STANMORE HAWKS ? HILLS BRUMBIES 2-3
Hills Brumbies made sure they started 2010 with a bang following a last gasp victory, late on Sunday night at Arlington Oval against Stanmore Hawks.
The Hawks went in front however, when Hatjisotrataus opened their account on 27 minutes. Sarrell equalized for Hills in the 55^th, before Squillacioti restored Stanmore?s lead in the 75^th.
The home fans were starting to celebrate a victory heading into the final minutes, but the Brumbies had other ideas, and late goals to Castro (88^th) and Tammwitz (93^rd) gave Hills the three points and a fantastic start to the season.
-By Frank Speranza