State League Two Round 4 Review
Prospect proved too good for Springwood in a 2-1 victory, and Fairfield blitzed Lansvale 4-2, Luddenham notched up their first victory of the season beating Hawkesbury 1-0, while Belmore and Bathurst drew 1-1.
On the goalscoring front, Fairfield?s Khaled Elkerhani and Hurstville?s Michael Di Meglio have both notched up four goals of the year, while Hakoah?s Josh Morgenstern, Prospect?s Paul Curjak, Wanderers magician Elias Navarrete, Minotaur Emmanuel Papageorgiou and Hawkesbury?s Kelston George have each claimed three.
Prospect overtake Springwood
Prospect United ran down Springwood United 2-1 in a come-from-behind victory at William Lawson Reserve on Saturday evening. The win, courtesy of second half goals to Paul Curjak and Rob Portelli cancelling out Mathew Kelly?s first half strike for Springwood, catapulted Prospect into third position on the ladder.
Both sides had chances early on before Prospect settled first to gain the ascendency. But a magnificent goal to Kelly on the break in the 40th minute gave Springwood a 1-0 lead at halftime. Prospect coach Brian Vella had a word or two to say at the break and a different side came out for the second stanza, and the home faithful were rewarded five minutes into the term with a well-taken chance to man-of-the-hour Curjak. He grabbed the ball after some good lead-up play down the left, beat a few defenders and neatly slotted into the top corner to level up proceedings.
Vella then brought returned Pasquale Landrelli into the fray to maximum effect. Landrelli had been overseas and only started training last week. But he showed his worth in a four-goal extravaganza against Granville Waratahs in their 6-1 midweek McDonald?s Cup win to warrant a call-up into the division two fixture ? and he didn?t disappoint. It was Landrelli?s explosive runs that brought about a 65th minute penalty, for a clumsy challenge in the box, which was calmly converted by Portelli to grab a 2-1 lead for Prospect. Springwood fought back strongly in the closing stages but couldn?t find an equaliser.
Vella was very pleased with the result and praised the contributions of Curjak, who has scored a goal in each of his last three starts. ?We played pretty well; it should have been more,? he said. ?They gave us heaps of room and we didn?t exploit it. They came back at the end, but we did pretty well? Paul is a quality player; he?s got lightning speed and very good vision.?
Springwood coach Errol Warwick-Day wasn?t making excuses for the team?s second successive loss, but felt his team could have grabbed something more from the match. ?We are dealing with the injury toll, but I believe every club is feeling that way,? he said. ?We had that ambition to hold on [for some points], but that?s the game isn?t it? It was one of those games; it was even and to and fro the whole game. I thought a draw would have been a good result.?
Prospect United 2 (Paul Curjak 50m Rob Portelli 65m) Springwood United 1 (Matthew Kelly 40m)
Grade 20: Prospect United 0 Springwood United 1
Luddenham break duck over Hawkesbury
Luddenham United arrested a three-game losing streak with an impressive 1-0 win over Hawkesbury City at Benson Lane Field on Saturday evening. Fresh from their midweek 3-2 win over Gazy in the McDonald?s Cup knockout, United were simply sublime in the first half, prompting coach Andrew Montgomery to call it the best first half performance he had seen from the club in his 18-month tenure. So it wasn?t surprising to see them snare the lead from a corner kick, Dejan Urosevski heading home from the far post. Hawkesbury were a little more together in the second term but couldn?t find a score.
Montgomery was chuffed at the victory, particularly as it showed his side what they are capable of. ?Finally,? he stated. ?Look, the potential was always there, but we changed things up as the full strength side came into it a bit and we are finally coming together. Our first half performance was one of the best from Luddenham ever. I can only speak from the year and a bit I?ve been there but last year we had a decent side, but this year was a whole performance overall. The fist half we were very dominant, and the second half we still did well, but did the simple things really well.?
In contrast, Hawkesbury coach Gary Lewis believed his team should just forget what happened in the first half. ?I can tell you that the first half of football from us was the worst; we couldn?t have played any worse,? he said. ?They were just hungrier than us. They were dangerous from set plays. I don?t know what happened. The second half we lifted but, as in previous weeks, that equaliser didn?t come. That?s football, but we have to get out of this habit of letting other teams getting away from us. We have the Roosters this week and Hurstville the week after. I can only hope we can show some character.?
Hawkesbury City 0 Luddenham United 1 (Dejan Urosevski 41m)
Grade 20: Hawkesbury City 2 Luddenham United 2
Roosters level Hurstville
A missed second half penalty and two goals inside the final five minutes created edge-of-the-seat type drama in a 1-1 draw between Hurstville City Minotaurs and Roosters FC at Mona Park on Sunday afternoon. The top-of-the-table clash lived up to expectations with both sides creating plenty of genuine opportunities to score. Hurstville will feel hardest done by after hitting the woodwork on more than one occasion and then having the shock of captain Terry Sidiratos missing a second-half penalty kick, his effort pushed harmlessly towards the keeper.
The game came alive in the final five minutes when Roosters forward Ercan Topal blasted home a free kick to take a late 1-0 lead. But the Minotaurs weren?t done with yet and levelled the scores when Emmanuel Papageorgiou tapped home a free kick at the opposite end with the fulltime whistle drawing near.
Roosters coach Juan Ortiz was delighted with his team?s performance. ?I think it was a fair result, but they scored in injury time to grab a draw, which was disappointing,? he said. ?It was 50-50 either way? I?m extremely happy with the way we played. It was always going to be a good test to see what level we?re at, and I?m happy with the result.?
Hurstville coach Peter Sarikakis commended the Roosters game but expected his team to come up with a win despite star player Angelo Vagenas being away at a wedding. ?It was a good game. They had some chances in the first half, and we had chances in second. The Roosters played really well, but the good thing for us was we were down in the 87th minute but didn?t give up. A draw away from home is not the end of the world.?
Roosters FC 1 (Ercan Topal 87m) Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 (Emmanuel Papageorgiou 89m)
Grade 20: Roosters FC 1 Hurstville City Minotaurs 2
Wanderers pounce on Hakoah
Wanderers manufactured a fine 2-1 win against Hakoah in glorious conditions at Wentworth Park on Sunday afternoon. The home side led early when Ricky Friede got the ball, cut inside the fullback and finished off in the top corner for a 1-0 lead at the 20-minute mark, and Hakoah looked good until Wanderers maestro Daniel Gonzalez applied some pressure down the line and his neat cross skewered off Hakoah defender?s Marc Kacen?s boot and into his own net for a 1-1 halftime scoreline.
The second half produced a see-saw affair with Hakoah?s Jeremy Morgernstern hitting the cross bar before a defensive slip-up in the 85th-minute created a chance for the Wanderers, and Gonzalez cut a neat pass from Diego Dominguez to the feet of Mauricio Sanchez, who had the benefit of a goalkeeping juggle to put his side in front.
Wanderers coach Walter Alvarez said it was a good win. ?That?s what we?re looking for. So we will try to keep getting good results and will see how we go,? he said. ?I thought we dominated a lot of the game. They scored a cracker of a goal from a distance against the run of play, but we just kept going. We have good depth on the bench so I knew we would have been able to make good chances if we needed to, so confidence-wise we felt we could come back. It was a good result, but we have to keep working and working. We have some new additions to the team and they have to get used to the system we play.?
Hakoah coach Paul Watkins said his team has been up against it. ?We?re not having the best of luck at the moment,? he said. ?There has been a lot of improvement over the last few weeks, and we looked pretty comfortable at times in that first half? if we can get a win I think the players will get a lot of confidence out of it. Our results have been pretty close so we?ve been in all the games we?ve played quite well; we haven?t been outplayed by anybody. With players back next week, we?ll see how we go.?
Hakoah FC 1 (Ricki Friede 16m) Wanderers 2 (Own goal 47m Mauricio Sanchez 66m)
Grade 20: Hakoah FC 1 Fairfield Wanderers 3
Belmore, Bathurst share points
A brilliant James Christie strike from distance helped Bathurst ?75 to a share of the points in a 1-1 draw with Belmore Hercules at Blick Oval on Sunday afternoon. Bathurst were perhaps a little lucky to escape with the result as Belmore had plenty of chances to score more goals after Paul Paras had given them a 35th-minute lead when he finished from close range. Bathurst had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half but it was Christie who had the final say, although his shot from 35m out might have been picked up a little better by the Belmore keeper.
Bathurst coach Mark Rooke knew his side had got away with a Houdini act. ?I was happy to get out of it with a draw,? he said. ?[Belmore] were certainly very good on the day, so it was good to get a draw. It?s steady progress for us; we were poor and got a point, and we?ll hopefully get it right for next week.?
Belmore assistant coach Tony Losurdo said his team had enough chances to win three games. ?We?re not too far away from the first win. It was a simple mistake otherwise we would have had a win today. The boys almost played the perfect game, unfortunately it was not the result we deserved.?
Belmore Hercules 1 (Paul Paras 38m) Bathurst ?75 1 (James Christie 74m)
Grade 20: Belmore Hercules 2 Bathurst ?75 1
Bulls buck Gazy
Fairfield Bulls blitzed neighbours Gazy Lansvale 4-2 on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon at Cherrybrook Park, their first win of the 2010 season. Gazy got off to the perfect start after Michael Amed found the back of the net in just the second minute of the game, but their joy was short-lived when Alaa Ali-Khan equalised for Fairfield three minutes later with a beautiful finish inside the penalty box. The Bulls continued their runs up field and Khaled Elkerhani was the benefactor, scoring two more goals to push Fairfield into a 3-1 lead. To compound Lansvale?s problems, they had a player sent off before halftime.
Playing a man down didn?t seem to effect Gazy too much and they came out firing in the second half, Huso Merdanovic clawing a goal back on the end of some fine build-up play. But it was left to a youngster to seal the win for the Bulls, 17-year-old Ramsin Orahim pouncing on a through ball on an 87th-minute counter attack to squeeze it past the Lansvale keeper and establish a 4-2 winning advantage. Orahim is an Australian Schoolboys rugby union rep and showed his all-round athletic ability with a solid performance in front of goal.
Fairfield coach Michael Mamoo was glad to get the monkey off his back and register a victory. ?We finally got the win,? he said. ?It was grinding game, and the players worked hard. It wasn?t a pretty game and there is still a lot of work to be done. But the boys celebrated well when Ramsin scored.?
Gazy coach Phil Pavela wasn?t happy with his side?s efforts. ?We didn?t play well at all. Having a player sent off didn?t help, but it was a disappointing result. There is a lot we can work on at this stage. We picked ourselves up and played well in the second half but it was always difficult with one man down, and their fourth goal finished the game off. We?re just conceding silly goals; if we can fix up our defence I think we will get better results.?
Gazy Lansvale 2 (Michael Amed 2m Huso Merdanovic 77m) Fairfield Bulls 4 (Alaa Ali-Khan 5m Khaled Elkerhani 41/43m Ramsin Orahim 87m)
Grade 20: Gazy Lansvale 0 Fairfield Bulls 1
Round 4 results
First grade
Hawkesbury City 0 Luddenham United 1 (Dejan Urosevski 41m)
Prospect United 2 (Paul Curjak 50m Rob Portelli 65m) Springwood United 1 (Matthew Kelly 40m)
Belmore Hercules 1 (Paul Paras 38m) Bathurst ?75 1 (James Christie 74m)
Gazy Lansvale 2 (Michael Amed 2m Huso Merdanovic 77m) Fairfield Bulls 4 (Alaa Ali-Khan 5m Khaled Elkerhani 41/43m Ramsin Orahim 87m)
Roosters FC 1 (Ercan Topal 87m) Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 (Emmanuel Papageorgiou 89m)
Hakoah FC 1 (Ricki Friede 16m) Wanderers 2 (Own goal 47m Mauricio Sanchez 66m)
Grade 20
Hawkesbury City 2 Luddenham United 2
Prospect United 0 Springwood United 1
Belmore Hercules 2 Bathurst ?75 1
Gazy Lansvale 0 Fairfield Bulls 1
Roosters FC 1 Hurstville City Minotaurs 2
Hakoah FC 1 Fairfield Wanderers 3
Next week?s games
There?s three Saturday night games this week with Hawkesbury hosting high-flyers Roosters at Benson Lane Field (5pm kick-off), Prospect travelling to Alec Lamberton Field to take on Bathurst (7pm) and Springwood welcoming heavyweights Hurstville to Summerhayes Park (7pm). On Sunday, Wanderers meet Belmore at Knight Park (3pm kick-off), Fairfield playing Hakoah also at Knight Park (3pm), while Luddenham tackle Lansvale at Luddenham Oval (3pm).
-By Daniel De Nardi
