State League One Round 9 Preview
Match of the Round
Hills Brumbies v Schofields Scorpions
Scorpions snatch point at Hills with late sting
Schofields were rewarded for their dogged persistence by snatching a point on Saturday night in a tough encounter against competition leaders Hills Brumbies.
Second Ponds Oval at Rouse Hill is a place visiting teams find difficult to come away with anything, and fans braved a crisp evening by settling into their chairs and under their blankets for what they hoped would be another standard three points for the league leaders.
The opening half hour was restricted to an arm wrestle from ?box to box?, with both teams focused in their defensive strategy and not allowing the opposition space to break into the attacking third.
The tackles were fierce without being malicious, and referee, Mr David Morris, understood the importance of this top five encounter and gave the players some latitude to display their enthusiasm.
Hill?s Brumbies employed an effective offside trap high up in their own half, catching the Scorpions out many a time before the ball even went close to threatening Rizzo?s goal.
The first real half chance didn?t arrive until the 24th minute such was the well structured defensive approach from both sides that, and it was Schofield?s Cooper that struck a half volley wide under the pressure of a challenge from Hills defender, Ramirez.
Down was throwing himself about in the middle of the park for Hills, and on 28 minutes he was first to a loose ball to prod it through for Mitrovich to run into space.
The Hills striker sped onto it and as he entered the box, Dean Southern slid in to deflect the shot just as the trigger was about to be pulled.
A few minutes later and the Hills faithful were up in protest, appealing a challenge by Southern on Mitrovich inside the penalty area, but Mr Morris waived play on.
Schofelds? nippy winger, Stivala, was having a ding dong battle with Hills left fullback, Ryan, both players full of energy and running, and the two were cautioned late in the first period for a bit of push and shove as both tried to lift the intensity.
The half time whistle blew with the match a stalemate and devoid of opportunities, neither team prepared to give an inch.
The game needed a goal for the football purist, and it came within a minute of the restart before most people had resumed their seating arrangements.
Schofields? defensive line were slow to react to a long ball played down the middle corridor, and Mitrovich darted into the gap to steer the ball past a helpless Akers and give Hills a 1-0 lead.
The Scorpions responded immediately, when Simpson pounced on a bouncing ball in the Hills penalty area, scooping it over his shoulder and centimetres above the cross bar.
Hills almost doubled their advantage on 50 minutes, with Miladinovic expertly executing a free kick over the Schofields wall, only to see the leather rebound off the post and out of play.
With Schofields needing to come out and nab an equalizer, the game opened up a little and Hills were like hungry wolves on the prowl as they searched for a killer blow.
In the 59th minute, Mitrovich latched onto a long ball down the left flank, and beat a defender before squaring to Savic.
Swivelling on a six pence inside the penalty area, Savic was able to snatch a shot on target, with Scorpion?s goalkeeper, Akers, ever alert to the danger and saving low to his left.
Schofields thought they had the equalizer on the hour, Harrington heading in from a Boyd free kick, but alas, the referee?s assistant had the flag up for offside.
Dean Southern was coming into the match more and more down the right flank, and should?ve done better in the 69th minute with a clear header when unmarked from Simpson?s swirling free kick.
Then it was Lam?s turn, despite the Schofield striker being the smallest man on the park, he managed to head goalwards from a Stivala corner, the ball bouncing awkwardly before being cleared off the line in the 77th minute.
As the play went from end to end, it was Mitrovich?s turn to almost put the match beyond Schofields when he looped a shot facing away from goal agonizingly onto the cross bar.
Hills brought on the speedy Darkoh on 78 minutes, himself one of recent exploits for the Brumbies, and he was into the action immediately as he dispossessed a Schofield?s defender, squaring to Savic whose low shot was well saved by Akers.
Darkoh should?ve put the match beyond reach in injury time, when Hills goalkeeper, Rizzo, made a rudimentary save, and spotting his striker in a one on one, punted a perfect clearance into his path. Darkoh raced onto the ball like a fox after his prey, but his shot was superbly saved by the ever alert Akers.
Schofields had spent the entire second period toiling away, throwing men forward as they attempted to square the ledger, and they got their just rewards in the 93rd minute just as the spectators were folding up their blankets.
A free kick was awarded some 20 yards out, and although all and sundry expected Harrington to curl the ball over the wall and into the top left hand corner of the net, the big defender had other ideas.
As the wall jumped, Harrington cracked a low grass cutter into the bottom right hand corner of the net, totally wrong footing Hills keeper, Rizzo, and sending the Schofields faithful into raptures.
Part of the reason Hills are so well placed this season is their ability to turn one point into three, but they couldn?t hang on this time and picked up their maiden draw, leaving them three clear at the top of the ladder.
Best on the night for Hills were ; central defender, Ramirez, was very focused with his defending, strong in the air and the tackle, and read the play very well to make numerous interceptions (he was injured very late in the match and had to be stretchered off ? all at FNSW wish him a speedy recovery) ; central midfielder, Down, had a real presence in the centre of the park, solid defensively, and always looking to split the Schofield?s defence with his passing ; striker, Mitrovich, was sharp in the attacking third, always on the prowl, and rewarded for his awareness with his side?s goal.
For the visitors it was a welcome point, retaining their position within the top five, and best for Schofields on the night were ; the Southern brothers had strong games on the right side of the park, with Dean faultless in defence aiming numerous timely tackles, and Dale slicing through the Hills defence during an effective second half display ; Harrington and Boyd were solid defensively, both on the ground and in the tackle, and lead by example with their intensity, Harrington even chiming in with the late equalizer ; Stivala and Lam were both equally sharp and difficult to handle, chasing down every ball whenever Hills defenders had possession.
Match Stats
HILLS BRUMBIES 1 (Mitrovich 46?)
SCHOFIELDS SCORPIONS 1 (Harrington 93?)
Saturday, May 15, at Second Ponds Oval, Rouse Hill
Referee ? Mr.David Morris
Assistant Referee ? Mr.Greg Clarke
Assistant Referee ? Mr.Ben Clarke
HILLS BRUMBIES: 20.C.Rizzo, 2.D.Ramirez (17.N.Hartnett 84?), 3.M.Gane, 4.Y.Miladinovic, 5.R.Farrell (11.L.Darkoh 78?), 6.T.Pannowitz (capt), 7.P.Down, 9.D.Savic, 10.B.Mitrovich, 12.L.Ryan, 15.N.Cholerton.
Subs not used ? RGK.B.Needham, 13.S.Pintabona, 16.J.Pineda.
Yellow Cards ? 12.L.Ryan 37?, 2.D.Ramirez 60?, 7.P.Down 93?.
SCHOFIELDS SCORPIONS: 1.P.Akers, 5.L.Boyd (capt), 7.D.Stivala (15.Z.Watters 81?), 8.T.Sullivan, 10.T.Simpson, 11.B.Lam, 12.T.Harrington, 13.N.Cooper (9.G.Davis 69?), 14.W.Stuart, 16.Dale Southern, 17.Dean Southern.
Subs not used ? 18.J.McCrea, 2.V.Profilio, RGK.S.Johnson.
Yellow Cards ? 10.T.Simpson 26?, 7.D.Stivala 37?, 14.W.Stuart 88?..
Division One Review ? Round Nine
STANMORE HAWKS ? BALMAIN SC 2-2
Stanmore and Balmain shared the spoils on Saturday night at Arlington Oval, the solitary point enough to move the Hawks into the top five given results elsewhere.
Tall striker Squillacioti continued his form of late with one of Stanmore?s goals, whilst Papadopoulos grabbed the other.
There was a familiar face amongst the Balmain scorers, with Nick Paradisis back in the mix, with Leris the other marksman, in what proved an evenly matched, entertaining affair.
BLACKTOWN SPARTANS ? MOUNTIES WANDERERS 5-1
Blacktown Spartans took advantage of a depleted Mounties side to run riot at Francis Park, converting a 3-0 half time lead into a resounding 5-1 rout.
With Daniel McCann, Matty Viera, Christian Care and Steve Biviano all missing, it was always going to be an uphill task for the Mounties, and defensive errors gifted the Spartans early goals, with Lachlan Wright and Wilson putting the home side 2-0 up inside the first ten minutes.
Wilson grabbed his second on 41 minutes to give Blacktown a commanding half time lead, and even though Petrovic reduced the arrears with a goal for the Mounties in the 75th minute, the Spartans finished strongly to record a big win in front of their fans.
Midfield terrier, Martin McCaffery made it 4-1 on 85 minutes, before Glenn McPherson got in on the act a couple of minutes later with his eighth goal of 2010.
The Mounties drop out of the top five on goal difference as a result of the loss, whilst the Blacktown juggernaut rolls on, moving to 19 points, and within striking distance of Hills Brumbies at the summit of the ladder.
INTER LIONS ? GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC 1-2
Inter Lions surprisingly came unstuck on Sunday at the Crest Complex, losing 1-2 to an ever improving Gladesville Ryde Magic.
Kabbara opened the scoring for Magic on 36 minutes, and they held onto that advantage until Peter Polistina equalized for Inter in the 75th minute.
But Gladesville went for broke, and scored a winner on 85 minutes through Martinez, giving them their second successive victory.
Inter retained their third placed position on the ladder, but have lost a little ground on the leading two following this home reverse.
UNSW ? CAMDEN TIGERS 1-1
UNSW and Camden played out a predictable 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon at David Phillips Field.
Weeks gave the ?students? a half time lead by scoring on 20 minutes, but Camden?s top marksman, Smutek, equalized in the 55th minute, sending the Tigers home with a share of the points.
HURSTVILLE ZSC ? FAIRFIELD CITY LIONS 4-2
Hurstville cracked it for their maiden victory of the 2010 season on Sunday afternoon by accounting for Fairfield City Lions in a 4-2 victory.
Unfortunately at the time of press we did not have the scorers of the Fairfield goals, but Hurstville opened their account with a goal to Glamatovic on 20 minutes.
Fairfield struck misfortune late on, having a man sent off, and losing skipper Robbie Issa to a facial injury (FNSW wishes Robbie a speedy recovery) when all substitutions had been made.
This allowed Hurstville to take advantage of their additional numbers, and goals to Luburic (65?), Gbusseh (80?) and Bejanovic (90?) completed proceedings at Hurstville Oval.
-By Frank Speranza
