State League Two Round 8 Review
Roosters beat Belmore 1-0 in a rugged encounter, while Wanderers sacked third-placed Springwood 2-1 to move into a tightly packed top-five. Hurstville harpooned hapless Hakoah 3-0, Gazy Lansvale hacked Hawkesbury 4-0, Prospect and Luddenham drew 2-2, while Bathurst versus Fairfield went scoreless, the Bulls? fifth stalemate of the season. The 15-goal return in round eight was the second lowest of 2010.
Individually, a goal to Hurstville?s Michael Di Meglio took him level with Roosters captain Ercan Topal with a chart-topping six strikes this season, one ahead of Fairfield?s Khaled Elkerhani, Lansvale?s Michael Amed and Minotaur Emmanuel Papageorgiou, while Hakoah?s Josh Morgenstern, Prospect?s Paul Curjak, Wanderers striker Elias Navarrete and Roosters players Ozsan Gogebakan and Daniel Matengo have each scored four goals. Altogether, there have been 66 different goalscorers in the league so far, not bad considering there?s only been 48 games played.
Prospect level with Luddenham
The football clich? a game of two halves played out perfectly in a 2-2 draw between Prospect United and Luddenham United at William Lawson Reserve on Saturday evening. The visitors capitalised on a couple of chances in the first half, Michael Wood chipping the Prospect keeper on 13-minutes and Daniel Farre heading home a free kick just before halftime to make it 2-0 at the break.
But the second half began with Prospect on the rise and Luddenham found themselves on the backfoot when Farre was adjudged to have improperly challenged inside the box to hand the home side a 57th-minute penalty. Prospect?s Daniel Miralles calmly converted the spot kick, his first goal of the year. With the clock ticking down, the home side managed one last throw of the dice and pounced on a poor Luddenham clearance for Paul Curjak to fire in from just on the 18-yard box, his fourth goal of the season also grabbing a late dramatic 2-2 draw and keeping Prospect?s five-game unbeaten home record.
The result places Prospect, Luddenham and victorious Wanderers in a tie for fourth spot. But Luddenham coach Andrew Montgomery was ready to move on to next week. ?It?s disappointing to let a two goal lead slip, but the positive side is we are still picking up points, so we are still going somewhere,? he said.
Prospect United 2 (Daniel Miralles 57m Paul Curjak 89m) Luddenham United 2 (Michael Wood 13m Daniel Farre 38m)
Grade 20: Prospect United 2 Luddenham United 0
Bathurst, Bulls both scoreless
There weren?t any goals from either match at a near-freezing Alec Lamberton Field on Saturday night, and both Fairfield Bulls and Bathurst ?75 have claimed they were unlucky not to win. While it?s true that there were legitimate opportunities in front of goal at both ends, unfortunately the other similarity was that neither side could provide a killer punch and the scores remained locked up at 0-0 at fulltime.
Bathurst coach Mark Rooke said his side dominated for periods but could not break their now three-game scoring drought. ?The scoreline didn?t really equate to the amount of goalmouth action there was during the game,? he said. ?We missed four chances from inside the six-yard box, which tells the story of our night.?
?Their keeper did a couple of saves, but it was more that we just failed to hit the target. The positive thing is we?re playing fantastic football at times, but our composure in front of goal is not with us at the moment. All it will take is a goal and a win and a bit more confidence. Defensively we?re quite good.?
Fairfield coach Michael Mamoo only had a small number of players at his disposal and wasn?t understating the difficulty of the road trip at any expense. ?It was obviously going to be a tough game up there [in Bathurst]. Six degrees, it was very cold, no goals, and it?s the story of our season, isn?t it, another draw. I can?t put a finger to it, to be honest. I think Bathurst might have been lucky to come away with a draw. Our midfield played their best game all year.?
Bathurst ?75 0 Fairfield Bulls 0
Grade 20: Bathurst ?75 0 Fairfield Bulls 0
Hurstville bury Hakoah
Hurstville City Minotaurs hammered home three unanswered goals against Hakoah at ES Marks Field on Sunday afternoon to retake second spot on the ladder from a defeated Springwood. Hakoah?s third straight loss could have been much worse had Hurstville made more of their many squandered opportunities and in the end the Minotaurs had to settle for a 3-0 victory.
Sasho Stevoski made the most of some enterprising play on the left, striking first on the half-hour mark to make it 1-0. Hurstville coach Peter Sarikakis then brought on star strikers Emmanuel Papageorgiou and Michael Di Meglio, who have scored 11 goals between them this year, with half an hour to play with devastating and immediate effect. Di Meglio fired in within minutes of his first touch on the ball and Stevoski wrapped it up with his second goal of the day coming inside the final quarter-hour.
After keeping it tight for the first 50 days, Hakoah have opened up the floodgates over the past fortnight, conceding 10 goals and failing to score themselves to keep them just one point ahead of bottom side Hawkesbury, who they meet this weekend. Hurstville can?t even see this looming dogfight from their lofty place second from the top and Sarikakis knows his team can do better. ?It was a win. We?re not playing well; it?s a pyschological thing. When they [the players] click they will be okay.?
Hakoah 0 Hurstville City Minotaurs 3 (Sasho Stevoski 31/76m Michael Di Meglio 63m)
Grade 20: Hakoah 2 Hurstville City Minotaurs 4
Roosters peck Belmore
Top mantle stayed with the undefeated Roosters after they found a way past Belmore Hercules, 1-0 at Blick Oval on Sunday afternoon, to notch up their fourth win on the trot. More impressively, it was the fourth away win for the number one team in division two. Belmore?s coaches said they had their chances but just couldn?t put any away, and it told as Ercan Topal and Mustafa Ayvaz led a nifty move from the back, the latter lobbing to in-form striker Daniel Matengo who volleyed it home with everything he had to secure a decisive 1-0 lead inside the final 25 minutes of the match.
Roosters coach Juan Ortiz was full of praise for his team against quality opposition. ?Belmore are a very strong team and we expected a tough game,? he said. ?But one of our best players Hulisi [Orhan] left the game at halftime [due to commitments] and I asked the players for a special effort and they gave me 100 per cent, nothing less.?
Belmore Hercules 0 Roosters FC 1 (Daniel Matengo 65m)
Grade 20: Belmore Hercules 1 Roosters FC 2
Wanderers topple Springwood
Current title holders Fairfield Wanderers have snuck their heads back into the top-five with a masterful 2-1 win over top-three side Springwood United at Knight Park on Sunday afternoon. After an arm-wrestle first half, Springwood grabbed the lead a minute after the restart when Bryan Campbell finished off a sweeping move forward with a commanding header. But Wanderers held their nerve and Mauricio Sanchez was first to a free-kick that ricocheted off the wall to smash home a stinging volley to make it 1-1 with just minutes left to play. And that?s all the home side needed as substitute Ahmed Khan found his way past the defence to slot home a long-range effort for Wanderers to win in injury time.
Wanderers coach Walter Alvarez was glad his team got the result. ?It took us a little while to get it, but we stuck to our game plan and again played the way we like to play,? he said. ?We wanted to win the game, so it was a very pleasant win in the end.?
Springwood coach Errol Warwick-Day was not happy with the lack of composure from his players in front of goal. ?My guys had lots of chances to wrap the game up in the second half and didn?t take them. And then we paid for making some errors at the end of the game,? he said. ?We will move on. You have bad games every now and then.?
Fairfield Wanderers FC 2 (Mauricio Sanchez 88m Ahmed Khan 92m) Springwood 1 (Bryan Campbell 46m)
Grade 20: Fairfield Wanderers FC 2 Springwood 0
Lansvale rip apart Hawkesbury
Gazy Lansvale are fired up and dismantled an exhausted Hawkesbury City 4-0 at Cherrybrook Park on Sunday afternoon. A week after holding heavyweights Hurstville to a 1-1 draw, Gazy were at their determined best and managed to hit City time and time again on the counter attack. City had their own problems to deal with, fatigue not the least of them after a respectable 4-0 midweek loss to Super League side Northern Tigers in the McDonald?s Cup knockout. That bundles division two out of the competition entirely and may help Hawkesbury focus on rebuilding their league campaign before it?s too late. City can obtain a morale-boost if they beat fellow win-less club Hakoah in a battle of the cellar-dwellers next weekend.
Gazy coach Phil Pavela would have been very proud of the way his team produced two goals in each half to set up the rout. Hawkesbury coach Gary Lewis held the opposite sentiments for his team?s performance. ?We were awful,? he said. ?We played like a team at the bottom of the comp. There were 11 players unavailable today but I thought the team on the paddock would be competitive. But I don?t think we had one shot on target, we played like complete strangers. I think all the hard luck has affected the boys? confidence. But the younger grade is going well and maybe a few players are stamping their claim on a shot in first grade.?
Gazy Lansvale 4 (Michael Amed 14/33m Joliyan Berkho 48m Huso Merdanovic 84m) Hawkesbury City 0
Grade 20: Gazy Lansvale 2 Hawkesbury City 4
Round 8 results
First grade
Prospect United 2 (Daniel Miralles 57m Paul Curjak 89m) Luddenham United 2 (Michael Wood 13m Daniel Farre 38m)
Bathurst ?75 0 Fairfield Bulls 0
Belmore Hercules 0 Roosters FC 1 (Daniel Matengo 65m)
Gazy Lansvale 4 (Michael Amed 14/33m Joliyan Berkho 48m Huso Merdanovic 84m) Hawkesbury City 0
Hakoah 0 Hurstville City Minotaurs 3 (Sasho Stevoski 31/76m Michael Di Meglio 63m)
Fairfield Wanderers FC 2 (Mauricio Sanchez 88m Ahmed Khan 92m) Springwood 1 (Bryan Campbell 46m)
Grade 20
Prospect United 2 Luddenham United 0
Bathurst ?75 0 Fairfield Bulls 0
Belmore Hercules 1 Roosters FC 2
Gazy Lansvale 2 Hawkesbury City 4
Hakoah 2 Hurstville City Minotaurs 4
Fairfield Wanderers FC 2 Springwood 0
Next week?s games
A delicious Round 9 of division two State League has two Saturday night games, Hawkesbury hosting Hakoah in a bottom-of-the-table bout at Benson Lane Field (5pm kick-off), and Springwood welcoming Gazy Lansvale to Summerhayes Park (7pm). On Sunday afternoon (all matches at 3pm), Hurstville play Belmore in a Belmore Sports Ground blockbuster, Fairfield neighbours the Bulls and Wanderers clash at Knight Field, Roosters and Prospect face-off in a top-four rumble at Lidcombe Oval, while Luddenham and Bathurst meet at Luddenham Oval.
-By Daniel De Nardi
