State League Two Round 14 Review
Roosters stayed top despite a 0-2 loss to Springwood and 1-1 midweek draw with Wanderers, two points clear of Belmore, who rose through the ranks by beating Gazy 2-0 midweek and edging ahead of Prospect 1-0 on the weekend.
Luddenham stayed where they were in third after being beaten 2-0 by an energetic Hursvtille, who also managed a 1-1 catch-up draw with Prospect. Wanderers maintained their top-five place despite a shock 3-2 loss to Lansvale, Fairfield Bulls dismantled Hawkesbury 3-0, and Bathurst downed Hakoah 1-0 to all stay in the mix.
It is clear with eight rounds to play that Hawkesbury and Hakoah will battle out the wooden spoon, but any of the 10 teams above them could well find themselves in a finals berth such is the closeness of the competition. Keep in mind that Springwood have two catch-up games to play, which they will attempt to do over the next two weeks, while Luddenham, Fairfield and Hurstville are also to play a rescheduled fixture each.
The 14 round-14 goals happened to be the lowest score since the opening round?s 13 returns (which is also the total for and as yet uncompleted round 10), however, the league notched up its 97th goalscorer for the season, the Roosters accounting for a whopping 13 of them (Bathurst and Springwood have the lowest with five).
Individually, weekend strikes to Fairfield weapon Nirian Kanoun and Bathurst ace Jarred Portegies moved them to top of the goalscorer?s chart, the skilful assassins notching up their eighth goals of the season. They head Roosters captain Ercan Topal, Wanderers player Elias Navarrete, Fairfield?s Khaled Elkerhani, Hurstville?s Michael Di Meglio, and Gazy duo Michael Amed and Huso Merdanovic with seven goals each. Belmore?s George Iliopoulos, Luddenham?s Michael Wood and Prospect?s Paul Curjak have six goals to their name, while Prospect?s Luis Freitas, Hurstville?s Emmanuel Papageorgiou and Angelo Vagenas, Bathurst?s James Christie, Hawkesbury?s Kelston George and Hakoah?s Josh Morgenstern boast five strikes each.
Bulls slam Hawkesbury
Fairfield Bulls put Hawkesbury City to the sword at Bensons Lane Field on Saturday evening, pulling off a solid 3-0 victory, their third on the trot, to move into sixth place on the points ladder. It was a tight contest in the first half before Fairfield opened up in the second, Sargon Georges capitalising on a seven-pass lead-up play to make it 1-0 less than a minute after the restart.
Fairfield coach Michael Mamoo brought on Ninos Filip with 15 minutes to go to almost immediate effect, the substitute latching onto a vicious left footer that rocketed into goal for a 2-0 lead. With seconds left to play, a Nirian Kanoun goal on the counter attack in injury time ? his sixth in the past four games ? sealed a terrific three-goal win for the Bulls, their fifth clean sheet of the season.
Mamoo is delighted with how his team is travelling (if they use their game-in-hand to maximum effect they will land second place). ?It was another great win, but the result doesn?t show the true nature of the game. Hawkesbury battled through and were well in it. I can?t see why they?re at the bottom of the table, honestly,? he said. ?I told the boys [at halftime] to be patient and try to hit them early ? and that?s what they did.?
Hawkesbury coach Gary Lewis was left shaking his head yet again after his side failed to score for a fifth time. ?I thought we trained well, and the lead into the game was good; we had chances in the first half but didn?t compete with them in the second,? he said. ?I told the boys [after the match] that from here on in it?s all about pride. We have got the players who are good enough, so we can?t keep making excuses. Hopefully we can make something of the rest of the season.?
Hawkesbury City 0 Fairfield Bulls 3 (Sargon Georges 46m Ninos Filip 83m Nirian Kanoun 92m)
Grade 20: Hawkesbury City 1 Fairfield Bulls 1
Bathurst bury Hakoah
Bathurst ?75 remained poised just outside the top-five following a late 1-0 win over hapless Hakoah at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday night. It was Bathurst?s first win away from home this year and came courtesy of a Jarred Portegies after team-mate Brent Osborne was brought down in the box with 10 minutes to go. It followed some high drama when 10 minutes before Hakoah player Michael Erdogan was straight red-carded. Hakoah had moments of their own and Darren Martin had a late header cleared off the line to keep the scoreline at 1-0.
Bathurst coach Mark Rooke gladly took the three points. ?I can?t say we were at our best, but we did enough to win the match, and could have won by a few more,? he said. ?Hakoah did well; they defended very well, but didn?t threaten too much. Both our strikers could have 10 goals or more to their tally, but they?re good young kids. Hopefully they can score some more and keep us near the top of the table.?
Hakoah coach Paul Watkins was stumped for answers. ?What can I do? We?re trying, trying and trying, we just don?t have the numbers at the moment. There are six guys overseas and that makes it difficult on the guys who are here. We do have a problem of losing games in the last 15-20 minutes, so that?s an area I?d like to improve on.?
Hakoah 0 Bathurst ?75 1 (Jarred Portegies 79m)
Grade 20: Hakoah 0 Bathurst ?75 1
Belmore pip Prospect
Belmore Hercules and Prospect United fought out a top-five classic at Blick Oval on Sunday afternoon, Belmore prevailing 1-0 to move into second position on the ladder. Buoyed by a 2-0 midweek win over Gazy, Belmore were full of fire early on and George Iliopoulos headed home a goal on 23-minutes to take the lead over Prospect.
Belmore coach Ernesto Meduri was thrilled to win a tough contest. ?It was a really good game, a very hard game, Prospect tried to score but we closed out really well in the defence and played fantastic.,? he said. ?We had very bad luck to start the competition; we come on very strong now and I?m really happy. For sure, the way things are going at the moment, I think we can win this competition.?
Prospect coach Tony Caruso knew it could have gone either way, like their 1-1 catch-up result with Hurstville midweek. ?It shows how the competition is very fierce and very even,? he said. ?It was a good game actually; a tough game that represents both sides are in the running for a good finish. It?s all about consistency; the team that can be consistent will come out on top in the end.?
Belmore Hercules 1 (George Iliopoulos 23m) Prospect United 0
Grade 20: Belmore Hercules 5 Prospect United 1
Rescheduled games
Round 10: Prospect United 1 (Luis Freitas) Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 (Angelo Vagenas)
Round 11: Gazy Lansvale 0 Belmore Hercules 2 (George Iliopoulos x 2)
Grade 20:
Round 10: Prospect United 1 Hurstville City Minotaurs 1
Round 11: Gazy Lansvale 1 Belmore Hercules 1
Gazy outlast Wanderers
A first-half spray from Gazy Lansvale proved enough in the end to topple Fairfield Wanderers 3-2 at Cherrybrook Park on Sunday afternoon. Wanderers were simply missing early on and Gazy players Michael Amed, Mohamad Fayad and Huso Merdanovic scored in a five-minute period midway through the first term to establish a 3-0 lead for the home side.
Wanderers pulled one back before halftime when Elias Navarrete shot from the edge of the box into the goal?s bottom corner and they trailed by just the one goal when Rodrigo Brito benefitted from some nifty lead-up work by the Hurtado brothers to score inside the final half-hour. But try as they might, last year?s champions couldn?t find an equaliser and Lansvale avenged their 3-2 round-three loss to Wanderers.
Wanderers coach Walter Alvarez didn?t know where his players were in the first part of the game, but knew Gazy got good value for money. ?Of course it was exciting for them, they were winning 3-0 after 20 minutes; but from my end it was very disappointing, we were asleep ? it was a first half to forget,? he said. ?They defended well and we had a lot of possession, but we didn?t create a lot of chances. Looking at the table, a win would have been better today.?
Gazy Lansvale 3 (Michael Amed 20m Mohamad Fayad 22m Huso Merdanovic 25m) Fairfield Wanderers FC 2 (Elias Navarrete 36m Rodrigo Brito 61m)
Grade 20: Gazy Lansvale 0 Fairfield Wanderers FC 1
Rescheduled games
Round 11: Roosters FC 1 Fairfield Wanderers FC 1 (own goal)
Gazy Lansvale 0 Belmore Hercules 2
Grade 20:
Roosters FC 2 Fairfield Wanderers FC 3
Gazy Lansvale 1 Belmore Hercules 1
Springwood upset Roosters
Springwood United look like they have come through a rough patch after constructing a masterly 2-0 win over Roosters FC at Lidcombe Oval on Sunday afternoon. The Roosters, perhaps fatigued by a 1-1 midweek draw with Wanderers, just couldn?t find substance in front of goal, while Springwood managed to find some tempo.
Following a scoreless first half, Peter Henderson converted a penalty (for a handball offence) on the hour-mark, and Dylan Kelso made sure of the win with a good finish from inside the box with 15 minutes left in the match. It was Springwood?s fifth clean sheet of the year and, remarkably, the first time anyone has held the Roosters scoreless in 2010.
Springwood coach Errol Warwick-Day felt relief after the positive result. ?It was good to be on the other side of the scoreboard. We?ve been a little bit unlucky over the last few weeks and it all came together today. We?ve been playing good football, and just kept plugging away and sticking to the plan,? he said. ?We have a really busy schedule [four games in nine days], and a lot of work ahead of us. It?s not something we?re shying away from. We can use it to try and get a rhythm going.?
Roosters FC coach Juan Ortiz 0434 014 299
Roosters FC 0 Springwood 2 (Peter Henderson 62m Dylan Kelso 75m)
Grade 20: Roosters FC 2 Springwood 3
Rescheduled games
Round 11: Roosters FC 1 Fairfield Wanderers FC 1 (own goal)
Grade 20: Roosters FC 2 Fairfield Wanderers FC 3
Hurstville ground Luddenham
Hurstville City Minotaurs shook off their cobwebs and flexed their muscle with a grueling 2-0 win against Luddenham United at Luddenham Oval on Sunday afternoon. Two lapses at the back cost the home side dearly as Michael Di Meglio (in the eighth minute) and Alex Obeid (in the 16th) buried opportunistic chances for Hurstville. Luddenham created little in a dreadful contest.
Ending a five-game winless run put a spring in Hurstville coach Peter Sarikakis? step. ?Winners are grinners; it should have been at least 4-5 nil,? he said. ?I made some changes to the side, sacked a few players, and the boys know that if they put the effort in they will stay in first grade,? he said. ?The players are happy with the result and the way they played, and they are looking forward to getting back on track. We have the next three games at home, so some good results will keep us competitive.?
Luddenham coach Andrew Montgomery was not particularly pleased with the way his team went about their business. ?We gifted them the two goals, and created nothing bit a couple of half-chances, nothing clear-cut at all,? he said. ?We were just horrible today and didn?t deserve anything.?
Luddenham United 0 Hurstville City Minotaurs 2 (Michael Di Meglio 8m Alex Obeid 16m)
Grade 20: Luddenham United 2 Hurstville City Minotaurs 1
Rescheduled games
Round 10: Prospect United 1 (Luis Freitas) Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 (Angelo Vagenas)
Grade 20: Prospect United 1 Hurstville City Minotaurs 1
Round 14 results
First grade
Hawkesbury City 0 Fairfield Bulls 3 (Sargon Georges 46m Ninos Filip 83m Nirian Kanoun 92m)
Hakoah 0 Bathurst ?75 1 (Jarred Portegies 79m)
Belmore Hercules 1 (George Iliopoulos 23m) Prospect United 0
Gazy Lansvale 3 (Michael Amed 20m Mohamad Fayad 22m Huso Merdanovic 25m) Fairfield Wanderers FC 2 (Elias Navarrete 36m Rodrigo Brito 61m)
Roosters FC 0 Springwood 2 (Peter Henderson 62m Dylan Kelso 75m)
Luddenham United 0 Hurstville City Minotaurs 2 (Michael Di Meglio 8m Alex Obeid 16m)
Rescheduled games
Round 10: Prospect United 1 (Luis Freitas) Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 (Angelo Vagenas)
Round 11: Roosters FC 1 Fairfield Wanderers FC 1 (own goal)
Gazy Lansvale 0 Belmore Hercules 2 (George Iliopoulos x 2)
Grade 20
Hawkesbury City 1 Fairfield Bulls 1
Hakoah 0 Bathurst ?75 1
Belmore Hercules 5 Prospect United 1
Gazy Lansvale 0 Fairfield Wanderers FC 1
Roosters FC 2 Springwood 3
Luddenham United 2 Hurstville City Minotaurs 1
Rescheduled games
Round 10: Prospect United 1 Hurstville City Minotaurs 1
Round 11: Roosters FC 2 Fairfield Wanderers FC 3
Gazy Lansvale 1 Belmore Hercules 1
Next week?s games
Round 15 of State League division two throws up some great match-ups with Bathurst and Belmore meeting at Alec Lamberton Field, and Prospect facing Springwood at Summerhayes Park (both kick-off at 7pm). On Sunday afternoon (3pm kick-offs), Hurstville meet Roosters at Belmore Sports Ground, Luddenham host Hawkesbury at Luddenham Oval, while at Knight Park, Wanderers play Hakoah and Fairfield take on Gazy Lansvale.
-By Daniel De Nardi
