It’s anyone’s pick in a topsy-turvy State League Division Two
Bathurst stayed in touch with a 2-1 win over a furious Belmore, and Springwood continued to build their finals assault platform with a 1-0 win over Prospect.
The result is a points table that has the top nine teams separated by a mere five points, Luddenham (26), Roosters (25), Wanderers (24), Hurstville (24), Bulls (23), Belmore (23), Bathurst (212, Springwood (21) and Prospect (21). Gazy is dropping off the pace on 17 points, and it?s a goodbye to Hawkesbury (10) and Hakoah (7).
But it?s a hearty congratulations to Luddenham player Peter Farac for becoming the 100th scorer in division two action this season. His double against Hawkesbury has seen the contributions from all teams account for an impressive 3.1 goals per game (271 goals) in 88 matches this season. An in-depth statistical look at the competition is outlined following the round-15 report below.
Bathurst bury Belmore
Bathurst ?75 stayed in State League division two top-five contention following a dicey 2-1 win over Belmore Hercules at Alec Lamberton Field on Saturday night. A disappointed Belmore coach Ernesto Meduri would not comment on a game that featured a number of close calls. ?I am very upset for everything,? he said. ?We do a lot of work for the soccer, and then to have to deal with this… we are more than a little disappointed, and now that?s it; we move on in the competition.?
Ricky Guihot got the ball rolling for Bathurst in the 40th minute when he benefited from a goalmouth scramble to give the home side a 1-0 halftime lead. There was contention when Bathurst was awarded a penalty in the 83rd minute for what some considered was light contact in the box and Jarred Portegies stepped up to convert the spot-kick for a 2-0 lead.
At 2-0 down Belmore made it interesting when Andrew Lazarou dribbled around a couple of defenders and booted past the Bathurst goalkeeper to make it 2-1 with five minutes still to play, but the home side held on to their advantage until the fulltime whistle, their third win on the trot.
The Portegies penalty was his ninth goal of the year (and also his sixth in the past seven rounds) but, more interestingly, Guihot appears to be a good luck charm for Bathurst ? they have won all four games he has scored in. For Belmore, it was their first loss in seven rounds, although they did register their 10th goalscorer for the year when Lazarou found the back of the net late in the game.
First grade
Bathurst ?75 2 (Ricky Guihot 40m Jarred Portegies 83m) Belmore Hercules 1 (Andrew Lazarou 86m)
Grade 20
Bathurst ?75 0 Belmore Hercules 1
Springwood shut out Prospect
Like a ninja assassin, Springwood United is poised to strike on the top-five after holding out Prospect United 2-0 at Summerhayes Park on Saturday night. Bryan Campbell goals in both halves proved the difference as Springwood moved in just behind the leading teams with a couple of catch-up games still up their sleeve. Campbell?s first goal came after he latched onto a through ball in the seventh minute to put the home side in front early. And he finished off the job by getting on the end of a Scott Lane cross to slot the ball in for a 2-0 lead in the 76th minute.
The result has erased a four-game losing streak that threatened to ruin Springwood?s season. They have now beaten Roosters and Prospect back-to-back. Coach Errol Warwick-Day is happy to see his team rewarded for their hard work. ?It wasn?t the best football we?ve played in the last month, Prospect play a fast, shut-down sort of game, but we got the result we were after,? he said. ?A big part of our year has been about discipline, about how we work as a team and our defence is part of that.?
After traveling so well over the first part of the season Prospect now seem to have hit a brick wall in a dismal month of June. United lost just once of the first 11 rounds but have now lost three of their past four games to also surrender their top-five position. For Springwood it was their sixth clean sheet of year, a league best.
First grade
Springwood United 2 (Bryan Campbell 5/76m) Prospect United 0
Grade 20
Springwood United 0 Prospect United 0
Hurstville crush Roosters
The Hurstville City Minotaurs are back on track following a resounding 3-1 defeat of a free-falling Roosters FC at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon. It was successive victories over the top-two sides and signaled a return to form for the Minotaurs, who are now just two points form first-placed Luddenham. After going eight rounds undefeated to start the season, the Roosters have now recorded just the one victory (against Luddenham) in seven long weeks.
A spicy first half exploded when Roosters striker Ozsan Gogebakan was given his marching orders by the referee for a suspected elbow in the opening 20 minutes. Not long after, Mudar Sultan edged in a cross to give the Minotaurs the lead on the half-hour mark, and Alex Obeid doubled the advantage by capitalising on a deflection to beat the Roosters keeper just before halftime.
A hotly contested second half was sealed when Hurstville ace Michael Di Meglio stepped up and blasted in an outrageous long-range free-kick on 60-minutes to put the home side up 3-zip. The visitors did breathe brief life into the encounter when a deft one-two was finished off well by Roosters player Mustafa Akca to make it 3-1, but Hurstville closed out the final 20 minutes for a well-deserved victory, despite Stefano Marconi given a second yellow card for kicking the ball away.
Minotaurs coach Peter Sarikakis said the changes in personnel had made a difference on the field. ?We are playing some of the younger kids and they are putting in the effort,? he said. ?We can finish near the top if we keep playing the way we are. [Against Roosters] We had a numerical advantage, so I told them to not lose it. But we finished with 10 players each anyway. It was a good result for us.?
Roosters coach Juan Ortiz said the game was ruined by his player being sent off so early in the game for what he thought was a trivial event. ?Look, they beat us because they put their chances away,? he said. ?We came out in the second half and played all over them but couldn?t put anything away. IN the end, they deserved to win. [In regards to the run of losses, Ortiz said] It?s a topsy-turvy season and every team is getting stronger. We are still well in it.?
First grade
Hurstville City Minotaurs 3 (Mudar Sultan 29m Alex Obeid 43m Michael Di Meglio 62m) Roosters FC 1 (Mustafa Akca 67m)
Grade 20
Hurstville City Minotaurs 4 Roosters FC 2
Luddenham beat young Hawkesbury
Luddenham United returned to the top of the division two ladder after beating off a challenge from Hawkesbury City 3-1 at Luddenham Oval on Sunday afternoon. It was a battle of David versus Goliath but it was the giant who started better, in-form striker Michael Wood running onto a ball put through over the top and nutmegging a covering defender to blast the ball into the top right corner for a 12th minute Luddenham lead. But just as United looked to get on top, City leveled before halftime when Edwin George made the most of a defensive lapse from the home side.
Matters got worse for Luddenham when Jean Paul Vella was sent off for two clumsy challenges and coach Andrew Montgomery would have been forgiven for looking nervy. Enter Peter Farac who scored his first goals of the season, in the 64th and 70th minutes, to round out a convincing 3-1 win to Luddenham. His first goal came from a poor Hawkesbury clearance and second from a clever lob.
Montgomery said he was stoked at the result. ?We did very well. It was a massive contrast between our first and second half. But Hawkesbury always looked more than capable of scoring,? he said. ?It?s very tight at the top [of the competition]. If our strikers keep playing the way they I think we will finish high up the table.?
Hawkesbury coach Gary Lewis knew grinding out a result would be tough. ?It was the youngest team we?ve had on the park since I?ve been here,? he said. ?From a coaching point of view there?s no consistency on the park, but from a club point of view it is great for player development that we are blooding so many young players.? City?s grade-20 side is in the top-five of their competition.
First grade
Luddenham United 3 (Michael Wood 12m Peter Farac 64/70m) Hawkesbury City 1 (Edwin George 35m)
Grade 20
Luddenham United 2 Hawkesbury City 3
Bulls bust up Gazy
Fairfield Bulls accounted for Gazy Lansvale 3-1 in their cross-town derby at Knight Park on Sunday afternoon. It was Fairfield?s fourth win in a row and landed them a top-five position for the first time after a fairly slow, draw-laden start to the season. Gazy started the stronger but it was that man, Khaled Elkerhani, who again sliced through to score a brilliant goal for the Bulls just before halftime.
Master Elkerhani added another (a league-leading ninth of the year) on the hour-mark to make it 2-0 for Fairfield before Lansvale?s Omar Hamez scored from a corner kick to make it 2-1 with 25 minutes still to play. A spirited closing quarter was quelled when Alaa Ali-Khan added a third goal for the home side, a third for the year individually, to finish the match 3-1 for the Bulls.
Fairfield coach Michael Mamoo was worried ?July-itis? would get to his players. ?We were very lucky in first half; Gazy played very well without any goals to show for it. We seemed still half asleep from watching too many World Cup games,? he said. ?I ripped into them [at halftime] and told them to wake up, and we started to dominate. So I pushed another player forward and Khaled scored again.?
In terms of their good results after a sluggish start, ?It took a few weeks to get the right system and I think we?ve got it right now. The players are adjusting well and it is also going good for our confidence. [The competition] is very close and anything can happen. I?m very pleased with what we?ve achieved in the first part of the second round [four straight wins].?
First grade
Fairfield Bulls 3 (Khaled Elkerhani 39/63m Alaa Ali-Khan 88m) Gazy Lansvale 1 (Omar Hamez 65m)
Grade 20
Fairfield Bulls 0 Gazy Lansvale 2
Wanderers trounce Hakoah
Wanderers shrugged off strugglers Hakoah 3-0 at Knight Park on Sunday afternoon. Last year?s champions proved too good for the bottom-placed side and slotted into third spot on the ladder in the process. First Elias Navarrete finished off some terrific build-up play to blast from left to right into goal on the half-hour mark, then Ahmed Khan added another a minute later in sensational circumstances. A poorly executed Hakoah corner was played upfield swiftly through Maycol Hurtado and Ian Peti, who out-sped a defender to lay it into the path of Khan.
Hakoah came back a better team in the second half and caused some anxious moments before Navarrete sealed the three-goal victory when he rounded the keeper in the 87th minute. Wanderers coach Walter Alvarez said his side played well and dominated the first half but could have done better in the second.
?We created a lot of chances and put away two from open play, but they came back more organised in the second half and evened the game up in midfield,? he said. ?It was a good result for us. We?re taking every game from here as a final because the competition is so close. We need to just keep getting the points when we can.?
Hakoah coach Paul Watkins apologised for having a similar tale to tell but said things might change from nest week. ?It?s the same old story that we?ve had a different 11 to start every game,? he said. ?But we?re getting a few players back now and starting to get back to our normal squad. [Wanderers] killed us in the first half but we were more competitive in the second half and had a few chances to score.?
First grade
Fairfield Wanderers 3 (Elias Navarrete 29/87m Ahmed Khan 30m) Hakoah 0
Grade 20
Fairfield Wanderers 1 Hakoah 1
Round 15 results
First grade
Bathurst ?75 2 (Ricky Guihot 40m Jarred Portegies 83m) Belmore Hercules 1 (Andrew Lazarou 86m)
Springwood United 2 (Bryan Campbell 5/76m) Prospect United 0
Hurstville City Minotaurs 3 (Mudar Sultan 29m Alex Obeid 43m Michael Di Meglio 62m) Roosters FC 1 (Mustafa Akca 67m)
Fairfield Bulls 3 (Khaled Elkerhani 39/63m Alaa Ali-Khan 88m) Gazy Lansvale 1 (Omar Hamez 65m)
Luddenham United 3 (Michael Wood 12m Peter Farac 64/70m) Hawkesbury City 1 (Edwin George 35m)
Fairfield Wanderers 3 (Elias Navarrete 29/87m Ahmed Khan 30m) Hakoah 0
Grade 20
Bathurst ?75 0 Belmore Hercules 1
Springwood United 0 Prospect United 0
Hurstville City Minotaurs 4 Roosters FC 2
Fairfield Bulls 0 Gazy Lansvale 2
Luddenham United 2 Hawkesbury City 3
Fairfield Wanderers 1 Hakoah 1
Next week?s games
Round 16 explodes with Prospect taking on Bathurst for a top-five prize in the only Saturday night game at William Lawson Reserve (5pm kick-off). All the other matches are on Sunday afternoon (3pm kick-off) with Hurstville hosting Springwood at Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore welcoming Wanderers to their Blick Oval fortress, Gazy meeting Luddenham at Cherrybrook Park, Roosters taking on Hawkesbury at Lidcombe Oval, and Hakoah playing Fairfield Bulls at Wentworth Park.
Interesting statistics from State League division two (to round 15)
The 2010 State League division two competition has certainly provided for some dazzling statistics ? nine teams separated by five points on the table not the least of them.
Home ground advantage only came to the fore this weekend with every round-15 host chalking up a victory. But of the 67 total wins this year, a healthy 28 have come from the visiting side. The strongest fortresses are located at Prospect (William Lawson Reserve) and Fairfield (Knight Park), who are yet to lose in a combined 14 home fixtures (both with three wins and four draws). Belmore is also hard to beat at Blick Oval, losing just once (to the Roosters). The worst performer at home is bottom-placed Hakoah, their sole victory of the season coming on home turf against Gazy late last month, albeit a convincing 5-0.
The stats are just as intriguing on the road, high-flyers Roosters lost their first match away from Lidcombe Oval, 1-3 to Hurstville, after winning five games and drawing twice on the road. The next best performers are fellow top-three sides Luddenham and Belmore, who have both won three and drawn two of their seven and eight respective road matches. The worst travellers are Hakoah and Hawkesbury, both yet to win away from home, and Bathurst has just one road victory (against Hawkesbury last week).
The run home to the finish could play a big part in the finals make-up with Bathurst still with five home fixtures (they only play seven away games in total) in the remaining seven weeks, while Fairfield and Springwood have a tougher ask with five of their last seven fixtures on the road.
On the goalscoring front with eight rounds to go, Bathurst ace Jarred Portegies and Fairfield sharpshooter Khaled Elkerhani top the chart with nine strikes each for the season, one ahead of Roosters captain Ercan Topal, Fairfield weapon Nirian Kanoun, Wanderers player Elias Navarrete and Hurstville?s Michael Di Meglio. Then it?s Luddenham?s Michael Wood, and Gazy duo Michael Amed and Huso Merdanovic with seven goals each, while Belmore?s George Iliopoulos and Prospect?s Paul Curjak have six 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 successes each.
The 271 goals scored in total by 100 players come at an average of 3.1 per game, with the lowest returns occurring in round one (13 goals) and last week?s round 14 (14 goals). There has only been four goal feasts played, rounds two (28), nine (25) and six (21) and this week?s round 15 (20 goals). Round 11 has one match to play (between Springwood and Hakoah) with 19 goals scored so far.
A closer look reveals some startling facts. Last week?s 0-2 loss to Springwood was the first time the Roosters were held scoreless in 14 games this season ? an incredible run that has led to league-high 13 players producing a league-best 31 goals. Luddenham and Belmore have found 10 scorers in its ranks, while Bathurst and Springwood, at five players each, have produced the lowest number of scorers.
Fairfield is the next most prolific scorer behind the Roosters, netting in all but two of their 13 fixtures to also claim the second best offensive record with 30 goals, three more than Hurstville. On the flipside, Hakoah has been held to nil on six occasions this year yet it?s Springwood who boasts the lowest yield with 14 goals in 13 games. Hakoah is next cheapest at 16 goals.
While not fruitful in front of goal, Springwood can clearly claim the title of hardest side to break down, their tight defence conceding a miserly 13 goals in 13 matches. They have kept six clean sheets along the way, one more than the Roosters.
Hakoah and Hawkesbury seem to be the easiest teams to score against, both sides leaking a total of 31 goals for the season; Hawkesbury has only managed to keep one clean sheet all season, a 2-0 win over Bathurst (Prospect is next best with two games). Gazy is next worst at 29 goals conceded and, amazingly, 6-2 and 6-0 results against Hurstville has the Minotaurs listed at third worst with 27 goals conceded, despite also keeping four clean sheets.
– Dan de Nardi
