Round 18 at the ready for State League Division Two
Fairfield Bulls beat Prospect 3-0 to stay in the lead less than a month to go before the finals start, and title-holders Wanderers stayed right behind them after they disposed of Bathurst 1-0.
Third-placed Luddenham were held to a 1-1 draw by Belmore Hercules as Gazy Lansvale beat Hurstville 2-0 and Hakoah spurred Roosters 2-0 to allow Springwood, who thrashed Hawkesbury 5-1, to move within sight of a desired top-five berth. The finals race is wide open, as is the wooden spoon after Hakoah jumped to be a point behind Hawkesbury.
The points table shows Fairfield Bulls (35), Wanderers (33), Luddenham (31), Hurstville (30), Roosters (28), Springwood (28), Belmore (24), Prospect (24), Bathurst (22), Gazy (20), Hawkesbury (13) and Hakoah (12).
On the goalscoring front with four rounds to go:
14 goals: Niram Kanoun (Fairfield),
12: Khaled Elkerhani (Fairfield),
11: Michael Di Meglio (Hurstville),
10: Elias Navarrete (Wanderers), Ercan Topal (Roosters), Michael Amed (Gazy),
8: Bryan Campbell (Springwood), Jarred Portegies (Bathurst), Huso Merdanovic (Gazy),
7: Michael Wood (Luddenham), Peter Henderson (Springwood), Paul Curjak (Prospect), James Christie (Bathurst),
6: Mauricio Sanchez (Wanderers), George Iliopoulos (Belmore), Rob Portelli (Prospect), Josh Morgenstern (Hakoah),
5: Alaa Ali Khan (Fairfield), Emmanuel Papageorgiou (Hurstville), Angelo Vagenas (Hurstville), Luis Freitas (Prospect), Joliyan Berhko (Gazy), Kelston George (Hawkesbury),
Bulls blitz Prospect
Can anyone stop the runaway Bulls as Fairfield conjured up another dominating display, this time a 3-0 victory over Prospect United on Saturday evening, to move one more step closer to the 2010 minor premiership. It is the seventh time in nine weeks that Fairfield has produced three or more goals.
It was all Fairfield early on in front of a strong police presence at William Lawson Reserve, as an injury-ravaged Prospect struggled to stay in the match, especially after Niram Kanoun opened the scoring with a well taken chance midway through the first half.
Kanoun doubled the advantage with a second goal, his 14th of the season, putting the Bulls 2-0 up and Sargon Georges finished the game off with a superb injury time poach. Fairfield?s strike force trio of Kanoun, Kahled Elkerhani (12 goals) and Alaa Ali Khan (5) is proving a handful for opposition defences and coach Michael Mamoo is delighted.
?It was another convincing win,? he said. ?Prospect had a couple of chances and hit the post twice, but they looked understrength and our attack [Elkerhani, Ali Khan, Kanoun] was just too much for them to handle. [On the minor premiership race] We?re trying to take it one week at a time as we still have a tough run home [Bathurst, Wanderers, Springwood away before Luddenham at home].?
Prospect coach Tony Caruso said it was all uphill from the moment the Bulls scored. ?Unfortunately we hit the bar and hit the post; Fairfield are a very good outfit and closed us down really well. It didn?t help having a lot of injuries,? he said. ?The players know that it?s still possible [a mathematical chance of making the finals], so we?ll be going for it every week and give it our best shot for the club.?
Prospect United 0 Fairfield Bulls 3 (Niram Kanoun 28/54m Sargon Georges 92m)
Grade 20: Prospect United 0 Fairfield Bulls 1
Springwood smash Hawkesbury
A two-week goal bonanza has Springwood United breathing down the top-five necks after their scintillating 5-1 defeat of Hawkesbury City at Benson Lane Field on Saturday evening. If their 4-1 win over Bathurst last week broke the shackles, then Springwood?s demolition of a hapless Hawkesbury was a warning shot across the bow of the five teams still ahead of them on the ladder.
City showed plenty of fire early on and snuck into the lead behind an eighth minute goal to Keiran Kerr, Hawkesbury?s 11 goalscorer for the season. But their joy was shortlived as Peter Henderson started his scoring spree midway through the half to take the two sides into the break at 1-1.
K Davies added a second for United seven minutes after the restart before Henderson scored his second for the day four minutes later and the visitors were suddenly 3-1 up and cruising. Bryan Campbell?s eighth goal of the year pushed Springwood further ahead and Henderson completed his hat-trick just seconds before full-time to round out a 5-1 victory.
United coach Errol Warwick-Day called their fifth away win of the year a good result. ?I?d like to say we?re getting it together up the front. We?ve been working on that over the last month, and we?re finally seeing some results on the field,? he said.
?Of course we?d like to keep this going. Fielding the same squad helps and everyone pulled up pretty fit, so there?s no reason we shouldn?t do well again next week. We?ll go over a few things at training and try to make some more improvements. We?re still aiming to make the semi-finals; that?s been our plan all along.?
Successive 4-1 and 5-1 results has seen Springwood score a third of their season total in the last fortnight, however, Henderson?s hat-trick is, curiously, only the third of the year in second division. Hawkesbury?s Kelston George grabbed a three-goal haul against Wanderers in round two and Roosters skipper Ercan Topal?s also scored three times against Hakoah in round seven.
Hawkesbury City 1 (Keiran Kerr 8m) Springwood United 5 (Peter Henderson 24/56/89m K Davies 52m Bryan Campbell 87m)
Grade 20: Hawkesbury City 4 Springwood United 1
Wanderers pip Bathurst
A second half bomb from Mauricio Sanchez helped Wanderers past Bathurst ?75 1-0 at Alec Lamberton Field on Saturday night. It was a good showing from Bathurst, but Wanderers proved far too good overall and probably should have knocked a few more in as they moved into second place on the ladder.
It was the seventh time Bathurst had been held scoreless in an inconsistent season and their third loss on the trot could have all but sealed their finals demise. On the flip side, Wanderers have not conceded a goal in four matches and have now won six of their last seven fixtures to develop some good momentum. Sanchez?s sizzler was his sixth goal of the year.
Wanderers coach Walter Alvarez was happy with the outcome. ?It?s always tough going to Bathurst but we got the result we wanted in the end,? he said. ?I thought we played better in the first half and definitely deserved more, but it didn?t happen. In the second half we kept trying and got a good long range shot in. Bathurst pushed up after that and put some pressure on us, but we dealt with it well.?
Bathurst ?75 0 Fairfield Wanderers 1 (Mauricio Sanchez 70m)
Grade 20: Bathurst ?75 0 Fairfield Wanderers 2
Belmore, Luddenham draw
Belmore Hercules were gallant against a solid Luddenham United at Blick Oval on Sunday afternoon, a Peter Andriopoulos wonder-blast from a long way out securing a 1-1 draw. It was the first goal of the year for Andriopoulos (Belmore?s 12th goalscorer) and cancelled out an Angelo Martino free-kick for Luddenham in the first half.
The shared points was a good result for Belmore, who have looked a little shaky lately after a superb mid-season run. They are still in the running for a finals berth but face a daunting fortnight ahead, with games against top-five sides Roosters and Hurstville.
United maintained their healthy away record, registering four wins and three draws from nine matches on the road this season. Coach Andrew Montgomery was pleased with his team?s performance but doubted anyone would catch the league-leading Bulls. Fairfield and Luddenham clash in the final round.
?It was another match we dominated, but their goal was a cracker ? 35 yards out into the top corner, nothing you could do about it,? he said. ?[On the minor premiership race] Mate, no-one?s going to beat the Fairfield Bulls, no matter how hard they try. They are by far the best team in the league at the moment. Making the finals is still a good bonus for the club [Luddenham].?
Belmore Hercules 1 (Peter Andriopoulos 33m) Luddenham United 1 (Angelo Martino 25m)
Grade 20: Belmore Hercules 2 Luddenham 0
Hakoah topple Roosters
Hakoah threw the wooden spoon race wide open with a thrilling 2-0 defeat of Roosters FC at Wentworth Park on Sunday afternoon. Jeremy Brodie provided well for Josh Morgenstern to open the scoring and Ricki Friede finished off an Andrew Kanchik cross five minutes before the end to lift Hakoah to just their second victory of the season.
The Roosters thrashed Hakoah 7-0 in their round seven match-up, so the 2-0 win was a terrific turnaround from a club with only pride left to play for. Coach Paul Watkins said the performance was quite good. ?Our boys kept their shape really well? I think they enjoyed playing today, which contributed to the overall performance,? he said. ?We?re improving every week; we always knew we were better than where we were on the table.?
The Roosters have now won just twice in 10 rounds following an eight match unbeaten sequence to start the season. Their finals spot is now in serious jeopardy, with a rampant Springwood nipping at their heels.
Hakoah 2 (Josh Morgenstern 2m Ricki Friede 84m) Roosters FC 0
Grade 20: Hakoah 3 Roosters FC 4
Gazy upset Hurstville
Gazy Lansvale showed plenty of pride in their shock 2-0 win over Hurstville City Minotaurs at Cherrybrook Park on Sunday afternoon. Out of the finals race and away from wooden spoon danger the Gazy players could almost be forgiven for not showing up for the remainder of the season, but they played with resolve and soaked up a lot of Hurstville pressure to grind out a fine result.
Lansvale goals in each half ? to Mohamad Fayad and Michael Amed (his ninth of the season) ? was enough to beat a Hurstville side that fluffed a string of opportunities in front of goal. Minotaurs coach Peter Sarikakis was succinct. ?They had a chance in each half and scored twice, we had 7-8 chances and scored none ? it?s very simple,? he said. ?[Gazy] had nothing to play for and did very well. Of course I?m disappointed; we dominated the whole game and missed chance after chance after chance.?
Gazy Lansvale 2 (Mohamad Fayad 24m Michael Amed 76m) Hurstville City Minotaurs 0
Grade 20: Gazy Lansvale 1 Hurstville City Minotaurs 2
Round 18 results
First grade
Hawkesbury City 1 (Keiran Kerr 8m) Springwood United 5 (Peter Henderson 24/56/89m K Davies 52m Bryan Campbell 87m)
Prospect United 0 Fairfield Bulls 3 (Niram Kanoun 28/54m Sargon Georges 92m)
Bathurst ?75 0 Fairfield Wanderers 1 (Mauricio Sanchez 70m)
Belmore Hercules 1 (Peter Andriopoulos 33m) Luddenham United 1 (Angelo Martino 25m)
Gazy Lansvale 2 (Mohamad Fayad 24m Michael Amed 76m) Hurstville City Minotaurs 0
Hakoah 2 (Josh Morgenstern 2m Ricki Friede 84m) Roosters FC 0
Grade 20
Hawkesbury City 4 Springwood United 1
Prospect United 0 Fairfield Bulls 1
Bathurst ?75 0 Fairfield Wanderers 2
Belmore Hercules 2 Luddenham 0
Gazy Lansvale 1 Hurstville City Minotaurs 2
Hakoah 3 Roosters FC 4
Next week?s games
Round 19 of State League division two has three Saturday fixtures, Hawkesbury City against Gazy Lansvale at Benson Lane Field (5pm kick-off), Bathurst ?75 versus Fairfield Bulls at Alec Lamberton Field (7pm), and Springwood United play Wanderers at Summerhayes Park (7pm). On Sunday afternoon (3pm kick-offs), Hurstville City Minotaurs tackle Hakoah at Belmore Sports Ground, Luddenham United meet Prospect United at Luddenham Oval, and Roosters FC take on Belmore Hercules at Mona Park.
