State League Two Round 21 Review
Fairfield, Luddenham and Wanderers are all still in the running to win the trophy most consistent team over the entire season, while Hurstville can also steal a top-three spot should one of the top trio falter in this weekend?s final round.
The action continues mid-table with four sides (Roosters, Springwood, Gazy, Belmore) fighting for fifth position and a chance at finals football. Crazily, Roosters can even manage a top-three finish should results go their way this weekend, or finish eighth if they don?t. Throw in the fact that Wanderers, Roosters, Springwood and Belmore have midweek catch-up games to play and you have a meltdown in trying to pick the top-five in order.
What is guaranteed, however, is that Bathurst will finish third from the bottom following their 4-1 capitulation to Roosters, Hawkesbury will be behind them after a sensational 1-1 draw with Belmore, and Hakoah has been handed the division two wooden spoon following a 5-1 surrender to an impressive Gazy Lansvale.
Springwood stayed in finals contention following a courageous 1-1 draw with Fairfield, who moved to the front of the competition via a midweek 2-1 win over Bathurst. The Bulls jumped Luddenham on the ladder after United drew 1-1 with third-placed Wanderers. Hurstville consolidated fourth spot on the ladder with a 3-0 rout of Prospect.
The points table shows Fairfield Bulls (39), Luddenham (38), Wanderers (37), Hurstville (36), Roosters (31), Springwood (29), Gazy (29), Belmore (28), Prospect (27), Bathurst (22), Hawkesbury (17) and Hakoah (12). With four catch-up games to figure into the contest, the run home is going to be a real humdinger.
It?s just as exciting on the goalscoring front with one round to go, with the top three shooters separated by just two strikes. A hat-trick from Hurstville ace Michael Di Meglio in a 3-0 romp over Prospect has shot him to the top of the charts with 15 successes in an impressive season (note: does not include scorers from the Hakoah catch-up match), leapfrogging Fairfield duo Niram Kanoun (14) and Khaled Elkerhani (13).
Roosters captain Ercan Topal (11) and Wanderers weapon Elias Navarrete (10) are both still in the running as they have an extra game to play this week, and the way Gazy are playing lately you wouldn?t discount Michael Amed (11) and Huso Merdanovic (10) from racking up a final round goal haul either. The tally to round 21 is:
15 goals: Michael Di Meglio (Hurstville),
14: Niram Kanoun (Fairfield),
13: Khaled Elkerhani (Fairfield),
11: Ercan Topal (Roosters), Michael Amed (Gazy),
10: Elias Navarrete (Wanderers), Huso Merdanovic (Gazy),
8: Bryan Campbell (Springwood), James Christie (Bathurst), Jarred Portegies (Bathurst),
7: Michael Wood (Luddenham), Peter Henderson (Springwood), George Iliopoulos (Belmore), Paul Curjak (Prospect),
6: Alaa Ali Khan (Fairfield), Mauricio Sanchez (Wanderers), Joliyan Berhko (Gazy), Luis Freitas (Prospect), Rob Portelli (Prospect), Edwin George (Hawkesbury), Josh Morgenstern (Hakoah),
5: Emmanuel Papageorgiou (Hurstville), Angelo Vagenas (Hurstville), Kelston George (Hawkesbury),
Hawkesbury, Belmore draw
Hawkesbury City has continued to be a thorn in State League division two sides, overwhelming Belmore Hercules but forced into a late 1-1 draw in their round 21 clash at Benson Lane Field on Saturday evening. The result mirrored their previous meeting?s scoreline but could have, and perhaps should have been a comfortable win to City had Belmore?s keeper and the woodwork not got in the way.
Hawkesbury came out with all guns blazing and looked impressive going forward but their shooting was a little astray as they hit the post on several occasions and fluffed a few other chances as well. But it was an outstanding performance from the Belmore goalkeeper that probably had the biggest impact on the score and he kept his team in it until team-mate Paul Paras pounced on a slip from the City fullback to slay one into the back of the net for an unlikely 1-0 Hercules lead with less than five minutes to play.
Hawkesbury weren?t done with and coach Gary Lewis threw everything forward in a last ditch effort to salvage something from the game. The moment of glory came in the dying seconds when Edwin George found himself unmarked in the box and he drilled home a cross to level the scores. The referee blew fulltime after awarding the goal to end a terrific game of football. George?s sixth strike of the season moved him one ahead of brother Kelston as the team?s highest scorer.
?If we didn?t get a point out of that it would have been an injustice,? Lewis said after the thrilling finish. ?We hit the post five times and their keeper made four unbelievable saves. We made one mistake and they?ve buried one of only a few scoring opportunities for them the whole game. Thankfully the pressure told in the end and we got the equaliser, but it was terribly frustrating.?
?It was good to see was in the change sheds afterwards the players comment on how much they enjoyed the game; they had got back to playing for fun. [When you don?t have much to play for] Going through the motions is no good at all, but they?re playing some good football at the moment and it should be interesting against Prospect next week.?
It was Belmore?s seventh draw of the season, a league high that could keep them from finals football, but it hasn?t deflated the Hercules muscle. Coach Ernesto Meduri called it another tough game. ?They play much better than us in the first half and we played better in the second half. They score the goal and fulltime is called, but we could have won,? he said. ?Still, we can do it [make the finals], just I have to win two games [Roosters away on Tuesday night, Gazy at home in next week?s final round] and that?s it.?
Hawkesbury City 1 (Edwin George 90m) Belmore Hercules 1 (Paul Paras 83m)
Grade 20: Hawkesbury City 2 Belmore Hercules 3
Springwood level with Fairfield
A 10-man Springwood United played out of their skins to claim a worthy 1-1 draw with Fairfield Bulls at Summerhayes Park on Sunday afternoon. In an even contest Fairfield finally wrestled the lead when Andrew Matloub pushed up from defence and slotted home the opener in the 80th minute. Springwood then lost a player to a second yellow card but showed tremendous character to find a late equaliser, Nathan King unleashing a contender for goal of the year from 25 yards out to grab a point for United.
The draw took the wind out of the Bulls sails a little as they surrendered a clear chance to place the minor premiership in their hands after they beat Bathurst 2-1 on Friday night to move into the championship lead. But Wanderers are two points adrift with a game in hand and could take the opening trophy, and possible promotion to division one, from their grasp in a frantic final weekend.
The draw did little for Springwood?s finals chances, too, save give them outside shot should fifth-placed Roosters stumble in their two games this week. United coach Errol Warwick-Day was still pleased with his side?s performance. ?I thought the boys did well to get that sort of result,? he said. ?We had a lot of chances to score and I think a draw was a fair result. We do have to rely on results now [to make the finals], so we are really just playing for ourselves, but we will still give it our best shot.?
Fairfield coach Michael Mamoo always knew Springwood would give them a good run for their money. ?I knew they would be desperate [for the points] and weren?t going to sit back,? he said. ?We had [leading goalscorers] Khaled Elkerhani and Niram Kanoun out [through injury and suspension] so we were understrength? and the draw really puts Wanderers in pole position [for the minor premiership]. We?ll just concentrate against Luddenham next week and see what happens.?
Springwood United 1 (Nathan King 88m) Fairfield Bulls 1 (Andrew Matloub 80m)
Grade 20: Springwood United 2 Fairfield Bulls 4
Roosters smack Bathurst
Roosters FC kept their finals motors running with a convincing 4-1 defeat of Bathurst ?75 at Lidcombe Oval on Sunday afternoon. The result buried Bathurst for this year and helped put the Roosters? 2010 campaign back on track; it was just their third win in almost three months. A double to Adem Taslak and a goal to Orhan Ince put the home side to a commanding 3-0 position before Bathurst?s James Christie snuck one in before halftime to keep his side in it. It was all one way traffic in the second half and a fourth goal to Oliver Omari sealed the victory for Roosters.
Bathurst ?75 coach Mark Rooke knew Friday night?s efforts against Fairfield Bulls (a gutsy 2-1 loss) would take a toll on his players but was still a little disappointed with the lackluster display. ?I think the boys were flat from Friday night and it is always a tough road trip, but no excuses, we were terrible,? he said. ?We just haven?t scored enough goals at the right time [lowest goal yield in the competition at 21 goals in 21 games, and a league worst eight games scoreless], and that?s been our problem all year.?
The win places Roosters in a pretty good position to cement fifth spot on the ladder. They are two points in front of Springwood, three ahead of Belmore and have a game in hand ? a crunch match against Hercules on Tuesday night. If Roosters win they make the top-five, lose and they face a do-or-die fixture against title-holders Wanderers in the final round. If Roosters lose both fixtures they could finish as low as eighth such is the tightness of the competition.
Incredibly, Ince has become the 16th player on the Roosters roster to score a goal this season. While skipper Ercan Topal has stood tall up front, poaching 11 goals, coach Harry Tsironis must be pleased with the fantastic contributions from the players around him. Nine players have scored more than one goal. The teams with the next best contributions are Belmore and Hawkesbury with 12 goalscorers, while Bathurst has the lowest turnover, Corey Adair becoming the team?s sixth scorer with a goal against Fairfield on Friday.
Roosters FC 4 (Adem Taslak 7/19m Orhan Ince 18m Oliver Omari 86m) Bathurst ?75 1 (James Christie 28m)
Grade 20: Roosters FC 4 Bathurst ?75 1
Luddenham and Wanderers stalemate
When the dust had cleared at Luddenham Oval on Sunday afternoon, top-three combatants Luddenham United and Wanderers had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Luis Ascalante?s 73rd minute strike cancelled Steve Urosevski?s neat header for Luddenham 20 minutes earlier to give Wanderers a handy competition point; they are two points from leaders Fairfield but with a catch-up game against Springwood to play on Thursday night.
Luddenham coach Andrew Montgomery believed his side should have won with a lead inside the closing 20 minutes of play. ?I thought we were absolutely all over them,? he said. ?Their goal [looked a little dubious and might have been offside and could have been handballed before it was squared across and slotted it]. I feel bad for the guys because we dominated Wanderers. We were aiming for promotion but to be in the semis is a great consolation. It should be a great game against Fairfield next week.?
Wanderers coach Walter Alvarez saw the game a little differently but is concentrating on the two games (Springwood on Thursday, Roosters next weekend) that could help see the club promoted to division one for 2011. ?I thought it started off even but that we controlled the game in the first half,? he said. ?They play hard for the ball and are a strong team but all Luddenham do is hit the ball up in the air and chase it; it makes it difficult for us because we like to play with the ball on the ground. [Regarding the trophy] It will be a tough week for sure as we still have to deliver if we want the minor premiership.?
Fairfield Wanderers 1 (Luis Ascalante 73m) Luddenham United 1 (Steven Urosevski 52m)
Grade 20: Fairfield Wanderers 2 Luddenham United 1
Gazy thump Hakoah
The boys at Gazy Lansvale can surely take a bow as they continued their inspirational run with a 5-1 thrashing of Hakoah at Cherrybrook Park on Sunday afternoon. A barrage of goals from Mohamad Fayad, Huso Merdanovic, Joliyan Berhko and Michael Amed had Gazy 4-0 up before Hakoah pulled one back through Mark Robertson midway through the second half. Rising Lansvale talent Donald Odesho made sealed an emphatic victory with a fifth and final goal soon after, effectively completing a 10-goal turnaround from their 5-0 defeat to Hakoah last month.
Gazy?s fourth win on the trot probably won?t be enough for them to make the finals in the end ? they have to win against Belmore next week and hope Roosters and Springwood both stuff up in their final games ? but they have certainly won plenty of admirers for the way they have turned their fortunes around in the past month. And the person they have most impressed is their coach, Safet Alispahic.
?If you work hard, something can happen,? he said with a raspy voice after the game. ?I am not worried [about the finals]; we are going from game from game, we have one more to go and can?t lose anything. The players have already proved to me they have character; we might miss out by a point or two but I am satisfied because we now know that we should have been in a better position on the table. It would be good to have just one more game this season. Giving five back against Hakoah was also big satisfaction.?
Alispahic made special mention of Odesho, an 18-year-old who started the year on the roster as the team?s third-choice goalkeeper. After not getting much of a run, Odesho was tried out in defence in the grade-20 competition before a training run a couple of weeks ago, where Alispahic saw the gifted player press forward, elevated him to a forward spot. An outstanding goal against Springwood last week landed Odesho a spot on the first grade bench against Hakoah this week and he got his chance with 20 minutes to play. Needless to say, right spot, right time, goal, and Odesho may be a name to watch out for in the future.
Unfortunately for Hakoah coach Paul Watkins the division two wooden spoon for 2010 now belongs to a club regarded as a founding establishment for the round-ball game in Australia. It certainly has been a disruptive year for Hakoah for a variety of reasons but you can bet that will bounce back bigger and better next year and return glory to the club.
Gazy Lansvale 5 (Mohamad Fayad 36m Huso Merdanovic 44m Joliyan Berhko 52m Michael Amed 59m Donald Odesho 78m) Hakoah 1 (Mark Robertson 74m)
Grade 20: Gazy Lansvale 2 Hakoah 0
Hurstville hammer Prospect
A hat-trick from dynamo and good luck charm Michael Di Meglio saw Hurstville City Minotaurs past Prospect United 3-0 at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon. Di Meglio scored in the 13th, 24th and 74th minute to end Prospect?s finals aspirations and place Hurstville in a very interesting position. The Minotaurs are fourth on the ladder but could finish as high as second if they win and Luddenham and Wanderers inexplicably choke, but Hurstville could lose a home game in the first week of the finals if they lose against Bathurst this weekend and the Roosters win both of their remaining matches.
Minotaurs coach Peter Sarikakis thought his team could still be playing better. ?It was alright, a win is a win,? he said. ?It secured us a spot in the semis and might get us into the top-three, so we are still playing for something. But we should have had at least five goals and could have relaxed a bit more.? He couldn?t ask more of Di Meglio; Hurstville have now won 10 of the 11 games he has scored in this year.
Prospect coach Tony Caruso would have loved a bit more luck on his side this year. ?We just hit a brick wall and couldn?t recover from it,? he said. ?To the boys? credit we?ve been playing good football but the final pass or final shot hasn?t turned out for us. The boys won?t let their determination drop for the final game [against Hawkesbury].?
And in a gracious act that virtually sums up the healthy spirit of the division two competition as well as how tight it has been in 2010, Caruso passed on his good will to the top-five combatants. ?I?d just like to wish all the clubs and coaches the very best of luck in the finals. It?s been a tough competition this year and all five participants deserve to be there,? he said.
Hurstville City Minotaurs 3 (Michael Di Meglio 13/24/74m) Prospect United 0
Grade 20: Hurstville City Minotaurs 2 Prospect United 2
Round 21 results
First grade
Hawkesbury City 1 (Edwin George 90m) Belmore Hercules 1 (Paul Paras 83m)
Hurstville City Minotaurs 3 (Michael Di Meglio 13/24/74m) Prospect United 0
Gazy Lansvale 5 (Mohamad Fayad 36m Huso Merdanovic 44m Joliyan Berhko 52m Michael Amed 59m Donald Odesho 78m) Hakoah 1 (Mark Robertson 74m)
Fairfield Wanderers 1 (Luis Ascalante 73m) Luddenham United 1 (Steven Urosevski 52m)
Roosters FC 4 (Adem Taslak 7/19m Orhan Ince 18m Oliver Omari 86m) Bathurst ?75 1 (James Christie 28m)
Springwood United 1 (Nathan King 88m) Fairfield Bulls 1 (Andrew Matloub 80m)
Rescheduled game
Round 19: Bathurst ?75 1 (Corey Adair 80m) Fairfield Bulls 2 (Khaled Elkerhani 44m Alaa Ali Khan 50m)
Grade 20
Hawkesbury City 2 Belmore Hercules 3
Hurstville City Minotaurs 2 Prospect United 2
Gazy Lansvale 2 Hakoah 0
Fairfield Wanderers 2 Luddenham United 1
Roosters FC 4 Bathurst ?75 1
Springwood United 2 Fairfield Bulls 4
Rescheduled game
Round 19: Bathurst ?75 0 Fairfield Bulls 5
Next week?s games
Round 22 of State League division two of course sees all matches played simultaneously on Sunday afternoon (3pm kick-offs). Bathurst ?75 host Hurstville City Minotaurs at Alec Lamberton Field, Belmore Hercules meet Gazy Lansvale at Blick Oval, Springwood United face Hakoah at Hensley Athletic Field, Prospect United welcome Hawkesbury City to William Lawson Reserve, while Fairfield Bulls tackle Luddenham United and Wanderers play Roosters FC, both at Knight Park.
-By Daniel De Nardi
