State League Two Preliminary Final Review
Hurstville emerged 4-1 victors when the dust had settled following a titanic last-gasp struggle in the preliminary final and will now face Fairfield Bulls in both grand finals (at Jensen Park this Sunday) after the young Minotaurs disposed of Wanderers in the grade-20 prelim final to cap off a great day for the Hurstville club.
It was a tentative start from both sides to Sunday?s match and the battle unfolded mostly in the middle of the park, but Hurstville could have taken an early lead had golden boot Michael Di Meglio?s strike gone an inch the other side of the crossbar while Luddenham had a Michael Wood goal disallowed for offside. As it was a 0-0 stalemate at halftime made for an electric feel in the second term, especially as United looked to have opened the scoring when Saula Matayola outjumped the Minotaurs keeper on a ricochet to head into goal, but the referee raised his arm upfield for a free kick instead.
The tension finally broke just after the hour mark when Stefano Marconi slid in between the United keeper and the wall to head in a Hurstville free-kick, but their joy was shortlived as Luke Stanowski stepped up to score his first goal of the year with his first touch as a substitute for Luddenham to level the scores just minutes later. Stanowski?s perfectly timed run to the edge of the penalty area to finish off Michael Woods? effort to meet two defenders resulted in a superb goal for United.
The Minotaurs grabbed the ascendancy with 15 minutes to go when Di Meglio sent a beautiful pass from Angelo Vagenas in front of Nick Goumis to smash in and restore Hurstville?s lead, forcing Luddenham to push forward. Di Meglio then took advantage of the extra space in the United defensive half to score two super goals, outpacing his marker on both occasions and finishing off with great control to seal an emphatic 4-1 victory. The Minotaurs gun has now scored a staggering 21 goals for the season, seven ahead of his nearest rivals, Fairfield duo Niram Kanoun and Khaled ELkerhani.
The win did come at a cost for Hurstville, who will be nursing several players through injuries this week, but Minotaurs coach Peter Sarikakis said he was happy with the way his players responded to his call to beat Luddenham?s big defenders by playing the ball on the ground. ?I told them to keep it simple as I wasn?t happy that they weren?t following my instructions in the first half,? he said. ?When they did they scored four goals and perhaps should have got more.?
Sarikakis said the double victory, with first grade following up the earlier grade-20 victory to reach both grand finals against Fairfield, had created a great feeling of togetherness within the club. ?After the game we had bongo drums [in the change rooms] and there was plenty of singing and it was good to see the boys so happy? it?s nice to part of the Minotaur family,? he said.
Luddenham coach Andrew Montgomery was notably deflated after a match he thought his team should have won. ?We made Hurstville look second rate at times ? it?s still good for the club [finishing a highly respectable third] but it?s a hollow result coming this far and dominating a side and not going through to the grand final,? he said.
It took a couple of minutes before Montgomery?s fighting spirit came out. ?We?ll just have to come back and be stronger next year and wrap the league up earlier in the season,? he said. ?Honestly, I couldn?t ask anything more of the guys; they are a great bunch of guys and we?ll start it all again with pre-season in November,? he said. As for a tip for next week?s final: ?Bulls to win by six!?
Hurstville City Minotaurs 4 (Stefano Marconi 68m Nicholas Goumis 76m Michael Di Meglio 80/87m) Luddenham United 1 (Luke Stanowski 70m)
Grade-20: Hurstville City Minotaurs 3 Wanderers FC 1
2010 State League Two Grand Final
The 2010 division two grand final will be held at Jensen Park on Sunday afternoon.
First grade: Fairfield Bulls vs Hurstville City Minotaurs (3pm)
Grade-20: Fairfield Bulls vs Hurstville City Minotaurs (12.30pm)
-By Daniel De Nardi