State League Division 2 Round 3 Review
Hawkesbury won 2-1 in Bathurst to top the leaderboard, Roosters battled back bravely to beat Northbridge 4-3, while Springwood and Hakoah drew 2-2 and Hurstville scored a last-minute goal to consign Chopin Park to its third successive 1-1 stalemate. In all, an explosive 31 goals were scored over the seven matches, the highest division two round total since 2009?s shenanigans.
Prospect pummel Nepean
Three goals in a 10-minute avalanche helped Prospect United demolish Nepean 4-0 in an entertaining affair at William Lawson Reserve on Saturday evening. A bit of luck and a red card also aided Prospect?s cause in what was an evenly matched game for the first 50 minutes. Both teams had chances to impress early and only some terrific goalkeeping, particularly from Nepean keeper Jeremy Lawrence, and stubborn defence kept the scoreline at 0-0 for 60 minutes ? but then the game turned on its head.
With Prospect on the break five minutes into the second half, Nepean fullback Brayden Hunter brought down Luis Freitas as he was heading towards the penalty area and was duly sent off for being the last defender. The United striker picked himself up off the pitch, pulled up his socks and edged a shot off the tip of the wall that bounced over the Nepean keeper and into goal for the opening score. It didn?t take long for Prospect to consolidate their advantage with Paul Curjak and Luke Isbister netting twice more in a frantic 10-minute period, and another goal from Freitas in the 70th minute completed a 4-0 rout for the home side.
Interestingly, United only managed to find seven goalscorers in their side for the entire 2010 season (the second lowest yield in the league) ? they?ve already found four in two games this year.
Prospect coach Tony Caruso was pleased to get his first win of the year but thanked the football gods for smiling over him. ?We got a little bit of luck today with the bounce of the ball? up until the sending off it was a well balanced game,? he said. ?Nepean moved the ball around really well and there were some great saves from both goalkeepers. In the end I was very happy with the way we finished off our chances, but the scoreline doesn?t reflect the closeness of the game. [And to an undefeated start to the year] So far so good.?
It was Nepean?s first loss of the season and coach Carlos Camacho remained diplomatic about the crucial send-off of Hunter. ?It was quite unfortunate as it was a very well balanced game. Both teams held possession and created a similar amount of chances. Unfortunately it [the send-off] turned the game,? he said. ?But we have a young defence and it?s good experience for them to try and adjust in those circumstances. I have to give the other team credit; they played a great tactical game after the send-off against 10 men. The match was played in good spirits.?
?It?s always hard after a defeat but I think it?s really important to learn from your mistakes and improve. You always get your turn eventually. Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson said that in the darkness you can see the stars and I think this is where we can take a good look at ourselves and see where we can go from here. I truly believe we?ll be hitting our straps in the next 4-5 weeks, but it will come with hard work.?
Prospect United 4 (Luis Freitas 50/70m Paul Curjak 52m Luke Ibister 54m) Nepean FC 0
Reserve grade: Prospect United 3 Nepean FC 2
Hawkesbury down Bathurst
Pack a swag and hit the road for Hawkesbury City have done it again away from home, this time dismantling a solid effort from Bathurst ?75 2-1 at Alec Lamberton Field on Saturday night. Hawkesbury, who beat Hurstville in round one, can thank a sloppy Bathurst defence for their first goal when Hakan Celic pilfered the ball and slotted home nicely around?75 keeper Chris Moase for the opening score on six-minutes.
But Bathurst bounced back and pressed up the pitch to get themselves back into the game, a Ricky Guihot freekick ricocheting into the back of the net off City midfielder Tony Judge to level scores up before the half-hour mark. The home side was probably unlucky not to grab another goal soon after and they were left to rue their missed chance after the break when halftime substitute Rhys Alchin slammed home a rebounded corner kick within minutes of the restart to send Hawkesbury back into the lead, which they managed to hold onto until fulltime.
City coach Gary Lewis was understandably delighted to win his second game away from home to start the year. ?It?s always tough going to Bathurst. They?re a strong, physical side and hard to break down, and they can also be quite mobile and play on a lot of confidence, so I?m extremely pleased with the outcome,? he said. ?I think the good start to the season goes back to the depth in the squad. We?ve had to field different teams each week and every player is still performing so, yeah, I?m quite happy with how things are going.?
Bathurst coach Mark Rooke knew his team could still offer more. ?We had quite a few half-chances, but it was disappointing we didn?t create more genuine ones,? he said. ?Hawkesbury controlled the match a little bit more after their second goal. For us it?s about learning and, being a young side, we just need to be more consistent if we want to figure in anything at the end of the year. Credit to Hawkesbury though, they came up here and scored a couple of goals for the win.?
Hawkesbury City 2 (Hakan Celik 6m Rhys Alchin 47m) Bathurst ?75 1 (Ricky Guihot 28m)
Reserve grade: Hawkesbury City 2 Bathurst ?75 0
Springwood, Hakoah epic draw
Springwood United played brilliantly to hold heavyweights Hakoah to a 2-2 draw at Summerhayes Park on Saturday night. Hakoah may have smashed Luddenham 6-1 last week, but the home side was quicker out of the blocks, scoring first after 15-minutes when a pinpoint Peter Henderson cross found Craig Small?s head for the opening goal. Their joy was shortlived, however, as a Hakoah freekick was only partially cleared and a second lofted pass found its intended target in Marc Kanen to restore parity in the 20th minute.
Hakoah were a menace all game, especially from set pieces, and it took some staunch action from United keeper Geoff Abrahams to keep all of their raids at bay. But Springwood went ahead again just before halftime, Henderson again the provider as his pass in floated dreamily behind team-mate Craig Small who, with his back to goal, volleyed home superbly to make it 2-1 at halftime. With plenty of goalmouth action at both ends it was another Hakoah freekick that drew them level a second time 10 minutes into the second half, Adam Joseph netting to tie proceedings up at 2-2. Both keepers proved their worth in a thrilling encounter, fulltime blowing with the scores unchanged.
Springwood coach Errol Warwick-Day didn?t want to give too much away in his match synopsis. ?After watching them, a 2-2 draw was a good result for us. They?re a very good team and it could?ve gone either way. Geoff [Abrahams] pulled out 2-3 match winning saves for us and their keeper [Adam Sonnabend] parried one onto the post,? he said. ?We have some quiet confidence in our own ability. I know we should be competitive against every team, that?s our aim, and this match see-sawed both ways.?
?We knew Hakoah were a completely different team to last year and I think the players gave them their due respect. They have a well-structured game plan and at halftime I told the boys that we had to play a similar style. They are very, very good at their set pieces. They target the far post, not just for the goal but for another headed ball back across the goal, and they caused a lot of trouble in that area? but I don?t want to give too much away and spoil it for the other coaches.?
It was the third year in a row that Hakoah has grabbed points at Summerhayes but fill-in coach Alex Robertson was disappointed not to come away with another victory. ?I think we missed quite a few chances to be honest and dominated most of the game. Their keeper [Abrahams] had a couple of excellent saves, so I see it more as a point dropped than a point gained,? he said. ?But travelling all the way from the eastern suburbs to the Blue Mountains on a cold, wet Saturday night and coming away with a point isn?t too bad.?
Springwood 2 (Matt Salmon 15m Craig Small 42m) Hakoah 2 (Marc Kacen 20m Adam Joseph 54m)
Reserve grade: Springwood 2 Hakoah 1
Luddenham trounce Wanderers
Luddenham United bounced back into the winners circle in emphatic fashion in a 4-1 demolition of Fairfield Wanderers at Knight Park Sunday afternoon. It was a terrible display from an unusually quiet Wanderers outfit as United rode rampant throughout the majority of the match, turning a one goal halftime deficit into a three-goal victory to erase any memory of last week?s 6-1 loss to Hakoah.
United were dominant without reward from the opening whistle but were left shellshocked and red-faced when one of Fairfield?s rare runs upfield resulted in a freekick a minute out from halftime. Up stepped Mauricio Sanchez 20m out from goal and he delivered a real humdinger of a strike that didn?t stop until it hit the back of the net for an unlikely halftime lead to the Wanderers.
Some reassuring words from Luddenham coach Andrew Montgomery at the break had the desired effect as Ercan Topal beat two players and cut towards the penalty area, sending the ball into the path of Huso Merdanovic, who faked and watched a defender slide by before pulling the trigger on a beauty of an equaliser with 20 minutes still to play. The sharpshooter ? in his first game back following last year?s late suspension ? was in the thick of the action again when he peeled off his defender from a throw-in and laid the ball into the box for Dujon Webster to score in the top right-hand corner.
With time running out United made sure of the win in spectacular fashion when midfielder Angelo Martino nutmegged a defender and crossed the ball to the far post edge of box for Michael Wood to volley in a side-on scissor kick to make it 3-1, and the dynamic duo paired up again for the final goal when Martino beat two players and again slid the ball into Wood to slam home in injury time. Luddenham have beaten Wanderers twice in a row at Knight Park following last year?s 2-1 win in the elimination semi-final.
Montgomery dipped his hat to a great team performance. ?[At halftime] I reinforced to them to not get frustrated [with the missed opportunities] and to stick to the way we were playing and we would come over the top of them,? he said. ?I expected more out of them [Fairfield] but we just didn?t give them the ball today, We dictated the play and I was ecstatic that we showed that killer instinct; it was great positive signs for us and proved last week?s result was a blip,? he said. ?A lot of the players were quite embarrassed about last week?s performance [6-1 loss to Hakoah] and I thought several were outstanding.?
Wanderers coach Leo Maturana was succinct. ?We just didn?t turn up to play in that second half. The game plan went out of the window and we played silly football. They got on top of us and played really well,? he said. ?We will take what positives we can and work on the negatives; I think once we control the game by having the ball, we?ll do okay. We?ll be alright and will use this as motivation to do better next time.?
Fairfield Wanderers FC 1 (Mauricio Sanchez 44m) Luddenham United 4 (Huso Merdanovic 69m Dujon Webster 73m Michael Wood 88/90m)
Reserve grade: Fairfield Wanderers 3 Luddenham United 2
Chopin Park draw with Hurstville
Hurstville City Minotaurs got their first point of the year while Chopin Park Rams had to endure a third successive draw when their match ended 1-1 at Chopin Park on Sunday afternoon. The home side started briskly and were rewarded in the 23rd minute when Matthew Pritchard waltzed past three defenders and laid the ball off to Henry Martinez to shrug off a defender and smash the ball into the top right hand corner for the game?s opening goal.
Hurstville struggled to get back into the game ? Haissan Morhi kicking straight at the Rams keeper in a one-on-one before Alex Obeid headed the ball out from in front of goal ? and it took a halftime rev-up from The General Peter Sarikakis to get his players motivated. But they left the equaliser pretty late when substitute Nick Andreou?s clashing header found the back of the net in stoppage time after a series of attacking raids on the Chopin Park goal.
Rams coach Radek Czerwinski wasn?t happy his players let slip a game-winning position a third time in a row. ?I thought we were all over them the whole game as they didn?t really test our keeper,? he said. ?We could have put more goals in and had three chances in second half to seal the win but didn?t do that. The only positive from a third draw in a row in games that we have dominated is that we have proved we can be competitive.?
Sarikakis happily took the point with star striker Michael di Meglio missing in action. ?We had a terrible first half and I went wild at them [the players] at halftime. We attacked a lot more in the second half and they defended quite well, so it was a bit rewarding to get a goal and get a point. A draw is not as good as a win but I?m happy we came back and put the effort in and I think we can build on that. We?re not playing good soccer yet.?
Chopin Park 1 (Henry Martinez 23m) Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 (Nick Andreou 92m)
Reserve grade: Chopin Park 1 Hurstville City Minotaurs 3
Roosters peck Northbridge
Roosters stormed home to steal a thrilling 4-3 victory over Northbridge at a bubbly Hills Sports High on Sunday afternoon on the back of a leading performance from player-coach Musti Akca. The visitors got off to a solid start when Daniel Hillege caught the Roosters defence flatfooted and scored the game?s opener on seven minutes only for Akca to fire in a scorcher from the top of the penalty area to restore parity 10 minutes later. The applause had only just dead down when Hillege answered back with another goal from a neat through ball from the midfield and the fans knew they had a game on their hands.
Northbridge came out firing again in the second half and increased their lead when Ry Hardy headed home from a freekick 10 minutes after the restart before a double Roosters substitution (bringing on wingers Gurkan Girgin and Perin Emik) reaped immediate dividends. With a quarter-hour to play, Akca looped a nice ball over the top for new signing Baturay Akin (from Rockdale) to whip past the Northbridge keeper, and Hulisi Orhan equalised minutes later via a header from a set-piece to lock the game up at 3-3.
But just as the game looked headed for a draw up bobbed Akin again, running perfectly onto a beautiful lob from Girgin and coolly slicing it into the top right hand corner for what proved to be the match-winning goal. It was an incredible comeback from Roosters, who broke a two game losing streak to claim the club?s first win this year.
Akca was relieved the Roosters had broken their duck in such admirable circumstances. ?At halftime [down 2-1] everyone was looking at everyone else?s faces and asking how badly we really wanted it. We believed in ourselves and played on top of them in the second half,? he said. ?Our substitutions on both sides of the ground [Girgin and Emik] came in fresh and had a big impact, and we finally played the football we wanted to. We were under pressure going into the match but the boys knew this is where we were going to bounce back.?
Roosters FC 4 (Musti Akca 18m Hulisi Orhan 77m Baturay Akin 82/84m) Northbridge FC 3 (Daniel Hillege 7/18m Ry Hardy 56m)
Reserve grade: Roosters FC 1 Northbridge FC 2
Gazy stave off Belmore
Gazy Lansvale were too good for Belmore Hercules, winning 4-2 at Cherrybrook Park on Sunday afternoon. Lansvale started the game on fire when Ibrahim Hammed scored in just the third minute of the game and Elvis Ibric doubled the advantage in the 20th minute before Tayfon Turgut made it 3-0 with a goal minutes out from halftime.
Belmore came out a little better in the second half and pulled one goal back when a James Kalantzis shot deflected into goal, but they then had to overcome a double sending off from clumsy challenges, Con Paradisis gaining a second yellow card while Nick Mertzanakis received a straight red card for his more maligned effort. Despite creating a few clear chances the mountain was too high for Hercules to climb and Gazy made sure of the win when A Smajovic netted in the 87th minute, although Kalantzis did score a consolation goal near the end of the match.
Belmore coach John Kyriazopoulos was at a lost to where his team was in the first half but praised their second half fightback. ?The boys got off to a really bad start and just didn?t follow instructions? but the second half was a bit better,? he said. ?I think we did better with nine players on park, the boys really dug in deep after the send-offs, so full credit there in the second half but unfortunately it was a bit too late.?
Gazy Lansvale 4 (Ibrahim Hammed 3m Elvis Ibric 20m Tayfon Turgut 45m A Smajovic 87m) Belmore Hercules 2 (own goal, James Kalantzis 90m)
Reserve grade: Gazy Lansvale 2 Belmore Hercules 0
Round 3 scores
Prospect United 4 (Luis Freitas 50/70m Paul Curjak 52m Luke Ibister 54m) Nepean FC 0
Hawkesbury City 2 (Hakan Celik 6m Rhys Alchin 47m) Bathurst ?75 1 (Ricky Guihot 28m)
Springwood 2 (Matt Salmon 15m Craig Small 42m) Hakoah 2 (Marc Kacen 20m Adam Joseph 54m)
Gazy Lansvale 4 (Ibrahim Hammed 3m Elvis Ibric 20m Tayfon Turgut 45m A Smajovic 87m) Belmore Hercules 2 (own goal, James Kalantzis 90m)
Chopin Park 1 (Henry Martinez 23m) Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 (Nick Andreou 92m)
Roosters FC 4 (Musti Akca 18m Hulisi Orhan 77m Baturay Akin 82/84m) Northbridge FC 3 (Daniel Hillege 7/18m Ry Hardy 56m)
Fairfield Wanderers FC 1 (Mauricio Sanchez 44m) Luddenham United 4 (Huso Merdanovic 69m Dujon Webster 73m Michael Wood 88/90m)
Reserve grade:
Prospect United 3 Nepean FC 2
Hawkesbury City 2 Bathurst ?75 0
Springwood 2 Hakoah 1
Gazy Lansvale 2 Belmore Hercules 0
Chopin Park 1 Hurstville City Minotaurs 3
Roosters FC 1 Northbridge FC 2
Fairfield Wanderers 3 Luddenham United 2
Next week?s games
Round four of NSW State League division two sees Northbridge take on Hawkesbury City at Northbridge Oval on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off), Nepean versus Springwood at Cook Park, St Marys (3pm), while Bathurst ?75 play Gazy Lansvale under lights at Alec Lamberton Field on Saturday night (7pm).
On Sunday afternoon, Chopin Park Rams meet Belmore Hercules at Chopin Park, Hurstville City face Prospect United at Punchbowl Oval, Luddenham United play Roosters FC at Luddenham Oval, and Fairfield Wanderers tackle Hakoah at Knight Park (all first grade games at 3pm).
-By Daniel De Nardi
