Division One Youth League Round 6 Review

Fortunately the Weather Gods were kinder on Sunday when two more fixtures (Northbridge v St George, Hakoah v Inter Lions) were played. The unplayed matches (Gladesville Ryde Magic v Springwood United and two matches from the Nepean v Camden Tigers fixture) will be rescheduled shortly. 
Club Championship
Southern Branch enjoyed their best day of the season to-date when they hosted Balmain East Tigers and pocketed twelve of the available points while Stanmore Hawks also had a good day when they bagged a dozen points from their home matches against Hurstville City Minotaurs.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers might have been satisfied with the nine points they earned at home to Hills Brumbies and Camden Tigers grabbed all nine points from the three matches played at Nepean.
St George had a good day when they visited Northbridge, taking home thirteen of the available points, while Hakoah bagged eleven points when they hosted Inter Lions.
Grade 13
Camden Tigers maintained their perfect start to this campaign when they were 4-0 winners over Nepean who were suffering only their second loss for the year. Camden dominated field position in the first half but some solid defence from the Nepean back three and some quality saves from the young Nepean ?keeper saw the teams go to the half time break 0-0. Camden’s dominance of field position continued in the second half and in the thirty-sixth minute, they were rewarded after a twenty metre strike from defender Matthew Bezett beat a diving Nepean keeper. Eric McGuire doubled Camden?s lead in the thirty-ninth minute when he followed up another long range shot to score. Nepean continued to repel the Camden attack but in the fiftieth minute, Khit Minh went on a solo run where he beat four defenders and the ?keeper to make it 3 – 0 to the Tigers. In the fifty-fifth minute Ben Phair rose above the defence to head home a corner for Camden’s fouth goal for the match and finish off a quality Camden performance
Southern Branch extended their unbeaten run to five matches when they produced a 2-1 victory over Balmain East Tigers who are yet to open their account for the season.
Hurstville City Minotaurs made it two wins in a row when they posted a 4-0 result from their clash with Stanmore Hawks who had also lost their previous two matches.
Hills Brumbies raised more that a few eyebrows after they recorded their second win in a row with a 4-1 result over the better performed Mt Druitt Town Rangers.
St George produced their fourth win for the season when they posted a very strong 5-0 result from their match against Northbridge for whom this was a fourth loss.
Hakoah bounced back from last week?s loss to register an impressive 5-0 result when they faced Inter Lions who have yet to record their first win for the season.
Grade 14
Stanmore Hawks continued their unbeaten run with a very solid 6-0 victory over Hurstville City Minotaurs who were suffering their third defeat for the campaign. Interestingly, the Hawks have not conceded a single goal so far this season.
Balmain East Tigers arrived at this match with an unbeaten record from their previous five matches but that run came to a screaming halt when Southern Branch came up with their second win of the season, this one a 2-1 result.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers made it three wins on the trot when they registered a 3-1 success over Hills Brumbies who have now lost three in a row.
Camden Tigers recorded their second win in a row when they were 2-0 winners over Nepean who were coming off a last-match loss. The rain continued to fall and the heavy pitch was not conclusive to a quality passing game but both Nepean and Camden played some exciting football in this match. Both teams created various chances throughout the first half but is was left to the pace and skill of Camden’s Brady Russell to open the scoring in the twenty-first minute. Russell used his pace and a deft touch to beat the Nepean keeper after some quality build up by the Tigers midfield and a pin point through ball from Ahmad Alrekabi. In the forty-fourth minute, replacement striker Tom Bazdaric found the net for the second time for Camden with a quality strike from inside the box that gave the ?keeper no chance. Both teams continued to play attacking football in the wet but it was Camden who eventually ran out 2 – 0 victors.
St George rebounded from a run of two matches in which they did not score a goal to post a solid 4-0 success in the match against Northbridge who were suffering the second loss in a row.
Hakoah took their unbeaten sequence to four matches when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Inter Lions who were recording their third draw from six games.
Grade 15
Mt Druitt Town Rangers have retained their unbeaten status with a remarkable 8-2 victory over Hills Brumbies who have yet to post a win in this season.
Southern Branch bounced back from their last week?s first loss of the season to register a 3-0 result from the encounter with Balmain East Tigers who had won their last match.
Stanmore Hawks took their unbeaten run to six matches when they came up with a 2-0 victory over Hurstville City Minotaurs who were suffering their third successive defeat.
Camden Tigers posted their second win in as many weeks when they produced a 2-1 success over Nepean who don?t seem to be having much luck this season. Both Camden and Nepean looked to play positive football from the opening whistle. The first half was played at a fast pace with the ball moving from end to end and the defence of both teams tested on a regular basis. Nepean had the better of the first half but it was Camden who opened the scoring in the thirty-third minute with a goal to Chad Reid from just outside the 18 yard box. The second half saw both teams continue to play a fast paced game and in the forty-eighth minute, Nepean?s persistance was eventually rewarded when T.Galayini scored following a fumble by the Camden keeper. The end to end flow of this game continued and it was Camden who would be the next to celebrate when a Jesse Inzitari strike in the sixieth minute soared into the top corner of the Nepean net to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. Both teams had their chances in this match but in the end Camden were deserved winners over a gallant Nepean outfit.
St George have now gone six matches without loss following their 2-0 victory over Northbridge who are still looking for their first three-pointer.
Hakoah registered their second victory of this campaign when they came up with a 2-0 result over Inter Lions who were coming off a run of two draws.
Grade 16
Stanmore Hawks? perfect record remained intact when they were 1-0 winners over Hurstville City Minotaurs whose unbeaten run of five games came to a screeching halt.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers posted their second win in a row and their second of the campaign when they came up with a 3-1 result over Hills Brumbies who were suffering the third loss in a row.
Southern Branch came up with their second win of the season when they had a 3-1 success over Balmain East Tigers who have not won since the opening day of the competition.
Northbridge recorded their third draw of the season when they did well to hold the better performed St George to a 2-2 scoreline. The Saints were coming off a last game loss. This game saw history repeat itself as their pre-season friendly had ended in a draw. Northbridge celebrated playing for the first time on the club?s new synthetic pitch by opening the scoring in the ninth minute, with Marcus Vesper beating St George?s defence and calmly slotting it past the ?keeper. St George kept their heads and kept pushing and were rewarded with two good goals in the twenty-eighth and thirty-first minutes courtesy of T. Menton and A. Colandra. It looked like St George may prevail on the day until late into the second half, when a dangerous cut back from James Kay found Joshua Mbakwe in front of goal, who slotted it away for Northbridge. With neither side able to find that elusive winning goal, the game fittingly ended in a draw 2-2.
Hakoah stretched their unbeaten run to four matches when they were 3-2 winners over Inter Lions who arrived at this match on the back of a last game win.
Grade 18
Hills Brumbies remained undefeated when they produced a very solid 4-0 victory over Mt Druitt Town Rangers who were coming off a very big win in their last match.
Hurstville City Minotaurs had won their last three matches but that run came to an end when they lost 3-1 to Stanmore Hawks who ended a two-match losing streak with this result.
Neither Balmain East Tigers nor Southern Branch had registered a single point before this match so it was inevitable that one of them would be better off by the full-time whistle. On this occasion it was to be Balmain when they posted a 6-0 result.
St George have extended their run to six matches without loss following their 3-2 success over Northbridge who had lost their previous two outings.
Hakoah and Inter Lions came into this game with almost identical records so it was hardly surprising that their encounter ended in a 2-2 draw.
-By Barry Davis