State League Two Round14 Review
The wet weather claimed three victims with the Hawkesbury City versus Hurstville City game, Springwood United at Chopin Park Rams and Belmore against Roosters all postponed.
Despite the loss Luddenham (27 points) still holds onto top spot but they?ve been forced to give their game-in-hand card back to the banker. They lead hold a three point lead over Wanderers (24), with Roosters (23), Hakoah (22) and Chopin Park (21) rounding out the top five. Prospect (20), Hawkesbury (20), and a rising Northbridge (19) are all right in the mix, while Springwood (16) has three catch-up games still to play. Five teams have had less league defeats than leaders Luddenham, demonstrating how open this year?s competition really is.
On the goalscoring front Brit-hit Ry Hardy has shown a real liking to Australian football and notched up his 10th strike of a productive season for Northbridge, joining Hakoah ace Neil Jablonski at the top of the goalscorers list. Luddenham sniper Huso Merdanovic is hot on their heels after scoring his ninth to join Roosters weapon Adem Taslak. Hawkesbury striker Paul Cooper is stuck on eight goals, with Roosters duo Ercan Topal and Hulisi Orhan close behind on seven. Paul Paras (Belmore), Rani Rimmer (Hakoah), Haissan Morhi (Hurstville), Grant Odei (Luddenham) and Eliott King (Northbridge) have six goals each to their name.
Northbridge stun Luddenham
Northbridge upset league leaders Luddenham United 2-1 at Valentine Sports Park on Saturday night to make only a small step up the ladder, but one giant leap in credibility. After a lively start Elliot King put the home side in front with his sixth goal of the season on 20-minutes (he has only been in Australia just on two months) only for Luddenham striker Huso Merdanovic to equalise on the half-hour mark with a 10-yard scorcher following Glen Davis? tidy work in pilfering the Northbridge defence.
Northbridge got a dream start to the second term when leading goalscorer Ry Hardy bobbed up three minutes after the restart to restore his side?s lead, nicely finishing off a one-on-one opportunity with the United keeper, and he looked like a gazelle in full flight moments later, powering through and over tiger-esque challenges from the last Luddenham defender and keeper, with the ball seemingly on a string only to miss at the defining moment. But a terrific show of advantage from the referee allowed Northbridge to have a second shot from the penalty spot, Max Zanders unfortunately belting the spot-kick into the post for the keeper to pad it away.
The scoreline remained unchanged at fulltime, Northbridge in front 2-1 to become the most successful home team of the division, registering 14 points from seven games (Chopin Park and Hakoah are second best with 13 points on home turf). But in what has been a crazy competition, only five division two teams have gathered more points at home than they have away. The manner of victory pleased coach Joe Haywood, especially ahead of their rescheduled Waratah Cup game against Super League side Blacktown Spartans at Francis Park on Tuesday night (7.30pm kick-off).
?It?s nice to get the wheels back on track following two bad results (loss to Hakoah and draw with Belmore) and fingers crossed that we can keep on building throughout the season,? he said. ?We had a team meeting instead of training during the week to discuss what we want to do and plan the goals we want to achieve as a team? and the boys really responded well against Luddenham. To be honest I didn?t think they looked like league leaders out there? but that also shows that it?s still a very open competition.?
Luddenham coach Andrew Montgomery agreed his team didn?t play anywhere up to scratch but paid tribute to his opposition instead. ?To say anything about my team?s performance would be to take something away from Northbrirdge, they were brilliant on the night,? he said. ?I?d like to think it?s just a speedhump? but I?m most disappointed that we took it a bit too easy and didn?t turn up to play. We have to realise that being top of the table puts a target on our back and we have to play to a high standard to stay there.?
Northbridge 2 (Elliot King 19m Ry Hardy 48m) Luddenham United 1 (Huso Merdanovic 32m)
Reserve grade: Northbridge 0 Luddenham United 0
Nepean down Gazy & Hurstville
What do you do when the league tells you that you have to play two full games in two days? Win them both of course, and that?s exactly what a courageous Nepean did following their 2-1 and 1-0 wins over cellar-dwellers Gazy Lansvale and hitmen Hurstville City Minotaurs over the weekend.
Nepean were made to fight tooth and nail for their late one-goal victory over Gazy at Cook Park, St Marys, on Saturday afternoon, Nikola Pozder scoring from a fifth minute freekick before Sam Pintabona found an injury time winner to overcome Lansvale?s second half equaliser. The whole team jumped for joy, although coach Carlos Camacho admitted he also held a great deal of empathy for his Gazy counterpart Safet Alispahic.
?It?s not my place to talk about the opposition but I can tell you that they?re a team with a lot of heart. For a team that?s coming bottom of the ladder, there?s not much difference in a game against Gazy than a game against the top teams. They don?t give up ever,? he said. ?I did celebrate the goal with the boys but I wasn?t 100 per cent happy as the second half was very scrappy and maybe neither team deserved to win. I?m happy for my boys, but not happy we didn?t finish off the game. I also have a lot of sympathy for the Gazy team [re the late loss] as it has happened to us a few times this year? and [Safet Alispahic] is a true gentleman of the league.?
Nepean had to back up the next day away to Hurstville City Minotaurs and they played out of their skin to claim a 1-0 victory on the back of an unspectacular first-half goal to Jason Browne. Amazingly, Nepean have scored just 15 goals all season but with 11 different players finding the back of the net. No Nepean player has bagged more than two goals yet, but Camacho will take a victory no matter who scores the goal.
?To tell you the truth I wasn?t really happy with only finding out about the [Sunday] catch-up game on Thursday as a lot of the boys had made plans, some of them were out injured and a lot of them had to back up from [Saturday?s] game,? he said. ?But I think the talk we had on Wednesday night about our philosophy as a team is sinking in as the first 45 minutes [against Hurstville] were excellent by us; we played some really good football and showed a lot more composure, and that suited us.?
?They came back hard in the second half and created a couple of chances, especially as our boys started tiring, but then we held on strong for the win. I think the final ingredient that we needed ? as we have the tactical awareness and fitness ? was the confidence, and two wins in a row will say a lot more than I can tell them. We will now prepare for the next game without getting ahead of ourselves, but hopefully bringing the momentum of this weekend into the rest of the season.?
Nepean 2 (Nikola Pozder, Sam Pintabona) Gazy Lansvale 1
Rescheduled round 6: Nepean 1 (Jason Browne) Hurstville 0
Reserve grade: Nepean 0 Gazy Lansvale 4
Wanderers defeat Bathurst
Fairfield Wanderers returned from Bathurst on Sunday afternoon with a 2-0 victory over ?75 at Alec Lamberton Field returning them to the winners circle. Wanderers had the better of the first half and scored through a Maurcio Sanchez strike. But Bathurst returned to the pitch with renewed vigour after halftime and were unlucky not to score a goal following a wave of attacking raids on the Fairfield goal. The visitors then sealed the 2-0 result with a goal to Gustavo Roy at the death.
Fairfield coach Leo Maturana commended his players for registering a tough road victory at Bathurst (their fourth straight over ?75) and also welcomed the goals ? of just three 0-0 games in the league this year, Wanderers have inexplicably been involved in two of them. However, a league-best sixth cleansheet has kept Fairfield well in the picture (Chopin Park is next best with four).
?I thought we held them out well. They were pushing to score to get back into the game but we contained them okay,? he said. ?[In regards to the six cleansheets] Our defence has been terrific all year and is really covering us at the moment, but I think we?re doing alright for where we are.?
With so many things checked off his list Bathurst coach Mark Rooke would dearly love to find a goalscorer to complete his team. ?I don?t think the scoreline really reflected the game. In the first half we were poor and gave away a soft goal, but I gave them a spray at halftime and for the first 35-40 minutes of the second half we attacked and absolutely gave it to them, and had chance after chance before we gave away a late one on the counterattack,? he said.
?We just can?t score goals. We?re doing well enough all over the pitch but just can?t find a way to put it into the back of the net. The boys walked off dejected, frustrated with what?s going on, but at end of the day we?re not turning our chances into goals and then putting pressure on ourselves to come up with a result. But watch this space as there might be a few signings this week.?
Bathurst ?75 0 Fairfield Wanderers 2 (Mauricio Sanchez 29m Gustavo Roy 78m)
Hakoah whip Prospect
A complete Hakoah performance pollaxed Prospect United 3-0 under lights at Hensley Athletic Field on Sunday night, moving the iconic football club back into the top-five for the first time in a few long, barren years. Hakoah were simply too good and took a deserved 2-0 lead into the halftime break, Rani Rimmer finishing off some terrific Michael Randall work on the left before Rimmer turned provider, sending a corner kick floating into the danger zone, Hakoah fullback Denato D?Agrosa making a decent challenge for the ball as the Prospect keeper keeper fumbled and Marc Kacen pounced.
Neil Jablonski, who could?ve had a hat-trick, then sealed the win with a clinical left-foot finish late in the game to chalk up his 10th goal of a superb year. Hakoah steals Prospect?s top-five place with their first back-to-back victory of the season, and their first over United in three years, making coach Mark Robertson one proud manager.
?The boys did really well? when I made the new signings at the start of the year, in terms of personnel and attitude for footballers, I couldn?t have picked any better,? he said. ?[In terms of the historic club regaining its footing after a slippery few years at the bottom] Hakoah doing well again has ignited a few of the old flames to be honest. It?s a real community club and everyone would love to get back to the top, and I?m in the same boat as them as that?s all I want to do.?
Prospect coach Tony Caruso dipped his hat to his opponents. ?For first time this year we were totally outplayed, but I don?t think anyone would?ve done any better against them, they were just that good,? he said. ?[After their fifth loss in six games] We?ve had a bad run with injuries and suspensions but they?re obstacles we should be overcoming. Every team goes through a slump. We?re only seven points behind first place with 13 games still to play, so there?s plenty of time to go.?
Hakoah 3 (Rani Rimmer, Marc Kacen, Neil Jablonski) Prospect United 0
Round 14 scores
Nepean 2 (Nikola Pozder, Sam Pintabona) Gazy Lansvale 1
Northbridge 2 (Elliot King 19m Ry Hardy 48m) Luddenham United 1 (Huso Merdanovic 32m)
Bathurst ?75 0 Fairfield Wanderers 2 (Mauricio Sanchez 29m Gustavo Roy 78m)
Hakoah 3 (Rani Rimmer, Marc Kacen, Neil Jablonski) Prospect United 0
Hawkesbury City vs Hurstville City Minotaurs postponed
Springwood United vs Chopin Park Rams washed out
Belmore Hercules vs Roosters washed out
Rescheduled round 6: Hurstville City Minotaurs 0 Nepean 1 (Jason Browne 14m)
Reserve grade:
Nepean 0 Gazy Lansvale 4
Northbridge 0 Luddenham United 0
Bathurst ?75 0 Fairfield Wanderers 0
Hawkesbury City vs Hurstville City Minotaurs postponed
Springwood United Chopin Park Rams washed out
Belmore Hercules vs Roosters washed out
Rescheduled round 6: Hurstville City Minotaurs 4 Nepean 1
Next week?s games
Round 15 of the NSW Division Two competition starts with a great match-up between Northbridge and Fairfield Wanderers at Northbridge Oval on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off), followed by Prospect United versus Springwood United at William Lawson Reserve on Saturday evening (5pm). There are five games scheduled for Sunday afternoon, Nepean against Chopin Park at Chopin Park, Roosters versus Bathurst ?75 at Hills Sports High, Hurstville City Minotaurs tackle Gazy Lansvale at Punchbowl Oval, Belmore Hercules battle Hawkesbury City at Blick Oval, while Luddenham United play Hakoah in a cracker at Luddenham Oval (all first grade games from 3pm).
-By Daniel De Nardi
