State League Two Round 24 Reveiw
Northbridge blasted their way to a 5-1 win over Belmore and Hakoah ground out a 4-2 victory at Bathurst to draw level on competition points and goal-difference (Northbridge granted first place on the basis they?ve scored 66 goals to Hakoah?s 63), while Luddenham defeated Hurstville 3-1 to nestle in one point behind them on the table.
Prospect is further back after a 2-1 loss to Hawkesbury, Roosters beat Springwood 3-1 to move a step closer to finals qualification, Nepean drew 2-2 with Wanderers, and Chopin Park beat Gazy Lansvale 2-1.
The weekend produced 31 goals, the third highest round output of the year. It also made the top-three cloudier, yet the top-five clearer as Roosters now only need three more points from their four remaining games to guarantee fifth place. But while their catch-up games are yet to be scheduled, favourable results in the last fortnight of football could push Roosters all the way into a top-three spot. The only other team in mathematical contention is Hawkesbury (three points behind in sixth position), who can only hope for Roosters to lose their heads in the last few matches.
A double-loss for Prospect (3-1 to Hawkesbury and 2-1 to Luddenham) was tempered by the fact they can look forward to finals football and maybe a surprise top-three spot if one of the top-guns fail, but it was all eyes on Northbridge as they bagged the four-goal win needed to shuffle ahead of Hakoah on goal difference alone. The two sides deliciously meet in the last round so the premiership could come down to whoever scores and stops the most this weekend (Northbridge travel to Bathurst on Saturday night and Hakoah host Chopin Park on Sunday night).
Another Neil Jablonski hat-trick took him to the top of the goalscorers chart with 24 strikes, as Northbridge duo Ry Hardy (21) scored twice and Elliot King (17) three times this week to just stay in touch with the Hakoah star. The competition?s top-10 scorers are:
24 ? Neil Jablonski (Hakoah)
21 ? Ry Hardy (Northbridge)
17 ? Elliot King (Northbridge)
13 ? Paul Cooper (Hawkesbury), Gustavo Orcajo (Prospect)
12 ? Haissan Morhi (Hurstville)
11 ? Huso Merdanovic (Luddenham), Ercan Topal (Roosters), Bryan Campbell (Springwood)
10 ? Grant Odei (Luddenham), Daniel Hillege (Northbridge), Adem Taslak (Roosters), Peter Henderson (Springwood)
Hawkesbury gouge Prospect
Finals hopeful Hawkesbury City brought down top-three side Prospect United 3-1 at Bensons Lane Field on Saturday evening to keep the pressure on fifth-placed Roosters and an unlikely top-five showdown.
City were too good and opened the scoring in the opening quarter-hour with defender Ben Charles chalking up a rare goal (incredibly Hawkesbury?s 16th goalscorer of the year) by finishing off a goalmouth scramble.
Minutes later and a deft through-ball from Ethan Simone sent Hakan Celik on a canter and he rounded one defender before shaping to shoot and flicking over to Michael McCrory who doubled the advantage with an emphatic strike to make it 2-0 to the home side at halftime.
Everyone at the ground probably heard Tony Caruso?s halftime rev-up of Prospect and the words definitely sunk into the goalkeeper Owen Rogers? ears as the United custodian pulled off a breathtaking save minutes into the second half, denying a close-range Ethan Simone header, and not long after his team-mates at the other end benefited from a poor Hawkesbury clearance, Kyle Trefoni accidentally slicing the ball into his own net to halve the deficit to 2-1 and the contest was back on.
The match developed into a real arm wrestle and City?s cause wasn?t helped when Ryan Wilson was given two quick yellow cards for time wasting on a throw-in and a clumsy challenge, but it was City who prevailed when a clever Hakan Celik chip over Rogers sealed a 3-1 result in the closing minutes.
Hawkesbury are right on the top-five tail having won half their second round fixtures but can still only hope for a Roosters capitulation (who only need to three points from their remaining five fixtures to define this year?s top-five teams) to have any chance at miraculous finals action.
City coach Gary Lewis always prepares for a good stoush when his team faces United. ?Traditionally Prospect games are always tough and physical and last night was no exception,? he said.
?I felt Prospect were a little bit flat in the first half, maybe from their midweek game [2-1 loss to Luddenham], but our boys were playing well and not giving them too many opportunities.?
Hawkesbury are the only team mathematically left in the Roosters chase. ?The pressure is on them realistically as they should be able to pick up the three points they need to qualify for the finals, but football?s funny,? Lewis said.
?You look at what this season could?ve been for us, the costly draws and losses, and it can happen to Roosters too.?
It was a bitter-sweet week for Prospect, who also fell 2-1 to top-three rivals Luddenham in a mid-week catch-up game, but they did cement a playoff berth via Springwood?s midweek loss to Northbridge (mathematics leaves just fifth place up for grabs) and coach Caruso can now focus on preparing his team for finals football, and maybe steal a precious top-three berth.
Hawkesbury City 3 (Ben Charles 14m Michael McCrory 17m Hakan Celik 89m) Prospect United 1 (own goal 49m)
Reserve grade: Hawkesbury City 4 Prospect United 2
Hakoah overcome Bathurst
League leaders Hakoah needed a good win to remain a step ahead of rivals Northbridge and they did an outstanding job in overcoming a tenacious Bathurst ?75 to win 4-2 at Alec Lamberton Field on Saturday night.
Bathurst have made great inroads in the second part of the season and stunned the league leaders with an early goal to Jarrod Portegies giving the home fans plenty to cheer about after just four minutes.
But big John Pillemer again hauled his Hakoah side up off the canvas and responded with an equaliser 10 minutes later, toe-poking a Rani Rimmer cross into goal, and in-form attacker Neil Jablonski made it 2-1 to the visitors in the blink of an eye.
Bathurst kept going and leveled the scores in a cracker of an opening half when Luke Sullivan found the back of the net before the half-hour mark for a 2-2 halftime scoreline, both sets of followers on the edge of their seats and Hakoah coach Mark Robertson asked to leave his in a nerve-wracking contest.
The visitors slowly gained the second half momentum and Jablonski was the man to knock the stuffing out of ?75, a two-goal blitz in three minutes moments lifting Hakoah to a 4-2 advantage coming into the final half-hour.
Jablonski?s third strike would be a candidate for goal of the season, the former Scottish Premier League player showing the ball one way at the top of the penalty area before turning and whipping it straight into the top corner on the other side of goal. Bathurst never recovered and Hakoah held on for a solid win.
It was Jablonski?s second successive hat-trick and fourth three-goal haul of a glittering 2011 that?s netted the clever playmaker 24 ?goaled? medallions (from 23 games) and helped propel Hakoah toward a final-round showdown for the premiership ? and who knows what spoils beyond that.
The two-goal win, Hakoah?s first over Bathurst in six tries, wasn?t enough to keep Robertson?s men from succumbing the competition lead to Northbridge?s 5-1 rout of Belmore, but they?re in a slightly better position this weekend (Northbridge travel to Bathurst for a Saturday night match while Hakoah host Chopin Park at home on Sunday night) with the benefit of batting second and knowing what score is good enough to lift them back into first place ahead of the final-round dogfight between the league?s top two sides.
Robertson is fully aware that every goal, both collected and conceded, is critical from here on end.
?A win?s good enough at this stage but when you see the players running to get the ball back into play, and you start thinking about hitting crossbars and things and thinking it would?ve been nice if that had gone in, then I guess it does come into it a little bit,? he said.
?It was a really good hit-out? it?s not an easy place to go, and in the first half Bathurst had a good go.?
Bathurst ?75 2 (Jarrod Portegies 4m Luke Sullivan 27m) Hakoah 4 (Jon Pillemer 14m Neil Jablonski 17/53/56m)
Reserve grade: Bathurst ?75 1 Hakoah 1
Roosters dispatch Springwood
Roosters shook off another few chasers in a 3-1 defeat of Springwood United at Hills Sports High on Sunday afternoon.
Baturay Akin got the ball rolling for Roosters with a nice touch at the top of the box and subsequent rifle into the back of the net chalking up a 1-0 lead to the home side at halftime.
A beautiful Bilal Elveren freekick immediately after the break needed a brilliant save from the Springwood keeper but he could only get it as far as Gurbuz Aslan, who headed the ball back into goal for a 2-0 lead, and a neat flick-on from Sahin Belci resulted in Elveren collecting a Roosters third with 15 minutes to play.
Springwood piled on the pressure and Nathan King pegged one goal back to make it 3-1 at fulltime.
Roosters coach Musti Akca was pleased to get rid of a few pressures (this weekend has shaken Springwood, Wanderers and Hurstville off their tails, only Hawkesbury remain in the playoff picture), but had his side?s sights set in front of them not behind them.
?We still want a better position and think we can get,? he said. ?We?re hoping for one of top guns to slip up and maybe get ourselves into third position.?
?We still have to find the time to play those catch-up games, but we?re just after the points so it doesn?t matter when they?re played, we need to earn the points just like the rest of them.?
Roosters 3 (Baturay Akin 44m Gurbuz Aslan 49m Bilal Elveren 77m) Springwood United 1 (Nathan King 91m)
Reserve grade: Roosters 0 Springwood United 4
Luddenham slay Minotaurs
Luddenham United pulled out the history books this week to learn that Athenian hero Theseus killed the mighty Minotaur in Greek mythology and they were just as clinical in an epic 3-1 win over Hurstville City Minotaurs at Luddenham Oval on Sunday afternoon.
The win stonewalled Hurstville?s 2011 finals dash and also brought to an end a five-match domination of United in grand style ? and they did it with just 10 men on the park for almost an hour.
Backing up from a hard-fought 2-1 win over Prospect midweek the home side started brilliantly with key midfielder Angelo Martino curling in a vicious corner that was deflected into the Hurstville net for a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute. Martino was then sent off for dissent shortly afterwards, leaving United a man short for most of the match.
Luddenham maintained the ascendancy and Dujon Webster beat two midfielders before sliding the ball to Luka Tomic, who cut inside a defender and slotted the ball into the top corner to make it 2-0 at halftime, and heading into the final quarter of the match Huso Merdanovic played a great ball to Grant Odei, who beat one defender and dribbled around the Minotaurs keeper for a 3-0 lead.
Hurstville wouldn?t give in and John Gymellas scored from a header, but it was to be Luddenham?s day as 3-1 victors. Coach Andrew Montgomery said this victory had extra meaning.
?Our boys were more than pumped after all the banter the Hurstville coach has had to say about us, but their defenders were older and slower and we passed ball around the back of them to get our goals. It should have been a better score today, it could?ve been 9-10 nil.?
Luddenham United 3 (Angelo Martino 21m Luka Tomic 42m Grant Odei 74m) Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 (John Gymellas 81m)
Reserve grade: Luddenham United 0 Hurstville City Minotaurs 6
Northbridge roll Belmore
Northbridge blasted their way into first position with a come-from-behind 5-1 demolition of Belmore Hercules at Northbridge Oval on Sunday afternoon.
Belmore scored first when Darrel Fernandez shaped to cross and blasted into the near corner instead to grab an unlikely lead after just seven minutes.
But Northbridge were having none of that knowing a four-goal win would take them to the top of the division two leaderboard and Daniel Hillege equalised within minutes, taking the ball back outside the penalty area before turning and shooting for a fine leveler, Elliot King shooting the home side in front before the half-hour and a Ry Hardy double minutes from the break taking them 4-1 ahead.
Northbridge pushed for more goals in the second half, Belmore doing their absolute best to not let that happen with some heroic defence but the state league debutants finally got the breakthrough they were searching for via a good Hillege goal just past the hour-mark to make it 5-1 at fulltime.
Hillege creeps into the league?s top-10 goalscorers with his ninth and tenth strikes of the season, while King has now scored 17 goals (including 11 in his last seven appearances) and Hardy 21 to stay closest to Hakoah star Neil Jablonski (24), because goals scored and goal-difference may decide the 2011 division two premiership, and Northbridge coach Joe Haywood knows it.
?We knew what we had to do to get top of the table but the first thing we wanted to focus on was winning the game and not to worry about the goals until we were two or more up,? he said.
?Belmore started really well and surprised us with their goal but that really woke us up and we played brilliantly after that. We just kept trying to get that one last goal in the second half and it finally came.?
Belmore Hercules 1 (Darrel Fernandes 7m) Northbridge 5 (Daniel Hillege 11/64m Elliot King 27m Ry Hardy 32/44m)
Reserve grade: Belmore Hercules 0 Northbridge 1
Wanderers, Nepean draw
Fairfield Wanderers blew a 2-0 lead with five minutes to go to draw 2-2 with Nepean in a scrappy affair at Knight Park on Sunday afternoon. The result effectively ended Fairfield?s faint finals chances and summed up both side?s inconsistent seasons.
Goals to Jordan Juarez and Mauricio Sanchez early in the second half gave Wanderers a commanding two-goal lead coming into the final 10 minutes of the game, but a Matthew Fitzpatrick strike in the 82nd minute and Jason Browne goal in the 88th minute drew Nepean level as the whistle sounded for fulltime.
Wanderers coach Leo Maturana called it one of the worst games ever. ?It was nothing like good football and both clubs should be ashamed of themselves,? he said. ?I suppose it is hard to play with such little motivation, but it was boring and ugly.?
Fairfield Wanderers 2 (Jordan Juarez 49m Mauricio Sanchez 72m) Nepean 2 (Matthew Fitzpatrick 82m Jason Browne 88m)
Reserve grade: Fairfield Wanderers 5 Nepean 1
Chopin Park over Gazy
A late Chopin Park goal helped the Rams beat Gazy Lansvale 2-1 in a close match at Cherrybrook Park on Sunday afternoon.
Matthew Pritchard scored the opening on 16 minutes to bring joy to the visitors bench but only for a couple of minutes as Ado Smajovic bobbed up for his second goal in as many weeks and bring the scores level once again.
The game ebbed and flowed as both sides probed for a winner and it was left to Pritchard to be the hero, with his second goal five minutes from fulltime proving to be the match winner.
Chopin Park move into ninth position on the ladder in their first year back in state league, while Gazy?s 17th loss of a dismal year gives them one less chance to close the gap on Belmore in a last-ditch effort to drop the wooden spoon.
Gazy Lansvale 1 (Ado Smajovic 18m) Chopin Park Rams 2 (Matthew Pritchard 16/86m)
Reserve grade: Gazy Lansvale 1 Chopin Park Rams 0
Round 24 scores
Belmore Hercules 1 (Darrel Fernandes 7m) Northbridge 5 (Daniel Hillege 11/64m Elliot King 27m Ry Hardy 32/44m)
Fairfield Wanderers 2 (Jordan Juarez 49m Mauricio Sanchez 72m) Nepean 2 (Matthew Fitzpatrick 82m Jason Browne 88m)
Gazy Lansvale 1 (Ado Smajovic 18m) Chopin Park Rams 2 (Matthew Pritchard 16/86m)
Luddenham United 3 (Angelo Martino 21m Huso Merdanovic 42m Grant Odei 74m) Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 (John Gymellas 81m)
Roosters 3 (Baturay Akin 44m Gurbuz Aslan 49m Bilal Elveren 77m) Springwood United 1 (Nathan King 91m)
Bathurst ?75 2 (Jarrod Portegies 4m Luke Sullivan 27m) Hakoah 4 (Jon Pillemer 14m Neil Jablonski 17/53/56m)
Hawkesbury City 3 (Ben Charles 14m Michael McCrory 17m Hakan Celik 89m) Prospect United 1 (own goal 49m)
Rescheduled round 21: Prospect United 1 (Luis Freitas) Luddenham United 2 (Luke Tomic, Angelo Martino penalty)
Rescheduled round 21: Springwood United 1 (Bryan Campbell) Northbridge 2 (Elliot King x2)
Reserve grade:
Belmore Hercules 0 Northbridge 1
Fairfield Wanderers 5 Nepean 1
Gazy Lansvale 1 Chopin Park Rams 0
Luddenham United 0 Hurstville City Minotaurs 6
Roosters 0 Springwood United 4
Bathurst ?75 1 Hakoah 1
Hawkesbury City 4 Prospect United 2
Rescheduled round 21: Prospect United 4 Luddenham United 0
Rescheduled round 21: Springwood United 2 Northbridge 2
It?s also an exciting finish to reserve grade with Hawkesbury (50 points) hanging onto the competition lead by a thread, ahead of Wanderers (50) on a slightly better goal difference with Northbridge (49) one crisp point below them both (and with the best goalscoring achievement of the lofty trio).
Springwood (41) and Gazy (41) jumped Hakoah (41) and Chopin Park (40) to sit temporarily in the top-five hotseats, Hurstville (34) holding onto a statistical dream, and it?s thanks for coming to everyone else.
Somewhat surprisingly three of first grade?s top-five clubs (Luddenham, Prospect, Roosters) are fielded in the bottom-four of reserves, only ahead of a decimated Nepean. Eerily, the top-three clubs of both competitions share the same competition points as each other after 24 weeks of football.
Next week?s games
Round 25 of NSW State League division two sees Gazy Lansvale play Prospect United at William Lawson Reserve on Saturday evening (5pm kick-off), followed by three Saturday night games in Springwood United versus Hawkesbury City at Summerhayes Park, Northbridge against Bathurst ?75 at Alec Lamberton Field, and Roosters versus Nepean at Cook Park, St Marys (first grade games from 7pm). Hurstville will also play their round 21 catch-up game against Belmore at Punchbowl Oval on Saturday afternoon (3pm).
On Sunday afternoon, Luddenham United face Belmore Hercules at Blick Oval (3pm-kick-off), Fairfield Wanderers and Hurstville City Minotaurs clash at Punchbowl Oval (3pm), while Chopin Park Rams tackle leaders Hakoah at Hensley Athletic Field on Sunday night (7pm).
-By Dan De Nardi
