State League One Round 21 Review

Midweek Rescheduled Games ? Round 18
Hurstville ZFC ? Inter Lions 0-2
Inter Lions kept their Division One survival hopes alive when they had a 2-0 victory over Hurstville ZFC in a rescheduled midweek match.
Five points behind going into the catch up encounter, Inter scored a goal in each half to draw themselves to within two points of safety, behind both Schofields and Balmain.
Young Anthony Foti opened proceedings after just 10 minutes, and following some tense moments over the next hour or so, Domenic Dimento sent relief through the Inter fans by notching his side?s second goal on 78 minutes.
Fairfield City Lions ? UNSW 6-3
Fairfield City Lions and UNSW played ?tennis? midweek, with the Lions prevailing 6-3 in an absolute goal scoring frenzy.
The opening goal went Fairfield’s way after 22 minutes via Dawd, before Herman Hidalgo doubled their advantage on the half hour mark.
Yavuz Ekinci (Fairfield) and Michael Karagiannis (UNSW) rounded off the first half scoring at 3-1 to the Lions, but there was plenty more to come in the second half.
Over recent years the Lions have had a tendency to throw the text book out the window at times and push numbers forward, often resulting in lop-sided scorelines.
They took a 5-1 lead during the mid stages of the second half in this one when Hidalgo got his brace on 65 minutes, before Mirwiss Amiri netted in the 69^th.
Justin Bracewell reduced the deficit for a stunned UNSW in the 76^th minute, only for Kumrulu to bring up the half dozen for the Lions four minutes later.
Sebastian Bendall?s 83^rd minute reply was mere consolation for UNSW, whilst the Fairfield fans  were left to celebrate a fantastic home win.      
Round Twenty One Review
Camden Tigers vs Fairfield Bulls 3-1
Saturday, August 13, 2011 @ 6-00pm at Ron Dine Reserve
Camden Tigers returned to their winning ways just in time for the semi?s, accounting for Fairfield Bulls 3-1 at Ron Dine Reserve on Saturday evening.
Grant MacKechnie put the Tigers in front after just 11 minutes, and that?s the way it remained until well into the second half, when Adam Smutek grabbed his 15^th goal of 2011 on 70 minutes.
Rafid Hirmiz pulled a goal back for Fairfield Bulls on 77 minutes as they began their customary comeback, but Camden extinguished that a few minutes before the end when Green made it 3-1 to the home side.
The three points has moved Camden to 33 in fourth spot, leaving the Bulls hanging by a thread on 30 points in 5^th.
Inter Lions vs Mounties Wanderers 1-2
Saturday, August 13, 2011 @ 7-00pm at Crest Complex
Inter Lions almost pulled off a surprise result at the Crest on Saturday, taking the lead before eventually succumbing to the Division?s Premiers, Mounties Wanderers, by 1-2.
Having picked up a precious three points midweek against Hurstville, Inter came into the match two points in arrears of Balmain and Schofields, and were determined to knock over the Champions.
A scoreless first half only added to the tension, and you could hear a pin drop on 70 minutes when Inter were awarded a penalty.
Daniele Chiandotto stepped up and converted, giving the home fans some hope of an unlikely triumph.
But the Mounties are champions for a reason, and they pulled level within three minutes through Reece Iredale, before breaking the hearts of the Inter faithful with an own goal winner on 80 minutes.
The Mounties crack the half century of points as a result of the win, moving to 52 at the head of the Division.
Inter Lions remain on 16 points, three behind Schofields and five behind Balmain, with the final round to be played next week. Before that Inter have a rescheduled match on Tuesday evening against Fairfield City Lions that will go a long way towards determining their fate.
Gladesville Ryde Magic vs Hurstville ZFC 1-0
Sunday, August 14, 2011 @ 3-00pm at Magdala Reserve
Gladesville Ryde Magic confirmed their semi final spot on Sunday afternoon by overcoming Hurstville ZFC 1-0 at Magdala Reserve.
The Magic left it late to secure the three points, and it was the tall figure of Scott Tonkin that did the damage, the youngster sending the home fans into raptures with his 89^th minute winner.
Gladesville?s win sees them move to 34 points, currently occupying second place on goal difference, whilst Hurstville drop to 8^th and remain on 25 points.
UNSW vs Balmain 0-4
Sunday, August 14, 2011 @ 3-00pm at Wentworth Park Complex
UNSW completed a horror few days for the club, losing 0-4 to a rejuvenated Balmain at Wentworth Park Complex on Sunday afternoon.
After losing 3-6 midweek to Fairfield, the ?students? made it two losses in five days, with their usually resolute backline conceding ten goals over both games.
Balmain have had plenty to play for of late, with Division One survival top of their priority list, and they have responded brilliantly given it has been a case of backs to the wall.
Uri Kaye got it rolling for Balmain with a 36^th minute goal, his tenth of the season giving the visitors a slender half time lead.
Balmain tightened the screws with two strikes early in the second stanza, Barrett (50^th) and Buonavoglia (56^th) making it 3-0.
Petratos? 80^th minute goal rounded off a comprehensive result for Balmain, the win seeing them climb to 21 points in 10^th spot. They are not quite safe just yet mathematically, but ten goals and two wins in their last two games have almost got them home.
Even though UNSW have dropped the ball of late, they find themselves in equal 5^th spot on 30 points, but 6^th on goal difference, and face Fairfield Bulls in the final round in a match that doubles up as a play off for that elusive 5^th semi final position.
Fairfield City Lions vs Schofields Scorpions 2-2
Sunday, August 14, 2011 @ 3-00pm at Norford Park
Fairfield City Lions and Schofields Scorpions played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Norford Park on Sunday afternoon.
Lancaster grabbed the first of his brace after just 22 minutes to give the Scorpions the lead, but Kumrulu equalized for the Lions right on the half time break.
Lancaster’s second on 51 minutes gave the Scorpions hope of an unlikely away victory against the free scoring Lions, but Jabbi had other ideas and popped up with an injury time equalizer for Fairfield. 
Fairfield City have moved to 34 points in equal second spot, and have a game in hand against Inter Lions on Tuesday before next weekend?s final round.
The solitary point has moved the Scorpions to 19 points, three ahead of last placed Inter, and they will be made to sweat until the last minute of the last round no doubt.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers vs Stanmore Hawks 2-2
Sunday, August 14, 2011@ 3-00pm at Popondetta Park
Two teams that I billed as being very even in my weekly Preview played up to the analysis by drawing 2-2 at Popndetta Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nathan Ralph squeezed the Mt Druitt Town Rangers in front after just 7 minutes, but the Stanmore Hawks restored parity within three minutes via Nick Paradisis, the league?s top scorer garbbing his 18^th goal of a stellar season.
Daniel Penfold put Mt Druitt back in front after four minutes of the second half, but Stanmore pulled level once more, this time via Neil Philippou in the 57^th minute.
Stanmore remained 9^th following the draw, on 24 points, but the point was a little more beneficial for Mt Druitt, who by moving to 25 have gone above Hurstville ZFC on goal difference and into 7^th spot.
-By Frank Speranza