State League Two Round 25 Review

A solid 4-1 win for Northbridge at Bathurst countered a 4-1 win to Hakoah over Chopin Park to set up an enthralling final round showdown between the league leaders. While Northbridge hold onto a goal advantage to sit on top heading into the regular season finale they can?t afford to play for a draw against Hakoah, with Luddenham lurking close enough to jump them both and snatch the premiership.
Roosters picked up the weekly quinella by beating Nepean 3-1 and Gazy 3-2 to seal the fifth and final playoff spot, and Belmore?s 3-1 catch-up win over Hurstville consigned Lansvale to this year?s wooden spoon.
Scheduled matches between Gazy and Prospect, Springwood versus Hawkesbury, Luddenham against Belmore and Hurstville versus Wanderers were all called off due to the wet weather, making it a busy last week for some clubs as eight reserve grade outfits are still in the finals running.
In the goalscoring stakes Northbridge duo Ry Hardy (22 goals) and Elliot King (18) both scored against Bathurst but Hakoah star Neil Jablonski (25) maintained status quo with a goal against Chopin Park. The two sides square-off in a premiership decider next weekend, and perhaps also decide the battle for the Golden Boot.
So the 2011 State League Two premiership comes down to the final weekend with three teams still in the running. Hakoah fell one tantalising goal short of the overall competition lead after 25 weeks and 170 games of competitive state league football, leaving Northbridge with the upper hand.
Despite the fact that Hakoah defeated Northbridge 3-0 in their earlier encounter and the teams boast matching goal-differences of plus-34, Northbridge have scored 70 goals over the course of the entire season while Hakoah have managed 67, placing the state league newcomers on top of the table ahead of this weekend?s clash.
Northbridge however might not be able to get away with playing for a draw to claim the title over Hakoah as third-placed Luddenham sit just a point behind them both and will catapult into the competition lead on the back of a final round victory. The round 26 intricacies are mesmerising.
Northbridge demolish Bathurst 
A first-half onslaught laid the foundations for a commanding 4-1 win for Northbridge over Bathurst ?75 at Alec Lamberton Field on Saturday night. The three-goal victory threw down the gauntlet to premiership rivals Hakoah to match them, which they did to set up an exciting contest between the two sides next weekend.
Needing as many goals as they could get it took just two minutes for Ry Hardy to open the scoring for the visitors, Jun Arima adding a second just 10 minutes later before Max Zanders and Elliot King strikes lifted Northbridge to an incredible 4-0 halftime lead (and a staggering 70 goals for the season).
To their credit Bathurst came back in the second half and Gerard Ouffoue converted a penalty 10 minutes after the restart, and they held Northbridge at bay for the rest of the match to keep the fulltime score at 4-1.
The victory handed Northbridge the first ribbon for 2011 as the best road warriors in the league. The state league newcomers have amassed a tidy 27 points from their 14 away fixtures (eight wins and three draws),
The Bathurst goal-feast also lifted hitman Hardy to 22 goals for the year, now just three behind Hakoah ace Neil Jablonski, and one of Hardy?s partner in crime King to 18 bagged goals ? the league?s top-three marksmen well ahead of Paul Cooper (Hawkesbury), Gustavo Orcajo (Prospect) and Ercan Topal (Roosters), who have 13 successes.
Northbridge coach Joe Haywood was pleased with the outcome. ?It was a good result, a good game, we did what we needed to do and hopefully it?s enough to put us in a good position for next week,? he said.
?We had a few players on yellow cards so we got the four goals and brought them off to make sure the players were fit and available for next week. We stumbled around a little bit in second half? I would?ve liked a clean sheet but the three-goal difference is good.?
Haywood is definitely excited to be challenging for the club?s first piece of silverware, but he?s certainly no stranger to the pressure-cooker situation. ?I?ve won a few conference titles in England with youth teams, and we have players with the experience of winning trophies before so we?re confident of having a good week and getting the results we want,? he said.
Bathurst ?75 1 (Gerard Ouffoue 54m pen) Northbridge 4 (Ry Hardy 2m Jun Arima 13m Max Zanders 25m Elliot King 41m)
Reserve grade: Bathurst ?75 0 Northbridge 0
Roosters down Nepean
Roosters were craftsman-like in their 3-1 dismantling of Nepean at Cook Park, St Marys, on Saturday night. Combined with a 3-2 victory over Gazy Lansvale midweek and not only have Roosters shut the top-five door on everyone else but they can still grab a belated top-three place (and second chance in the first week of the finals) if they can continue their good run against Hurstville and Gazy.
A Barki Elven goal put the Roosters up before the half-hour mark before S Camacho equalised for the home side, but an absolute cracker of a goal to Abdul Elveren from 35 yards out gave the visitors a 2-1 halftime lead.
It took a little while but Roosters eventually secured the win behind a late Ercan Topal goal, taking the club stalwart to 13 season strikes, and preventing Nepean from registering an inaugural home victory in their final run at Cook Park, St Marys. Nepean managed just four draws from its 11 host matches this year compared to an outstanding five wins and three draws from 14 road games.
Nepean coach Carlos Camacho is back to his native Uruguay in a couple of months to take up a coaching position with second division club Huracan, where he plied his trade as a goalkeeper in the 1980s. He?s proud of what Nepean has achieved in a challenge state league debut and believes the club can build on this platform for the future.
?I?ve really enjoyed myself and hope the boys have taken away something from what turned out to be a very tough season,? he said. ?I think we played some good football this year and were very competitive in all but a couple of games? and maybe could?ve finished higher up the ladder if we didn?t have so many players unavailable throughout the season. I played at Huracan as a youngster and really can?t pass up an opportunity like this.?
Roosters coach Musti Akca was pleased with the manner of the win and still held on to top-three ambitions. ?The boys did well? we?ve got a game on Thursday [against Belmore] and another on Sunday [against Hurstville], so that?s still a possible six more points for us; but more than the higher position, we?d like to go into the finals on the back of wins.?
Anything but a Hakoah win over Northbridge next week will give Roosters the best record of top-five contests this year, a handy stat going into big-time finals football. Akca said any of the frontrunners could win the title from here.
?Every team in the top-five has proven why they?re up there over the course of the season, and we?re quite confident that once we?re into the finals we?ve just got every chance of winning it.?
Nepean 1 (S Camacho) Roosters 3 (Barki Elven, Abdul Elveren, Ercan Topal)
Reserve grade: Nepean 2 Roosters 3
Hakoah defeat Chopin Park
Hakoah returned fire with 4-1 win over Chopin Park Rams at Hensley Athletic Field on Sunday night to set up a dramatic last round premiership decider against joint-leaders Northbridge. Jon Pillemer finished off a Rani Rimmer cross before Justin Kosmina touched in a Pillemer centre and Neil Jablonski headed in a Nathan Kosmina corner to make it 3-0 at the break and the Rams were on the ropes.
Chopin Park came out a better side in the second half and pulled one goal back through Matthew Pritchard on the hour, but the Hakoah engine finally clicked back into gear and a second Justin Kosmina goal, leaping high to head over the Rams keeper, sealed a 4-1 victory in the closing stages of the game.
Hakoah coach Mark Robertson was happy to take a good performance into the last round of the regular season and said his side would be playing for an all-out win against Northbridge to claim the premiership ? and he suggested his opponents should do the same. ?It?s winner takes all next week as it?d be silly for either side to go out there and play for a draw; you?ve pretty much just got to go at it,? he said.
Robertson said that after a dismal few years at the bottom of the division everyone who had stuck it out at the former-NSL winning club was thrilled to be playing for a title again.
?I think everyone within the club can smell the silverware because it?d be nice to get back to winning ways,? he said. ?We?ve been going full tilt at winning this year, and we?re very confident that the support the club surrounds the team with will help us achieve something great in return.?
Hakoah 4 (Jon Pillemer 23m Justin Kosmina 37/74m Neil Jablonski 41m) Chopin Park Rams 1 (Matthew Pritchard 57m)
Reserve grade: Hakoah 0 Chopin Park Rams 0
Round 25 scores
Nepean 1 (S Camacho) Roosters 3 (Ercan Topal, Abdul Elveren, Tarik Ozgul)
Bathurst ?75 1 (Gerard Ouffoue 54m pen) Northbridge 4 (Ry Hardy 2m Jun Arima 13m Max Zanders 25m Elliot King 41m)
Hakoah 4 (Jon Pillemer 23m Justin Kosmina 37/74m Neil Jablonski 41m) Chopin Park Rams 1 (Matthew Pritchard 57m)
Prospect United vs Gazy Lansvale postponed
Springwood United vs Hawkesbury City washed out
Belmore Hercules vs Luddenham United washed out
Hurstville City Minotaurs vs Fairfield Wanderers washed out
Rescheduled round 21: Gazy Lansvale 2 (Ali Al Waili 7m Mohamad Al Rekabi 82m) Roosters 3 (Barki Elven 12m Ercan Topal 62m pen Baturay Akin 71m)
Rescheduled round 21: Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 (Terry Sidiratos 35m) Belmore Hercules 3 (Leon Sansone 24m George Iliopoulos 30m Con Paradisis 36m)
Reserve grade:
Prospect United 2 Gazy Lansvale 2
Nepean 2 Roosters 3
Bathurst ?75 0 Northbridge 0
Hakoah 0 Chopin Park Rams 0
Springwood United Hawkesbury City washed out
Belmore Hercules vs Luddenham United washed out
Hurstville City Minotaurs vs Fairfield Wanderers washed out
Rescheduled round 21: Gazy Lansvale 4 Roosters 3
Rescheduled round 21: Hurstville City Minotaurs 4 Belmore Hercules 1
We?re in for quite a final round in reserve grade with Northbridge, Hawkesbury and Wanderers all lined up on 50 competition points each and very similar goal-differences, Gazy Lansvale tucked in nicely behind them in fourth place, with Hakoah, Springwood, Chopin Park and even Hurstville all in with a shot at making the playoffs. The table could finish many different ways depending on the results of several catch-up games.
Next week?s games
The final round 26 of NSW State League division two will see all games simultaneously played on Sunday afternoon (first grade kick-offs at 3pm). Prospect visit the Rams at Chopin Park, Springwood and Gazy Lansvale clash at Cherrybrook Park, Nepean tackle Hawkesbury at Bensons Lane Field, Bathurst face Luddenham at Luddenham Oval, Belmore take on Wanderers at Knight Park, Hurstville meet Roosters at Hills Sports High, but of course all eyes and ears will be keen to learn the outcome of the top-of-the-table showdown between Hakoah and Northbridge at Northbridge Oval.
-By Dan De Nardi