State League Two Season Review for 2011
As we celebrate the success of Northbridge, who were crowned division two premiers on Sunday, it was a totally different story back at the round-13 halfway point when Luddenham led Prospect and Roosters by seven points and Hakoah were seventh and Northbridge in lowly 10th, 10 and 13 points respectively behind United.
But as Hakoah and Northbridge began their rise, top-three Prospect and Roosters fell to fourth and fifth, while Chopin Park and Wanderers toppled from the top-five tree altogether to make way for late Springwood and Hawkesbury spurts that fell just short.
In all a delightful 650 goals were scored in 180 matches (at 3.6 goals per game, 25 per round or 46.5 per team) by a prolific 175 different players (more than a hundred players scored more than once). Last year?s 12 division two clubs produced a total of 406 goals (at 3.1 per game, 18.5 per round or per team or 33.8 per team).
Keeping in mind the difference in participating clubs this year still outranks 2010 in goals scored and goalscorers produced. The accented goal spike is most evident in the fact there were 66 nil scorelines last year compared to just 63 this year despite 32 more games being played in 2011.
Of the 175 players who netted in 2011 Roosters (17), Hawkesbury (16) and Nepean (14) provided the most marksmen (last year it was also Roosters with 17 players), compared to a total of 125 scorers in 2010. There were also twice as many scorers with 10 or more goals this year, while Hakoah and Prospect offered the most multiple scorers boasting 11 scorers who booted more than one goal this year.
Northbridge was the biggest scoreboard contributor with 71 goals, followed by Hakoah (67) and Roosters (66), easily conquering 2010 highscorers Fairfield Bulls (49) and Roosters (43). The highest scoring weekend of 2011 was 36 goals in round seven (when Hakoah beat Hurstville 7-2), followed by rounds 12 (33 goals), 24 (31), three (31) and four (30), whereas the four lowest outputs all occurred in the first round of fixtures with a miserable 15 goals scored in rounds one and 13, followed by rounds six (19) and eight (20).
On the offensive
The team with the best offence could be looked at many ways. Luddenham failed to score on only one occasion this season (when Wanderers beat Luddenham 4-0, and they went on goal-fights that resulted in celebrations both ways, 62 goals but they conceded six goals in a match twice), Hakoah have league-high 25-goal super striker Neil Jablonski (and booted a collective 67 goals), Roosters have produced a league-high 17 different scorers (including their goalkeeper) to go with their 66 goals.
On the other hand, Northbridge notched up an impressive 71 strikes this year (including 42 goals in the second half of the season), fielded four of the competition?s top-20 scorers (Ry Hardy, Elliot King, Daniel Hillege and Max Zanders), and blasted three or more goals past their opposition in over half their matches. Prospect (55 goals) also has a solid offensive record.
At the other end of the scale, Nepean (26 goals), Gazy (29), Chopin Park (32), Belmore (35), Wanderers (35) and Bathurst (36) found it hardest to score, Lansvale held to nil in almost a third of their matches (8).
Games held to nil (goals scored)
Luddenham 1 (62)
Northbridge 2 (71)
Hakoah 2 (67)
Prospect 2 (55)
Roosters 3 (66)
Hawkesbury 3 (47)
Springwood 4 (47)
Hurstville 5 (42)
Wanderers 6 (35)
Belmore 6 (35)
Bathurst 6 (36)
Chopin Park 7 (32)
Nepean 8 (26)
Gazy 8 (29)
Defensive units
The teams with the best defence might be considered Prospect (28 goals conceded in 26 games), including an impressive eight clean sheets throughout the course of the season, one better than and Wanderers (38 goals conceded), and three better than premiers Northbridge (who have conceded just eight goals conceded in their last 13 matches). Hakoah (34 goals) and Springwood (38) have also been tight at the back in a highscoring year.
Gazy were put through the cleaners in 2011, picking the ball out of their own net 81 times in 26 games, while Belmore (57), Hurstville (59), Nepean (56), Bathurst (53) and Luddenham (50) also found this year defensively challenging. Somewhat surprisingly, Roosters could only hold their opposition scoreless on one occasion (when they beat Gazy 8-zip), which is among Gazy (2) and Belmore (2) as the lowest number of clean sheets kept this year.
Clean sheets (goals conceded)
Prospect 9 (28)
Wanderers 8 (38)
Northbridge 6 (36)
Luddenham 5 (50)
Hawkesbury 5 (39)
Hurstville 5 (59)
Hakoah 4 (34)
Springwood 4 (38)
Chopin Park 4 (40)
Nepean 4 (56)
Bathurst 4 (53)
Roosters 2 (42)
Belmore 2 (57)
Gazy 1 (81)
Home fortress
If there was one terrible aspect to a terrific 2011 season it was the astonishing fact that visiting teams won more times than the hosts (73 home wins to 75 by the travellers), and although there were only 32 draws Belmore provided almost a third of them with nine stalemates (Hawkesbury, Chopin Park and Nepean were involved in seven draws, Luddenham and Roosters only one each).
Nepean was the only side not to chalk up a win on home turf, however just five of the 14 starters ended with better home records than they did away in 2011 ? Hakoah, Luddenham, Roosters, Prospect and Bathurst.
The club with the best home achievement was Hakoah, who bagged 31 points in winning 10 and drawing one of 12 home fixtures, Roosters and Luddenham next best with 10 wins from their 13 host games, followed by Northbridge (nine wins and two draws from 12 matches) ? the league?s top two sides dropping just one game each at home throughout the year. Prospect (25 points) and Hawkesbury (20) were the only other teams solid in front of home support.
Most home points (games played, win-draw-loss record)
Hakoah 31 (12) 10-1-1
Roosters 30 (13) 10-0-3
Luddenham 30 (13) 10-0-3
Northbridge 29 (12) 9-2-1
Prospect 25 (13) 8-1-4
Hawkesbury 20 (13) 5-5-3
Bathurst 17 (18) 5-2-11
Springwood 13 (12) 3-4-5
Chopin Park 13 (12) 3-4-5
Hurstville 13 (12) 4-1-7
Wanderers 12 (13) 3-3-7
Belmore 9 (12) 2-3-7
Gazy 5 (14) 1-2-11
Nepean 4 (11) 0-4-7
Road warriors
With such lacklustre home performances several clubs ended up with inspiring away records, newcomers Northbridge the most impressive with 27 points (eight wins and three draws from 14 road games), followed by Prospect with 25 points (eight wins and a draw) and Springwood with a highly credible 23 points (seven wins and two stalemates), while Wanderers also only dropped three games away from home (winning six and drawing three of 12 fixtures).
Roosters and Luddenham both won more than half of their 13 road games, but then again only three sides (Hurstville, Bathurst and Gazy) failed to pick up points in more than half of their away allotments, Gazy losing nine of 12 outings and Bathurst losing all but one of their eight trips across the mountains.
Most away points (games played, win-draw-loss record)
Northbridge 27 (14) 8-3-3
Prospect 25 (13) 8-1-4
Springwood 23 (13) 7-2-4
Roosters 22 (13) 7-1-5
Luddenham 22 (13) 7-1-5
Hakoah 22 (14) 6-4-4
Wanderers 21 (12) 6-3-3
Hawkesbury 20 (12) 6-2-4
Chopin Park 18 (14) 5-3-6
Nepean 18 (15) 5-3-7
Hurstville 16 (13) 5-1-7
Belmore 15 (14) 3-6-5
Gazy 5 (12) 1-2-9
Bathurst 3 (8) 1-0-7
On target with the goalscorers
Individually Neil Jablonski was the star of the 2011 division two show, the Hakoah ace scoring 25 goals to finish ahead of Northbridge duo Ry Hardy (22) and Elliot King (19). Jablonski scored four of the competition?s 19 hat-tricks this year and he is on a late-season roll with eight goals in his last five matches (although King has scored in his last seven games).
The top-three players launched clear of the pack with the top-10 rounded off by Ercan Topal (Roosters), Huso Merdanovic (Luddenham), Gustavo Orcajo (Prospect), Ahmed Chandab (Prospect), Paul Cooper (Hawkesbury), Paul Paras (Belmore) and Haissan Morhi (Hurstville).
25 ? Neil Jablonski (Hakoah),
22 ? Ry Hardy (Northbridge),
19 ? Elliot King (Northbridge),
15 ? Ercan Topal (Roosters),
14 ? Huso Merdanovic (Luddenham), Gustavo Orcajo (Prospect),
13 ? Paul Cooper (Hawkesbury), Ahmed Chandab (Prospect),
12 ? Paul Paras (Belmore), Haissan Morhi (Hurstville),
11 ? Grant Odei (Luddenham), Bryan Campbell (Springwood), Peter Henderson (Springwood),
10 ? Daniel Hillege (Northbridge), Baturay Akin (Roosters), Adem Taslak (Roosters),
9 ? Luke Sullivan (Bathurst), Rani Rimmer (Hakoah), Pasquale Corso (Luddenham), Max Zanders (Northbridge),
8 ? Jarrod Portegies (Bathurst), Jason Browne (Nepean),
There were 175 different scorers this year, an average of 12.5 per team.
Number of scorers (multiple scorers, more than one goal)
Roosters 17 (10)
Hawkesbury 16 (6)
Nepean 14 (6)
Hakoah 13 (11)
Prospect 13 (11)
Hurstville 13 (7)
Luddenham 12 (9)
Wanderers 12 (8)
Belmore 12 (5)
Northbridge 11 (7)
Springwood 11 (8)
Chopin Park 11 (6)
Gazy 10 (7)
Bathurst 9 (6)
2011 division two review
Bathurst: It?s hard to find a bright part to Bathurst?s season. They achieved back-to-back wins just once (round 16 and 17 over Hurstville and Gazy) but despite a lift in playing personnel and form in the second half of the season, ?75 actually had a better front end of the competition. They won just once away from home all year and enjoyed their best successes in a 6-0 round four whitewash of Gazy, a gritty 2-0 win over Roosters in round two and a 4-0 win over Nepean in round 21. It looks unlikely that Bathurst will hold onto its French imports, but Luke Sullivan scored nine goals and Jarrod Portegies eight in another great season for the westerners. First grade finished a disappointing second from bottom, while the ?75 reserves faired little better in 10th spot.
Belmore: It?s easy to pinpoint Belmore?s shining light in 2011 ? four wins from its final six matches (Hercules had only managed one win before that, a 2-1 round-one victory over Roosters) stand out in a gloomy season. Unable to secure successive wins was hindered by a league-high nine draws in what proved to be a difficult campaign for Belmore, who went a horrible 18 rounds without tasting victory. A 12-goal haul from Paul Paras is one highlight, and they defeated Luddenham 4-2 and Wanderers 1-0 to leave this year on a high note, but Belmore finished fourth from bottom in first grade, Hercules reserves doing marginally better in ninth place.
Chopin Park: It was an above average return to state league for Chopin Park Rams, seeing the sights from a lofty division two perch early on in the piece before a second half tumble left them languishing in ninth place and well short of challenging for the playoffs. For a long time Chopin Park had the least losses, but they were defeated in nine of their final 13 matches to upset a great start to the year. The Rams beat Roosters and Prospect and drew with Hakoah and Northbridge to prove they could match it with the top teams, unfortunately they couldn?t beat the teams around them to consolidate their high-end position. They also did very well to reach round three of the Waratah Cup knockout. Chopin Park?s reserves fell one agonising point short of a playoff berth.
Wanderers: It?s not overly surprising the fortunes of Wanderers this year. The club prides itself on playing entertaining, fluent, attacking football and, well, when you live by the sword? Last year the club boasted division two?s best home record at Knight Park and held a league best nine clean sheets. The defence held up their end of the bargain again, keeping eight clean sheets and boasting stinging victories over Hakoah, Roosters and Luddenham, plus a Northbridge stalemate, but they weren?t as good at the other end, scoring less goals than in a shorter 2010 to place eighth overall. Wanderers did enjoy some cheer in making the third round of the Waratah Cup knockout. Fairfield?s reserves on the other hand were outstanding, lifting the premiers trophy after winning 18 and drawing two of their 26 matches.
Gazy Lansvale: This year?s wooden spooners had a 2011 to forget. While they started briskly a nine-match losing sequence soon spelt out what sort of season Gazy were in for. They conceded 47 goals in the first 13 rounds (only 34 in the second half), went 16 rounds without a win, and the only real successes came via a stirring 2-1 win over Wanderers followed by a 1-1 draw with Luddenham in rounds 19 and 20, as well as a valiant third round showing in the Waratah Cup knockout. But if they didn?t win with their efforts on the field Gazy certainly won plenty of admirers for their commitment to see out a tough year. Watch for Lansvale?s reserve graders to restore some pride after they finished a credible fourth in a highly competitive season.
Hakoah: What can be said about a club that hits rock bottom one year and rebounds to finish second the next. Hakoah can take a bow for completing a remarkable sporting turnaround. They recruited well, bought well, trained hard, but coughed and spluttered at the start of the season, winning just four of their opening 12 encounters (including a big 7-2 win over Hurstville) before back-to-back 3-0 wins over Northbridge and Prospect put everyone on notice. A 2-0 loss to Luddenham the following week (after they had smacked United 6-1 in their round two meeting) only sparked a 10-game winning streak and Hakoah began their push for the premiership ? breaking last year?s wooden spoon in the process. Hakoah finished with the league?s best home record and matched it with a strong travelling account to fall a miserable three points short of Northbridge. Hakoah has the second best scoring output (67 goals, including a competition-high 25 from star Neil Jablonski and nine strikes by playmaker Rani Rimmer), second best defence (34 goals leaked), and was only held scoreless on one occasion. Hakoah?s reserves also had a great year finishing fifth in a tight last-round finish.
Hawkesbury: Sixth-placed City could point to several reasons for falling 10 points short of the playoffs this year. They were certainly good enough at both ends of the park but perhaps contained by an inability to win at home in the first round of matches; fortunately they didn?t lose an away game to claim a top-five spot at the halfway point. Inconsistency marred the second half of the year as Hawkesbury found its groove at home (only losing to Northbridge) but couldn?t buy an away result (a win at Chopin Park its only success), enduring six win-less rounds to drop down the ladder. They beat Prospect both times this year, held Northbridge, Hakoah and Roosters to draws, and registered a memorable 5-4 win over Hurstville, discovering 16 goalscorers in their ranks along the way (although only six scored more than once), plus they reached the Waratah Cup third round for a third successive time, making this year emphatically better than a dour 2010 campaign where they finished second last. Evergreen Paul Cooper also had a terrific year booting 13 goals. City?s reserves had a better season celebrating a second place finish.
Hurstville: It was always going to be tough to back up from a sensational 2010 series that took the Minotaurs to grand finals in both grades. And when you lose league Golden Boot Michael Di Meglio before a ball is kicked, you can understand Hurstville?s sluggish start to the year. The General?s men finally got going and went on a seven-wins-in-nine-rounds rampage to storm back into top-five consideration, but they hit a brick wall winning just two of their last 10 games to finish in 10th position. Just too many goals leaked (59 in 26 games), Hurstville letting their opposition reach three goals or more 12 times this season (including a 5-0 loss to Springwood and Roosters, a 7-2 loss to Hakoah and 5-4 loss to Hawkesbury). They did have some high points, thrashing Luddenham 6-3, but struggled to find someone to support main striker Haissan Morhi (12 goals). Minotaurs reserves fell just short of a playoff place in eighth.
Luddenham: Oh what 2011 could have been for Luddenham. For a club that endured so many long, fruitless, agonising years at the bottom of state league (no, really, they were hammered weekly), perhaps the joy of being in such a strong position at the top of the table following a six-game winning streak proved too overwhelming as United imploded from an eight point lead with 10 rounds to go (they were 14 points in front of Northbridge at this stage) to finally default their premiership ambitions with a 4-2 loss to Belmore and 1-1 draw with Gazy. While scoring goals hasn?t been a problem ? thanks to Huso Merdanovic (14), Grant Odei (11) and Pasquale Corso (9) ? Luddenham have had trouble at the back (they lost to Hakoah 6-1, Hurstville 6-3 and Wanderers 4-0). United had the league?s equal second-best home record (behind Hakoah) with 10 wins at The Oval this year, and a great away record (seven wins). Luddenham?s reserves finished 12th.
Nepean: It took a while for newcomers Nepean to break their duck but were certainly unlucky in many of their performances to support real claims for a respectable 2011. An inability to finish off in front of goal (although they did manage to find 14 goalscorers, Jason Browne the best with eight) countered some brilliant lead-up play on several occasions to usually leave Nepean licking their wounds. They failed to win any home games this year but enjoyed great success on the road winning five and drawing three of 14 fixtures, and they held Northbridge to a stirring 3-3 draw to take some good memories away from a challenging year. Nepean finished 12th in first grade and bottom of reserves.
Northbridge: Northbridge never hid its high ambitions, stating pre-season it believed its place was higher up the state league chain ? and they?ve definitely proved that with first grade finishing first and reserve grade a highly respectable third. For a team that has to do a lot of travelling Northbridge claimed division two?s best road record (winning eight and drawing three of 14 trips) to go with a fourth-best home record (losing just one of 12 host games). They hammered home a competition-high 71 goals led by their four-wing fighter squadron of Ry Hardy (22), Elliot King (19), Daniel Hillege (10) and Max Zanders (9), and also defended quite well (36 goals conceded). Although their campaign started slowly (four wins from their opening 13 games), a blunt 3-0 loss to Hakoah lit the fuse for a 13-game winning run to close out the end of the regular season, flogging Nepean and Gazy 6-0 each, conceding just eight goals in the second half of the season and coming back from 14 points off the competition lead to win it in a last-round premiership ditch. To add to the plaudits, Northbridge became the first division two side to reach the fourth round of the Waratah Cup knockout.
Prospect: A pair of pivotal passages prevented Prospect from having the perfect 2011, United ending a six-week unbeaten start to the year with five losses in seven games before embarking on a five-week winning binge stopped in its tracks by three losses in five rounds. It allowed Northbridge, Hakoah and Roosters to all move in front, pushing Prospect to a fifth-place finish. United registered solid home and away records, keeping a league-high nine clean sheets and conceding just 28 goals all season (Hakoah next best with 34). Prospect were also impressive at the other end of the field, Gustavo Orcajo (14 goals) and Ahmed Chandab (13) leading the way, United with the highest number of multiple scorers (11, equal with Hakoah). United?s reserves finished 11th.
Roosters: It was almost like Roosters were competing in a league of their own with the number of catch-up games it had under its belt, and in the end it was able to overcome losing five of its opening 13 games to end the season on fire winning six of its last seven to overtake everyone but Northbridge and Hakoah. It was all or nothing for Roosters as they only shared one draw all season (3-3 with Hawkesbury), but they also shared the glory between the ranks again, Roosters backing up its league-high 17 scorers from 2010 with another 17 different scorers this year, led by skipper Ercan Topal (15), Adem Taslak (10) and Baturay Akin (10). A celebratory year was highlighted by a 8-0 blitz of Gazy and 4-3 victory over Northbridge in round three but they could also only manage to keep two clean sheets, leaving some question marks over their ability to defend, but Roosters have the strongest record against top-five sides this year, which bodes them well for the finals. Roosters reserves were not as good, conceding 76 goals and finishing 13th.
Springwood: A spirited Springwood season will have them primed for 2012 but they?ll want to strengthen their mountain fortress after United could only pick up a miserly 13 points from 12 games at Summerhayes Park this year. Coupled with an inability to string successive wins it was enough to block their top-five assault, although they smacked Luddenham 3-1 in a great run down the home straight and drew 2-2 with both top-two sides Hakoah and Northbridge early in the season to suggest they were highly competitive this year. While Bryan Campbell and Peter Henderson (11 goals each) led the way up front, Springwood also took to caging bulls with 5-0 and 4-0 defeats over Minotaurs in 2011 as both first and reserve grade finished in seventh position.
-By Daniel De Nardi
