State League One: Mounties Wanderers cap off memorable 2011 season with magic Grand Final victory
Incidentally, by also winning the Under 20s Grand Final, Mounties Wanderers captured the unique honour of the ?double-double? ? the Premiership and Grand Final in both grades, 1sts and Under 20s ? in what has been a season truly to remember for the club.
Mounties came into the match with just the one match in a month under their belt, having won a semi final two weeks ago that catapulted them straight into the Grand Final after having had the first week of the finals off.
The less than hectic schedule meant the Wanderers were ?rested? and at full strength for the Grand Final, boasting Greg Baldock, Troy McColl, Reece Iredale, and Friday Jeremiah on their bench, players that arguably would get a start at any other Division One club.
Gladesville Ryde Magic had qualified for the Grand Final with sudden death wins over both UNSW and Fairfield City Lions, the latter after extra time, so time would tell if their legs were a little weary as the big match wore on.
But the Magic were without two of their most influential players this season, with midfielders Alistair McKie (suspended) and Alan Ryan (overseas for family reasons) absent, and no doubt giving the team a big gap to fill.
Mounties? Scotty Goodwin gave signs of things to come after just two minutes, his header from Willoughby?s corner bouncing inches wide of Tohouroglou?s right hand post.
Gladesville responded on 7 minutes when the Wanderers had trouble clearing a corner, the ball bobbling about amongst a crowd of players before Scott Tonkin?s angled stab ricocheted off a Mounties defender for a corner.
There was a healthy crowd at Cook Park for the season decider, with the locals out in full voice, but the Magic had their own band of traveling support eager to cheer their troops on.
On 19 minutes it was the Mounties that went close, when Peter Day broke quickly after a Magic corner was cleared, to send Mark Symington away down the right.
Symington, playing in an unaccustomed role of target man, flashed his low shot wide of the far post after he showed the Magic defence a clean pair of heels.
Gladesville were growing in confidence the longer the stalemate continued, and had a rare chance on 25 minutes when Andrew McKie?s volley from a half cleared corner bounced wide of Ali Akbal?s upright.
The Magic kept at it, and on 33 minutes were awarded a free kick just outside the box when Andrew McKie went tumbling. Brett Townley-Jones swerved his kick over the Mounties wall and into the waiting arms of Ali Akbal.
McKie turned provider in the 38th minute, laying off a ball into the path of Corey Macri whose fierce half volley from the edge of the box was well held by Mounties keeper, Akbal.
The best opportunity of a tight first period came a minute before the break and fell to Mark Symington, who skied his angled shot when he was put into a gap via a brilliantly threaded pass by Ian McAndrew.
One of the best referees in the business, Mr Thomas Diakos, was in charge for this emotion charged match, and he did well to play the advantage rule and allow play to continue many times. He blew the half time whistle right on cue, giving the teams a well deserved break.
The Mounties had the edge in general possession, but the Magic were good for the 0-0 result, applying themselves well as a unit in defence, scrambling when the Wanderers tried to spread the leather, and even conjuring a half chance or two for good measure.
Mounties skipper, Daniel McCann, was first to lift the tempo in the second half, getting in behind the Magic defence in the 49th minute, but his brilliant lob was superbly tipped over by Gladesville?s experienced campaigner, Tohouroglou.
The arm wrestle continued for the next 15-20 minutes, with the Magic content to hold the Wanderers at bay as the home side started to grow a little frustrated at their lack of penetration in the final third.
Matty Viera should?ve put the Wanderers in front on 72 minutes, exchanging passes with Ian McAndrew before toe poking wide when he was through on goal and with only the keeper to beat.
Viera made amends within sixty seconds though, when a Symington shot was blocked and landed in front of him just inside the right hand side of the box.
Lining it up like a gunslinger, Viera cracked a low drive on the volley, and the ball flashed inside the far post, beating Tohouroglou all ends up.
Amazingly Gladesville Ryde almost responded within a minute, when Corey Macri wriggled free of a challenge to find himself face to face with Ali Akbal, spurning the chance by clipping the ball over the cross bar, much to the despair of the traveling contingent.
Three minutes later and Macri was at it again, swiveling before curling his shot just over the bar from the edge of the box after some solid work down the left by Andrew McKie.
The Mounties weathered that mini flurry like the champions they are, before extending their lead on 78 minutes that more or less wrapped up the match.
The two Daniels, McCann and Willoughby, swapped passes down the right before the latter?s cross was met with a powerful header from Scott Goodwin ? who had ventured upfield during the last attack ? the ball thumping past Tohouroglou and into the roof of the net from a few yards. Goodwin duly raced off to celebrate with the boisterous crowd chanting his name in the far corner of the ground, and received a caution for his exuberance.
The next ten minutes saw a number of substitutions from both sides, with the star studded Mounties bench getting a few minutes of glory, whilst surprisingly for the Magic, two of their most vibrant players, Corey Macri and Scott Tonkin, were both subbed.
A minute into injury time and the Mounties counter attacked following a Gladesville corner, racing away with no less than 3-on-1 as they approached the Magic goal. Reece Iredale?s cross almost fell in between Greg Baldock and Eli Squillacioti, with the former straining to head over.
Not to worry for Mounties fans, as they made it 3-0 in the 2nd minute of injury time.
This time Greg Baldock headed downward and into the net at the far post following a pin point cross from Eli Squillacioti, before racing away in jubilation towards the sheds, with the veteran also earning a caution for his enthusiastic celebration.
Mr Diakos brought proceedings to an end, and with that came the deserved celebrations of the Mounties Wanderers, 2011 Premiers and Grand Final winners.
For Gladesville Ryde Magic, third in the competition proper and a Grand Final loss is nothing to be ashamed of, having fought their way into Finals contention with a productive second half of the season.
Missing two players of the calibre of Alan Ryan and Alistair McKie and winning a Grand Final was always going to be a tough ask, but they hung in there for over 70 minutes before succumbing to the Champions.
Their efforts in the final game did not go unnoticed ; Brett Townley-Jones did well to repel most of the Mountie attacks, reading the play well and distributing swiftly out of defence ; Corey Macri gave away plenty in size to the Mounties defenders, but his effort resulted in him getting a few dangerous shots in at goal as he looked to swoop on any loose ball ; Aaron Khan and Scott Tonkin held their own in a midfield battle that saw them up against a couple of the competition?s best players, but the youngsters worked hard in the tackle and got things going moving forward.
For the Mounties, the Grand Final brings an end to a remarkable season of success.
A final appearance in the State wide Waratah Cup showed the true strength of this side, a side that swept all before them by winning the Premiership with weeks to spare, and complementing this with a Grand Final success.
Best players in their 3-0 triumph were ; Scotty Goodwin was solid as a rock in central defence, winning everything in the air, and getting up in attack with a few threatening headers before his 78th goal virtually wrapped up the match ; Ian McAndrew worked hard in a busy midfield, reading the play well and being the catalyst who set the Wanderers on their way in attack with some telling passes ; Matty Viera was a stumbling block for Gladesville in the midfield, fierce in the tackle, energetic with his running, and topped off his performance with a great goal to break the deadlock.
Under 20s ? Mounties Wanderers vs Schofields Scorpions @ 2-30pm
Mounties Wanderers made it a day to remember for the club when they took out the Under 20s Grand Final at Cook Park on Sunday afternoon.
Mounties and Schofields went head to head in a tight encounter, with neither side able to take advantage of a number of first half opportunities as the score remained deadlocked at the break.
Just when extra time seemed to be looming on the horizon, Steve Tomasich got his head to a corner on 83 minutes to score the only goal of the match, giving the Mounties Wanderers the honour of completing the double of Premiers and Grand Final victors.
Match Stats
MOUNTIES WANDERERS 3 (Viera 73? , Goodwin 78? , Baldock 92?)
GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC 0
Sunday, September 18, 2011 at 5-00pm @ Cook Park, Mt Pritchard
Referee ? Mr Thomas Diakos
Assistant Referees ? Mr Stephen Ellsmore & Mr Paul Faithfull
Fourth Assistant ? Mr David Christie
MOUNTIES WANDERERS: 1.A.Akbal, 11.P.Day, 16.S.Goodwin, 18.M.D?Alessandro, 9.M.Viera, 19.I.McAndrew, 10.D.Willoughby (4.G.Baldock 88?), 17.D.McCann (capt), 14..M.Symington (20.R.Iredale 82?), 2.E.Squillacioti, 3.T.Salvaggio (6.T.McColl 89?).
Subs not used- RGK.G.Jamieson,8.F.Jeremiah.
Yellow Cards ?9.M.Viera 32?, 19.I.McAndrew 38?, 16.S.Goodwin 78?,4.G.Baldock 93?.
Red Cards ? NIL.
GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC: 1.K.Tohouroglou (capt), 11.B.Townley-Jones, 2.A.Morris, 13.B.Kerr, 4.A.Khan, 17.S.Tonkin (15.C.Robertson 80?), 8.J.Martinez, 5.L.Harte, 14.S.Kanou (7.T.Nastoulis 80?), 12.C.Macri (9.G.Ganiatsas 82?), 16.Andrew McKie.
Subs not used ? 1.P.Ferrara,3.A.Drinkwater.
Yellow Cards ? NIL.
Red Cards ? NIL.
-By Frank Speranza
