Hakoah crowned State League Two Champions
The spectacular come-from-behind win in front of 350 spectators saw substitute Michael Randall sneak in the winner five minutes from fulltime after a Joe Vkric 50th-minute penalty had cancelled out Baturay Akin?s first half opener for Roosters.
It was Hakoah defender Randall?s first goal of the year ? and what a time to get it. He?d only been on the field for seven minutes before netting the match-winner and it?s also cost coach Mark Robertson plenty of drinking money in the process.
?I told him [as he went on] that if he scored the winning goal I?d buy him 20 beers, so I?m out of pocket tonight,? an elated Robertson said following the game.
The rain kept at bay in near-freezing conditions as Hakoah kicked off into a stiff breeze, in-form Hakoah star Rani Rimmer showing his intentions early with a first minute blast across goal and then, moments later, opening up some room in the goalmouth with a deft back-heel chip over a defender, but his close-range shot sailed just over the crossbar.
Hakoah were showing no sign of missing this year?s Golden Boot Neil Jablonski (injured) but Roosters had their own agenda as Baturay Akin let fly from long range with the wind at his back, the blistering shot drifting wide of the post before Adem Taslak sprinted onto a great through-ball from midfield only to pad it towards the Hakoah defence in an edgy opening quarter-hour of play.
Bulky Roosters keeper Taner Gunalp also showed his mettle in charging out and fisting away a dangerous Hakoah lob before the cold conditions contributed to a 15-minute long running midfield battle, Rimmer breaking the ice with a terrific trap, turn and shot across goal in the 35th minute and Greg Moss almost finding a way over the Roosters custodian with his cross-turned-lob.
But as the clock ticked toward halftime a sloppy passage of play at the back by Hakoah allowed Akin to pilfer the ball and scramble it past a desperate Terry Dalbroi attempt to save for the opening score in the 44th minute, Akin?s 13th goal of a stellar season.
The goal sparked the Roosters fans into a frenzy as the drums beat loud and long, urging their team forward again. Akin almost obliged when he sprinted full-pelt at a pass toward the Hakoah goal, Dalbroi getting there just in time to pump the ball long and collect Akin?s sliding effort.
The keeper appeared none too happy with Akin?s intent and had a few words to say to the Roosters player as he lay on the ground clutching his leg, Gurgan Girkin rushing from halfway to protect his team-mate and fire back some words of his own to Dalbroi.
With the game threatening to boil over, yellow cards to Akin and Girkin and some stabilising words from both captains saw the teams retire from the field for halftime and end an edge-of-the-seat first half, Roosters leading 1-0.
The tricky conditions were going to play an obvious second-half role as Roosters kicked-off into a moderate head-wind, Taslak firing wide from far and Hakoah?s big Joe Vkric unable to control a delicate Nathan Kosmina cross in guiding his header wide in front of goal.
But the game was thrown wide open again just five minutes into the second period when Evin Kirkpinar inexplicably climbed onto the back of Vkric in the penalty area, leaving referee James Barnes no choice but to point to the penalty spot.
Barnes was having a solid game with the whistle in a hard-fought contest but even he would?ve realised how much tighter the game would get after Vkric picked himself up, dusted himself off and rammed home the spot-kick low-wide-left to equal the scores up again at 1-1. It was the bulky defender?s third goal of the year.
Roosters were on the back foot as Hakoah used the wind to launch several raids, wily Jon Pillemer unable to get more onto his shot just moments later and Nathan Kosmina showing his skills with a great touch-dummy dribble right, then turning left, touching forward again and placing a beautiful shot onto the top of the post and out for a goal kick.
Roosters almost grabbed a second lead before the hour-mark when Dalbroi failed to connect on his punch-out and Taslak?s glancing header looked goal-bound until booted clear on the line by a scrambling Hakoah defence, and Akin was put clear by a fantastic midfield pass moments later only for Dalbroi to show his class with a brave dive at the ball just before Akin could touch it past him.
At 1-1 you could cut the tension with a knife and Oliver Omari, who had a sensational game at the back for Roosters, was cautioned for back-chat a minute before Hakoah captain Marc Kacen had a glancing header tipped over the bar by Gunalp, and then Taslak also picked up a yellow card for a clumsy challenge.
The game was there for the taking and Nathan Kosmina almost caught Roosters off-guard when his long-range freekick from halfway had to be tipped over the bar and, minutes later, almost snuck one in again with a vicious swinging corner that forced Gunalp to dive back behind him to keep the ball out of goal.
Man-of-the-match Kosmina?s crosses were creating havoc and a third straight corner almost produced the breakthrough as Vkric somehow managed to head over the bar from a metre out.
Then, with just five minutes left in the match, a deadly cross into the Roosters goalmouth from Deklan Gilmartin saw Justin Kosmina dummy cleverly over the top of the ball and open it up for Randall, who side-stubbed it into goal from six yards out to send the Hakoah fans into raptures at 2-1 up.
Hakoah almost extended their lead in the closing minutes but Omari kept his deflated Roosters side in the match with an outstanding display of one-man defence, first scrambling back hard to cut out a definitive pass after two Hakoah players had broken the offside trap from halfway and were closing in on goal, and then putting his body on the line to block a Nathan Kosmina bullet from right in front.
Omari?s heroics almost paid dividends as Roosters pushed forward one more time, Kirkpinar firing toward goal from well inside the box only for Dalbroi to save from point-blank range just seconds before Barnes blew for fulltime and end a terrific grand final, Hakoah 2-1 victors.
It would?ve been a nicer finale had several Roosters players maintained their dignity following fulltime, fortunately captain Ercan Topal showed the club?s true spirit by congratulating Hakoah on a good game and thanking his teammates and Roosters supporters for a memorable 2011 season that fell just short of a deserved trophy.
?Boys, what can I say? I love you all,? he said following the match. ?No-one gave us a chance, but we got here today? well done.?
Hakoah captain Marc Kacen, a stalwart in defence with his bandaged hand, also reflected on the titanic tussle. ?I have to thank Roosters for a great game,? he said before turning to his teammates. ?What a long season it?s been? and we won it!?
Roosters coach Musti Akca was obviously disappointed after so much championship promise eventuated into a runners-up tag, but he could take nothing away from his opponents.
?Losing when you know you should?ve won always hurts more and that?s what it feels like after little things cost us the title, and now the grand final,? he said. ?But Hakoah played great and there could only be one winner.?
?I have nothing negative about the game, it was a tight fight to the end. We did good and could?ve got more but it didn?t go our way… we?re definitely looking forward to returning next year.?
At 1-0 down at halftime coach Robertson called on his players to dig deep in the second half. ?I asked them if they had more and they all said yes? I know I?ve got an honest bunch of blokes and knew what they were able to give me,? he said.
Robertson ? who played for Australia at U20, U23 and senior level, played in England and the Scottish Premier League, won an NSL title with Perth Glory and saddled up with Sydney FC in the A-League ? rated this State League 2 win as a career highlight.
?It rates so highly because I see myself as a coach now and this is my first coaching job,? he said. ?If my body could cope with it I?d probably still be playing, but I?ve changed my passion for football as a player to one as a coach, so winning this is right up there with the NSL title.?
Match Stats
Roosters 1 (Baturay Akin 44m)
Hakoah 2 (Joe Vkric penalty 50m, Michael Randall 84m)
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Hensley Athletic Field, Hawkesbury
Kick-off: 7pm
Referee: James Barnes
Assistant referees: Darrin Richards & Laurie Villarroel
Fourth Official: Dave Ward
Roosters FC (line-up): 2. Gurkan Topal, 5. Oliver Omari, 6. Abdul Elveren, 7. Ozsan Gogebakan, 10. Baturay Akin, 11. Sinan Aksu, 13. Evin Kirkpinar, 15. Musti Akca, 23. Metin Ozturk, 24. Gurkan Girgin, 26. Bilal Elveren, 27. Volkan Guven, 31. Adem Taslak, 61. Ercan Topal (captain), 99. Taner Gunalp, coach Musti Akca.
Yellow cards: Baturay Akin 44m, Gurkan Girgin 45m, Oliver Omari 64m, Ercan Topal 66m.
Hakoah FC (line-up): 1. Terry Dalbroi, 3. Michael Randall, 4. Mark Kacen (captain), 5. Greg Moss, 6. Nathan Kosmina, 7. Moshe Wakil, 8. Adem Joseph, 10. Deklan Gilmartin, 11. Daan Ranshuiisen, 12. Justin Kosmina, 13. Jon Pillemer, 14. Pat Darvill, 15. Rani Rimmer, 30. David Helfenbaum, 33. Seamus Dowd, 40. Joe Vkric, coach Mark Robertson, manager Peter Grunfield.
Yellow cards:
Hawkesbury crowned reserve grade champions
Hawkesbury City won an epic eight-goal thriller over minor premiers Fairfield Wanderers at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday evening to claim the State League Two reserve grade championship 5-3.
The competition?s top-two ranked teams put on an entertaining affair that kept everyone guessing at its conclusion right to the very end after Mauricio Sanchez missed an 80th-minute penalty that would?ve tied the game moments before Zac Watters sealed victory for City.
Hawkesbury coach Les Jones congratulated both teams for putting on a magnificent title decider and had to combine words to describe his elation.
?Un-bloody-believable,? he told Football NSW after the game. ?We knew we had to be mentally tough as Wanderers are a good side, but that was an incredible first half [six goals scored].?
It certainly was a frenetic opening to the game as Hawkesbury took excellent advantage of the wind to grab the ascendancy, Dale McKay rifling the opener at the quarter-hour mark.
That started a procession of goals as Elias Navarrete tied it up for Fairfield seven minutes later before Watters restored City?s lead almost from the kick-off. A second McKay goal made it 3-1 and then Edwin George barged his way through the Wanderers defence to take the score to 4-1 by the half-hour mark.
And if that wasn?t enough for the fans, Navarrete narrowly missed an acrobatic bicycle kick before stealing the ball from the Hawkesbury defence and burying it into the back of the net to make it 4-2 just before halftime.
The second half was just as tense without the free-scoring affair as both sides pressed forward, the Hawkesbury offence taking turns at pressuring the Fairfield goal while at the other end Navarrete was posing all sorts of problems of his own, finally netting again in the 76th minute after grabbing control in the box and steering it past the City keeper to complete his grand final hat-trick.
It was looking good for Wanderers as they used the breeze to pile on the pressure and in the 81st minute Navarrete was brought down in the Hawkesbury box. For some reason the three-goal hero stepped aside for Sanchez to take the spot kick, but he could only look skyward as his strike sailed clear of the crossbar.
City then sealed victory five minutes later when Watters got on the end of a wobbly cross to make it 5-3 and conclude a highly entertaining trophy match.
Former Socceroo Hayden Foxe was on hand to present the players with their medals and it was clear both sides held a healthy respect for each other.
?Congratulations to Hawkesbury, we always have good battles,? Wanderers captain Erick Anabalon said after the game. ?I?d like to thank our boys for a great year. Unfortunately we couldn?t win today but I have to thank our supporters and the Federation as well for a great year.?
City captain Chris Gee was similarly grateful for a great grand final run. ?Fairfield, it?s always a pleasure to play you guys, and today was our day,? he said. ?To the Hawks, the mighty Hawks, it?s been an absolute pleasure playing, training? the whole thing. Everyone did their best this year and that?s why we?re holding up the trophy.?
?We seem to win it every three years, maybe we can shorten the gap and start winning it every year.?
Wanderers coach Barry Zambrano was proud of his troops despite the gut-wrenching loss. ?We?re proud to be premiers and proved what a champion side we are by coming back from a 4-1 deficit and almost leveling it up with that penalty,? he said.
?We showed a lot of heart in that second half but I really want to thank Hawkesbury who have always been good opposition for us this year, and I hope the rivalry will continue next year. Thanks to all our fans and to [manager] Rick Crocono who has done a terrific job all year.?
City coach Les Jones ? who has led the club to reserve grade championships in 2005, 2008 and now 2011 ? also made special mention of the great camaraderie at Hawkesbury.
?The atmosphere is absolutely terrific,? he said. ?The boys we get here from all over the place and every one of them gets along ? it?s just a great place to be at.?
Hawkesbury City 5 (Dale McKay 15/29m, Edwin George 33m, Zac Watters 24m, 83m)
Fairfield Wanderers 3 (Elias Navarrete 23/40/76m)
Match Stats
Hawkesbury City 5 (Dale McKay 15/29m, Edwin George 33m, Zac Watters 24m, 83m)
Fairfield Wanderers 3 (Elias Navarrete 23/40/76m)
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Hensley Athletic Field, Hawkesbury
Kick-off: 4.30pm
Referee: Alex Denzel
Assistant referees: Graham McKenzie & Blayne Whiteman
Fourth Official: Michael Kimber
Hawkesbury City (line-up): 2. Samuel Belcastro, 3. Dane Smith, 6. Chris Gee (captain), 7. Kurt Johnson, 9. Kelston George, 16. Hassen Arnaout, 17. Brett Morley, 20. Matthew Garrow, 21. Zac Watters, 22. Andrew Stevenson, 23. Alex Matafonov, 24. Dale McKay, 26. Edwin George, 31, Zachary Johnson, 34. Prash Sharma, 36. Jim Vasiliou, coaches Les Jones & Shane Burge, manager Aaron Anderson.
Yellow cards: Matthew Garrow 8m, Zac Watters 56m, Alex Matafonov 80m.
Fairfield Wanderers (line-up): 1. Rodrigo Galiano, 2. S Hassan, 3. Ivan Sanhueza, 4. Ahmed Khan, 5. D Hardman, 6. R Salimis, 7. James Youkhana, 8. Luis Jimenez, 9. Elias Navarrete, 10. Erick Anabalon (captain), 11. Jordan Juarez, 12. Andrew Fernandez, 13. Ricky Schumann, 14. Mauricio Sanchez, 15. Gustavo Roy, 16. G Moushi, coach Barry Zambrano, manager Rick Crocono.
Yellow cards: James Youkhana 29m, Ivan Sanhueza 63m.
-By Dan De Nardi
