State League One Round Five Review
Match of the Round
Hurstville ZFC vs Mt Druitt Town Rangers
Hurstville ZFC almost staged the mother of all comebacks at Hurstville Oval on Sunday afternoon, eventually succumbing 4-5 to Mt Druitt Town Rangers at full time, after being down 1-5 at one point with just over 20 minutes to play.
Mt Druitt have only themselves to blame for allowing Hurstville ZFC back into the fray, racing to a 4-0 lead after 36 minutes after totally dominating the opening half hour or so.
Shane Ardle put the Rangers in front after just 4 minutes, cracking home a cut back by Daniel Fogarty after Glenn McPherson had sent over a teasing cross from the left flank.
Fogarty himself had a snap at goal just a couple of minutes later, his diagonal 20 yard grass cutter skimming just past the far post.
Hurstville responded with their first real chance after 13 minutes, and Simic should?ve done better when his header from right in front sailed over the bar after a great inswinging cross from Paul Gagro.
It was only a minor abberation for Mt Druitt, as they went close again on 20 minutes, and Todd Macrae should?ve done better himself as he stooped to scoop his header over the bar when unmarked at the far stick.
Nathan Ralph did ever so well in the 25th minute, fierce in winning a tackle near the touchline, before sending over a fantastic far post cross. Daniel Fogarty was first to react and thumped his header back towards the direction the ball came from, beating Hurstville?s keeper, Antun Jurleta, all ends up to put Mt Druitt 2-0 to the good.
The game was seemingly over within sixty seconds shortly after, with the Rangers scoring twice and taking what looked like an insurmountable 4-0 lead.
Fogarty and Ardle put their futsal skills to good use on 35 minutes, an interchange of swift passes on the edge of the penalty area seeing Ardle into a gap, where he waltzed past Hurstville?s keeper, Jurleta, before tapping into an empty net for 3-0.
The visiting faithful had barely stopped applauding and it was 4-0 to Mt Druitt, when Ardle completed his first half hatrick by tapping into the net after Jurleta had spilled a Glenn McPherson piledriver.
The half time break couldn?t have come sooner for the home side, as the stunned Hurstville ZFC went into the sheds contemplating how and where to start when they returned for the second half.
For Mt Druitt, the points were in the bag, surely, and for the Rangers it was a matter of not letting complacency set in and trying to possibly replicate what they produced in the first stanza.
What coach Hugh McCrory wouldn?t have liked was the fact that his players picked up three cautions in the opening ten minutes of the second half, something that affected the Rangers? application to the task during a second period that slowly started to slip away from Mt Druitt.
Hurstville?s big burly striker, Stiven Kostanic, was throwing his weight around during the entire match, and got his just reward on 55 minutes when he hit a low angled shot past Mt Druitt?s custodian, Tim West, to pull a goal back for the home side.
The renewed hope for Hurstville seemed to be extinguished just ten minutes later, however, when Glenn McPherson rifled an arrow from 20 yards that absolutely flew past Jurleta in the Hurstville goal, giving the Rangers a 5-1 lead with 25 minutes remaining.
Mt Druitt at that point just seemed to stop applying themselves to the task at hand, and by taking the foot off the pedal, allowed Hurstville plenty of time to exploit the gaps
On 67 minutes, Shinya slipped a through ball into the path of Kostanic, and he duly obliged with goal number two for himself and Hurstville by expertly sliding the leather under the advancing West, the Mt Druitt keeper.
Paul Gagro then tested the Mt Druitt heartbeats with a 25 yarder that didn?t miss by much, before substitute Carlos Carneiro got in on the act in the 87th, stabbing home a low cross by fellow substitute, Stefan Perak, to make it 3-5, and game on.
Mt Druitt were reeling at this stage, and couldn?t wait for the final gong to sound, but Carneiro almost scored his second, snapping at a loose ball in the penalty area that cannoned to safety off a stationary defender in the six yard box.
A minute into injury time and Gagro won a free kick a metre or so outside the penalty area, and would you believe it, Dario Borovickic curled a beauty over the wall and into the bottom left hand corner of the net, making the score 4-5 in favour of Mt Druitt, just in case you?ve lost count by now.
The referee, Mr Michael Weiner, didn?t miss a beat in the middle during the 90 minutes, and played a few more minutes of injury time before bringing an end to a remarkable game of two halves.
As per my comments in my pre-season preview, Mt Druitt are a force to be reckoned with when they flex their muscles, solid across the midfield with a number of attacking weapons at their disposal. But their second half performance, or lack of, would be a worry for their coaching staff. Nevertheless a win is a win, and the three points sees the Rangers climb into outright second position on the ladder.
Hurstville have twice shown in recent weeks that they will not give in and work until the 90th minute, coming back to score twice and draw with Balmain 3-3, whilst scoring four times in losing 4-5 against Mt Druitt. Obviously they need to focus on starting football matches like they finish, and they will begin to pick up points and ascend up the ladder.
Match Stats
HURSTVILLE ZFC 4 (Kostanic 55? / 67?, Carneiro 87?, Borovickic 90? + 1))
MT DRUITT TOWN RANGERS 5 (Ardle 4? / 35? / 36? , Fogarty 25? , McPherson 65?)
at Hurstville Oval, Hurstville on Sunday, April 22nd, 2012
Referee ? Mr Michael Weiner
Referee?s Assistants ? Mr Jim Manos and Mr Terry Goodwin
HURSTVILLE ZFC 22.A.Jurleta, 4.D.Jalal (7.M.Posovac 76?), 14.J.Galic, 5.G.Sivric, 16.U.Shinya, 6.D.Borovickic, 10.V.Zoric (capt) (17.C.Carneiro 69?), 15.N.Simic, 9.P.Gagro, 11.T.Dejanovic (8.S.Perak 69?), 19.S.Kostanic.
Substitutes not used ? 20.D.Jurleta, RGK.L.Geary.
Yellow Cards ? 6.D.Borovickic 20?, 9.P.Gagro 51?.
Red Cards ? Nil
MT DRUITT TOWN RANGERS 1.T.West, 8.N.Ralph, 17.M.Todd, 14.C.Prothero, 5.R.O?Shea (capt), 11.G.McPherson (15.K.Elborough 85?), 10.J.Kirby, 7.S.Ardle, 9.C.McNaughton, 18.T.Macrae (6.D.Penfold 69?), 4.D.Fogarty.
Substitutes not used ? 16.N.Walker, RGK. H.Prothero.
Yellow Cards ? 9.C.McNaughton 51?, 11.G.McPherson 55?, 4.D.Fogarty 61?.
Red Cards ? Nil
Round Five Review
The following three matches all fell foul of the downpour of rain that fell towards the latter part of last week, and will be rescheduled at a day/time to be determined by FNSW.
Camden Tigers ? Inter Lions WASHED OUT
Northbridge FC VS Fairfield City Lions WASHED OUT
Schofields Scorpions vs UNSW WASHED OUT
Stanmore Hawks vs Gladesville Ryde Magic @ Arlington Oval, 7-00pm Saturday 21st April
Gladesville Ryde Magic made it five wins from as many matches in 2012 with a come-from-behind victory to topple Stanmore Hawks on Saturday night at Arlington Oval.
Gladesville Ryde were stung early on in the opening minute when they failed to clear a corner, the ball dropping to debutant, Kosta Gioulis, on the edge of the box, and he responded with a low hard volley that found its way through a forest of legs and into the net to give the Hawks the lead.
This only served to liven up the Magic and they worked very hard throughout the first half with some strong tackling, desperate to go forward at all times, but with little reward until moments before the break.
A left-sided corner was parried by Hawks keeper, Sammy Emmanouil, to the edge of the box, where the unmarked Gladesville midfielder, Johnny Martinez, returned serve, controlling the ball, before ripping in a low stinging shot that also found its way through a forest of legs and into the net for the equaliser.
Two goals of similar creation at either end of the first half saw the spoils evenly shared as the players made their way to the sheds for a well-earned orange.
Gladesville Ryde seemingly dominated the first half territorially, and in terms of possession, fighting to get back into the match after that early set-back.
Stanmore Hawks did well to absorb the pressure, looking to hit back on the counter attack – where they created a number of half-chances – but were denied on at least two occasions by some excellent goalkeeping by the Magic custodian, Tohouroglou.
The second half was a reversal of the first somewhat, with the Hawks desperate for a win, and determined to push forward. It was Gladesville this time who were forced to absorb the attacking pressure imposed upon them by their opposition, and revert to counter-attacking the Stanmore goal.
Experienced referee, Jimmy Barnes, was strong in his rulings, and needed to present some cautions – mainly for dissent – as the second half rolled on and the pressure on both sides to grab three points mounted.
What was to prove the match decider came early in the second half, and was the result of a long throw-in to the edge of the six-yard box by Ali McKie.
Big Scott Tonkin controlled the ball at his feet with his back to goal, and, despite the close attention of a Hawks defender, swivelled enough to chip the ball towards the centre of the goal, where nippy striker, Peter Doherty, was on hand to score for the visitors.
From this point onwards the Hawks continued to push forward and at times left themselves undermanned at the back. In return, Gladesville Ryde had at least three chances to score and put the game beyond doubt, but a combination of good goal-keeping or disappointing finishing let them down when it mattered.
Both sides created a number of chances with the two best shots of the game coming from the Stanmore Hawks, both from young debutant, Kosta Gioulis, who was desperately unlucky not to snatch a remarkable hatrick on the day.
Gioulis was unlucky not to score in the 77th minute when a 20 metre shot from the right-hand-side of the field smashed across the under side of the bar, bouncing clear of the goalmouth, whilst another booming 20 metre strike in the 84th minute also crashed against the cross-bar, this time with the Gladesville Ryde defence first to react and clear the leather.
The victory keeps the Magic top of the ladder with a perfect 100% record from their opening five matches, whilst the Hawks need to regroup quickly if they are to steer themselves away from the foot of the ladder.
Southern Bulls vs Balmain SC @ Ernie Smith Reserve, 3-00pm Sunday 22nd April
Balmain SC remain one of only two sides in State League One that are undefeated, continuing their good run with a 2-1 away victory over Southern Bulls on Sunday afternoon at Ernie Smith Reserve.
The three points puts Balmain third on the ladder on 8, with a game in hand on most sides surrounding them, whilst Southern Bulls remain on 6 points in 6th spot.
Uri Kaye did the damage for the visitors, opening the scoring right on half time, before grabbing his brace and doubling his team?s advantage on the hour.
Baturay Akin pulled one back immediately for the Bulls in the 61st minute, but they just couldn?t restore parity, and Balmain held on for a valuable three points.
-By Frank Speranza
