NSW Super League Round 6 Review
Bankstown Berries remain just the one point behind after overcoming Mounties 2-1 while Bankstown Lions also returned to winning ways defeating Spirit FC 2-1.
Mounties Wanderers v Bankstown Berries
Bankstown Berries travelled to Cook Park faced with the difficult task of overcoming a Mounties side who have more than held their own in Super League this season. After that shock loss last week, the Berries knew that the right response here was to take all three points and they came through this test with flying colours.
It was a hungry Bankstown who took the game to Mounties right from the start, the quick and pacy game providing an entertaining match to watch. The wide pitch allowed for plenty of space and it was no surprise that the predominant threat came from the flanks, Aram Tayebi for the Berries and Daniel Willoughby for Mounties putting in some dangerous crosses.
But it was the Berries who were shading it and it took only eight minutes for the first clear chance. Dimitri Zakilas found himself surprisingly in some space well inside the box but shot straight to Ali Akbal?s grateful hands.
It was mainly half chances for the Mounties as they responded, Daniel McCann firing well over and Fred Graham?s effort lacking power. A good interchange between the two saw McCann, after a fine run, just shoot over but the Mounties? closest opportunity came a few minutes later. Peter Day and Graham worked well before Graham?s cross into the area was put over under pressure.
The first goal of the game though fell to the Berries. A foul near the byeline presented the visitors with a dangerous set piece. The freekick was floated to the far post, headed down and there was Brad Gibson to pick up the pieces, firing low into the corner, in a crowded box.
It was not a surprise, the Berries having proven dangerous with their corners and set pieces, putting Akbal and the defence under some pressure.
The Mounties, despite their best attempts, often fell foul to the offside flag, somewhat frustrating for the home support. Just before half time Willoughby found himself in some space but couldn?t quite take advantage and it was 0-1 as the half time whistle blew.
The second half saw the Berries again up to the task. Zakilas should have made it two with a clear header while Ben Delicata also had a prime chance to bury a shot. Matthew Clowes had a decent strike from distance before Delicata was unlucky when his goal bound shot took a slight deflection before slamming against the cross bar.
But the game threw up a tasty finish when the Mounties equalised with just a quarter of an hour to go. A superb slide rule pass by Willoughby cut through the defence, to the feet of substitute Mark Symington, who slotted first time past Nestor Tsioustas.
The Mounties? effort though was quickly undone. Within sixty seconds the Berries were back in front, Zakilas putting away close in, after receiving the ball from the left. It was a cruel blow to the Mounties who had to come from behind a second time, but despite their best efforts it was not to be.
That is not to say the chances weren?t there. Greg Baldock pressured the Berries backline who coughed up possession, but his shot was just too high. And it was right at the death that the equaliser seemed certain. That was before David Gardiner, as the last man, brought Baldock down just clear of the area, as Baldock set off to goal. A straight red was the answer from the referee and there was little argument with that.
Steve Goodwin lined up the strike, known to be able to hit from distance, but while the shot was low and hard, it was also a little too wide.
For the Mounties? Glenn Lockhart, it was a disappointing result, though not performance.
?We are trying to play football and to retain possession and I feel we did that tonight. I can?t fault the players or the team but we may need to think about what we do, at times.?
?Last season when we drew level, we usually went away with the game. That is not the case in Super League, and this league is a step up, so maybe I will need to consider whether sometimes a point will be enough. I would prefer though to always go for the win, as that is how we play.?
Nass Martino was certainly satisfied with the result, and the Berries? quick response to that equaliser.
?I had said before the game that no matter what happens, just keep going, so it was good to see that happen. It was a good result for us tonight?.
?And the Mounties were tough to play against. It is good that they are in this league and the pitch here is great. They are not going to be going backwards any time soon?.
Mounties Wanderers 1 (Mark Symington 75?) v Bankstown Berries 2 (Brad Gibson 32?, Dimitri Zakilas 76?)
Saturday 28 April 2012
at Cook Park, Mount Pritchard
Referee: Khodr Yagi
Assts: Wayne Crabb and Luke Burley
Mounties Wanderers: 1. Ali Akbal 11. Peter Day 16. Scott Goodwin 5. Mark D?Allesandro 15. Joel Rodden-Ward 24. Cole Peverley (19. Daine Merrin 78?) 17. Daniel McCann 9. Matt Viera (14. Mark Symington) 10. Daniel Willoughby 23. Eli Squillacioti 18. Fred Graham (4. Greg Baldock 65?).
Subs not used: 20. Gareth Jameson 22. Adam Huseyin.
Yellow Card: Ali Akbal 45?.
Coach: Glenn Lockhart
Bankstown Berries: 1. Nestor Tsioustas 4. Alex Becerra 2. David Gardiner 6. Nick Tantalos 11. Aram Tayebi 9. Ante Deur 8. Matthew Clowes 18. David Stojic (3. Steve Wright 88?) 21. Ben Delicata (14. Nick Paras 77?) 16. Brad Gibson (17. Michael Zezovski 81?) 19. Dimitri Zakilas.
Subs not used: 13. Andrea Russo 22. George Bouropoulos.
Yellow Card: Aram Tayebi 8?
Red Card: David Gardiner 92?
Coach: Nass Martino
Hills Brumbies v Fraser Park
Hills Brumbies and Fraser Park fought out a 2-2 draw with the Brumbies equalising in a three minutes spell, after Fraser Park had taken a quick second half lead.
Some fine saves by Hills keeper Harrick Sinpraseuth helped keep the score to 0-0 at the break but Fraser Park came out with all guns blazing after half time to go to a quick two goal lead. Masaki Nomoto struck sublimely from outside the box to put the visitors one up before Troy Eedy, on as substitute, doubled the score with his first touch.
Hills lifted in an impressive final twenty minutes and first pulled one back with a close range Dragan Savic header. Within three minutes, Hills had clawed back a second, Anthony Abi-Arrage striking from distance with a cracker, the shot hitting the bar before rebounding in off by Michael Frost.
?We dominated the last twenty minutes?, said Mark Abi-Arrage, ?and showed plenty of character in coming back?.
?We did start out defensively and Fraser Park had probably 60/40 of the play for the first seventy minutes or so. They came out firing after half time and we conceded a couple quickly but we changed a few things and moved the formation around and just lifted?.
Hills Brumbies 2 (Dragan Savic 73? Anthony Abi-Arrage 75?) Fraser Park FC 2 (Masaki Nomoto 47? Troy Eedy 52?)
Sydney University v Macarthur Rams
Macarthur Rams gained their second win in a row, and still remain undefeated, after leaving Hensley Field with all the points, courtesy of a late penalty.
The Rams had taken an early lead through Shannon Hankin, his third of the season, before Mushi Mohebbee equalised ten minutes before half time. But with the game seemingly headed for a draw, a penalty to the Rams, converted by Craig Cooley, secured the points.
While Uni were a little understrength, with Matt Demetriou unavailable and David McMurray injured in the pregame warmup, there was no excuses from John Calleja.
?We conceded early and we looked a bit shaky early on, and it looked like we might concede again. But we hung in there and recovered and when Mushi equalised, we were back in it. I thought we finished the first half quite strongly?.
?But Macarthur had the better of the second half and there was some desperate defending at times, where we were just happy to clear. It did seem as though we might have weathered that period, but then came the penalty. But it was a penalty so there is little complaint.?
Sydney University 1 (Mushi Mohebbee 34?) Macarthur Rams 2 (Shannon Hankin 14? Craig Cooley 77? pen)
Granville Rage v St George
It was a game and a half at Garside Park when Granville Rage and St George met.
With both sides eager for points, it was fiery from the beginning with Granville placing the first stake in the ground. With the Saints failing to adequately clear a Rage corner, the ball fell to Kris Holbrook whose neat cross gave Amir Dizdaric the chance to put Granville into an early lead, after just five minutes.
Things turned though, and seemingly to the Saints advantage, when Rage captain Daniel Carrozza was sent from the field with just eight minutes having elapsed. Carrozza brought down Juan Chavez as the last man, and received a straight red for his troubles. Michael Yarnold drove the freekick hard, but against the bar.
Just two minutes later and the Saints were level. Chavez was again brought down, this time in the box, and a penalty award went the way of the visitors. Chavez duly converted to bring it back to 1-1.
If the Saints were supposed to take control from here, somebody forgot to tell Granville. Within two minutes they almost retook the lead, Holbrook beating the offside to find himself clear. Surprisingly, he blasted over.
David Harding skimmed a header wide in another good opportunity before David Smith, for the Saints, evaded keeper Adriano Varnier, but shot into the side netting. But it was Granville, despite being a man down, who rattled in the goals, two in two minutes. Dizdaric scored with another header, nicely into the bottom corner and then Holbrook blasted in from close range to put the Rage 3-1 up. One man down but two goals to the good.
The numbers were then even after David Smith received a red for a behind the play incident, in the thirty fifth. It looked grim for St George at that stage, having failed to click in a disappointing opening stanza.
Two half time substitutions looked to get the Saints moving, Matt Sadler and Sam Messam being introduced to the game. Sadler, particularly, was a danger out wide and St George began to exert some authority. They almost got one back when Simon Verrender expertly chipped over Varnier but hit the bar. Messam should have done better from the rebound.
St George did reduce the arrears, with twenty minutes to go after George Lagoudakis thread a perfect pass to Chavez, who bustled past Manu Yel, to strike into the bottom right. Back to 3-2 and it was game on.
But when Verrender was red carded just three minutes later, for an altercation, it was the Rage?s ten v St George?s nine and the job became just that much harder for the Saints.
The chances continued for both sides though as space opened up with Daniel Nash saving St George more than once, as the Rage looked to make it safe. Ex NSL star Pablo Cardozo, last seen in Super League with Fraser Park two years ago and a midweek signing for St George, was on as sub and he looked to engineer an equaliser.
But when Michael Dowling was brought down, in the area, it looked all over. Up stepped Phil Pyliotis, but in a rare miss from the spot, it was Nash who dived to brilliantly save.
Despite some desperate last minutes, St George couldn?t get that vital third goal.
Granville Rage 3 (Amir Dizdaric 5?, 24?, Kris Holbrook 25?) v St George 2 (Juan Chavez 12? pen, 70?)
Dulwich Hill v Northern Tigers
Northern Tigers maintained top spot with a strong 3-0 away win at Dulwich Hill. A Tom Spencer double, one in each half, was separated by Paul Davies? first of the season.
The win continues Northern Tigers? impressive start to the season, still remaining undefeated and with a miserly three goals against in their six games.
Dulwich Hill 0 Northern Tigers 3 (Tom Spencer 5?, 80?, Paul Davies 48?)
Spirit FC v Bankstown Lions
Bankstown Lions claimed their second victory of the season, scoring late to defeat Spirit FC 2-1. An early Gosue Sama penalty gave the Lions the lead which they only held for twelve minutes.
Hayden Pronin levelled for Spirit and it remained that way until nine minutes from time. But a Robbie Mileski effort in the 81st minute was due reward for the Lions who move into the top half with the win.
Spirit FC 1 (Hayden Pronin 23?) v Bankstown Lions 2 (Gosue Sama 11? pen, Robert Mileski 81?)
Leading Goalscorers
6 – Dimitri Zakilas (Bankstown Berries)
5 – Tom Spencer (Northern Tigers)
4 – Akwasi Agyei (Spirit FC)
Max Glanville (Northern Tigers)
Wassim Hijazi (Fraser Park)
3 – Juan Chavez (St George)
Amir Dizdaric (Granville Rage)
Jason Garrido (Sydney University)
Shannon Hankin (Macarthur Rams)
Robbie Shields (Dulwich Hill)
Henry Wells (Spirit FC)
Under 20s
Northern Tigers and Spirit FC continue to battle it out at the top of the Under 20s after the Tigers overwhelmed Dulwich Hill 5-1 and Spirit defeated Bankstown Lions. 2-0. Bankstown Berries dropped two points against Mounties Wanderers after earlier holding a two goal lead.
But the most impressive turnaround of the weekend was at Garside Park where Granville Rage gained their first points of the year in a 5-2 victory. Granville had lost all previous games but stunned in going up 5-0. Gawdat Abdalla scored twice, and Calum Williams, James Mawein and Michael Sada all scored one each to put the Rage in control. Two consolation goals to Brendan McLean and Andrew Katsoukis brought it back to 5-2.
Full results: Dulwich Hill 1 Northern Tigers 5, Hills Brumbies 2 Fraser Park FC 2, Mounties Wanderers 2 Bankstown Berries 2, Sydney University 0 Macarthur Rams 1, Spirit FC 2 Bankstown Lions 0, Granville Rage 5 St George 2.
-By Peter Rowney
