State League Two Round 16 Review
Match of the Round
MOUNTAINS UNITED V HAWKESBURY CITY
Mountains United continued their push onwards up the table as they defeated local rivals Hawkesbury City 2-0 in a fiery encounter at Summerhayes Park on Saturday night.
Robert Haberman put the home side in front with a calmly placed shot inside the opening 15? minutes before Bryan Campbell sealed the win for the home side deep in the second half.
Summerhayes Park has copped on and off spurts of rain throughout the year, never really having much time to dry out and both sides struggled to find any fluency in their play due to the slippery surface in the early stages of the match.
As both sides were starting to warm to the conditions, Mountains United took the lead through veteran midfielder Robert Haberman. Haberman air swinged from a corner, but this seemed to be part of the plan as he was first to pick up the loose ball from the corner, cleverly turning his marker before unleashing a left footed drive that rattled the back of the net for the opening goal, giving Johnson no chance.
Despite the home side taking an early lead, it was the Hawks who were putting some neat passes together and controlling the possession stakes, but were finding it difficult to break down a resilient Mountains defence.
The Hawks threatened United?s goal for the first time in the 19? minute, with Michael McCrory finding Hakan Celik open at the far post, but the striker perhaps had too much time and clumsily side footed his shot just past the side netting.
Mountains United were next to attack, this time lively striker Peter Henderson skipped past Rhys Alchin using his head to smash a dangerous ball across goal that continued out for a throw in.
Henderson was in the thick of the action just moments later, this time crossing a ball that Hawks custodian Shane Johnson fumbled only for Hawks defender Ryan Wilson to clean up the mess.
Hawkesbury?s Midfield dynamo Evan Daglis made an encouraging run forward on 29? minutes, darting past United players only to be muscled off the ball on the edge of the area.
The Hawks continued to attack United and in the 31? minute, Michael McCrory skipped past his marker and smashed a shot that just finished wide of the target.
Michael McCrory just a few minutes later hit the cross bar twice in a matter of minutes. McCrory looped an intended cross for Zac Watters that bounced off the cross bar first up before pouncing on the loose ball inside the area to power a shot that slammed against the crossbar ? much to the dismay of the travelling Hawks.
The Hawks were desperate to find an equaliser before the break, and Zac Watters collected a pass from Vaughan Profilio in the 40? minute, turning smartly to beat his marker before moving forward towards goal ? but his shot sailed well over the goal.
Mountains United were content to sit back after going ahead early in the match, but in 41? minute Rob Haberman delicately found Henderson just over the half-way line with a clear line on goal, but play was halted by the linesman flag.
The Hawks went on the attack in the 42? minute as Daglis set up Celik, who took a neat first touch before slashing a shot over the target
The last chance of the first half fell to the travelling Hawks. Some nice play between McCrory and Celik set up Daglis on goal, whose shot from a tight angle forced Abrahams into a quick save down low to his right.
Following the break, some brilliant work by Peter Henderson saw Williams free in the box, but his shot was blocked out for a corner.
In the 67? minute, it was another close call as Williams again received the ball inside the area only for Rhys Alchin to race in and clear the danger.
Bryan Campbell had a great opportunity to extend his side?s lead in the 66? minute, smashing the ball over the target from point blank range. However, less than a minute later Campbell made up for his miss as he calmly shot to beat the Hawks gloveman Johnson after receiving an Andre Waring pass beyond half-way catching Hawkesbury out on the counter attack to make it 2-0.
The second goal seemed to jump the home side back into to life, and only some brilliant defending by Alchin in the 77? minute to disposes Henderson ensured the difference only remained at two goals after United attackers were bombing into the box.
Hawks midfielder Robert Carle connected with a rolling ball 25 yards out after 79? minutes, forcing the switched on Geoff Abrahams into a brilliant save as he parryied the ball to safety.
Geoff Abrahams was once again called into action in the 83? minute after Evan Daglis hit a stinging effort on the edge of the area, but the United keeper showed class with a quick reaction save to thwart the danger.
It seemed obvious that the Hawks would fail to break down Mountains United after hitting the post twice in the first half before Geoff Abrahams seemed impossible to beat. The full-time whistle eventually sounded much to the delight of the home supporters, with United running out deserved winners.
Match Stats
Mountains United 2 (R Haberman 14? B Campbell 67?)
Hawkesbury City SC 0
Saturday July 7th, 2012
Summerhayes Park, Winmalee
Mountains United: 13.G.Abrahams; 4.K.Davies, 8.C.Small, 9.S.Lane, 14.M.Kelly, 2.J.Cavanagh (12.M.Schensual 77?) 25.T.Elliot-Orr, 16.A.Waring, 11.R.Haberman (33.C.Williams 63?), 10.P.Henderson (23.N.Pinch 85?), 18.B.Campbell
Substitutes Not Used: 3.N.King, 1.T.Kelly
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Hawkesbury City SC: 1.S.Johnson; 4.A.Stevenson, 33.V.Profilio, 14.R.Alchin, 8.R.Wilson, 28.E.Daglis, 17.M.McCrory, 29.H.Celik (37.R.Carle 58?), 7.N.Cooper (3.D.Smith 74?), 34.Z.Watters (11.J.McCrae 63?), 13.P.Cooper
Substitutes Not Used: 24.D.McKay
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Division Two Review ? Round 16
Prospect United 1 (E Kirkpinar 50m) Nepean FC 1 (M Miladinski 34m)
Saturday, 7 July 2012 @ 5-00pm at William Lawson Reserve
Nepean surprised Prospect as both sides battled it out at William Lawson Reserve for a share of the spoils.
Miladinski put Nepean up just before the break to give the reds an unlikely 1-0 lead.
Prospect were quick to reply though via Eren Kirkpinar in the 50? minute, but failed to break Nepean?s defensive line any further as both sides were forced to share a point each.
Bathurst ?75 0 Hakoah FC 3 (J Kosmina 2m N Kosmina 13m E Rimmer 50m)
Saturday, 7 July 2012 @ 7-00pm at Alec Lamberton Field
Hakoah got back to their winning ways with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Bathurst.
Hakoah came out the blocks firing, with the Kosmina brothers both getting on the score sheet to put Hakoah up 2-0 in the space of just 13? minutes.
Bathurst managed to keep the deficit to just two goals after being rattled early on, but Eran Rimmer shored up the result for Hakoah with a 50? minute goal.
The win sees Hakoah stretch their lead at the top even further after Prospect and Hawkesbury both dropped points, with the minor premiership almost within their grasp.
West City FC 1 (B McCann 82m) Luddenham United 2 (O Narvaez 55m C Camilleri 65m)
Sunday, 8 July 2012 @ 3-00pm at Chopin Park
Luddenham United scored an important 2-1 victory over local rivals West City on Sunday.
After a scoreless first stanza, Oscar Narvaez put Luddenham in front before Chris Camilleri added a second just 10? minutes later.
Benjamin McCann pinned a goal back for the home side with less than 10? minutes on the clock but Luddenham were too strong to hold on for all three points.
Western Condors 0 Hurstville City 1 (H Morhi 38m)
Sunday, 8 July 2012 @ 3-00pm at Knight Park Field No. 4
Hurstville bounced back from last week?s disappointment in style, with a close 1-0 win over the red-hot Western Condors.
Haisam Morhi scored the only goal of the match to secure three valuable points for the Minotaurs as we now move into the business end of the season.
FC Gazy Lansvale 5 (I Hameed 27/38m D Brooker 31/75m M Al-Rekabi 82m) Belmore United 2 (J Skufris 15m C Bah 90m pen)
Sunday, 8 July 2012 @ 7-00pm at Hartleys Oval
It was a goal-a-thon at Hartleys Oval on Sunday afternoon as FC Gazy scored their first win under Andrew Montgomery in style.
Belmore got the proceedings underway via a Skufris 15? goal but the home side came back with three goals of their own with Ibrahim Hameed scoring a first half brace, and Daniel Brooker adding a third.
Brooker scored his second in the 75? minute before Al-Rekabi sealed all the points with an 82? minute goal. Belmore did score a consolation goal via defender Bah right at the end of time but the damage had already been done for an important victory for Gazy.
Division Two Reserve Grade – Round 16 Overview
Hawkesbury City edged out local rivals Mountains United 2-1 to retain top spot while the remaining Saturday night fixtures between Prospect ? Nepean and Bathurst ? Hakoah all finished in stalemates.
West City scored an important 1-0 win over Luddenham United at home; Western Condors defeated Hurstville City 2-1 while FC Gazy toppled over Belmore 4-1.
Mountains United vs Hawkesbury City ? 1-2
Prospect United vs Nepean FC ? 1-1
Bathurst 75? vs Hakoah ? 0-0
West City FC vs Luddenham United ? 1-0
Western Condors FC vs Hurstville City Minotaurs ? 2-1
FC Gazy vs Belmore United ? 4-1
-By Dean Southern
