State League One Round 17 Review

We review all the weekend?s action, with a special focus on the top versus bottom clash at Hurstville Oval between Hurstville ZFC and Gladesvile Ryde Magic.
Match of the Round
Hurstville ZFC ? Gladesville Ryde Magic 0-0

?The ball is round and anything can happen? has never been more true than on Sunday afternoon, when a depleted bottom-of-the-table Hurstville ZFC grabbed an unlikely point in a scoreless draw against league leaders, Gladesville Ryde Magic, at Hurstville Oval.

Hurstville ZFC came into the match holding up the ladder, missing a number of players  through suspension, injury and overseas jaunts, and with a couple of players doubling  up from the Under 20s match. All this and with a 1-8 hiding last week vs Mt Druitt Town still ringing in their ears, you could be forgiven for thinking they were on a hiding to nothing when they welcomed the competition frontrunners, Gladesville Ryde Magic, to Hurstville Oval for their Round 17 clash.
Gladesville Ryde, for their own part, were not at full strength themselves. Midfield workhorse, Alan Ryan, was out with a sore hamstring, pint sized striker Peter O?Doherty was overseas on a working trip, whilst recent signings Stephen Lloyd (suspension) and Cristian Care (wisdom teeth) sat this match out also. But the Magic have depth in their squad, and were still expected to be far too strong for their opponents on the day.
Scott Tonkin gave a sign of things to come when he received the ball on 5 minutes near the right touchline, cutting inside a defender and drilling a shot that sailed just over the Hurstville cross bar.
Gladesville Ryde were looking for an early goal to open the proverbial floodgates, and they conjured up a great opportunity in the 10^th minute when Thierry Huet cut inside on the left flank before being adjudged to have been fouled by a Hurstville defender inside the box.
Up stepped veteran goalkeeper, Kyriakos Tohouroglou, to take the penalty kick, in a real apprentice vs master confrontation, youngster Antonio Anic between the sticks for Hurstville. Tohouroglou?s kick was parried by Anic back into his path, and Tohouroglou?s follow up attempt was against saved by the youngster, this time parrying the shot onto the post before his defenders desperately cleared the ball.
Despite the miss, the Magic settled into a solid structure based in and around the Hurstville half, and commenced to spray the ball from left to right, trying to prise open the home side?s rearguard.
On 27 minutes, Lachlan Harte was quick to intercept an attempted breakaway by Hurstville within the middle of the half, setting up Tonkin on the right flank to whip over a great cross which landed at the feet of Andrew McKie. Alas, the burly striker snapped his shot wide from a few yards.
A couple of minutes later and McKie was at it once more, skying his shot after brother Alistair McKie had sent over a swirling free kick.
Andrew McKie was in the thick of the action at this point, and in the 33^rd he made a great run down the left side, slicing inwards and into the box before hitting a cross shot that sped away across the face of the goal.
The Magic could smell the kill during this period of sustained pressure, and kept the flurry of punches coming, Terry Nastoulis hitting the cross bar in the 34^th minute after yet another great cross from Scott Tonkin.
Hurstville were content to sit back in numbers, soak up the pressure, and try to clear the danger. One such clearance in the 39^th minute went straight up into the sky on the edge of the box, and Scott Tonkin raced inwards from his position on the wing to hit a left foot half volley that was well saved down low by Anic, the Hurstville keeper.
Referee, Mr Adam Weir, blew the half time whistle right on cue, and it was a surprised contingent in the stands wondering how the scoreboard had been left untouched in the opening 45 minutes.
The second half brought more of the same as the Magic remained camped in the Hurstville half, frustration beginning to mount as the Gladesville players somehow continued to take the wrong options time and time again.
The Hurstville team were resilient in their stance, with Sivric marshalling the defensive wall, Majetic fierce in the tackle at left back, and young keeper, Anic, showing maturity beyond his years to pick up anything within his penalty area.
Alistair McKie almost broke the deadlock in the 56^th minute, controlling the leather on his toes before snapping a quickfire shot towards the far post, but Anic was alert to the danger and tipped the ball around the post.
With only one substitute to call upon, Hurstville were scrapping together all the energy they had to repel the Magic onslaught. The longer the match went on, the more desperate Gladesville became, and the more resilient Hurstville stood.
The magic brought on some fresh legs with a quarter of an hour to go, and one of these substitutes, Ben Kerr, could?ve done better when stabbing his effort wide in the 78^th minute after a fantastic diagonal cross by Alistair McKie.
Alistair McKie hit the mark in the 84^th minute, a cross shot from the left beating Anic in the Hurstville goal all ends up, but the ball rebounded back off the cross bar before being cleared.
As the clock wound down, Hurstville conjured up an attack of their own, and almost snatched all three points. A clearance upfield reached Michael Svircevic, and without the usual support in the Magic half, he did ever so well to twist and turn a defender before sending Carlos Carneiro into a gap.
Carneiro raced into the corner of the box, and slashed his low shot inches wide of Tohouroglou?s left hand post as the visitors had their hearts in their mouths.
And with that came full time, and an unlikely result between the two teams that have the entire competition sitting between them.
Gladesville Ryde will be ruing the fact they couldn?t turn their possession dominance into goals, but they do have a game in hand against Fairfield City coming up midweek, and hope to extend their two point lead over second placed Mt Druitt.
Hurstville?s point came on the back of some resolute and desperate defence, including a superb effort between the sticks from young keeper, Anic. They remain bottom of the league on 12 points, but with some renewed confidence in the camp no doubt which will  help them approach the back end of the season in a much more positive mind.
Match Stats
Hurstville ZFC              0
Gladesville Ryde Magic            0
Sunday 15^th July, 2012
Hurstville Oval, Hurstville
Referee: Adam Weir
Assistant Referees:  Lance Morton and Ben Xu

Bench: J. Woods, Z. Elrich, W. Angel, V. Rigoli, I. Johnson.Hurstville ZFC: 1.A.Anic, 3.A.Majetic (capt), 6.J.Pintaric, 7.M.Posavac, 4.U.Shinya, 5.G.Sivric, 17.C.Carneiro, 8.T.Lameiro, 14.I.Kovacevic, 15.J.Horvat (20.M.Sentic 70?), 9.M.Svircevic.
Substitutes Not Used: Nil
Yellow Cards: .5.G.Sivric 10?.
Red Cards: Nil
Gladesville Ryde Magic: 33.K.Tohouroglou, 11.B.Townley-Jones, 2.A.Morris, 5.T.Woodhouse, 4.L.Harte, 7.T.Nastoulis (capt)(13.B.Kerr 73?) 8.J.Martinez, 9.S.Tonkin, 12.T.Huet, 15.Andrew McKie (14.T.Stapleton 73?), 10.Ali McKie.
Substitutes Not Used: 3.S.Gardiner, 1.P.Ferrara.
Yellow Cards: 8.J.Martinez 43?, 11.B.Townley-Jones 90?.
Red Cards: Nil
State League One Round Seventeen Review
Northbridge FC vs Inter Lions 1-2
Inter Lions were triumphant in a real ?six-pointer? against Northbridge on Saturday afternoon, winning 2-1 in a tight tussle at Hills Sports High.
With all to play for prior to the game with both sides entrenched in the top five, it was Inter who broke the deadlock in a real arm wrestle, Miguel Martinez doing the honours with two goals in four minutes on 77 and 81 minutes.
Northbridge replied immediately via Jun Arima in the 83^rd minute, but it was all she wrote as the visitors took all the spoils.
As a result of the victory, Inter Lions hurdle their opponents and move into outright third spot on the ladder on 24 points, and with one and two games in hand on teams around them, they are well placed to consolidate their place in August/September come finals time.
Northbridge second successive loss sees them not only drop to 4^th position as they remain on 23 points, but they have allowed the rest of the field to draw just that little bit closer.
Balmain SC vs Mt Druitt Town Rangers 2-2
Balmain SC and Mt Druitt Town played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Lambert Park on Saturday evening, with the home side showing determination by twice having to come from behind to grab a share of the spoils.
The league?s sharpest marksman, Todd Macrae, got the scoreboard rolling in the 13^th minute with his 18^th goal of the season to give Mt Druitt the lead.
Johnny Buonavoglia, still going strong at the ripe old age of 36, cut inside and unleashed a left foot drive from all of 25 yards to draw Balmain level just after the half hour mark.
Daniel Fogarty made sure he continued his recent good form by edging the Rangers back in front in the 69^th minute, but Balmain increased their intensity, and equalized in a frenetic last period of the match to earn a point.
With just six minutes remaining, a through ball into the penalty area was met by Buonavoglia and Tim West, the Mt Druitt goalkeeper. As the ball spilled loose, West responded quickly to challenge Aidan Barrett, unable to stop the striker stabbing home to give Balmain the equalizer they so craved.
In the act of scoring, Barrett suffered a sickening injury, a broken leg, and lay on the turf as an ambulance was called. The game was halted as Barrett was treated promptly on the scene, with both clubs and referee, Mr James Barnes, fortunately reacting to common sense and agreeing to halt proceedings immediately.
Aidan Barrett is one of those fearless strikers every team loves to have leading their attack, never one to shirk responsibility, putting his body on the line, and chasing every loose ball for the sake of his team. On behalf of everyone at Football NSW, plus both clubs, Balmain SC and Mt Druitt Town Rangers, and all of State League One, we wish Aidan a speedy recovery, and look forward to seeing him back on the park in the future doing what he does best.
The draw sees Balmain move to 22 points and 7^th on the ladder, whilst Mt Druitt Town remain two points behind leaders, Gladesville Ryde, sitting on 30.
Stanmore Hawks vs UNSW 3-2
Stanmore Hawks continued their rich vein of form on Saturday at Arlington Oval, scoring a late winner to take all three points in a 3-2 triumph over UNSW.
Veteran striker, Steve Biviano, gave the Hawks the lead after just 25 minutes, before attacking partner, Nel Philippou, got in on the act to extend the hoe side?s advantage in the 39^th.
The ?students? pulled one back on the stroke of half time via Huss Rachid, and went one better on the hour, Rory Brennan restoring parity for UNSW.
But the Hawks are making up for lost time during the second half of the competition, and their momentum has given the club a new belief. John Rimmer played the part of the hero for the second week in a row, grabbing the all important third and winning goal after 83 minutes to give Stanmore the spoils.
UNSW are hanging onto 5^th spot on the ladder on 23 points, whilst Stanmore have moved ominously to 6^th spot, sitting just one point behind on 22.
Southern Bulls vs Camden Tigers 1-1
Southern Bulls and Camden Tigers shared the points at Ernie Smith Reserve on Sunday afternoon in a hard fought 1-1 draw.
Rafid Hermiz gave the Bulls the lead just before half time, but the Tigers equalized in the 71^st minute through Ben Fuller, and that was the last of the scoring.
As a result of the parity, Southern Bulls drop to second bottom despite climbing to 16 points, whilst Camden Tigers remain in the hunt for the semi?s, currently sitting in 8^th spot on 21 points.
Schofields Scorpions vs Fairfield City Lions 4-1
Fairfield City Lions were suffering a midweek hangover of sorts at CSI Sport Ground, going down 1-4 to Schofields Scorpions after picking up all three points midweek in a 3-2 win over Southern Bulls.
The Scorpions hit the front as early as the 2^nd minute via Caller, but Cetinay equalized for the Lions in the 13^th minute, and that?s the way it stayed until well over the hour mark.
Stuart (67^th), Harrison (72^nd) and Lam (75^th) all struck second half goals for the Scorpions in a dominating performance by the home side.
Fairfield remain on 19 points and are currently on 19 points, whilst Schofields jumped a spot to 10^th as they climb to 17 points.
-By Frank Speranza