SUPA IGA NPL NSW Mens 2 Round 3 Review

Constant rain wreaked havoc on the SUPA IGA National Premier League Mens 2 competition heading into Round 3 that saw a game transferred to another destination, another washed out and a third abandoned midway through due to a power outage.
Of the four games completed early season favourites for the title, Fraser Park FC and Northern Tigers, both suffered losses while Mounties Wanderers FC and Macarthur Rams recorded back-to-back wins despite first round hiccups. Parramatta FC tasted their first sweets of victory in Season 2013 and Spirit FC snared their first competition point after a come-from-behind injury-time goal to snare a draw in their clash with Bankstown Berries.   
MATCH OF THE ROUND
Sydney University 0 v Macarthur Rams 1
Macarthur Rams superiority in the air proved to be the difference as they ground out a hard-fought 1-nil win over a gallant Sydney University in a rain affected contest at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday evening.
A 26’ minute goal to Peter Halstead from a corner reinforced the giant centre-back’s credentials as one of the best scoring exponents of the high ball from set pieces in the SUPA IGA National Premier League Mens 2 competition. However, it’s sufficed to say that the goal did come from a run against the play.
For the second-straight week, University came out of the blocks with all cylinders firing and barely a minute had passed on the clock when classy midfielder Joel Ainscomb fired a shot over the bar after some nice lead up work from his teammates.
As the heavens opened up to drench the normally picturesque field it was the home side that had settled in nicely and had garnered all of the early momentum. The Rams were continually bombarded with raid after raid throughout the opening stanza and were forced to battle not only a fired up University side, but the unappealing elements of a windy and rain-swept playing surface.
University’s best chance came after some entertaining lead-up work through Aaron Kidd and Ainscomb who sent a well weighted through-ball to Jonathan Hurtado Pacheo whose rifle shot was only negated by a Chad Taylor save.
With all of the momentum firmly with the home side early on, it took the visitors to just on the 10’ minute mark before an Adam Wither free-kick really tested University keeper Julian Harders. But opportunities were few and far between in the opening 20 minutes for the Rams as University’s midfielders, led by inspirational captain Peter Crevani and well supported by Ainscomb and Daisuke Kataoka, controlled possession and formed a formidable platform for their forwards to deliver that elusive goal.
Despite University’s dominating weight of possession, and the seemingly eerily similar circumstances to their Round 2 clash a week earlier against Bankstown Berries, the sucker-punch failed to materialise as shots sailed high, wide or straight into the safe hands of Taylor.
As the game continued and the rain eased to a measly drizzle, the Rams continual rock-like defensive efforts led by the imposing central defensive pairing of Halstead and Daniel Carrozza appeared to utter in an air of confidence into the side as the boys from Sydney’s south-west settled in and wrestled the pendulum of momentum back ever so slightly in their favour.
However, it was an uncharacteristic mistake by University’s young keeper Harders that ultimately led to the only goal of the match being scored. A routine keeper throw-out – that perhaps slipped in the trying conditions – missed its intended target of up-and-coming star central defender Harry Ascroft and instead fell perfectly at a retreating Almir Dizdaric’s feet.
With just the keeper to beat, Dizdaric’s eyes would have been as wide as saucers, but a quick thinking Ascroft showed lightening speed to pull off one of the best cover tackles seen in recent memory as he cut down the several metres given to Dazdaric in the blink of an eye to somehow get a boot in to block the shot.
The reprieve however was short lived as the resultant corner found the ever-present head of Halstead, who, had not only been the driving force in his team’s defensive resilience throughout the opening 26 minutes of the game, but for the second consecutive week had provided the opening goal for his side.
The arm wrestle continued throughout the latter stages of the first-half as University continued their impressive passing game that coach Mark McCormick and Director of Football John Curran have so rightly instilled in their young side, but some cheap turnovers through rushed passes or fancy footwork let much of the good lead-up work down. In the meantime, Macarthur’s classy halves pounced on anything that was loose and provided excellent service to their strikers and in particular Shannon Hankin who had started to come into his own as the game progressed.
The second-half began much the same as the first, albeit without any rain, where a certain equaliser through University livewire  Kataoka in the opening minute was only denied by a brilliant reflex save by Taylor who somehow managed to get his body in the way of Kataoka’s on-target blast from close range.
Minutes later Macarthur had an opportunity of their own to extend the lead with a multitude of shots in the space of a couple of seconds when Dizdaric, Alvaro Malmierca and Hankin all failed to find the back of the net due to blocked shots, keeper saves and an abundance of ricochets off both attacking and defensive players.
Rams coach Claudio Canosa’s half-time talk appeared to have paid dividends as despite the initial hiccup in the opening seconds, his side appeared to have settled into a much smoother rhythm upon emergence from the sheds to control proceedings.
Macarthur’s dominance in the air continued to play havoc on their much smaller opponents and a realistic chance for the visitors came in the 51’ minute when a Slaven Ljuboja left-footed cross into the box had a host of Macarthur heads lining up for a second goal – only to be denied by some excellent scrambling defence by the University back-line.
With on-field conditions more subdued throughout the second-half the players both from both sides were anything but. Frustration boiled over midway through the second stanza and a pair of yellow cards to Macarthur’s Dizdaric and Wither in the space of five minutes signified referee James Barnes’ impatience with proceedings.
University’s attempt to wrestle the stranglehold on the game away from their more intimidating opponents was fraught with mistakes as they continued to turn over possession on a continual basis.
Lanky University central-defender Nathan Sansom was called upon on numerous occasions as he matched his talented defensive partner Ascroft in desperate ‘ball and all’ tackles to prevent the likes of Hankin, Wither and Daniel Carrozza from landing the killer blow.
A 72’ minute crunching tackle on Carozza by Sansom in the penalty box was deemed to be legal by referee Barnes, despite pleas from Carozza and the Rams’ faithful in the crowd, denied the visitors perhaps their best opportunity to put the game to bed. A repeat performance some five minutes later saw yet another University mistake turn the ball over cheaply to the ever-aware Wither who pounced and sent the ball through to partner-in-crime Hankin who had just the keeper to beat. Sansom again leapt to his side’s defence and somehow managed to shoulder the Rams striker off the ball with calls for a penalty once again falling on deaf ears.
Macarthur continued to pepper the University keeper with a number of shots with Hankin the main danger despite the fact that the back of the net eluded him on each occasion. The visitors closed ranks late in the second-half to deny the home side any chance of an equaliser as the Rams took the win to continue their 2013 trend of having every game decided by a single goal differential.
“We scored our goal early in the first-half and we had a few chances probably to make the game a little bit more comfortable, but it seems to me that we overcomplicate things that should be straightforward,” conceded Rams coach Claudio Canosa.
“It was a heart-breaking defeat for Sydney University as they are a good team and have a lot of young players who want to play and move the ball, and sometimes they do over do it, but I give them full credit for having the mental strength for playing the style of football that we would like to play.
“As for my team; in the second-half even though we missed several chances we need to improve on that effort. Our strikers are working hard; they’ve been around for long enough now to know that they need to relax when in front of the goal rather just blasting it through the back of the net.
“I must give credit to my players as they stuck with our tactics, we were disciplined behind the ball and we created some chances on the break, but we still need to be more relaxed on the ball.
When questioned as to which of his players stood out in his side’s hard-fought win, Canosa was quick to praise his defensive men.
“Peter Halstead was solid at the back as well as providing our goal through another good header and Daniel Carrozza was also solid when he was there before he went off [injured] … Our goalkeeper Chad Taylor played very well too as he made some very good saves – especially one in the second-half down low on the left-hand side.”
University coach Mark McCormick was satisfied with his team’s effort, but felt somewhat disappointed with the execution presented by his young side on the night.
“To be honest I was probably happier last week with the 5-1 loss [against Bankstown Berries] than I am tonight,” McCormick explained to Football NSW shortly after his side’s defeat.
“We didn’t really step up to the plate and we were disappointing with our ball retention, so it’s disappointing to think that we could have – or should have – won if we had of put a couple of the chances away.
“At this level you have to score those chances, and I’d be much unhappier if we weren’t creating chances, but we are creating them – we’re just not taking those chances at the moment as it’s just not going our way.
“Our defenders scrambled well, and they defended well, but I see them and our goalkeeper as our first line in attack in the style that we play, so I also need them to control the ball well too as we play it out.
“Ultimately though it’s our final third that needs to click, because you can create all the chances in the world – we just need to put them away.”
Sydney University will need to work on their inability to find the back of the net in time for next weekend’s Round 4 away clash against the high-flying Bankstown City FC, while Macarthur host the improving Spirit FC at Lynwood Park next Saturday evening.
Sydney University 0 v Macarthur Rams 1 (Peter Halstead 26’)
Saturday 6 April 2013
at Hensley Athletic Field
Referee: James Barnes
Assistants: Dean Ward and Steve Babamovski
Sydney University: 1. Julian Harders; 2. Jonathan Hurtado Pacheo (9. Jason Garrido 55’), 3. Nathan Sansom, 4. Daisuke Kataoka, 5. Harry Ascroft, 6. Peter Crevani, 7. Anthony Villazon (14. John Chime 79’), 10. Jamie Watt, 11. Aaron Kidd, 17. Nathan Amore, 20. Joel Ainscomb,
Subs not used: 13. Alex Sopina, 14. John Chime, 31. Riley Keayes
Yellow Cards: Aaron Kidd 25’
Red Cards: Nil
Macarthur Rams: 1. Chad Taylor; 2. Craig Cooley, 4. Slaven Ljuboja, 9. Shannon Hankin, 11. Almir Dizdaric (7. Reece Iredale 58’), 12. Peter Halstead, 13. Daniel Carrozza (5. Calum Fleming 73’), 14. Ryan Marchant, 15. Joel Craig, 17. Adam Wither, 19. Alvaro Malmierca (8. Michael Brown 71’)
Subs not used: 10. Ben Simpson, 20. Ben Needam
Yellow Cards: Almir Dizdaric 53’, Adam Wither 57’
Red Cards: Nil
Spirit FC 2 v Bankstown Berries 2
A 1-nil halftime lead courtesy of a penalty goal to Andrew McKie had Spirit in high hopes of registering their first win of the season, however, hopes for that elusive victory were soon dented when, for the third-straight game, Spirit walked off the pitch after the 90-minute clash with less than their full complement of players.
Tragedy struck early in the second-half for Spirit when a penalty was awarded against them after makeshift left-back Grant Cornwell brought down a Berries attacker. Cornwell was then promptly dismissed after a second yellow for dissent to ensure that Spirit’s record for completing their 2013 season games without the full complement of players remained intact.
The Berries converted the penalty and within six minutes had assumed the lead after slotting home the go-ahead goal courtesy of Dimitri Zakilas and Brad Gibson. It appeared that the visitors were going to take the full three points in a see-sawing affair, but in the 90+3’ minute of injury time Spirit’s Henry Wells showed some brilliant footwork to beat the defence before drifting a perfectly weighted ball across to the far post where Brima Kamara guided the ball home to provide Spirit with their first competition point of the season.
“That result was certainly one that was derived by the ‘spirit’ shown by all of the boys in our team,” explained Spirit coach Rob di Ceglie.
“But I’m not happy with the result as we really should have taken all three points given the chances we produced and the domination we showed – we should have had the win, but considering what happened being a player down I’m very happy with the commitment and fighting spirit shown by our team.
“Leading up to our final goal that sealed the draw, it felt like we were coming home strong so it was nice to finish off so strongly like we did with just the ten men.”
Fraser Park FC 1 v Mounties Wanderers FC 2
Mounties Wanderers have also had trouble keeping their full 11 players on the paddock during the opening two rounds of the season, but finishing with their full complement paid dividends for the Mount Pritchard-based side who took the spoils against Fraser Park FC at Cook Park.
With Fraser Park FC officially relinquishing their home ground advantage early on Saturday morning, due to their Sydenham-based pitch suffering a thorough drenching throughout the week, the game was transferred to the Wanderers’ Cook Park.
As one of the preseason favourites, Fraser Park were coming off a hard-fought loss against the Northern Tigers a week earlier and their hopes of turning their fortunes around against the Wanderers were dealt a glancing blow in the opening minutes of their Saturday evening encounter when they conceded an early goal.
In the 3’ minute Daniel Willoughby reefed a corner high to an awaiting Dave Gardner who was camped on the back post to slam the ball into the roof of the netting from just six-yards out.
Fraser Park regrouped and began to make inroads beyond the Wanderers’ defensive line in what proved to be a fast paced first-half which saw both teams attack and counter attack on the damp pitch. The halftime break provided some much needed refuge for both sides given the hectic pace as the newly-instilled home side clung on to a precarious 1-nil lead as the teams headed to the sheds after a gruelling 45 minutes.
The Wanderers, without Scott Goodwin, called on the defensive competency of Mark D’Alessandro to lead the makeshift defence who held their ground, but in the 51’ minute a counter attack from Fraser Park who went the length of the field following a Wanderers corner, locked the game up at one-a-piece courtesy of a Hussein Akil shot that, despite a deflection from Wanderers keeper Ali Akbal, landed in the back of the net.
An ensuing cliff-hanger kept fans on the edge of their seats but Mounties Wanderers regained the ascendancy late in the game when in the 80’ minute another great cross from Willoughby found its mark in Daniel Severino on the back post. Severino drilled the ball into the Fraser Park custodian Michael Frost who miraculously managed to save the initial shot only to see the ball rebound back to Severino who made no mistake on his second attempt.
The undefeated Wanderers have rocketed up the competition ladder while Fraser Park will look to regroup following consecutive back-to-back defeats. 
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC Hills Brumbies – GAME ABANDONED
St George FC Bankstown City FC –WASHED OUT
Parramatta FC 2 v Northern Tigers 1

It was a win that had been gathering momentum ever since the season commenced and Parramatta FC did it fine style as they posted their first win of the year over competition leaders Northern Spirit in an entertaining game at Melita Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Danny Choi was the hero for the home side when he scored the first of his two goals midway through the first-half after he sent the healthy-sized crowd into a frenzy following his 35-yard left-footed bending free-kick that cleared the Tigers wall and dipped with perfect precision into the far top corner.
The lead however was short lived as the Northern Tigers hit back after a defensive lapse in marking by Parramatta during a corner allowed firstly a Tigers attacker to get a head on the ball which hit the crossbar and rebounded into the six-yard area where a quick thinking Liam McConaghy guided it into the back of the net.
In a game that provided some high quality football where fans from both sides were treated to some excellent ball movement, attacking brilliance and desperate defence was indicative of the halftime score that saw the teams deadlocked at 1-all.
Ten minutes into the second half proved to be the decisive factor in the game when Parramatta’s Choi again rose to the occasion. Parramatta delivered the ball nicely to Choi who was lurking out wide and the elusive goal-scoring whiz cut inside one defender, played a one-two with a teammate and fired off a right-foot shot that beat Tigers keeper Stuart Page to the right post to provide the home side with the lead once again.
An enthralling 35 minutes prevailed with the Tigers giving it everything that they had, but in the end it was Parramatta who got their season back on track with a gutsy 2-1 win that delivered a real confidence boost after experiencing absolutely no luck in their two prior games.      

Scores – 2013 SUPA IGA NATIONAL PREMIER LEAGUE NSW MENS 2 ROUND 3:

Spirit FC 2 Bankstown Berries 2

Fraser Park FC 1 Mounties Wanderers FC 2

Sydney University FC 0 Macarthur Rams 1

Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC Hills Brumbies – GAME ABANDONNED

St George FC Bankstown City FC – WASHED OUT

Parramatta FC 2 Northern Tigers 1

-By Gary McDonald