State League One Round 2 Review
There were a lot of thrills and spills in round two of State League Two action as the Match of the Round took place at William Lawson Park between Prospect United and Hawkesbury City SC
Prospect United – Hawkesbury City SC 3-0
Prospect United turned in a dominating performance on Saturday night at William Lawson Park, scoring early before eventually accounting for Hawkesbury City 3-0 in front of their home fans.
Prospect United had come into the match off the back of a scoreless draw at Granville Rage in Round One – meaning they have not conceded a goal now in 180 minutes of competition – whilst the Hawks were flying high after a first up home triumph over Camden Tigers last week.
There’s nothing like an early goal to set the tempo for a match and get both teams going, and on this occasion it was the home side that netted on just four minutes.
Chris Camilleri’s corner was half cleared and then played back to the skilful striker, and he duly returned serve, this time with a deeper cross that seemed to hang in the air for an eternity.
Ben Lam hit the ball first time back across the face of goal, and it was skipper, Gus Orcajo, who raced in to volley the leather into the roof of the net from a few yards to give Prospect a 1-0 lead.
The goal definitely took the Hawks by surprise, and they tried quickly to regroup and hit back before the dust had settled, but the Prospect defence held firm.
On 13 minutes, Hawkesbury’s Paul Cooper did however get in behind the Prospect backline, but his angled shot, along the turf, was easy pickings for Prospect goalkeeper, Michael Steell.
A well worked move by Prospect a minute later culminated in a 25 yard strike from Orcajo, the ball slamming into the fence behind the goal as the home side tried to extend their lead.
Prospect had a real enthusiasm about them in this opening half hour or so, closing down in packs, defending from the frontline, and just simply not giving Hawkesbury any room or time on the ball.
Having said that, last week’s hero for Hawkesbury, Ethan Simone, wriggled free on 29 minutes inside the Prospect penalty area, cutting the ball back for Paul Cooper whose snapshot whistled past the left hand upright.
Prospect’s early field domination saw the home side win numerous corners, and one of these from Camilleri was viciously whipped in at the near post, before that man, Paul Cooper, acrobatically cleared the danger for Hawkesbury.
The pressure finally told on 37 minutes for a second time, when Prospect seized on a loose ball in the Hawkesbury half, with Camilleri expertly flicking a pass behind the square Hawks defence on the edge of their own penalty area.
Ben Lam had been an absolute nuisance during the first half in the Prospect attacking line, darting in and out of holes and generally causing the Hawkesbury defence all sorts of trouble. He was ever alert to seize on Camilleri’s through pass, and dispatched it low and to the left of the onrushing Hawks goalkeeper, Craig Morley, to give Prospect a 2-0 lead they carried into the half time break.
Paul Cooper picked up where he left off for Hawkesbury as soon as the second half commenced, twice getting in behind the Prospect defensive line early on to cause havoc.
Within sixty seconds of the restart Cooper raced into the penalty area, lobbing the Prospect keeper, Michael Steell, with the ball also lobbing the top of the crossbar. Three minutes later Cooper took the ball to the byline before cutting it back into the path of Michael McCrory, who skied his angled shot.
Thomas Kasunic then got on the back of a far post cross on the hour mark to effectively end the match as a contest, the Prospect midfielder heading back across the face of the goal to give the home side an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Hawkesbury coach, Dean Bertenshaw, reacted by making a double substitution, with experienced marksman, Todd Macrae, and skipper, Gavin Hartge, entering the fray to spark things up for the visitors.
Prospect’s Troy McColl, limped off moments later, after earlier losing his central defensive partner, Tim Harrington, approximately ten minutes earlier, a concern for the home side but a real lift for the visitors.
But it was Prospect’s night, and they challenged every ball, first and second, desperate not to concede, whilst not being content with just three goals.
On 72 minutes, Ben Lam rode a couple of challenges as he literally flew down the left flank, eventually brought to ground inside the box to earn his side a penalty.
Hawkesbury keeper, Craig Morley, however, had had enough by this stage, expertly saving Gus Orcajo’s spot kick by diving full stretch to his left hand side.
Prospect still had time for a couple more opportunities as the clock ticked down.
In Camilleri they have a real danger man up front, with fantastic close ball skills, a target man who does well to play in his team mates. On 83 minutes however, Camilleri went solo, winning a heading duel on the half way line before sprinting towards the box, and unleashing a juggernaut which cannoned off the inside of the Hawkesbury goal before being cleared.
Joseph Beslic had one last crack for Prospect in injury time, pinching the ball before smacking a diagonal twenty yard shot that hit the side netting, before time was duly called amidst the cheers of the home fans.
For Hawkesbury City, it was tough lesson on the road, and they simply never recovered after conceding an early goal. Paul Cooper made inroads down the left before his substitution, Rhys Alchin was a tower of strength at left back and never gave up, and Evan Daglis had a busy night in the middle of the park.
Prospect coach, Tony Caruso, would’ve been pleased with his charges on this showing, as they simply outmuscled their opponents with their enthusiasm and work rate, dominating most of the match to record a convincing win.
Chris Camilleri was dangerous every time he had the ball at his feet, Paul Curjak covered every blade of grass on the right flank in attack and defence, Ben Lam was like a jack in the box and never stopped working, whilst Gus Orcajo pulled the strings and controlled the tempo from the centre of midfield.
Match Stats
Prospect United 3 (Orcajo 4’, Lam 37’, Kasunic 60’)
Hawkesbury City SC 0
Saturday, April 13, 2013
William Lawson Park, Prospect
Referee: Mr A Higgins
Assistant Referees : Mr D Horstead and Mr S Ellsmore
Bench: J. Woods, Z. Elrich, W. Angel, V. Rigoli, I. Johnson.PROSPECT UNITED: 20.M.Steell,7.C.Camilleri, 14.P.Curjak, 12.T.Harrington (11.T.Simpson 52’), 8.A.Jennings, 15.T.Kasunic, 2.B.Lam, 4.T.McColl (9.J.Beslic 65’), 5.O.Omari, 10.G.Orcajo (capt),16.T.Sullivan.
Substitutes Not Used:1.J.Baxter, 6.T.Elliott-Orr, 3.D.Brooker.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
HAWKESBURY CITY SC: 24.C.Morley, 5.R.Alchin, 37.R.Carle, 15.J.Chircop (capt), 7.N.Cooper (28.G.Hartge 63’), 13.P.Cooper (11.J.McCrea 70’), 27.E.Daglis, 9.M.McCrory (23.T.Macrae 63’), 14.E.Simone, 4.A.Stevenson, 8.R.Wilson.
Substitutes Not Used:10.A.Jones, 33.A.Luttringa.
Yellow Cards: 8.R.Wilson 72’
Red Cards: Nil
STATE LEAGUE ONE ROUND TWO REVIEW
There isn’t a single team that has collected maximum points after two rounds of competition, just to emphasise the fact that this year’s State League One is one of the closest for years.
Nepean FC took it to the champions on Saturday night at Cook Park, good for their point in a scoreless draw against Gladesville Ryde Magic in well contested match where the keepers had little to do as the defences ruled
Nepean goalkeeper, Ryan Trussell, was very vocal as he directed his team around the paddock, doing his bit on 75 minutes to parry a classic downward header from Gladesville’s Samir Eshani and keep his goal intact.
At the other end, Magic defenders, Stephen Speir and Alex Morris, worked in tandem and repelled most of the Nepean attacks, with Kyriakos Tohouroglou rarely called into action as a result.
On Sunday, new kids on the block, Western NSW Mariners FC, got off the mark, beating Camden Tigers 2-1 in a tight affair.
Licking their wounds after a home thumping last week, the Mariners looked like they were headed for more of the same when Blake Armstrong gave the Tigers a first half lead.
But the Mariners were in no mood to succumb once more, as Owen Short equalized for Western NSW shortly before the break, before Jarred Portegies notched the winner in the second stanza as the visitors successfully withstood a late onslaught by Camden.
At Northbridge Oval on Sunday afternoon, Granville Rage grabbed a point against the home side in an entertaining 2-2 draw. Ry Hardy and Michael Cole – with his second goal in successive weeks – did the damage for Northbridge FC, with Calum Hedge and Zachary Watters netting for the Rage in reply for a share of the spoils.
Arlington Oval also played host to a 2-2 draw, this time between first round winners, Dulwich Hill and Balmain Tigers.
Dully opened proceedings when Anthony Musumeci netted early on with a neat chip, but Balmain responded on the half hour with a clinical finish by Joel Cook after he found himself in a one-on-one with the Dulwich Hill keeper.
Lucas Gonzalez thought he had put Balmain in front just before the break, but his header was ruled out due to an offside flag by the referee’s assistant.
Carlos Villazon scored his third goal of the campaign in the 56th minute with a 25 yard chip, edging Dulwich Hill in front, but Will Donato, not to be outdone, also scored his third goal of 2013, equalizing in the 70th minute to give Balmain Tigers a share of the spoils.
In the final match of Round Two, a late evening clash at Hensley Athletic Field kicking off at 7-15pm, it took a solitary goal to decide the destination of the three points on offer.
Justin Kosmina grabbed the all important winner for Hakoah Sydney City East on 38 minutes, giving the home side a slender victory over Inter Lions to record their maiden points in the 2013 State League One competition.
-By Frank Speranza