State League One Round Eight Preview
As we enter Round 8 of State League One football this weekend, the competition ladder couldn’t be tighter, with three teams equal first on 14 points, whilst just three points separate the teams occupying 4th and 9th position beneath them.
A rare 3-00pm Saturday kick off starts off Round 8 this weekend, with Granville Rage hosting Western NSW Mariners at Garside Park.
The Mariners have been unbeaten in their last four outings, with two wins and two draws, and on the back of seven goals between Nick Rutherford and James Christie, they will look to continue their momentum.
The Rage welcomed a return to winning ways last Saturday, beating Hawkesbury at Bensons Lane, and will look to the experienced Nenos Bobo as well as the in form Zac Watters to lead their attacking forays.
Granville will be backing up after a midweek clash, however, being the competition’s sole representatives in the Waratah Cup’s round of 16 when they meet Premier League Rockdale City Suns on Wednesday evening.
The league’s most in form team, Nepean FC, travel to Richmond on Saturday to tackle Hawkesbury City, hoping to maintain their momentum which has seen them win four and draw one of their last five matches.
Very pleasing for Nepean was their ability to back up last week with two games within 48 hours, a tough test for anyone, picking up four points against two of the competition’s strongest sides in Dulwich Hill and Prospect United.
They face a Hawkesbury side that is smarting from their first home loss last weekend, and Hawks’ coach, Dean Bertenshaw, will have his troops up for this match, hoping that sharpshooters Todd Macrae and Ethan Simone will have their scoring boots with them.
Last year’s champions, Gladesville Ryde Magic, host Dulwich Hill on Sunday afternoon at Magdala Park, surprisingly finding themselves in tenth spot on the competition ladder after Round 7.
Following an opening day victory, three points have been hard to come by for the Magic, who have lost their last three matches on the bounce, conceding 11 goals in the process. To state the obvious, Gladesville will need to tighten their rearguard against the league’s most potent attack, and hope striker, Scott Tonkin, continues his recent goalscoring form if they are to trouble Dully come Sunday afternoon.
After promising so much early on in the season, Prospect United have struggled to gain any momentum over the past month and have not had a victory since Round 3.
Sunday’s match sees them travel to take on Northbridge FC, whose 6-1 drubbing of Camden last weekend suggests they have shaken the cobwebs and are starting to hit their straps, so look out for potentially an end to end encounter.
The two remaining matches of Round 8 are scheduled for Sunday evening, with Inter Lions tackling Balmain Tigers in an interesting tussle.
Balmain have had a fantastic start to their season, undefeated at the time of press and equal first on the competition ladder.
Inter Lions had a coaching change three weeks ago, and have started to move in the upward direction on the back of some enterprising attack and improvement in the ‘goals for’ column.
Adding spice to the encounter is the fact that Inter’s Kachi Enyi – who has scored three goals in the last two games – was once a Balmain player, whilst the Di Mento brothers, Jacob and Domenic, moved the other way, only two weeks ago making the transfer to Balmain from Inter.
The final match of the Round is scheduled for a 7-15pm kick off at Hensley Athletic Field, as Hakoah Sydney City East, fresh from a brilliant 2-0 away triumph at Dulwich Hill, host the visit of Camden Tigers, hoping for a clean bill of health as they look to gain their maiden victory of the season.
The details of all scheduled matches for the full round of Round Eight fixtures are as follows ;
(all matches may be subjected to late changes, so please refer to the Football NSW website prior to the match to confirm kick off times)
Granville Rage – Western NSW Mariners
Saturday, May 25 @ 3-00pm at Garside Park, Granville
Hawkesbury City – Nepean FC
Saturday, May 25 @ 5-00pm at Bensons Lane Richmond
Gladesville Ryde Magic – Dulwich Hill SC
Sunday, May 26 @ 3-00pm at Magdala Park North Ryde
Northbridge FC – Prospect United
Sunday, May 26 @ 3-00pm at Wentworth Park, Ultimo
Inter Lions – Balmain Tigers
Sunday, May 26 @ 7-00pm at The Crest Athletic Centre, Georges Hall
Hakoah Sydney City East – Camden Tigers
Sunday, May 26 @ 7-15pm at Hensley Athletic Field, Matraville
State League One – Top Goalscorers
Round Seven
Two players have closed the gap on Dully’s Carlos Villazon to within a goal at the top of the SL1 scorers’ charts. Nepean’s industrious midfielder, Terry Pannowitz, grabbed a late winner against Prospect to move onto five goals, whilst Scott Tonkin is flying the flag for Gladesville Ryde Magic, his brace against Balmain also seeing the striker move to five goals.
6 : Carlos VILLAZON (Dulwich Hill)
5 : Scott TONKIN (Glades Ryde Magic), Terry PANNOWITZ (Nepean FC)
4 : Will DONATO (Balmain Tigers), Michael COLE (Northbridge FC), Anthony MUSUMECI (Dulwich Hill), Blake ARMSTRONG (Camden Tigers), Rosario OCCHIPINTI (Balmain Tigers), Nick RUTHERFORD (West NSW Mariners)
-By Frank Speranza
