State League One Round 8 Review
A three way tie prior to this Round 8 became outright leadership for the Balmain Tigers in State League One, courtesy of their 4-2 triumph over Inter Lions on Sunday night, plus the fact that both Dulwich Hill and Nepean came unstuck at Gladesville and Hawkesbury respectively.
Elsewhere, there were big wins for Northbridge FC and Hakoah Sydney City East, whilst we focus on Western NSW Mariners visit to Granville Rage in our Match of the Round.
Granville Rage – Western NSW Mariners 2-1
Granville Rage seemingly took an eternity to turn their territorial domination into movement on the scoreboard on Saturday afternoon, coming from behind to record a deserved 2-1 victory over the Western NSW Mariners at Garside Park.
The late downpour on Friday afternoon/evening was nowhere to be seen as Garside Park displayed a pristine playing surface on a beautiful sunny day, the 3-00pm Saturday kick off a rarity in football at this level these days.
The Rage were backing up from a midweek Waratah Cup match against Premier League side, the Rockdale City Suns. The Round of 16 clash was played in wet conditions on Wednesday night, with the Rage giving a solid account of themselves, leading 1-0 at the break before succumbing 1-3 to a fast finishing Suns outfit.
The Western NSW Mariners came to town on the back of a four match unbeaten run, a run that has catapulted them into the top half of the ladder, and they were keen to keep the momentum running and stay with the competition front runners who were within three points of the Western NSW team.
A blow to the Mariners was the absence of their skipper, Ricky Guihot, and they would sorely miss his marshalling from the centre of the paddock.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Granville Rage took the game by the scruff of the neck and dominated the first stanza, keeping the Mariners on the backfoot for almost the entire 45 minutes and restricting them to a few counter attacks.
Zac Watters had caused Rockdale City Suns some concerns on Wednesday night in the Waratah Cup, and he was the main perpetrator in this encounter. Watters latched on a superb through ball by Daniel Martinez on 5 minutes, cracking his snapshot wide past the far upright.
A couple of minutes later and David Harding got up to flick his header wide of the WNSW goal from an inswinging Leon Pirrello corner.
Harding was at it again in the 12th minute, seizing on a loose ball some 25 yards from goal before unleashing a cracking shot that deflected off a WNSW defender over the cross bar.
The Rage outfit were pushing the leather around with aplomb, their crisp passes finding the mark as they prised open the Mariners’ defence time and time again.
Jonathan Ekehov was making some great in roads down the flank for Rage from his right back position, and one such run in the 18th minute resulted in a great far post cross. Daniel Martinez sent the ball back across goal for Watters to attempt a scissors kick, the ball flashing wide of the mark with the Mariners defence in disarray.
The Rage kept their foot on the pedal, and within sixty seconds, Watters beat WNSW defender, Nikki Spice, in a one on one battle after a long punt upfield, his low shot well held by the Mariners keeper, Nick Barber.
Leon Pirrello then curled a tantalizing free kick into the penalty area, only for central defender, Manut Yel, to head inches over the cross bar as they Rage craved a goal.
A further blow to the Mariners was the early substitution of James Hotham through injury, as the visitors resembled a boxer on the ropes hoping for the bell, or half time whistle in this case.
Skipper for the day, James Christie, showed some neat touches of the football as the Mariners tried to repel the home side’s advantage, but he truly lacked support as the Rage closed in every time he was in possession.
David Harding and Calum Hedge were often the architects of many of Granville’s attacking forays, pulling the strings from the centre of midfield with some intelligent touches. One such foray saw a chipped ball played forward by Hedge, flicked on by Leon Pirrello, and half volleyed over the bar by quick firing Watters from the edge of the box.
Just before the break Granville almost broke the deadlock, when a Pirrello corner was flicked goalward by David Harding, only for WNSW defender, Stuart Bromley – who was one of the few Mariners who kept the home side at bay – to clear off the line.
It took until injury time for the Mariners to finally muster a shot at goal, with Nick Rutherford wasting the effort well wide of the mark from 20 yards following a quick counter attack.
Western NSW Mariners coach, Andrew Fearnley, was a relieved man, no doubt, to hear the half time whistle, and he could only have been content somewhat with the scoreline, given his team were under siege for most of the first half.
As is often in football, domination doesn’t always win you football games, and within five minutes of the half time break, the Mariners remarkably took the lead.
Mariners defender, Stuart Bromley, worked his way towards the Rage goal, before slipping a delightful through ball in behind the Rage defence into the path of James Christie.
Christie seized upon the opportunity, cracking an angled shot high into the net to give the Mariners a somewhat fortunate 1-0 lead.
This goal only served to increase the intensity of the home side, and Granville responded with two goals in as many minutes to take the lead.
A corner on 54 minutes ricocheted around the Mariners penalty area like a hot potato, before eventually being stabbed into the net by Jonathan Ekehov, a deserved reward for the effective defender.
Two minutes later and David Harding played a super ball down the line to Zac Watters, in behind the left side of the WNSW defence. Watters cut in towards goal, and after his initial shot was well parried by the onrushing WNSW keeper, Nick Barber, he calmly stroked his second effort into goal from an acute angle, the ball unable to be cleared by WNSW defender, Stuart Bromley.
Watters almost extended the lead in the 64th minute, his snapshot from the edge of the six yard box coming back off the cross bar after great work by Leon Pirrello – with a far post cross – and Daniel Martinez – with a smart cutback.
The Mariners tried valiantly to stop the onslaught, resorting to foul means at times as they conjured up no less than three cautions within ten minutes.
The hard working Adam Scimone had a rare opportunity for the visitors in the 75th minute, but he blasted his effort well over the Rage cross bar after reaching the ball from a corner that was cleared.
As the visitors tired, the home side tried to finish the match off, but unfortunately for the Rage, the killer goal just wouldn’t come, with Zac Watters unable to convert a host of opportunities late on.
In the 84th minute Watters shot wide from in front after great work by Rafid Hermiz, with WNSW keeper, Nick Barber, denying the Rage forward a minute later with a great point blank effort.
Hermiz provided some brilliant wizardry on the right flank in the 86th minute, his pinpoint cross disappointingly blasted over by Watters. One final last ditch effort for the Rage in injury time also failed to find the mark, Watters rising well to send his header agonizingly against the upright after connecting with a brilliant free kick by Phil Pyliotis.
The victory and subsequent three points has put the Rage into the top half of the ladder on 12 points, and they had plenty to rave about in this dominating performance, including many individuals who jelled on the day. More goals would have been nice for coach, Mauricio Islas, but at least his side manufactured a win and are back up towards the leaders on the ladder.
The Mariners will no doubt lick their wounds, put this result behind them, and need to be back on their game next week when they host the high flying Hawkesbury City.
Match Stats
Granville Rage 2 (Ekehov 54’, Watters 56’)
Western NSW Mariners 1 (Christie 50’)
Saturday, May 24, 2013
Garside Park, Granville
Referee: Mr R Nieuwenhuis
Assistant Referees : Mr J Gavin and Mr S Lightfoot
Bench: J. Woods, Z. Elrich, W. Angel, V. Rigoli, I. Johnson.GRANVILLE RAGE: 1. C.McMahon, 5.A.Bit, 2.J.Ekehov, 7.D.Harding, 16.C.Hedge (capt), 4.K.Kushaba (12.D.Vukovic 77’), 10.D.Martinez (8.P.Pyliotis 70’), 18.L.Pirrello (19.R.Hermiz 82’), 13.Z.Watters, 9.M.Yel, 14.M.Luc.
Substitutes Not Used: 17.D.Bortolazzo, 22.M.Giancotti.
Yellow Cards: 2.J.Ekehov 82’.
Red Cards: Nil
WESTERN NSW MARINERS: 1.N.Barber, 33.C.Adair, 32.S.Bromley, 8.A.Christie, 9.J.Christie (capt), 17.B.Osborne, 31.N.Rutherford, 11.A.Scimone, 30.O.Short (7.A.Bateson 61’), 3.N.Spice, 20.J.Hotham (2.M.Corben 27’)(6.B.Collins 70’).
Substitutes Not Used:.25.B.Deaton, 16.D.Logan.
Yellow Cards: 17.B.Osborne 60’, 33.C.Adair 65’, 3.N.Spice 69’.
Red Cards: Nil
STATE LEAGUE ONE ROUND EIGHT REVIEW
Hawkesbury City SC jumped into fourth spot on the competition ladder with a 4-0 drubbing of Nepean FC at Bensons Lane on Saturday afternoon.
Evan Daglis put the Hawks in front as early as the 16th minute, and the score remained unchanged for the remainder of the first half despite the home side’s domination.
Michael McCrory finally gave Hawkesbury some breathing space by netting in the 58th minute, before Paul Cooper (62nd) and Prasheel Sharma (86th) wrapped up proceedings to give the home side a resounding victory.
Gladesville Ryde Magic returned to the winners list this week with a confidence boosting 1-0 victory over the previous league leaders, Dulwich Hill, at Magdala Reserve on Sunday afternoon.
In this closely fought contest Gladesville emerged victors courtesy of a 30th minute goal by young striker Mitchell Smith. After a number of attacking raids the Magic won a throw-in deep into Dulwich Hill’s territory, taken by fullback, Ben Kerr. Tall striker, Scott Tonkin, got his head to the leather, flicking it on for the unmarked Smith, who calmly controlled the ball before pushing it into the net past Dully keeper, Matthew Licata.
Both teams continued to make chances with a number of opportunities falling to Dulwich Hill’s Jin Kim and Carlos Villazon, only to be denied by some fine saves from Kyriakos Tohouroglou in the Magic goal.
Similarly, Matthew Licata stood firm in the Dulwich goal, denying the likes of Johnny Martinez, Tommy Nastoulis and Tonkin with some reflex saves to keep the opposition at bay to keep the score within reach for his side.
It was in the 75th minute that Martinez had the best opportunity to put the game beyond doubt, with the hard-working midfielder latching onto a bouncing ball on the edge of the penalty area and launching a delicate chip over the advancing Licata. But the Dully keeper was sharp enough to snaffle the ball high overhead just as it was dipping under the crossbar.
A second yellow card in the 83rd minute to Dulwich Hill’s Sam Blowers made the task at hand even more difficult for the league leaders, but they still managed to conjure some half-chances, created more times than not by their playmaker, Anthony Musumeci.
Eventually the deficit proved beyond the reach of the visitors, with Dully losing their second successive game and being kept scoreless in both.
For the Magic it was a welcome return to the winner’s forum, and even though they remain tenth on the ladder, a win in their rescheduled match against Inter Lions this coming Wednesday will put them right back in contention with the top sides.
Northbridge FC made it ten goals in two matches with a comprehensive 4-1 triumph over Prospect Utd at Wentworth Park on Sunday afternoon.
The goals for Northbridge came from Kieran Hall, Andrew McGrouther, and a brace to Paul Orgad, giving the side a resounding three points, and subsequently putting them within reach of the top sides.
Skipper Gus Orcajo grabbed Prospect’s solitary goal, not enough to stop his side sliding to their third loss in their last four games as they struggle to regain their early season form.
Balmain Tigers have outright leadership of State League One as they overcame Inter Lions in a fiery encounter at The Crest Athletic Centre on Sunday evening.
The Tigers were close to full strength, with all players on deck except Liam Cole, whilst Inter Lions were without the suspended Adrian Vizzari, and Steve Biviano, who was unavailable for this game.
The Tigers took the lead on 10 minutes when Gavin Wenyon intercepted a stray ball from an Inter defender, before pushing a neat pass towards Rosario Occhipinti who calmly placed the ball into the back of the net.
Aaron Cimitile equalized for Inter Lions minutes later with a header following a superb cross, but the Tigers went back in front on the half hour mark, Joel Cook heading in a Tommy Hyde cross.
Ex Inter striker, Domenic Di Mento, was brought down in the penalty area just before the hour mark, giving Rosario Occhipinti the opportunity to convert his second goal and give Balmain a 3-1 lead in the process.
The match was as good as over on 77 minutes, Josh Karpes finding space down the left before hitting a left foot shot from 20 metres into the back of the net to give the Tigers un assailable 4-1 lead.
A late goal by Inter was a mere consolation, and the 4-2 win puts Balmain on to 17 points and first spot on the ladder.
In the late Sunday evening game, Hakoah Sydney City East trounced Camden Tigers 5-0 at the Hensley Athletic Field.
-By Frank Speranza
