State League One Round 10 Preview
There is the one solitary match on Saturday evening this weekend to kick off Round Ten of the State League One competition, with the remaining five encounters all scheduled to be played across three timeslots on Sunday.
A 7-00pm kick off awaits for Nepean FC and the Western NSW Mariners at Cook Park, with the home side confident of another good showing to maintain their position near the top of the league.
Nepean FC had a workmanlike victory over Northbridge last week, minus some key personnel, and will once again look to the energy of Terry Pannowitz and Mikal Awad across the middle of the park if they are to earn a positive outcome in front of their fans.
The Mariners have had a rough time of it over the past fortnight or so, needing to blood some inexperienced youngsters as the depth of the squad has been well and truly tested. A couple of heavy defeats have been hard to swallow for Westerners, but consistency and focus over 90 minutes will surely put them back on track.
Granville Rage host an out of sorts Dulwich Hill at Garside Park on Sunday afternoon at 3-00pm, hoping to eliminate the gap between the two sides given there is one spot and two points separating the clubs on the ladder.
Last week’s deluge meant both teams had a rest, and given both possess many attacking options going forward, you can expect plenty of shots and goals to be prevalent in this clash.
Gladesville Ryde Magic will be out to take advantage of Prospect United’s recent loss of form on Sunday afternoon at Magdala, the champions beginning to flex their muscles as they move ominously up the ladder.
The combination of Scott Tonkin and Mitchell Smith up front is proving fruitful for Magic, with both players finding the net of late, and with captain, Johnny Martinez, and Yavuz Ekinci, doing the job in midfield, Gladesville will back themselves to continue their ascent.
Prospect will no doubt miss the speed of Paul Curjak down the flank after he suffered a shoulder injury last week against Hakoah, and hope the bounce of the ball will start to fall their way following a disappointing past month or so.
Arguably the match of the round this week will be at Wentworth Park, where league frontrunners, Balmain Tigers, meet Hawkesbury City at 3-00pm on Sunday afternoon.
Balmain tasted defeat for the first time in 2013 on Tuesday night, unable to equalize in the completion of their abandoned match against Camden, but they still have a game in hand on most other sides, they can take a real stranglehold on the competition by stretching the gap between them and the rest of the field with a victory here.
The Hawks are definitely flying high at the moment, with plenty of goals in recent weeks coming from a range of goalscorers. Already known for their superb home form, the Hawks won handsomely on the road last weekend in Mudgee, so they’d be quietly confident of another traveling triumph by toppling the Tigers in front of their own fans.
In the two late games on Sunday evening, Hakoah Sydney City East will be carrying a wave of momentum into their clash against Northbridge FC at Hensley Athletic Field, the match due to start at 5-00pm, whilst Inter Lions host Camden Tigers at The Crest Athletic Centre at 7-00pm, hoping to grab a valuable three points and close the gap on the rest of the field above them.
Rescheduled Round Three Match
Balmain Tigers – Camden Tigers 0-1
This match was originally scheduled for Sunday, April 21, but was washed out, and when the fixture did take place on Wednesday, May 15, it was abandoned in the 66th minute due to a horrific injury to Camden’s young striker, Ryan Shuttleworth.
A decision was made that match had to be completed, and that Balmain and Camden had to show up once more at Magdala Park on Tuesday, June 4, to play out the remaining 24 minutes or so.
The result at the point of abandonment was 1-0 to Camden, with Ahmed Thafer having scored with a clinical turn and finish inside the box in the 62nd minute. Camden had played well on the night and deserved their lead, showing enthusiasm across the park and having had numerous opportunities to score. This time around the game plan for Balmain was to throw everything but the kitchen sink at Camden in an attempt to salvage something from the match, but Camden defended resolutely to record their first victory of the season, whilst in turn Balmain Tigers have now suffered their first defeat.
Please click on the following link for all the details of the full round of Round Ten fixtures
(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)
http://www.sportingpulse.com/comp_info.cgi?a=ROUND&round=10&client=1-9353-138477-253810-0&pool=1
State League One – Top Goalscorers
Round Nine
Scott Tonkin’s brace against Camden Tigers sees the Gladesville Ryde Magic striker move to the top of the SL1 top goal scorers’ charts for the first time this season with 7 goals.
Nepean’s instrumental midfielder, Terry Pannowitz, moved to 6 goals with his spot kick against Northbridge, whilst Mariners’ pair, James Christie and Nick Rutherford, both moved to 5 goals along with Hawkesbury speedster, Ethan Simone, and Prospect skipper, Gus Orcajo.
7 : Scott TONKIN (Glades Ryde Magic)
6 : Carlos VILLAZON (Dulwich Hill), Rosario OCCHIPINTI (Balmain Tigers), Terry PANNOWITZ (Nepean FC)
5 : James CHRISTIE (West NSW Mariners), Nick RUTHERFORD ((West NSW Mariners), Ethan SIMONE (Hawkesbury City SC),Gustavo ORCAJO (Prospect United)
-By Frank Speranza
