State League One Round Thirteen Preview

Round Thirteen of the State League One competition commences at 5pm on Saturday this week, with two matches scheduled for the earlier than usual kick off.
Two teams on the back of victories last week do battle at Bensons Lane, with Hawkesbury City SC meeting Prospect United in what looms as a real ‘six pointer’ for the visitors.
With the Hawks in third spot on the ladder and five points separating the two sides, Prospect can ill afford to lose this one as it will widen the gap and make it just that little bit harder to make the finals.
A victory over the Rage last week has given Prospect renewed hope, but the Hawks are flying high at the moment, and scoring at will, with 20 goals shared by four players, meaning there is less reliance on the one player to hit the net.
Additionally, the Hawks will be out for revenge given Prospect gave them a 3-0 loss in a comprehensive performance back in Round 2 at William Lawson Park.
The other Saturday afternoon match will be played at Glen Willow Stadium when Western NSW Mariners look to get their season back on track against the hapless Camden Tigers, who are holding up the competition and will be desperate to close the four point gap between themselves, being on 7 points, and the Inter Lions and Gladesville Ryde Magic, both on 11.
The Mariners took the points on the road in Round Two at Ron Dine Reserve, so the Tigers will be hoping to return the favour and bring home the spoils on Saturday night.
There are three matches scheduled for a 3-00pm kick off on Sunday afternoon, including a clash at Garside Park between Granville Rage and the in form Northbridge FC.
The Rage have proven a difficult team to beat this year, only losing three times, but one of those came last weekend against Prospect, and need three points here to stay in touch with the top five.
As I predicted weeks ago, Northbridge have seemingly found their stride in recent weeks, just reward for their collective focus and 100% effort during matches. With the pending return of effective midfielder, Michael Cole, back from overseas, the Northbridge juggernaut will be even harder to stop in coming weeks.
The other two matches on Sunday afternoon sees Gladesville Ryde Magic desperate to stay within reach of the top half of the ladder when they entertain Nepean FC at Magdala Park, whilst Dulwich Hill have the chance to climb above the Balmain Tigers when they travel to Wentworth Park to take on the league leaders.
The final match of the round will be at The Crest Athletic Centre, with Inter Lions meeting Hakoah Sydney City East at 7-00pm.
Justin Kosmina has been in sparkling form for Hakoah, scoring seven goals this season, including the solitary strike in Round Two to help his side triumph against the Lions at Hensley Athletic Field.
 
Hakoah have now climbed to equal first on the ladder on 21 points, and their momentum will be difficult to stop for an Inter Lions side who have been disappointingly inconsistent in recent weeks, although they possess the calibre of player that can’t be taken lightly by the visitors, and can beat anyone on their day.
Please click on the following link for all the details of the full round of Round Thirteen 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=13&client=0-9353-0-253810-0&pool=-1
State League One – Top Goalscorers
The top goalscorers list after Round 12 resembles the league ladder in that it is highly congested, with Gladesville’s Scott Tonkin now joining Balmain’s Rosario Occhipinti on 8 goals at the summit. Justin Kosmina’s fourth goal in two weeks sees him move to 7, whilst Hawkesbury pair, Ethan Simone and Evan Daglis, have both climbed to six goals for the campaign thus far.
            8    : Rosario OCCHIPINTI (Balmain Tigers), Scott TONKIN (Glades Ryde             Magic)

7    : Carlos VILLAZON (Dulwich Hill), Justin KOSMINA (Hakoah Sydney City  East)

6      : Terry PANNOWITZ (Nepean FC), Kachi ENYI (Inter Lions),                                    Gustavo ORCAJO (Prospect United), Ethan SIMONE (Hawkesbury City SC), Evan DAGLIS (Hawkesbury City)

-By Frank Speranza