State League One Round 15 Review
After the deluge of goals in recent weeks in State League One football, most clubs must have worked hard during the week on tightening their defences, with Round 15 producing just 14 goals as well as four clean sheets.
League leaders Northbridge won narrowly on the road against Western NSW Mariners to maintain top spot, whilst current champions, Gladesville Ryde Magic, continued their climb up the ladder with a closely fought win at Garside Park against Granville Rage.
Elsewhere, Hawkesbury City bounced back into winning form by beating Hakoah Sydney City East by the odd goal in five at Bensons Lane, Nepean FC replicated their first round victory against Inter Lions with yet another 2-0 triumph, and Dulwich Hill overcame Camden Tigers 2-0 at Arlington Oval on Sunday.
Our match of the round took us to Wentworth Park to see the previously long time leaders, Balmain Tigers, host the visit of the resurgent Prospect United on Sunday afternoon.
Balmain Tigers – Prospect United 1 – 0
In what eventuated into a real arm wrestle at Wentworth Park on Sunday afternoon, Balmain Tigers showed just that little bit more tenacity and desire to edge out Prospect United 1-0 in a closely fought Round Fifteen match.
Balmain must be congratulated on using the iconic Wentworth Park as it’s designated home ground, as it witnessed many a famous encounter over the years and is a real credit of a venue to showcase State League One football. It must bring back special memories especially for Balmain’s Under 20s coach, ex-Socceroo, Ernie Campbell, and his troops did the business for the veteran with a 2-0 victory in the early fixture.
Back to the first grade encounter, and it was a fairly even opening to the afternoon’s play, although Balmain did squeeze out a number of half opportunities during the first twenty minutes or so.
Josh Karpes, who was solid as they come in central defence for the home side all afternoon, probably should have done a little better with his clear header at goal from Domenic Di Mento’s corner on 12 minutes, heading over from right in front after shaking off a Prospect defender.
The league’s equal top scorer, Balmain’s Rosario Occhipinti, was nursing a slight muscle strain coming into the match, but managed to hit a swerving left foot shot in the 14th minute that curled around the outside of Prospect’s Mario Farias’ right hand post.
It was Liam Cole’s turn on 19 minutes, the busy Balmain midfielder bursting through the guts to slam a half volley at goal from the edge of the penalty area, only to see Prospect keeper, Mario Farias, fling himself to his left to parry the strike.
Prospect had their first real attempt at goal on 21 minutes, and it came via the head of Ben McCann, his looping header from a corner hitting the top of the cross bar on it’s way out of play.
Domenic Di Mento was a serial pest for the Prospect defence all game with his slalom runs down the flank, and on one such occasion in the 23rd minute, he was upended after a quick counter attack, taking the free kick himself and just clearing the crossbar as a result.
Prospect had managed to soak up the Balmain attempts during the first half an hour or so, without conceding, and started to come into their own in the period before half time. Coincidentally, the match intensified during this time, with experienced referee, Mr Jerry Bitas, forced to go into his notebook on no less than four occasions within nine minutes, three of which were earned by the visitors.
In the 28th minute, Prospect’s mid season signing, Reece Iredale, managed to play an effective one-two with skipper, Gus Orcajo, before stabbing wide from a few yards as he stretched to beat a couple of opponents to the ball.
A couple of minutes later and the same two players were at it again for Prospect, conjuring an opportunity that should’ve ended up in a goal for the visitors. With a cluster of players surrounding the edge of Balmain’s penalty area, Iredale slipped a ball through a tiny gap to Orcajo, who proceeded to show nimble touches as he rounded Balmain’s keeper, Chris Leontios, only to crack his left foot shot against the upright with the goal at his mercy.
Prospect’s captain almost made amends in first half injury time, but his flick header under pressure from Chris Camilleri’s free kick narrowly missed the Balmain upright.
The second half started where the first half ended, with high intensity and a will to turn one point into three.
Prospect’s Reece Iredale had a great opportunity to square the ledger on 50 minutes, but volleyed over the bar when through on goal and faced with Balmain’s keeper, Chris Leontios.
The home side responded minutes later with another mazy run down the flank, and subsequent cross, by Domenic Di Mento. Joel Cook showed desire to get to the ball amongst a couple of Prospect defenders, but placed his firm head over the bar.
The goal the game and the home fans craved finally arrived in the 64th minute.
Will Donato, who had displayed great skills down the left wing during the first forty five minutes, repeated his efforts just after the hour mark before sending over a superb cross, behind the Prospect defensive line, where Rosario Occhipinti was lurking, and the league’s top goalscorer diverted the ball expertly past Prospect’s goal keeper, Mario Farias.
Prospect replied by upping the ante, and Iredale almost equalized in the 66th, snapping his shot on the turn into the side netting after a smartly taken quick free kick by Chris Camilleri.
Prospect’s left sided defender, Troy McColl, who was in the wars during a tempestuous first half, let fly in the 75th minute with a real speculator, hitting his shot sweetly and probably too straight from fully 30 yards, right down the throat of Balmain’s keeper, Chris Leontios.
As the visitors pushed men forward to try and salvage something from the game, Balmain almost caught them on the counter attack a number of times.
Domenic Di Mento initiated one such attack in the 87th minute, racing away before holding it up, and slipping the ball to his over lapping brother, Jacob Di Mento. Jacob, who had a whale of a game in the midfield, instantly delivered a far post cross that was headed back across goal and agonizingly inches wide of the opposite upright by defender Josh Karpes, who had raced up in support. It was a fantastic piece of counter attack football and would’ve been a killer of a goal if it had crept inside the post.
Prospect threw numbers forward in retaliation, and a firm header at goal in the 90th minute by experienced defender, Tim Harrington, beat Balmain’s keeper, Chris Leontios, but Jacob Di Mento was on hand to block the attempt, and then throw his body in front of the follow up shot to keep Prospect at bay.
As the clock ticked into the third minute of injury time, Joel Cook took possession of the leather inside the Prospect defence from a throw in, before holding it up and playing it into the path of the onrushing Jacob Di Mento. Prospect’s goal keeper, Mario Farias, stood glued to the spot as Di Mento’s drive cannoned off the left upright before being cleared by the desperate Prospect defence.
With that, and a shriek of his whistle, referee Mr Jerry Bitas brought an end to an exciting afternoon’s football.
Prospect had come into this match full of confidence and on the back of a couple of pleasing victories, but just couldn’t find the net, try as they may. The loss leaves United on 18 points, and in 8th spot, but they are a mere victory from 5th place, and have too much talent to be written off any time soon.
Best for the visitors were central defender, Tim Harrington, who had his usual strong presence in the defensive line, winning headers at will ; Chris Camilleri was inventive in midfield and always looking for the ball ; and Reece Iredale worked tirelessly in the attacking third, throwing his body into challenges with no respect for his own safety.
Balmain Tigers would’ve been thrilled to grab these three points, as it was a satisfying victory earned by hard work and rolling up the sleeves, and the three points puts the club on 25 points in equal second.
The Di Mento brothers were excellent on the day, Domenic with his continual running at defenders and always causing a nuisance in the front third, whilst Jacob was biting in the tackles in a real solid box to box performance, ably supported by Liam Cole in the midfield engine room. Josh Karpes made his presence felt in central defence with his fierce tackling, whilst Will Donato and Joel Cook were very effective on the flanks coming from deep.
Balmain will need to regroup very quickly if they are to take advantage of a catch up game, taking on Granville Rage at Garside Park this coming Tuesday night in a rescheduled Round 9 encounter for a spot on top of the ladder.
Match Stats
Balmain Tigers 1 (Occhipinti 67’)
Prospect United 0
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Referee: Mr Jerry Bitas
Assistant Referees : Mr Simon Lightfoot and Mr Mark Alderman
Bench: J. Woods, Z. Elrich, W. Angel, V. Rigoli, I. Johnson.BALMAIN TIGERS: 1.C.Leontios, 14.O.Babington, 4.L.Cole, 11.J.Cook, 26.D.Di Mento, 15.J.Di Mento, 10.L.Digiulio (5.D.Noor 80’), 17.W.Donato (23.S.Falanga 72’), 2.T.Hyde (capt), 36.J.Karpes, 37.R.Occhipinti (8.C.Fiakos 76’).
Substitutes Not Used: 99.L.Kerr, 251.A.Casali.
Yellow Cards: 36.J.Karpes 45’, 15.J.Di Mento 58’, 10.L.Digiulio 70’, 4.L.Cole 80’.
Red Cards: Nil
PROSPECT UNITED: 1.M.Farias, 7.C.Camilleri, 3.T.Elliott-Orr, 12.T.Harrington, 13.R.Iredale (16.D.Brooker 76’), 8.A.Jennings, 15.T.Kasunic, 6.B.McCann (2.J.Katsumasa 58’), 4.T.McColl, 10.G.Orcajo (capt), 14.T.Sullivan.
Substitutes Not Used: 11.J.Beslic, 20.M.Steell, 5.J.Sandrone.
Yellow Cards: 4.T.McColl 36’, 13.R.Iredale 42’, 3.T.Elliott-Orr 44’.
Red Cards: Nil
STATE LEAGUE ONE ROUND FIFTEEN REVIEW
Gladesville Ryde Magic showed they won’t relinquish their 2012 title without a fight, downing Granville Rage by 2-1 on Saturday afternoon at Garside Park.
The battle of the “Villes” (Granville vs Gladesville) saw an end to end contest highlighted by missed opportunities and outstanding goalkeeping at both ends of the park.
As early as the third minute Granville’s influential fullback Phillip Pyliotis launched a curling cross behind the Magic’s defence to find striker Daniel Bortalozzo on the edge of the six-yard box. The young striker did well to beat the off-side trap but his hurried shot only managed to bobble past the right-hand upright for a goal-kick.
Granville dominated possession in the early stages with captain David Harding capably steering his side around the paddock at will. However, as the game wore on Gladesville grew in confidence and settled into an attacking pattern to create a raft of opportunities from a number of sources.
In the twelfth minute the Magic’s Samir Eshani rode through three attempted tackles on the edge of the penalty area before pushing a square ball across the edge of the area to on-rushing midfielder, Yavuz Ekinci. The experienced midfielder maintained his composure to slip the ball under the advancing Granville keeper, Carl McMahon, and into the net to open the scoring.
Eshani was proving to be a handful for the Granville defence and in the sixteenth minute midfielder Mitchell Smith released him down the right flank where he outsped the defence before unleashing an unstoppable drive that cannoned off the upright and away for a goal kick. The twentieth minute saw Smith and Eshani combine again down the right touchline before an eventual cross found Gladesville’s Scott Tonkin on the edge of the box. Tonkin controlled the ball and turned his marker in the one movement before shooting across the face of goal. Excellent agility by Granville keeper McMahon saw him block the initial shot and then spring onto the loose ball to avert danger for his team.
Granville’s elusive Nenos Bobo and effervescent Bortalozzo stretched the Gladesville defence time and again, although most of the long aerial crosses were well-covered by Gladesville’s alert backline. A flurry of corner kicks was all that Gladesville were willing to yield, however, during such sustained incursions by Granville with the best scoring chance of the half falling to hard-working captain Harding when he rose above the pack at the near post to head narrowly over the bar in the 25th minute.
Gladesville responded before half-time when Eshani found himself in front of goal in the 40th minute, but he could not find the net after first being dispossessed in a well-timed, goal-saving tackle by Granville’s Pyliotis, and then shooting over the bar from fifteen metres under pressure from the fast-closing Mitchell Luc and keeper McMahon.
McMahon proved a worthy shot-stopper again for Granville in the 43rd minute after Ekinci and Smith combined to push Tonkin into the clear. The keeper repeated his earlier effort and pushed the shot beyond his left upright to maintain the 1-0 scoreline at the half-time break.
The second half opened with Eshani steaming down the left touchline before cutting the ball back to Ekinci who cannoned his shot just over the crossbar from 22 metres. Again in the 56th minute Granville were grateful to have the talents of McMahon in between the sticks. On this occasion Gladesville’s Hassan Alzaidi took the ball to the by-line before cutting back to Eshani on the penalty spot. The striker drilled the ball goalbound but at full stretch McMahon flung himself to his left managing to deflect the ball over his crossbar with the visiting fans already celebrating what looked to be a certain goal.
But Granville were well and truly up for the challenge being presented in this contest and slowly produced the pressure of which they are capable. In the 55th minute Granville’s lively striker, Zac Watters, side footed an effort just past the left upright from amongst a crowded penalty box.
He was at it again in the 60th minute when Pyliotis swung yet another dangerous cross from the right only to see Watters acrobatic, overhead scissor-kick sail past the right hand upright. Only minutes afterwards it was the turn of his striking teammate, Leon Pirrello, who met a Pyliotis free kick, this time heading over the bar from 8 metres. Eventually in the 67th minute a creative midfield buildup saw Harding release an unmarked Watters who converted with aplomb from just inside the box to draw his team level after a period of sustained attacking.
Granville continued the pressure in the latter period of the match but despite their efforts could not conjure up a winner. Kiriakos Tohouroglou was dominant in goal saving brilliantly from a Watters drive to push it over the bar and, together with captain Johnny Martinez, marshalled his defence to combat the prolonged attacking movements from a determined opposition. After an extended period of five corner kicks within three minutes, both Pirrello and Harding headed over the cross bar, whilst Harding saw his stinging shot from outside the box just lift over the goal.
In the 84th minute, the Magic converted a counter attack to the fullest to wrap up proceedings.
A quick release of the ball through the midfield saw Gladesville’s young substitute, Peter Yannopoulos, dribble the ball to the by-line before intelligently cutting back to beat McMahon on the near post and find Eshani unmarked in the six-yard box. This time the striker made no mistake and finished emphatically to seal a victory for his team.
Despite the setback Granville continued to push forward on a number of occasions with energetic defender Daniel Vukovic forcing his way into the box in a bid to create opportunities for his teammates. Unfortunately for Granville it was all to no avail as the referee finally blew full time in the 94th minute to the relief from the travelling fans.
Even though the Magic remain in 9th spot, they have now climbed to 17 points with back to back wins and are only four points from the top five. Granville remain on 19 points, currently in 7th spot, but are very much well in the mix and will look to bounce back next week to stay with the front runners.
Hawkesbury City SC bounced back from their humiliation last weekend at the hands of Northbridge to overcome Hakoah Sydney City East 3-2 in a physical battle at Bensons Lane on Saturday afternoon.
It was a real test of character for the Hawks, and they had to do the job without the services of their equal top goal scorers for the campaign – playmaker, Evan Daglis (injured) and striker, Ethan Simone (ill).
Hakoah took the lead midway through the first half when Bradley Walker used all his strength to score off a corner, but Hawkesbury equalized about ten minutes later when Andrew Stevenson returned serve from a corner of their own, and parity remained for the remainder of the first half.
Paul Cooper has scored a few beauties this season, and did it again from the edge of the penalty area early in the second half to give the home side the lead, but Hakoah would not lie down, and Deklan Gilmartin equalized on the hour with a great shot on the turn from inside the box.
The battle intensified as the match wore on, both sides looking for a winner, but it was Hawkesbury who would prevail, the experienced Todd Macrae stroking home a penalty in the 75th minute to give his side the three points.
The loss is Hakoah’s second in successive weeks, and they remain on 21 points, dropping to 5th on the ladder. Hawkesbury’s win sees them climb above their opponents and on to 23 points, moving to 4th spot in the process.
Northbridge FC retained first place in the SL1 competition ladder with a hard fought 1-0 win over Western NSW Mariners at Proctor Park Bathurst, on Saturday night.
The Mariners held the league leaders scoreless until the 80th minute, when Northbridge got that all important winner.
A corner was dangerously swung over by James Collins, and Ry Hardy was on the spot to convert and send the visitors home with all three points.
The loss sees the Mariners remain 10th on the ladder on 13 points, and within a win of last placed Inter Lions and Camden Tigers, whilst Northbridge move to 26 points and stay one point ahead of second placed Dulwich Hill and Balmain Tigers.
Nepean FC were relieved to return to the winner’s list on Saturday night at Cook Park, winning 2-0 and condemning Inter Lions to another defeat in the process.
Nepean’s hero on the night was the burly figure of Jason Browne, who netted a brace, the first in the 38th minute to give the home side the lead.
Inter’s discipline woes continued as industrious midfielder, Dario Espejel, received his marching orders on 72 minutes with the issuing of his second yellow card. Nepean took advantage of the extra man and Browne scored in the 75th minute to close off proceedings.
Inter remain equal last on the ladder, ahead of Camden on goal difference, whilst Nepean have climbed to 21 points, equal fifth with Hakoah but outside the top five on goal difference.
Dulwich Hill prevailed in a scrappy game against Camden Tigers at Arlington Oval on Sunday afternoon, winning 2-0 with a goal in each half.
The Tigers proved a hard nut to crack, but a brace of goals to Frank Calcagno gave Dully the much needed points as they continue their quest at the top of the ladder.
The only sour note for Dully coach, Wally Savor, was the late sending off of Sam Blowers, and he’ll miss the rescheduled clash against Inter Lions at Lambert Park on Tuesday night.
The win sees Dully climb to 25 points and equal second on the ladder, ahead of Balmain on goal difference, and one point behind league leaders, Northbridge FC, whilst Camden remain equal bottom with Inter Lions.
Dulwich Hill in fact have a wonderful opportunity to climb above Northbridge this coming Tuesday evening, taking on Inter Lions at Lambert Park in a rescheduled Round 9 fixture.
-By Frank Speranza
