Men’s hummel F-League Hot Potato
Four competition lead changes in four rounds – just who wants to be 2013 Hummel Men’s F-League champion?
First Scorpions knocked Dural off top spot before successive losses to Dural and Boomerangs freed up Vipers to rule the roost… BUT… an explicable final-round 3-1 loss to an improved Melbourne Heart at YMCA Derrimut handed first place back to the Warriors.
The title race is wide open as Warriors (23 points) narrowly front Vipers (22) and Scorpions (21) on the ladder, Scorpions interestingly playing all four Victorian teams in the closing rounds.
Boomerangs (16), East Coast (13) and St Albans (12) are having their own ding-dong battle in the middle of the pack while at the other end of the table Melbourne Heart (9) and Jaguars (4) face the same opponents in the Canberra and Sydney series (Warriors, Scorpions and Boomerangs) in a bid to avoid the wooden spoon… again.
Individually, Adam Cooper scored twice for Vipers over the weekend to lead the Golden Boot race with 13 season strikes, three ahead of Heart’s Tuan Cao, and Dural duo Jarrod Basger and Greg Giovenali lurking just behind them on nine goals.
Round 8
Vic Vipers 12 (Fernando De Moraes 1/8/9, Miguel Barrigos 3/19, Adam Cooper 6, Jason Barrientos 17, Maxim Avram 18/28, Jonathan Barrientos 19, Ricardo Castro 26/29) Jaguars 1 (Michael Rinaudo 3)
St Albans Strikers 6 (Danny Ngaluafe 9, Juso Julardzija 10/11/22/24, Mahamad Matar 12) Melbourne Heart 3 (Scott Fenn 19/26/38)
Sydney Scorpions 4 (Ediz Alpkaya 13/15, Daniel Fogarty 38, Patrick Pace 40) East Coast Heat 3 (Andre Caro 20, Lucas Kruel 33, Chris Zeballos 38)
Boomerangs 2 (Daniel Fulton 2, Jake Wilsener 28) Dural Warriors 2 (Greg Giovenali 5, Goran Ljuboja 9)
Round 9
St Albans Strikers 10 (Juso Julardzija 7/13/27/40, Tomislav Grgic 9/25, Alija Redzepovic 25/29, Vic Koutsoufis 32, Danny Ngaluafe 39) Jaguars 6 (Michael Rinaudo 7, Jonathan Tabarkiewicz 7/27, Strikers own goal 23, Reuben Langerak 37, Riziere Cua 39)
Dural Warriors 6 (Greg Giovenali 2/31, Scorpions own goal 11, Daine Merrin 13/34, Wade Giovenali 21) Sydney Scorpions 2 (Dean Lockhart 4, Daniel Fogarty 24)
Vic Vipers 4 (Adam Cooper 3, Fernando De Moraes 8/32, Thiago Priori 13) Boomerangs 3 (Michael Reeves 21, Jonathan Ciminelli 26, Jake Wilsener 28)
East Coast Heat 5 (Chris Zeballos 10, Jordan Guerreiro 15, Robert Ezekiel 16, Lucas Kruel 29, Ross Fazzalaro 36) Melbourne Heart 2 (Scott Fenn 17, Tuan Cao 38)
Round 10
Dural Warriors 6 (Gregory Giovenali 11/13, Zach Caruana 19, Tobias Seeto 26/39, Goran Ljuboja 31) St Albans Strikers 3 (Tomislav Grgic 3/10/37)
Boomerangs 8 (Michael Reeves 8/28, Callum Smith 15/19, Scorpions own goal 27, Jake Wilsener 30/32/39) Sydney Scorpions 2 (Patrick Pace 31, Daniel Martinez 38)
East Coast Heat 10 (Andre Caro 5, Lucas Kruel 9, Ross Fazzalaro 10/37, Chris Hanly 15, Robert Ezekiel 16, Jamie Amendolia 24/39, Jordan Guerreiro 28/34) Jaguars 0
Melbourne Heart 3 (Anthony Ramzy 13, Matthew Vragovski, Osman Kose 33) Vic Vipers 1 (Tiago Fracasso 9)
Round 11
Melbourne Heart 9 (Madoc Brummel 1, Scott Fenn 2/38, Tuan Cao 12/17/27/30, Matthew Vragovski 13, Jordan Michaelis 34) Jaguars 3 (Michael Rinaudo 2, Abel Bahiru 21, Jonathan Tabarkiewicz 25)
Round 8
Vipers swipe Jaguars
Vic Vipers began round eight Hummel F-League action with a bang by beating Jaguars 12-1 at YMCA Derrimut early on Saturday morning.
Melbourne turned on her winter best with a cold, wet day outside but it was hot and humid inside the robust gymnasium as Vipers fanged it with a venomous dozen strikes past a sleepy Jaguars.
Fernando De Moraes scored in the opening seconds to give Vics the lead only to see their joy cut short by a Michael Rinaudo response just minutes later.
From there it was all Vipers as De Moraes wrapped up his hat-trick by the 10th minute, Miguel Barrigos added a brace before halftime to compound Adam Cooper, Maxim Avram, Jason and Jonathan Barrientos strikes that gave the Vics a massive 9-1 lead at oranges.
Another Avram goal and a Ricardo Castro second-half double sealed the comprehensive victory.
Strikers stop Heart
A fast-starting St Albans Strikers held off a determined Melbourne Heart 6-3 at YMCA Derrimut on Saturday morning.
Danny Ngaluafe gave Strikers a 1-0 lead after 10-minutes, new team-mate Juso Julardzija accumulating another two and Mahamad Matar scoring another as St Albans led 4-0 before Scott Fenn returned fire for Heart.
It was to be Julardzija’s opening period however as he bagged two more to give Strikers a commanding 6-1 halftime advantage.
Melbourne woke up in the second half and Fenn scored twice more to narrow the gap to 6-3 with 12 minutes to play but St Albans held on for a win that made fifth place their own.
Scorpions stifle Heat
New F-League leaders Sydney Scorpions were made to work for their scraps in a tight 4-3 win over East Coast Heat at YMCA Derrimut on Saturday afternoon.
Ediz Alpkaya scored twice in a minute to hand Scorpions a quick 2-0 lead on the quarter-hour, Andre Caro responding for Heat to halve the deficit by halftime.
The second half was electric as East Coast glovesman Lorenzo De Paris was red-carded on the half-hour, a minute before team-mate Lucas Kruel grabbed a Heat equaliser.
Sydney’s Daniel Fogarty and Coast’s Chris Zeballos traded further blows to make the score 2-2, Patrick Pace firing Scorpions ahead with 10 minutes on the clock… but the scoreline remained unchanged in a dramatic encounter, Sydney’s fifth straight ‘W’.
Boomerangs, Warriors draw
Boomerangs held F-League title holders Dural Warriors to a crafty 2-2 draw at YMCA Derrimut on Saturday afternoon.
A 2nd-minute Daniel Fulton strike put Boomerangs on the front foot but Dural had other ideas as Greg Giovenali and Goran Ljuboja retaliated to give Warriors a 2-1 lead after 10 minutes of play.
Dural held their advantage until halftime and Boomerangs rallied after the break, Jake Wilsener scoring quickly to level the scores.
Both sides had chances for a match-winner but the fulltime whistle sounded with the deadlock unbroken.
Round 9
Strikers smack Jaguars
A 10-6 St Albans Strikers statement on Jaguars at YMCA Derrimut on Saturday evening underlined massive improvements by the Victorian sides.
The fever-pitch action finally broke in the seventh minute when Juso Julardzija scored for Strikers and Michael Rinaudo and Jonathan Tabarkiewicz scored for Jaguars.
Tomislav Grgic chimed in for St Albans to make it 2-2 a minute later before Julardzija added another to give his side the lead before a Strikers own goal ensured the sides retired 3-3 at halftime.
The second half was just as frenetic as speedy Grgic, Julardzija and Alija Redzepovic goals lifted St Albans three in front, Tabarkiewicz drawing one back for Jaguars when a second Redzepovic strike gave Strikers a 7-4 advantage on the half-hour, Vic Koutsoufis surging them further ahead moments later.
Jaguars never gave up and Reuben Langerak and Riziere Cua goals made it an interesting 8-6 before last-minute strikes from Julardzija and St Albans team-mate Danny Ngaluafe put the matter to rest.
Warriors squash Scorpions
F-League title holders Dural Warriors told current leaders Sydney Scorpions not yet in a 6-2 win at YMCA Derrimut on Saturday evening.
Greg Giovenali rocketed Dural in front only for Dean Lockhart within minutes to lock the scores back up at 1-1.
A gut-wrenching Scorpions own goal restored Dural’s lead on 11-minutes, Daine Merrin and Wade Giovenali compounding the advantage to fire Warriors 4-1 up.
A red card to Scorpions ace Lachlan Wright fired up the competition newcomers and Daniel Fogarty grabbed a cheeky Sydney goal before halftime to bring the score back to 4-2.
The second half was just as tight but the Dural experience showed as Giovenali pushed Warriors further in front and Merrin rounded out the scoring to boost the fortunes of last year’s champions, cutting short the Scorpions F-League summit in the process.
Vipers snap Boomerangs
Vic Vipers barged their way to the front of the F-League lead following an edgy 4-3 win over Boomerangs at YMCA Derrimut early on Sunday morning.
Golden Boot frontman Adam Cooper blasted Vipers ahead in just the third minute (his 13th goal of the season) and Fernando De Moraes doubled the advantage moments later, Thiago Priori chiming in to make it 3-0 by the quarter-hour mark.
Michael Reeves responded just before halftime to finally wake Boomerangs up and quick Jonathan Ciminelli and Jake Wilsener goals straight after the restart suddenly had the scores even again in the 28th minute.
De Moraes skipped Vipers 4-3 clear just past the half-hour and the Victorians held their nerve to register an important 4-3 victory.
Vipers lead last year’s F-League on goal-difference after the first round and this is the first time a non-Sydney team has claimed top spot since then.
Heat hurt Heart
East Coast Heat burned a resistant Melbourne Heart 5-2 at YMCA Derrimut on Sunday morning to snap a three-game losing streak.
Chris Zeballos, Jordan Guerreiro and Robert Ezekiel netted to establish a comfortable East Coast cushion, Scott Fenn pulling one back for Melbourne before the break.
Lucas Kruel and Ross Fazzalaro restored a 5-1 Heat buffer with 15 minutes to go, relegating Tuan Cao’s goal to a Heart consolation.
Round 10
Dural eclipse St Albans
Dural Warriors came back from two goals down to defeat a fearless St Albans Strikers in the midday matinee at YMCA Derrimut.
A double-barreled Tomislav Grgic blast had Strikers ahead 2-0 by the 10th minute, a Greg Giovenali brace in response leveling the scores moments later before Zach Caruana pushed Dural’s noses in front at halftime.
A dual Toby Seeto strike and Warriors team-mate Goran Ljuboja’s goal asserted Dural’s authority up 6-2, Grgic rounding out his hat-trick in a gallant 3-6 loss.
Boomerangs scorch Scorpions
Boomerangs sizzled Sydney Scorpions in a spicy encounter at YMCA Derrimut on a chilly Sunday afternoon.
Michael Reeves opened the Boomerangs account on eight minutes, a Callum Smith double extending the lead to 3-0 at oranges despite Territorian keeper Sean Byrne’s 19th minute dismissal.
Sydney’s Roberto Maiorana was also sent off just before halftime, the Scorpions clearly rattled as an own goal, Reeves and Jake Wilsener strike pushed the difference to 6-0 by the half-hour mark.
Patrick Pace scored soon after to draw Sydney a little closer but Wilsener added two more to negate a late Danny Martinez goal for Scorpions, an impressive Boomerangs winning 8-2.
Heat roast Jaguars
East Coast Heat smacked Jaguars 10-0 at YMCA Derrimut late on Sunday afternoon to earn back-to-back wins and restore some pride as last year’s F-League runners-up.
The clinical performance in which Andre Caro, Lucas Kruel, Ross Fazzalaro, Chris Hanly, Robert Ezekiel and Jamie Amendolia took East Coast to a 6-0 halftime lead, finished with Amendolia, Fazzalaro and Jordan Guerreiro braces and this season’s first clean-sheet.
Heart throttle Vipers
Vic Vipers ride at the top of the 2013 Hummel F-League didn’t last long following a shock Sunday night 3-1 loss to strugglers Melbourne Heart.
A Vipers win would again skip them ahead of Warriors and Scorpions on the competition ladder and they looked the goods when Tiago Fracasso popped them in front on nine minutes.
Round 11
Heart jump Jaguars
Melbourne Heart thumped Jaguars 9-3 in a rescheduled round 11 match at YMCA Derrimut late on Saturday night.
Madoc Brummel scored for Melbourne in the first minute and Scott Fenn added another to knock a Michael Rinaudo Jaguars response out of the way, Tuan Cao scoring twice and Matthew Vragovski once again for Heart, Jaguars sticking close through Abel Bahiru and Jonathan Tabarkiewicz strikes to make it 5-3 at halftime.
Melbourne made sure of the victory with second-half goals to Fenn, Cao (twice) and Jordan Michaelis.
-By Dan De Nardi
