NSW State League 1 – Round 16 review
No doubt the biggest shock of the Round occurred at Northbridge Oval on Sunday afternoon, where Balmain Tigers made a mockery of the ‘match of the round’ with a 5-2 demolition of Northbridge FC, a match between two teams who had been equal first before kick off.
Elsewhere, Dulwich Hill moved into second and kept the pressure up on Balmain with their fourth win in succession, beating Prospect United 3-1 away, Hakoah grabbed all the points in a narrow victory against the Mariners in Mudgee, Hawkesbury City rode their luck to edge out Gladesville Ryde Magic at Magdala, whilst Camden Tigers moved off the bottom of the league for the first time this season by overcoming Nepean FC at Ron Dine Reserve.
We ventured out to The Crest to see the Inter Lions host Granville Rage in the late game on Sunday evening.
Inter Lions – Granville Rage 1 – 2
In the late game on Sunday night at The Crest Athletic Centre, Granville Rage took a commanding lead before holding on for dear life in the final stages against Inter Lions, recording a 2-1 victory in the end and earning a very valuable three points in their quest for a finals position.
Desperate for a long overdue victory, Inter Lions were fast out of the blocks, and had all the running in the first 20 minutes or so. But that was only after Inter’s energetic midfielder, Tony Panuccio, had cleared off the Inter goal line after Granville’s Zac Watters had chipped Inter’s goalkeeper, Roberto Maiorana, on 8 minutes.
Miguel Martinez twice responded for the Lions within minutes, firstly in the 10th with a run down the right flank before unleashing a wild shot that sailed diagonally wide, and secondly heading over from right in front following a good cross from the left by Anthony Poniris.
Poniris made another inroad down the left wing in the 16th minute, playing a neat one-two with Inter striker, Kachi Enyi, before his angled strike was well parried by Rage keeper, Carl McMahon.
Enyi himself made room for a shot just sixty seconds later, his firm drive also well parried by McMahon in the Granville goal as Inter looked to turn early domination into a goal.
The surface was flat but lacked the grass that was evident early in the season, and any players not wearing their screw-ins found themselves slipping on many occasions during the evening.
Granville made a great opportunity for themselves in the 26th minute, when Rafid Hermiz, playing in an uncustomary left sided defensive role, made an inroad into the Inter half before slipping a great ball into the path of Daniel Bortolazzo. Bortolazzo latched onto the ball, crossing to the far post, only for Leon Pirrello to head just wide of the Inter upright.
The Rage went one better on the half hour mark, when Zac Watters made a real nuisance of himself inside the Inter penalty area, winning the ball before cutting it back to Daniel Vukovic to crack a low snapshot past Inter’s goalkeeper, Roberto Maiorana, giving the visitors the lead.
In fact Watters had a couple of chances himself to extend Granville’s lead before the break, firstly shooting straight at Maiorana when the Inter goalkeeper’s skewed clearance landed at his feet in the 33rd minute, and then creating an opportunity out of nothing right on half time, this time Maiorana plucking the ball out of the air when Watters shot from an acute angle after chasing a long ball towards the corner flag.
Tony Panuccio and Nicky Rouco were a very effective pairing in the Inter Lions midfield, with Panuccio showing bite in the tackle whilst Rouco was so sharp over ten yards with the ball at his feet.
Rouco made one such incisive run in the 51st minute, darting between defenders on his way to goal before being brought down on the fringes of the Granville penalty area. Skipper Adrian Vizzari was agonizingly close with the resultant free kick, driving a bullet of a shot inches over the cross bar with Granville’s custodian, Carl McMahon, well beaten.
Poniris had a great chance for Inter in the 55th minute as the home side continued their quest to restore parity, snapping his low angled effort wide when through on goal after a super ball behind the Rage defence by Miguel Martinez.
Granville speedster, Zac Watters was through on goal in the 62nd minute, but blasted wide when faced with Inter’s goalkeeper, Maiorana. But ten minutes later, Watters made no mistake from right in front, converting a superb cross by Leon Pirrello that had been swerved in behind the retreating Inter defence, giving the Rage a 2-0 lead.
Inter went three at the back and threw caution to the wind, pulling a goal back almost immediately, Miguel Martinez controlling Alex Crane’s far post cross on his chest before slamming a volley past Rage keeper, Carl McMahon.
The Rage were on the backfoot at this stage, with the Lions marauding forward, and they didn’t make things any better for themselves by going a man down in the 85th, with Cameron McKinnon the recipient of two cautions in quick succession.
Inter piled forward, and thought they had their equalizer in injury time when it looked like skipper, Adrian Vizzari’s last gasp far post header, may have crossed the line as McMahon grabbed at the ball, but the officials waved play on, with Granville holding on to the win.
The loss sees Inter remain bottom of the ladder, but on this showing, it’s a matter of time before they start to pick up valuable points, especially with Tony Panuccio and Nicky Rouco in domineering form across the middle.
The win and subsequent three points sees Granville Rage move to 23 points, and they have climbed ahead of both Nepean and Prospect and into 6th spot on the ladder. Skipper Dave Harding played intelligently in central midfield, supplemented by Daniel Vukovic who supported his attack very effectively, whilst Zac Watters and Leon Pirrello combined well up front for the victors.
Match Stats
Inter Lions: 1 (Martinez 78’)
Granville Rage: 2 (Vukovic 30’, Watters 72’)
Sunday, July 21, 2013
The Crest Athletic Centre, Georges Hall
Referee: Mr A Weir
Assistant Referees : Mr C Bosevski and Mr R Nieuwenhius
Bench: J. Woods, Z. Elrich, W. Angel, V. Rigoli, I. Johnson.INTER LIONS :
1.R.Maiorana, 11.A.Crane, 15.K.Enyi, 9.M.Martinez, 6.P.Pace, 4.A.Poniris (12.A.Al Waeli 60’), 3.S.Roda (13.A.Foti 70’), 10.N.Ruoco, 5.A.Vizzari (capt), 7.A..Panuccio , 2.M.Sidoti.
Substitutes Not Used: 21.L.Soto, 16.J.Saliba, 14.M.Moukter.
Yellow Cards: 5.A.Vizzari 31’, 2.M.Sidoti 39’, 4.A.Poniris 41’, 10.N.Ruoco 66’, 7.A.Panuccio 87’.
Red Cards: Nil
GRANVILLE RAGE :
1.C.McMahon, 9.D.Bortolazzo, 7.D.Harding (capt), 19.R.Hermiz, 4.K.Kushaba (6.M.Yel 78’), 14.L.Mitchell, 3.C.McKinnon, 18.L.Pirrello, 12.D.Vukovic, 13.Z.Watters (17.D.Clionzer 86’), 5.L.Wilkinson.
Substitutes Not Used: 24.M.Giancotti, 28.B.Zrinsk.
Yellow Cards: 12.D.Vukovic 80’, 3.C.McKinnon 82’ & 85’.
Red Cards: 3.C.McKinnon 85’.
Round 16 Review.
Dulwich Hill SC continued their rich vein of form on Saturday evening, stopping Prospect United in their tracks at William Lawson Park with a 3-1 away victory.
After a stretch mid season where Dully flatlined somewhat, they’ve now managed four wins on the bounce, catapulting them into a commanding 2nd position on the ladder.
Prospect was always going to find this match tough, being their third encounter in six days as they cursed the fixtures scheduling. United lost 0-1 to Balmain last Sunday, and then backed up 48 hours later to knock over Hawkesbury, so yet another formidable task was going to be hard going for Tony Caruso’s men.
Dulwich Hill came into the match without top goalscorer, Carlos Villazon, who has already missed a couple of games due to a severely bruised ankle. Mark Pinto was also missing through injury, whilst Sam Blowers was suspended due to a red card the previous week.
Midway through the first period, Dully’s playmaker, Anthony Musumeci, slipped a delightful ball in behind the right hand side of Prospect’s defence for Aaron Cordova to run onto. Cordova whipped over a far post cross for James Villazon to head into the net and give the visitors the lead.
Dully doubled their advantage on the half hour when a swift interchange of passes on the edge of the Prospect penalty area saw the ball fall to Aaron Cordova, and he snapped a left foot strike across his body and into the far side of the goal to give Dulwich Hill a 2-0 lead.
Prospect got the lifeline they needed just moments before the half time break, when Andreas Eriksson was adjudged to have fouled Prospect’s skipper, Gus Orcajo, inside the penalty box. Orcajo dusted himself off before slotting away the spot kick to reduce the deficit to 1-2 at half time.
Both teams started the second period with renewed vigour, but it was Dully who killed the game off with their third goal about midway through the half. The Prospect defence held off Frank Calcagno somewhat as the Dully striker crept towards goal, looking to offload, before realizing he was within striking distance and let fly with a grass cutter that flew into the bottom corner of the Prospect goal.
Prospect well and truly ran out of legs and could not peg it back, with Dully running out 3-1 victors.
The loss sees Prospect drop to 7th spot and remain on 21 points, whilst Dulwich Hill are outright second on 28 points, just one behind league leaders, Balmain Tigers.
Balmain Tigers made a statement of declaration on Sunday afternoon, thumping Northbridge FC 5-2 in the ‘match of the round’ between the top two teams on the ladder.
Ex-Socceroo, David Mitchell, was amongst the coaching reins for Northbridge with Joe Hayward attending a coaching seminar in Canberra, but he could do little as the home side succumbed to a much more clinical Balmain outfit.
Both teams traded punches early, including several well structured free kick set pieces by Northbridge, failing however to secure a goal for the home side.
Balmain opened up proceedings on 13 minutes, when a cross into the Northbridge goal mouth caused mayhem, the referee noting that Rosario Occhipinti deemed to have got the final touch, giving the visitors the lead.
It was 2-0 to Balmain after 20 minutes, with Occhipinti, the league’s top marksman, netting after a cross by Domenic Di Mento, but Tom Bentham reduced the deficit for Northbridge, his left foot strike making it 2-1.
But Balmain restored their two goal advantage just two minutes later, when a cross by Gavin Wenyon was converted via a diving header from Will Donato, giving Balmain a 3-1 lead.
Just before half time, Balmain’s Rosario Occhipinti won possession near the Northbridge penalty area before proceeding to score calmly when faced with a one-on-one situation with the Northbridge keeper, completing his hatrick in the process.
Both teams traded goals in a tough second half, with Jacob Di Mento’s screamer from distance in the 71st minute cancelled out by Kieran Hall’s 89th minute consolation for Northbridge.
Northbridge, who gave a debut to 16 year old keeper Dane Johnson, were simply no match for their opponents on the day, and remain on 26 points as a result of the loss, dropping to 3rd on the ladder.
The three points against a near neighbour sees the Balmain Tigers move back to the summit of the league, climbing to 29 points, one clear of their newest rival, Dulwich Hill.
Camden Tigers continued their resurgence under new coach, Ian Lloyd, beating Nepean FC 3-1 at Ron Dine Reserve on Sunday afternoon.
The star of the show was 19 year old John McPhillips, plucked from the U/20s by the astute eye of Lloyd, and he repaid his coach’s faith by being involved in each goal, and almost scoring on a number of occasions himself.
The Tigers took the lead early on when McPhillips raced down the left flank before cutting inside and squaring to Stephen Lloyd, and the experienced striker made no mistake, opening his account at Camden since his return a few weeks ago.
A passing movement on the half hour mark resulted in the home side going two up, with Lloyd again on the spot to grab his brace.
McPhillips almost got in on the act in the 40th minute, his low shot across the face of the goal rebounding off the post with Nepean’s keeper, Ryan Trussell, well beaten. Grant Mackechnie was on the spot to tap in the rebound and give Camden a 3-0 lead at half time.
Despite having a player sent off before the break, Nepean made a real fist of it after half time, and even managed to pull a goal back through Jason Browne, but Camden held on to record a resounding 3-1 victory, and it could even have been worse if a free kick from McPhillips had gone in instead of cannoning back off the cross bar.
Nepean remain on 21 points and drop to 8th on the ladder as a result of the loss, whilst Camden Tigers celebrated their victory by climbing off the bottom, moving to 10th spot and 14 points.
A sun-bathed Magdala Reserve was the venue for a tantalizing clash between Gladesville Ryde Magic and Hawkesbury City SC on Sunday afternoon, with a chilly southerly breeze keeping the mercury well down as both teams launched themselves into the contest with vigour from the opening whistle.
The opening exchanges were generally dominated by Gladesville, with early possession and solid territorial advantage giving the Magic a sense of confidence in the opening quarter of an hour or so. Hawkesbury’s Michael McCrory, however, did lead a counterattack for the visitors in the 7th minute, hitting a fiery drive from 25 metres that only just cleared the bar.
Gladesville’s early dominance came to the fore in the 16th minute when midfielder, Hassan Alzaidi, played Mitchell Smith into the box. Smith turned his marker well, but his deflected shot hit the upright. From the resultant corner, Hawkesbury struggled to clear the ball, and when a cross came made its way to the far post, it was the Magic’s Cameron Newton who rose well to head the ball firmly against the crossbar. With the ball still in play, the Hawkesbury defence were again called upon to react quickly to Smith collecting the rebound and firing a solid shot against a wall of defenders.
Having weathered the storm Hawkesbury began to push the ball forward more often and worked hard to release their speedster, Ethan Simone, down either flank at every opportunity. Simone made inroads but was generally well-maintained by Gladesville’s fullbacks Thierry Huet and Stephen Speirs. The energetic Prasheel Sharma worked hard all afternoon for Hawkesbury and was instrumental midway through the first half in playing the midfield linkman for his team, conjuring up a number of half-chances for his strikers.
In the 30th minute it was Gladesville’s turn to hit on the counter with Aaron Khan gathering an intercept and releasing Smith through the middle. As the crowd rose to their feet with Smith racing toward goal, a well-timed tackle by stopper Robert Carle saved the day for Hawkesbury. Carle found himself to be the last man on a number of occasions during the afternoon and repeatedly pulled off goal-saving tackles in dangerous situations to the applause of the travelling contingent.
Gladesville’s striker Scott Tonkin charged onto a bouncing ball in the penalty area in the 35th minute but his attempted chip grazed the crossbar as it sailed out for a goal kick. Tonkin was at it again in the 37th minute when he turned Carle on the edge of the box and drifted a well-weighted cross to the far post. An unsighted Smith could only stab at the flighted delivery and the ball spun off his foot and away for a goalkick. Not to be outdone, Hawkesbury hit back with a dangerous advance late in the first half which culminated in McCrory, again, launching a stinging drive across the face of goal having been released down the right flank by Sharma.
The opening stanza of the second half saw both sides struggle to create any real goal-scoring opportunities as both defences were lauding it over their opponents. Gladesville’s Tim Woodhouse was leading by example and limiting the service to experienced opponent Todd Macrae. At the other end, Hawkesbury’s Andrew Stevenson, Rhys Alchin and Carle were proving equal to the challenge of the Gladesville strikers. In the 62nd minute, Ethan Simone lead an incisive attack down the left flank for Hawkesbury, running to the by-line before cutting back to Macrae, but again Woodhouse nullified the chance with a well-timed tackle.
Yavuz Ekinci for Gladesville was working hard to generate openings for his strikers and on 70 minutes had his own opportunity when he struck a 20 metre effort just past the right-hand upright, following on from a period where Gladesville had been pressuring their opponents goal with successive corners.
Hawkesbury substitute, Paul Cooper, became a thorn in the side of the Gladesville defence with his strong challenges and his elusive running once he entered the fray. His combination with Sharma and Nathan Cooper was highlighted in the 75th minute when Paul worked his way down the right flank before his low cross to Macrae was intercepted by Woodhouse to nullify a yet another promising attack.
The 78th minute saw a free kick from halfway by Gladesville’s Aaron Khan sail high above the onrushing keeper, Morley. The ball appeared to be ready to bounce into an open goal but instead bounced on to the top of the crossbar and away to safety. That was the fourth time the home side had struck the woodwork, and the home fans were starting to believe it just wasn’t going to be their day.
The introduction of young substitute, Peter Yannopolous, for Gladesville Ryde, looked to have paid off as he beat three defenders in his opponents penalty area but stopper Carle emerged from nowhere to stifle the shot and diffuse the threat.
With the clock ticking down Hawkesbury launched another right side attack that ended with substitute, Johnathon McCrea, cracking a powerful cross from out wide. Gladesville keeper, Tohouroglou, was at full stretch to tip the ball on to the crossbar but could do nothing as the ball ricocheted to Todd Macrae on the far post. Expert marksman, Todd Maccrae, having slipped Magic defender, Tim Woodhouse, for the almost the only time all game, headed straight into goal to secure a winner for his team.
The loss sees Gladesville Ryde Magic remain in 9th spot on 17 points, whilst Hawkesbury City move to 26 points in 4th spot, just three points from the lead.
Hakoah Sydney City East made sure they returned from Mudgee with all three points on Sunday afternoon, courtesy of a 2-1 triumph, unlike the last time they visited the Western NSW Mariners, back in Round 5 in May, when they came unstuck 0-2.
Hakoah started the stronger, pressing hard in the front third and forcing defensive errors from the home side. Justin Kosmina (3’) and Mark McAlpine (19’) took advantage of the space and gave the visitors an early 2-0 lead.
The Mariners eventually settled and started to find space of their own in the attacking third, with both James Christie and Adam Scimone guilty of spurning great opportunities for the home team.
Alec Bateson pulled a goal back for the Mariners on the hour mark, but that was all she wrote, despite the home side pushing Hakoah back into a more defensive stance during the latter stages of the second half.
Western NSW Mariners remain on 13 points, but have dropped a spot to 11th, whilst Hakoah hold onto that coveted 5th spot, and move to 24 points on the ladder.
