State League One – Round 19 Review

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The lead once again has changed hands in the State League One competition, but only just, as narrow wins to Northbridge and Balmain see the duo hurdle Dulwich Hill at the top of the standings.
Gladesville Ryde Magic took the prized scalp of the previous league leaders, Dulwich Hill, to continue their surge up the table, whilst elsewhere, Prospect were desperately unlucky not to take anything from their loss to Northbridge, Nepean thumped Hawkesbury in the local derby at Cook Park, Hakoah climbed into the top five with their come-from-behind victory over Camden, whilst Granville took the spoils against the Western NSW Mariners in a seven goal fest at Mudgee.
We travelled to Wentworth Park on Sunday afternoon to see the Inner West derby between Balmain Tigers and Inter Lions.
Balmain Tigers – Inter Lions             1-0
Balmain Tigers grabbed the spoils in a dour match against Inter Lions at Wentworth Park on Sunday afternoon, with the league’s top marksman, Rosario Occhipinti, predictably scoring the game’s solitary goal.
It was a sparkling sunny afternoon at one of football’s traditional venues, with Balmain looking to consolidate a top three spot, whilst Inter have won back to back over the past two weekends on the back of putting some pride back in the shirt.
Both sides started relatively tentatively, with Inter’s Patrick Pace having the first opportunity on 11 minutes. After slipping through a gap between two defenders, Pace’s angled shot was straight at Balmain keeper, Chris Leontios, and the home side breathed a sigh of relief.
Liam Cole responded for Balmain with a trademark free kick in the 15th minute, with Inter’s keeper, Roberto Maiorana, punching clear as the ball whistled towards the target.
Shortly afterwards, Balmain edged themselves in front after 20 minutes. Balmain countered after an Inter attack had broken down, and it was Domenic Di Mento who went on a slalom run down the left flank, skipping past a couple of defenders as he made his way infield.
Almost losing possession under another challenge, Di Mento flicked the ball to Rosario Occhipinti, who, amidst screams of offside by the Inter faithful, expertly slipped the ball past Maiorana in the Inter goal to give Balmain the lead.
Balmain patiently kept at it, and almost doubled their advantage on 27 minutes. Liam Cole worked his way down the right wing before sending over a high far post cross. Inter’s goalkeeper, Maiorana, did ever so well to finger tip the ball away, but Domenic Di Mento was quickest to react amongst a couple of Inter defenders, sliding his low shot inches wide of the upright.
A minute later and a Balmain corner was half cleared to the edge of the box, where Oliver Babington  swivelled before cracking a volley goalwards. With Maiorana stranded, Inter defender, Dario Espejel, was well positioned to clear off  the line.
The rest of the first period didn’t produce anything of note, punctuated either by errors in the attacking third or faultless defending by both backlines.
Having said that, Patrick Pace had a solid header deflected wide following an Inter corner just moments before the half time break.
The second forty five minutes produced a dour struggle between the penalty boxes. Both sides seemed devoid of attacking ideas, but the fact remained that Balmain had the lead, and it was up to Inter to take the game to their hosts if they were to salvage something from the match.
Inter’s coach, Matteo Maiorana, threw Nicky Rouco into the fray on 58 minutes to try and give his team some spark, and the little midfielder was into the thick of the action instantly.
Michael Sidoti missed a great chance to restore parity for Inter on the hour mark, side footing over from inside the penalty area after some great work and a cut back on the left by Patrick Pace.
Pace then tried his luck from 25 yards in the 72nd minute, his shot a metre over the bar as Chris Leontios, the Balmain keeper, scrambled towards the ball.
Miguel Martinez and Kachi Enyi, Inter’s striking duo who have been in good form lately, were ineffective on the day, with the Balmain defensive line holding the fort without missing a beat.
Balmain had the best of the final opportunities, looking to kill the game off, with Inter’s Michael Sidoti well placed on the goal line to block a volley from ex team mate, Jacob Di Mento, in the 79th minute, whilst Occhipinti skied his half volley in the 83rd minute following a neat one-two on the edge of the box with substitute, Will Donato.
There was one last throw of the dice for Inter, and it came in the third minute of injury time, when Nicky Rouco latched on to a loose ball inside the box following a long punt into the Balmain penalty area, his close range blast bravely blocked by Balmain skipper, Tommy Hyde.
No doubt the midweek match against Dully took a bit of energy out of Inter’s legs, and they just couldn’t muster the required effort on the day to grab a share of the points.
The victory for Balmain climbs them to 35 points on the ladder, and now into second position behind Northbridge on goal difference.

Match Stats

Balmain Tigers                                    1  (Rosario Occhipinti 20’)

Inter Lions                                           0

Sunday, 11th of August, 2013

Wentworth Park, Ultimo

Referee: Mr Thomas Fiakos

Assistant Referees: Mr David Goldsmith and Mr Keith Yau

Balmain Tigerst : 1.Christopher Leontios, 14.Oliver Babington, 4.Liam Cole, 26.Domenic Di Mento, 15.Jacob Di Mento, 10.Leonardo Digiulio, 23.Samuel Falanga (17.Will Donato 58’), 2.Thomas Hyde. (capt),36.Josh Karpes, 37.Rosario Occhipinti (18.Michael Dimitropoulos 87’), 39.Gavin Wenyon.

Substitutes Not Used: 30.Andrew Casali, 99.Lachlan Kerr, 5.Danny Noor.

Yellow Cards: 18.Michael Dimitropoulos 90’.

Red Cards: Nil

Inter Lions : 1.Roberto Maiorana, 11.Alexander Crane (10.Nicky Rouco 57’), 3.Simon Di Natale, 15.Kachi Enyi, 2.Dario Espejel, 9.Miguel Martinez (13.Anthony Foti 72’), 7.Tony Pannuccio, 4.Anthony Poniris, 6.Michael Sidoti, 5.Adrian Vizzari (capt), 8.Patrick Pace (14.Stephen Roda 82’).

Substitutes Not Used: 21.Luis Soto, 15.Kauch Hagh.

Yellow Cards: 5.Adrian Vizzari 27’.

Red Cards: Nil

Round Nineteen Review
Prospect United – Northbridge FC      1-2
Prospect United pushed Northbridge all the way at William Lawson Park on Saturday afternoon, but alas, had nothing to show for their efforts following their 1-2 defeat.
Northbridge took the lead in the first half when Ry Hardy got a flick to a long clearance by his keeper, Sean Mulhern. Tom Bentham raced onto the ball, before playing it back into the path of Ry Hardy, who had followed the play, and the pocket striker slotted it home for goal number seven of the campaign.
Prospect equalised shortly after, and could’ve hit the front but for a lick of paint, hitting both the cross bar and post during a rampaging final 20 minutes or so.
But Northbridge are made of sterner stuff these days, and after weathering the storm, snatched all three points in the closing minutes, Callum McGrouther doing the honours for the visitors.
The loss sees Prospect remain on 23 points in 9th spot, whilst Northbridge climb to 35 points, and top spot on the ladder, ahead of Balmain on goal difference.

Nepean FC – Hawkesbury City SC     4-1
Nepean FC roared back into finals contention on Saturday night at Cook Park, coming back from a goal down to overpower rivals Hawkesbury City 4-1.
The Hawks had the better of play early, with Evan Daglis and Paul Cooper pulling the strings in midfield. On ten minutes the Hawks took the lead, in fact, when Gary Hartge poked home after a long ball played into the Nepean penalty area was not dealt with effectively by the home defence.
Nepean then managed to take the lead within a dominating ten minute spell just before the break, and it was Sebastian Camacho who did the damage. The equaliser came when target man, Jason Browne, with his back to goal, played Camacho in behind the Hawks defensive line, and the nippy striker smashed home to restore parity.
Moments later and defender Nikola Pozder found the feet of Camacho, who cut inside onto his left foot before driving in goal number two.
The match opened up somewhat after the break, with both sides scrambling for opportunities, but it was Nepean who went further ahead on 70 minutes.
Terry Pannowitz had earlier had a one on one opportunity saved by the Hawks keeper, Craig Morley, but this time made no mistake in a similar confrontation to extend the lead, curling the ball around the hapless keeper after some brilliant link play once again by Jason Browne.
Camacho then brought up his hatrick, chipping Morley in the Hawks goal after starting a swift passing movement also involving Browne and Daniel Borg.
The 4-1 triumph for Nepean actually catapults them above their opponents on the day, moving to 26 points, and into seventh position on goal difference, just one point behind fifth placed Hakoah.
 
Western NSW Mariners – Granville Rage      3-4
Granville Rage stamped their mark in the top five with another three points on Saturday evening, eventually running out 4-3 winners in a ding dong battle against the Western NSW Mariners at Glen Willow Stadium in Mudgee.
The Rage took the lead three times overall in the match, only to pegged back by a determined home side on two occasions, before finally snatching the winning goal with minutes to spare.
Zac Watters put Granville in front early on, only for Ricky Guihot to equalise for the Mariners with a shot from the edge of the box on the half hour mark.
A scramble shortly afterwards gave Granville’s  Nenos Bobo the opportunity to edge the visitors ahead, before James Christie once again restored parity for the Mariners with a left foot equaliser.
Nick Rutherford put the WNSW Mariners in front for the first time in the match in the 70th minute by chipping Granville custodian, Carl McMahon, after cutting in from the right, and the home fans were praying their team could hang on.
But the Rage came back to equalise, with central defender, Manut Yel, converting a penalty to once again draw the two teams level..
Just as it seemed that both sides would shake hands on a share of the spoils, Granville sharpshooter, Zac Watters, nabbed a late winner for the visitors, his second successive brace giving his side all three points.
The Mariners were good value for the loss, scoring three goals but frustratingly coming away from the clash with nothing to show for their efforts. Granville on the other hand have continued to come good at the business end of the season, retaining their fourth position on the ladder, and moreso, climbing to 30 points and stretching  the gap to fifth placed Hakoah to three points.
 
Dulwich Hill – Gladesville Ryde Magic                     0-3
The Gladesville Ryde Magic juggernaut just keeps on gaining momentum, and it was the turn of league leaders, Dulwich Hill, to feel the brunt of it with a resounding 3-0 win to the Magic on a sunny afternoon at Arlington Oval on Sunday.
Dully went to the top of the ladder with a midweek victory over Inter Lions, and maybe they were feeling a little leg weary as a result, but the Magic had no mercy and took a 2-0 half time lead before completing the win after the break.
Some quick interchange passing by the Magic on ten minutes ended with a delightful through ball by Yavuz Ekinci into space, where Majid Eslami took advantage of some hesitation in the Dully defence to slip the leather past Matthew Licata in the Dulwich Hill goal.
An Ekinci free kick created goal number two for Gladesville, the long set piece from near the halfway finding the head of Tim Woodhouse, his up-ward header looping over Licata before settling into the net just under the cross bar.
In a rare first grade appearance standing in for the injured Kyriakos Tohouroglou, Gladesville keeper, Andrew Giurgis, repelled anything Dully had to throw at him to keep his goal intact.
Gladesville wrapped up the match in the 70th minute when Scott Tonkin intercepted a back pass before drawing Dully keeper, Matthew Licata, and squaring for Eslami to tap into goal.
The loss sees Dully drop from first to third on the ladder, whilst Gladesville Ryde Magic’s remarkable run continues, now climbing to sixth position on 26 points, just a solitary point behind fifth placed Hakoah.
 
Camden Tigers – Hakoah Sydney City East   1-2
Camden Tigers gave Hakoah a scare at Ron Dine Reserve on Sunday afternoon before succumbing to a double sucker punch early in the second half.
The Tigers were good for their half time lead, experienced striker, Stephen Lloyd, giving the home side a 33rd minute lead with a shot from the edge of the box that curled into the top corner of the net.
But Hakoah Sydney City East came flying out of the blocks after the break, equalising via Mark McAlpine in the 48th minute, before taking the lead just two minutes later through Robert Ezekiel, who nodded home a corner at the back stick.
Camden threw caution to the wind in the closing minutes, as striker, Blake Armstrong,  latched onto a Joe Campanelli through ball at the death, but his shot was cleared off the line as Hakoah hung on for a valuable three points.
The victory sees Hakoah move into 5th spot on the ladder on 27 points, one point ahead of three teams breathing down their necks ahead of the last few weeks of the competition.