SUPA IGA NPL NSW Mens 1 Round 22 Review

Some shock results in the final round has caused heartache for Spirit FC and Parramatta, both falling out of the five on the last day, with Bankstown Berries scraping through on goal difference while Fraser Park also made the finals after disposing of the Eagles.
Mounties Wanderers inflicted the heaviest defeat of the season on Premiers St George, triumphing 4-1 at St George Stadium to finish third, with Macarthur Rams, already comfortably in second, completing the five.
St George v Mounties Wanderers
Mounties Wanderers came through with flying colours to finish the season in third spot after a heavy 4-1 defeat of St George.
Pre match, it seemed that anything less than a win would not be enough for Mounties, sitting precariously in fifth on goal difference and facing the difficult away fixture at St George Stadium. The Saints for their part, had been crowned Premiers but were keen to finish off the regular season with another win.
It certainly led to an open game and there could have been any number of goals inside the first fifteen minutes. Juan Chavez, leading the charge for the Golden Boot, had the first chance after just two minutes but it was the Mounties converted full back, Fijian international Alvin Singh, who was the first to open the scoring.
Just five minutes had elapsed when Singh struck low and hard past Dion Shaw. It was the perfect start for the visitors who gave every indication that they were “up” for this game. But St George likewise, had started well despite conceding early and it was down the left through Aleks Jovovic that much of the danger was occurring. The Saints’ equaliser came from just this side, when Jovovic was tackled inside the area by David Gardiner, playing in the centre of defence due to the suspension of Mark D’Alessandro. While the tackle itself was clean, the handball by Gardiner wasn’t. The referee had little hesitation in pointing to the spot and Chavez had little difficulty in scoring his seventeenth goal of the season.
That should have been a warning to St George who had recovered quickly to equalise, but Singh had other ideas. While St George threatened to go ahead with Sam Messam having a couple of chances, it was Singh and Mounties who regained the lead when Singh scrambled home a loose ball after twenty four minutes.
Things went from bad to worse for the Saints when Chavez succumbed to injury on the half hour and while this may have curtailed their hopes a little, the shift of Messam into the middle meant that Mounties still had to be aware. 
But it was the Mounties who still threatened. Singh had another effort flash wide in a committed Mounties outfit who clearly weren’t going to die wondering. When Singh got his third, a far post header, it looked exceedingly good for the Wanderers.
It provided to be that way too after the break as the Saints rarely threatened in the second period. It seemed more likely that Mounties would score again and Singh came very close to getting his fourth. Mark Symington also came drew a save from Shaw but with six minutes left, it was Daniel McCann who netted their fourth, a sweet shot hit first time across Shaw into the bottom corner.    
St George 1 (Juan Chavez 10’ pen) v Mounties Wanderers 4 (Alvin Singh 6’, 24’, 45+2’, Daniel McCann 84’)
Sunday 25 August 2013
at St George Stadium, Kyeemagh
Referee: Adam Susz
St George: 23. Dion Shaw 6. Sean Thomas 2. Michael Smith 5. Bill Tsanidis 3. David Dascal (35. Costa Andricopoulos 70’) 7. George Lagoudakis 19. Nick Napoli 4. George Degenek (10. Bruno Pivato 62’) 9. Sam Messam 11. Juan Chavez (8. Marino Musumeci 32’).
Subs not used: Simon Verrender, Daniel Nash.
Yellow Cards: David Dascal, George Degenek, Costa Andricopolous
Coach: Manny Spanoudakis
Mounties Wanderers: 23. Ali Akbal 6. Peter Day 8. David Gardiner 16. Scott Goodwin 3. Timothy Salvaggio (14. Mark Symington 64’) 17. Daniel McCann 31. Daine Merrin 27. Daniel Severino 2. Eli Squillacioti (24. Klime Setkukoski 75’) 25. Alvin Singh 4. Greg Baldock (10. Daniel Willoughby 55’).
Subs not used: 1. Jackson Franich 19. Matthew Morosin.
Yellow Cards: Ali Akbal, David Gardiner.
Coaches: Aiden Osmond and Glenn Lockhart
Fraser Park v Parramatta FC
The only fixture which featured both teams in contention for the semis fell the way of Fraser Park but it was a nail biting end for the home supporters.
Carlo Musumeci scored to put Fraser Park one goal to the good before half time and things were looking even better for Fraser when Devante Clut was red carded on the hour. Down to ten was tough enough but it got even worse for the Eagles when Domenic Trimboli was sent off as last man with twenty minutes to go. David Wilson was successful from the spot to give Fraser Park a two goal buffer against a nine man Eagles.
It should have been safe then but Daniel Rezo scored early into injury time to pile the late pressure on Fraser Park, and there were some nervous moments. However, Fraser Park held on, and for the first time since 2004 when they fielded players such as Clint Bolton and Ante Juric, Fraser qualified for the finals.
Fraser Park 2 (Carlo Musumeci 25’, David Wilson 71’ pen) v Parramatta 1 (Daniel Rezo 90+1)
Hills Brumbies v Spirit FC
One of the upsets of the weekend saw Hills Brumbies, tenth before the start of play, knocking Spirit out of the finals with a thumping 3-0 win at Blacktown International Sports Park. A draw for Spirit would have been sufficient but Hills, who have certainly produced their share of shock results in this league, were going to make sure that they finished off the year on a high. The success of their Under 20s in claiming the title prior to kickoff helped set the scene and while it was 0-0 at half time, three second half goals ended Spirit’s season.
Dragan Savic hit double figures for the year putting Hills one up before Jin Sung Lee made it 2-0. Daniel Fogarty completed the scoreline with his fourth of the season.
Hills Brumbies 3 (Dragan Savic, Jin Sung Lee, Daniel Fogarty) v Spirit FC 0
Bankstown City v Bankstown Berries
Bankstown Berries knew that they had to win and hope other results went their way if they were to progress to the finals and that is exactly what happened. Maybe it wasn’t as they expected, with their fifth spot won courtesy of Hills Brumbies’ win over Spirit FC rather than a Mounties drop of points, but the Berries certainly won’t be complaining.
0-0 at half time meant that the Berries still had it all to do in the second half but they duly succeeded. Dimitri Zakilas got the first before Nicholas Paras doubled the scoreline from the spot. A third to Ante Deur made sure there wouldn’t be any late heart palpitations.
Bankstown City 0 v Bankstown Berries 3 (Dimitri Zakilas, Nicholas Paras pen, Ante Deur)
Macarthur Rams v Mount Druitt Town Rangers
It seemed to be all going according to plan when Macarthur Rams took a 3-0 lead against Mount Druitt Town Rangers by half time. A penalty to Craig Cooley and goals to Shannon Hankin and Adam Wither saw the Rams race to a comfortable lead.
But Mount Druitt certainly made a game of it in the second period and goals to Andy Matloub and Jamie Dib reduced the deficit to a more acceptable level. The result didn’t affect either team’s final standings with Macarthur second and the Rangers having already claimed the wooden spoon.
Macarthur Rams 3 (Craig Cooley pen, Shannon Hankin, Adam Wither) v Mount Druitt Town Rangers 2 (Andy Matloub, Jamie Dib)
Sydney University v Northern Tigers
Last season’s double winners finished off the year on a winning note with a 3-1 win at Sydney University, although the final position of eighth for the Tigers was a disappointing end to the year for the Mills Park faithful.
Goals to Tom Spencer and a brace to Max Glanville earned the Tigers a three goal lead by half time before Uni brought one back in the second half. Again, there was no change to the standings with Uni ending the season second from bottom.
Sydney University 1 v Northern Tigers 3 (Tom Spencer, Max Glanville 2)
-By Peter Rowney