State League One – Round 22 Preview
Rescheduled Midweek Match – Round 13
Gladesville Ryde Magic – Nepean FC 3-0
Gladesville Ryde Magic made sure the drama of a frenetic finish will continue until the last ball is kicked on Sunday afternoon after overcoming Nepean FC 3-0 in their rescheduled Round 13 clash on Tuesday evening.
Once the two sides had traded blows in a reasonably even first half, Gladesville upped the ante after the break given they needed the three points if they were to stand any chance of squeezing into the finals on the final of the season.
Magic opened the scoring on the hour mark when Nepean failed to clear a corner, the ball falling to Majid Eslami who crossed for young Mitchell Smith to head in goal number eight for the season.
Aaron Khan powered in a header from a Peter Yannopoulos corner in the 80th minute to double Magic’s advantage, before Khan returned serve with minutes remaining, slipping a through ball for Yannopoulos to run on to, the youngster showing great maturity to round Nepean custodian, Ryan Trussell, and wrap up proceedings.
The win gave Magic three valuable points, moving to 30 on the ladder and three behind fifth placed Granville Rage, with all to play for in Sunday’s final round encounter against Northbridge.
Round Twenty Two Preview
The final round of the State League One season is finally upon us, and following one of the most incredibly close competitions for years, the outcomes of Sunday’s fixtures sees no less than five games having a direct effect on the pole positions on the ladder.
There are three clubs still in contention for the Premiership, four clubs are fighting amongst themselves to snatch the two remaining spots in the final five, whilst two clubs are preparing for a battle to avoid the wooden spoon.
As is always the case in football, all last round matches will kick off simultaneously, at 3-00pm on Sunday afternoon.
The one match that will have little bearing on positions at the top or bottom of the competition will be at Concord Oval, where Inter Lions host the visit of Prospect United.
Inter Lions at one stage of the season were propping up the ladder, but have slowly recovered and via the exploits of Kachi Enyi and Miguel Martinez, moved into 10th position on 23 points. A win here will give them three points and see the Lions hurdle Prospect into 9th spot, and knowing coach Matteo Maiorana’s sentiments, his charges will want to end their season on a positive note and finish as high as they possibly can.
Prospect have had a disappointing season by their own expectations, given the array of talent and experience across the park. Skipper Gus Orcajo has been a shining light throughout, however, knocking in nine goals at just under a third of his team’s total, and he will no doubt enjoy the big stadium atmosphere at Concord Oval as he hopes to steer United to a positive finish.
Camden Tigers travel to Garside Park to take on Granville Rage, with the Rage hanging on to 5th spot on the ladder and with destiny in their own hands. The Rage need to win to guarantee an extension to their season, and can then look forward to an Elimination semi final the following weekend. Skipper, Dave Harding, has been inspirational in the latter part of the season, helping his side climb into the five, and with Daniel Vukovic an able assistant in the centre of the park, you can expect the Rage to have plenty of motivation to come up trumps in this one.
Camden themselves should be proud of their turnaround since Ian Lloyd took over the coaching reins mid-year, wrenching themselves off the bottom of the ladder with some impressive second round successes. Sitting two points above last placed Western NSW Mariners, they’ll be hoping Grant Mackechnie and Stephen Lloyd can convert in the attacking third to steer them well away from the foot of the ladder.
Hakoah Sydney City East are another side with destiny in their own hands, sitting in fourth spot on 34 points. A win against Nepean FC at Hensley Athletic Field will guarantee Hakoah that fourth position, and a crack in the following week’s Elimination Semi Final. A point last week against high flyers Northbridge should’ve been three given they lead 2-0 at the break, and in the end they were grateful for a Dean Ginsburg hatrick that earned them that valuable point which now sees them in control of their own fate.
Nepean have nothing but pride to play for, and will have to bounce back physically and mentally from a 0-3 reverse on Tuesday night against Gladesville Ryde Magic. But in robust striker, Jason Browne, and skilful playmaker Miki Awad, they possess a couple of attackers that could sting Hakoah if they are not watched closely.
Third placed Balmain Tigers will be kicking themselves for letting top spot slip out of their grasp, a 3-6 spanking last weekend at Bensons Lane seeing the long time leaders drop to third position. At worst the Tigers will retain their position, but if results go their way at Magdala Park and Bensons Lane, they could very well snatch the Premiership from under the noses of Northbridge and Dulwich Hill.
Balmain could take some faith from Sydney United, the NSW NPL Premiership winners, who similarly a couple of weekends ago, were sitting third on the ladder going into the final round, but a victory coupled with losses to the top two meant they snatched the silverware at the death.
The Tigers will have to do it the hard way, however, making the long trek to Glen Willow Stadium in Mudgee to tackle the Western NSW Mariners. The Mariners, themselves, are coming off a long awaited, morale boosting 4-3 victory over Nepean last weekend, moving them to 16 points, and importantly, to within three of second last Camden Tigers as the two sides battle to avoid the wooden spoon.
Two teams who will be praying for slip ups elsewhere will meet head on at Magdala Park as Gladesville Ryde Magic welcome the visit of Northbridge FC.
Northbridge have had a great season following a somewhat slow start, and Joe Hayward’s men have charged into title contention on the back of some spirited displays. The ‘Bridge’ actually held top spot recently, but now sit second on goal difference, two points from leaders, Dulwich Hill.
Tom Bentham has been a revelation since his arrival in mid season, a classic target man and great foil for the quick smart Ry Hardy. Captain Ricky Woodward and the energetic Michael Cole give the side attacking options from midfield going forward, whilst Lee Jones has fast developed into one of the most effective overlapping right backs in the competition, six goals a great return for a defender.
There must have been a change in the water at Magdala Park mid season, because current champions, Gladesville Ryde Magic, have come from no where to now be within 90 minutes of a semi final spot. Six victories and a draw in their last nine matches has seen the Magic surge up the ladder, and a win against Nepean on Tuesday night means they are now in 7th position on 30 points, importantly three points behind fifth placed Granville Rage.
With young Mitchell Smith and mid year recruit, Majid Eslami, supporting top scorer, Scott Tonkin in attack, the Magic won’t lie down, and you can expect coach, George Ganiatsas, to utilise all his experience of finals football over recent years to give Gladesville an opportunity to extend their season.
What a match we have in store at Bensons Lane on Sunday afternoon, with Hawkesbury City entertaining league frontrunners, Dulwich Hill.
The equation is reasonably simple for Wally Savor’s Dully – victory will confirm the club’s Premiership title, as they currently lead the standings on 41 points. A draw or a loss will present an opportunity for either Northbridge or Balmain – or both – to catapult them and snatch the silverware on offer.
Given the depleted squad Dully have had to endure during the second round of the competition, it would be a remarkable title win, the club’s depth helping them stay abreast of the pack. Last weekend Dully received just the boost they needed with ace marksman, Carlos Villazon, back in the frame after recovering from injury, so expect an attack minded approach from the visitors as they look to clinch top spot.
Dean Bertenshaw seems to have got his Hawks in the right frame of mind at this business end of the season, given their 6-3 spanking of previous league leaders, Balmain Tigers, last weekend.
Previous inconsistencies has seen them pushing for a top five spot for quite a while now, but they are only a point from fifth placed Granville, and two points from Hakoah in fourth spot, so any slip up from those two will present the Hawks with a chance for finals football in their debut season in SL1.
Moving forward, the Hawks are a deadly unit, Todd Macrae the veteran goal poacher in amongst an array of talent including the tricky Evan Daglis, the speedy Paul Cooper, and the imposing figure of Ethan Simone.
This game has all the hallmarks of a beauty, with both sides fluent in attack (93 goals between the two of them) and with plenty to play for, you can expect emotion and excitement galore come 3-00pm on Sunday.
Please click on the following link to access all the details of the full round of Round 20 fixtures (all matches may be subject to late changes so please refer to the Football NSW website prior to kick off to confirm match details)
http://www.sportingpulse.com/comp_info.cgi?a=ROUND&round=22&client=0-9353-0-253810-0&pool=-1
State League One
Top Goalscorers – Round 21
There was plenty of movement on the top scorer’s charts given last weekend’s bumper round of 37 goals, but the reshuffling looks like it will be for the minor places as Balmain’s Rosario Occhipinti extended his lead at the summit.
Occhipinti netted in his team’s heavy loss to Hawkesbury, and has moved to 16 goals as a result, five ahead of a trio of players. Hawks players Evan Daglis and Todd Macrae flew up the table after their hatricks in that same match against Balmain, whilst Dean Ginsberg was also a three time scorer for Hakoah in their 3-3 draw against Northbridge.
A special mention must go to Carlos Villazon, a leader on the scorer’s charts during the early rounds of the season. Villazon succumbed to a serious long term injury and made his long awaited return for Dully against Granville Rage last weekend, celebrating his second half entry off the bench with a clinically finished goal to move to nine for the campaign.
16 – Rosario OCCHIPINTI (Balmain Tigers)
11 – Scott TONKIN (Gladesville Ryde Magic), Zac WATTERS (Granville Rage), Kachi ENYI (Inter Lions)
10 – Evan DAGLIS (Hawkesbury City), Nick RUTHERFORD (Western NSW), Miguel MARTINEZ (Inter Lions)
9 – Mark McALPINE (Hakoah), Ry HARDY (Northbridge), Carlos VILLAZON (Dulwich Hill), Gustavo Orcajo (Prospect Utd), Anthony MUSUMECI (Dulwich Hill), Todd MACRAE (Hawkesbury City)
8 – Justin KOSMINA (Hakoah),Terry PANNOWITZ (Nepean), Michael COLE (Northbridge), James CHRISTIE (Western NSW), Mitchell SMITH (Gladesville Ryde Magic)
7 – Ethan SIMONE (Hawkesbury City), Sebastian CAMACHO (Nepean)
6 – Will DONATO (Balmain Tigers), Frank CALCAGNO (Dulwich Hill), Paul COOPER (Hawkesbury City), Majid ESLAMI (Gladesville Ryde Magic), James VILLAZON (Dulwich Hill), Lee JONES (Northbridge), Tom BENTHAM (Northbridge), Jason BROWNE (Nepean)
5 – Chris CAMILLERI (Prospect Utd), Paul ORGAD (Northbridge), Michael MCCRORY (Hawkesbury City), Samir ESHANI (Gladesville Ryde Magic), Yavuz EKINCI (Gladesville Ryde Magic), Manut YEL (Granville), Dean GINSBERG (Hakoah Sydney City East)
