SUPA IGA NSW NPL Mens 2 Round 4 Review
A week is a long time in football, just ask Bankstown Berries who bounced back from a 5-0 drubbing to the Lions with their first win of the season.
Macarthur temporarily extended their lead atop the ladder and continued Sydney University’s difficult start to the year, while Parramatta held Central Coast Mariners Academy and Mt Druitt claimed a valuable win over Spirit FC.
Match of the Round
Hills Brumbies v Fraser Park
Hills Brumbies broke their early season duck to claim a first win of the 2014 season, with a 1-0 victory over Fraser Park on Saturday night.
Brumbies leaped Fraser Park on the ladder, with the visitors slumping to second from the bottom. Alexander Arbelo’s 74th minute goal was enough to hand Nestor Meneses’ side all three points, deservedly after their gritty performance against Mt Druitt with 10 men last week.
Hills didn’t have it all their way, though, with Fraser Park only being undone by their failure to take advantage of some terrific chances in front of goal.
A cagey opening period allowed Hills to settle into the match and they controlled the tempo early as the ball set up camp in the middle of the park. An early shot from distance by Alejandro Arregin signaled the hosts’ intentions to take the game to their opponents.
Fraser Park adopted a more patient approach and it looked to pay dividends when David Wilson whipped in a dangerous free kick that was met by an unmarked Robert Di Meglio at the far post, but the defender fired his volley into the side netting.
The game plans for both sides became apparent as the first half wore on. Hills looked to maintain possession and press with a high line in defence, while Fraser Park opted to move the ball around at the back and look for an attack on the counter, largely down the wide channels.
Brumbies had the better of the tussle in the opening half hour as they forced mistakes from the Fraser Park backline and peppered the opposition goal.
Their best chance fell to the mobile Eros Bergamin, who was on the receiving end of a tidy one-two in the box and found himself one on one with Fraser Park goalkeeper Michael Frost, who produced an excellent save off Bergamin’s feet.
Despite their dominance, Hills had nothing to show for it and almost paid the price as Fraser Park made a patient build up before sending a long ball to Jeffrey Issa on the right hand side. Issa offloaded to Kevin Oliveira who cut it back to Wilson in an open position on the edge of the box, only for the striker to blast his shot off the crossbar.
Wilson looked to be the danger man for Fraser Park, with an apparent shoot on sight policy every time he found himself clear on goal.
Hills’ high pressing almost became their downfall when Benjamin Vidaic broke away towards goal, with Adam Savetta the only defender on hand and David Wilson open in acres of space in the middle of the park. Vidaic looked to cross early but Savetta did well to block the effort and snuff out what would have been a brilliant chance for Fraser Park.
The breakthrough came with 19 minutes remaining, surprisingly from a Hills counter attack. A long ball over the top fell to the feet of Eros Bergamin, who sent an early cross beyond the defence to the feet of Alex Arbelo, who made no mistake, sending his bullet into the goal.
Brumbies had no plans to rest on their lead and could have made it two just minutes later via the same combination that created the goal. Bergamin’s long ball found Arbelo on the goal line and he returned the favour to Bergamin whose powerful low strike went inches wide of the post.
Fraser Park had one last chance to force an equaliser as Paulo Oliveira’s deft chip found Michael Toscano with a clear shot on goal, but the substitute couldn’t direct his effort on target.
The win was a much-needed confidence boost for Hills, while Fraser Park will be eager to bounce back from consecutive losses when they travel to Spirit in round 5.
Hills Brumbies 1 (Alex Arbelo 74’) v Fraser Park 0
Saturday 21 April, 2014
At Lilys Football Centre, Seven Hills
Hills Brumbies: 8. Alexander Arbelo, 18. Alejandro Arregin, 10. Eros Bergamin, 17. Jake Bradshaw, 14. Jordan Caporale, 4. Peter Day, 5. Russell Farrell, 13. Kodai Hayashi (7. Jovan Miladinovic), 15. Ibrahim Kamara (11. Dragan Savic 55’), 1. Daniel Sadaka, 2. Adam Savetta
Subs not used:20. Hayden Browne, 16. Kwasi Nsiah, 27. Jordan Mbakee
Yellow cards: Eros Bergamin,
Coach: Nestor Meneses
Fraser Park: 13. Pasqualino Cappuccio, 18. Mitchell Davidson, 16. Robert Di Meglio, 5. Nicholas Dimitropoulos, 1. Michael Frost, 6. Jeffrey Issa (4. George Lagoudakis 64’), 11. Carlo Musumeci, 7. Kevin Oliveira, 17. Sash Tirovski, 14. Benjamin Vidaic (10. Paulo Oliveira 70’), 8. David Wilson (22. Michael Toscano 75’)
Subs not used: 40. Wayne Estevao, 12. Haykel Guettouche,
Yellow cards: Sash Tirovski
Coach: Albin Mikulski
Bankstown Berries v Northern Tigers
It’s been a difficult start to the season for Bankstown Berries, with three losses from as many matches to kick off their campaign. But in what may be noted as a turning point for their fortunes, they claimed a 2-1 win over Northern Tigers for their first points of the opening four rounds.
There was excitement aplenty at The Crest, with seven yellow cards and two red cards hampering the flow of the match. The hosts got off to a blistering start, surging to a 2-0 half-time lead thanks to goals from Tsironis and Anscomb.
A red card for Berries’ Ewart offered Tigers a lifeline and Liam Mcconaghy pulled one back for the visitors. But Ryan Batley was also given his marching orders following his second caution and Tigers were unable to salvage a point.
The loss was the first of the year for Jason Eagar’s, who slip into fifth place.
Bankstown Berries 2 (J. Tsironis, J. Anscomb) v Northern Tigers 1 (Liam Mcconaghy)
Macarthur Rams v Sydney University
Macarthur maintained their undefeated start to the 2014 season with a narrow 2-1 win over Sydney University.
The two sides have had contrasting fortunes in recent weeks, with Uni only grabbing one point from a possible 12. But Raul Blanco will be pleased with his side’s performance as they presented a real challenge to one of the competition favourites.
Gerard Ouffoue continued his impressive form of late to open the scoring for Rams, but things were locked at 1-1 at the break courtesy of Forbes’ strike.
Uni proved resilient but Ben Simpson ensured Macarthur could extend their lead atop the ladder with his second half strike sealing all three points.
Macarthur Rams 2 (Gerard Ouffoue, Ben Simpson) v Sydney University 1 (G. Forbes)
Central Coast Mariners Academy v Parramatta FC
It seems Central Coast Mariners Academy have found their home in the NPL Mens 2 and they continued their impressive start to the season with a 2-2 draw against Parramatta FC.
Parramatta entered the match in red hot form on the back of consecutive wins and Waratah Cup success during the week.
Mariners took a first half lead through Dean Caletti and looked to be headed for a deserved win until the match was turned on its head by a straight red card to Joshua Forbes with 35 minutes to go. That invited the Eagles back into the match and allowed Symons and Rezo to get on the scoresheet.
Mariners’ second was scored via Adam Woodbine and both sides would have been content with a point.
The hosts continued to show they are comfortable in this league, while Parramatta have been played an attractive brand of football this year and deservedly end the weekend in outright third position.
Central Coast Mariners 2 (Dean Caletti, Adam Woodbine) v Parramatta FC 2 (Symons, Rezo)
Spirit FC v Mt Druitt Town Rangers
A Shiyar Cakal brace has fired Mt Druitt Town into the top four as they maintained their unbeaten start to 2014.
In miserable conditions at Christie Park, Rangers claimed a gritty 2-1 win over Spirit FC. After a tame first half, the game was brought to life when Shiyar Cakal found the net for the first time this season in the 65th minute.
The attacker doubled his tally and Rangers’ lead just five minutes later, with Andrew Robertson’s late strike a mere consolation for the hosts.
Rangers have two wins and a draw thus far, while Spirit slipped to ninth place with their third loss of the year and will be determined to bounce back against Fraser Park next weekend.
Spirit FC 1 (Andrew Robertson) v Mt Druitt Town Rangers 2 (Shiyar Cakal 2)
Mounties Wanderers v Bankstown City
Match postponed
-By Mitchell Grima
