Men’s State League 1 Round 4 Review
Venue rescheduling, match postponements and a big upset all took place over the Easter weekend in another eventful round of Men’s State League One football.
Hakoah and Rage now share equal top spot on the ladder, while the Western NSW Mariners claimed their first win of the season.
Hakoah Sydney City East FC v Inter Lions
Hakoah have made it 3 wins in a row after accounting for Inter Lions 2-1 on Good Friday’s rescheduled match. The hero for Hakoah was former A-League star Lloyd Owusu, who grabbed a vital double in a hard fought and entertaining encounter.
Hakoah dominated the early exchanges of the match by maintaining possession and pushing the ball around the park. Owusu looked lively right from the start with his power and aerial game causing problems throughout the afternoon, and right back Michael Katz signalled his intentions early on with some barnstorming runs down the right.
Inter meanwhile looked for Martinez upfront to provide an outlet as they tried to make an impact on the match.
The first chance of the game fell to Hakoah with a long ball into the box finding the feet of midfielder Mundell, who despite a slip in the box managed to maintain possession and shoot for the top right hand corner. It was only a sharp save from Inter keeper Jordan Trovato that prevented Hakoah from taking the lead.
Hakoah threatened again and left back Ezekiel whipped a great ball across the face of the goal, the vicious ball finding Hakoah Captain Neil Jablonski, who ghosted into the box with a perfectly timed run, but his shot fell straight into the arms of the Inter keeper.
Hakoah looked very strong in the middle of the park with Nathan Kosmina sitting deep and building up the play for the home side, while Captain Jablonski looked to drive the team forward. For Inter, Captain Vizzari made some timely interceptions as he marshalled the backline while his side tried to find their feet in the match.
The best chance of the game came right before the break from a Hakaoh corner, when the ball was whipped to the back post and Justin Kosmina was able to find a yard of space, sending the ball across the face of the goal and into the path of defender Blumberg. Blumberg’s powerful goal-bound header was well saved by Trovato, but the rebound fell into the path of Hakoah midfielder Mundell, who blasted the ball over the bar with the goal at his mercy.
The second half saw both teams come out with more purpose as they looked to gain the ascendency. Inter coach Matteo Maiorana brought on Anthony Fotti upfront and pushed Martinez back into the midfield as he looked for his side to create more chances and threaten the Hakoah goal. The coach’s tactical changes had the desired effect as Inter looked stronger as the half wore on.
It was Hakoah however who opened the scoring with Lloyd Owusu grabbing the first goal of the game in the 53rd minute. The play was started by Nathan Kosmina who played a high ball into the box and into the path of Jablonski, whose glancing header was saved well by the Inter keeper, but the rebound fell into the path of Owusu and the striker made no mistake by slotting the ball home from close range to give Hakoah the lead.
Inter looked for an immediate response and substitute Fotti had a chance to level the scores shortly after when Inter midfielder Marino Musumeci played a good ball into the path of the substitute. The striker showed good footwork to beat a defender and make space for a shot, but his powerful drive sailed over the bar.
Fotti looked lively upfront for Inter and was on hand soon after to level the scores at 1-1. It was Marino Musumeci who picked the ball up in his own half and skipped past two Hakoah players, and with time to look up he played a delightful ball into the path of Fotti, who timed his run perfectly and found himself charging in on goal. The Hakoah keeper raced out to the edge of the box to close the angle, but the striker kept his cool, putting the ball past the keeper and into the back of the net.
With the scores level the game opened up and became end to end with both teams searching for another goal. Midfielder Marino Musumeci became more influential as Inter enjoyed their best spell of the game.
Inter then had a great chance to take to take the lead in the 80th minute in a similar play to the opening goal, when Marino Musumeci once again played a nice through ball behind the Hakoah defence and striker Fotti raced in on goal. The striker found himself one on one with the keeper on the edge of the box but this time Dal Broi was able to get a glove on the ball and force the ball out for a corner.
Inter would rue the missed chance as Hakoah would hit the front shortly after with Owusu grabbing the game winner. Inter turned the ball over as they looked to come out of defence and the ball was moved out to the right wing by Hakoah, with Michael Katz sending in a perfect delivery towards the back post which found Owusu. The striker let the ball run across his body before hitting a low left footed drive to the bottom right hand corner and into the back of the net.
With little time to go, Inter looked to grab a goal back but Hakoah saw the game out and claimed the three points.
Despite the defeat, Inter can take positives from a strong second half showing and proved they can match it against the competitions heavyweights. Strong performances came from substitute striker Fotti, who changed the look of Inters attack and grabbed a goal for his side. Midfielder Marino Musumeci also showed his class with an assured display.
Inter Coach Maiorana was proud of his side despite the result, “I thought it was definitely a game of two halves. Hakoah in the first half showed why they are competition favourites and clearly dominated, in the second half we made a few changes tactically and player wise and could have easily picked up the 3 points with the chances we had. I thought a draw would have been a fair result, but full credit to Robbo and Hakoah”.
For Hakoah, the victory keeps them at the top of the table, and the side looked strong across the park with the midfield particularly impressive on the day. Best on ground was Lloyd Owusu, who showed all his experience with a fine display upfront. The striker displayed his skill to hold up the play and allow for Hakoah’s possession game to get going, but was also a constant menace with his pace and power and provided Hakoah with a more direct avenue to goal when needed.
Captain Neil Jabalonksi also had a fine game, using his experience and silky touch to move his side around the park, while Michael Katz was a constant threat with his overlapping runs and dangerous balls into the box.
Hakoah Coach Mark Robertson was pleased with the result, “I think we dominated possession today, but possession doesn’t always win you games of football. Inter Lions made it hard for us in the second half but thankfully Lloyd Owusu stepped up today and scored two goals which is terrific”.
Hakoah 2 (Owusu x 2) Inter Lions 1 (Fotti)
Match Stats
Hakoah Sydney City East: 2 (Lloyd Owusu x 2)
Inter Lions: 1 (Anthony Foti)
Friday, 18th of April, 2014
Hensley Athletic Field
Referee: James Barnes
Assistant Referees: Terry Goodhew, Peter Liaros
Hakoah Sydney City East FC: 5. Dylan Blumberg, 1.Terry Dal Broi, 3.Robert Ezekiel, 10.Deklan Gilmartin(7.Daan Ranshuljsen), 11.Neil Jabalonski, 15.Michael Katz, 12.Justin Kosmina(16.Mark Mcalpine), 6.Nathan Kosmina(33.Kevin Lopes), 8.Jordan Mundell, 9. Lloyd Owusu, 2.Remy Wolanski
Substitutes Not Used: 40.Nicholas Bouhoutsos, 17.Joe Dingtwall,
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Inter Lions: 11.David Amiconi (16.Yusuke Tanaka), 12.Josh Basara (18.Anthony Fotti), 6.Dario Espejel 14.Dylan Maloney, 9.Miguel Martinez, 7.Clayton Musumeci, 8. Marino Musumeci, 2.Michael Sidoti, 31.Jordan Trovato, 4.Adrian Vizzari, 3.Nathan Walker (19. Clifton Ford)
Substitutes Not Used: 15.Daniel Borg, 5.Simon Di Natale
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Granville Rage v Dulwich Hill
Rage returned to the winners circle with a 1-0 victory over Dulwich Hill at Garside Park on Saturday afternoon.
The only goal of the game coming midway through the first half courtesy of Nenos Bobo, when some good work down the right hand side culminated with Bobo rounding the keeper and then slotting home the match winner.
Granville Rage 1 (Bobo) Dulwich Hill 0
Gladesville Ryde Magic v Stanmore Hawks
Gladesville made it two wins in a row with a 2-1 victory over Stanmore Hawks at Magdala Park.
In a tight opening half neither team could find the back of the net and the score remained 0-0 at half time.
Gladesville opened the scoring with Wool Reec giving the home side the lead, and Peter Yannopoulos then doubled the lead for Gladesville.
Captain Lachlan Wright pulled a goal back for Stanmore with ten minutes to go, but Gladesville held on for the victory.
Gladesville 2 (Reec, Yannopoulos) Stanmore Hawks 1 (Wright)
Nepean V Camden – Match Postponed
Western NSW Mariners v Hawkesbury City
The upset of the round took place at Wade Park with Western NSW Mariners knocking off Hawkesbury City 2-1 to get their first points of the season.
The Mariners got the opening goal of the game just before the halt time break, with James Christie finding the back of the net. The Mariners doubled the lead in the second half when Adam Scimone grabbed another goal for the home side.
Hawkesbury got a consolation goal right at the death with Ryan Wilson getting on the scoresheet, but the night belonged to the Mariners who picked up their first win of the season.
Western NSW Mariners 2 (Christie, Scimone) Hawkesbury 1 (Wilson)
Balmain FC v Northbridge FC
Northbridge claimed a 3-0 victory over Balmain in a replay of last year’s Grand final.
The ‘Bridge’ took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break with right back Lee Jones going on a good run to open the scoring. The ‘Bridge’ went two goals up in the second half with Ry Hardy getting on the scoresheet.
Michael Cole completed the scoring to make it 3-0 as Northbridge returned to winning ways with a convincing performance.
Balmain FC 0 Northbridge FC 3 (Jones, Hardy, Cole)
-By Diego Munoz
