State League Two Round 4 Review

Another weekend of exciting football results has Football NSW State League 2 headed for a dramatic season.
Hurstville City Minotaurs beat University of NSW 3-1, Prospect United pipped Southern Bulls 1-0, Rydalmere Lions downed Enfield Rovers 4-0, while Hurstville FC ground out a 2-1 win against Southern Branch. Western Condors had the bye.
Round 4
Hurstville City Minotaurs 3 (Ben Richardson, Paul Paras, Nick Kynezos) University of NSW 1 (Jimmy Siradjuddin)
Prospect United 1 (Angelo Martino) Southern Bulls 0
Enfield Rovers 0 Rydalmere Lions 4 (Nathan Attard 3, Tomislav Semialjac)
Southern Branch 1 (Kane Wolfenden) Hurstville FC 2 (Denis Cutura, Marko Banic)
Grade 20
Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 University of NSW 1
Prospect United 3 Southern Bulls 1
Enfield Rovers 0 Rydalmere Lions 2
Southern Branch 0 Hurstville FC 2
Minotaurs rattle Uni
Hurstville City Minotaurs extended its unbeaten run to three matches following a solid 3-1 win over University of NSW at St George Stadium on Saturday evening.
A couple of defensive slips from Uni handed Hurstville a 2-0 advantage inside the opening quarter-hour – Ben Richardson meeting a neat Nick Nisbet freekick emphatically and Paul Paras beating his defender well to score a second – before a delightful diagonal ball allowed Uni’s Jimmy Siradjuddin to touch ahead and then rifle home from close-range to cut the deficit in half by the interval.
Uni looked good for another goal in the second term but it was Minotaurs who found the target again with Nick Kynezos intercepting outside his own box and going coast-to-coast for a superb individual goal and well-constructed 3-1 victory.
A lot of Hurstville praise had to go to midfielder Mike Maropoulos who put his head on every aerial contest while young Craig Stratton made contributions playing full games in both grades.
Minotaurs coach Peter Sarikakis called the win ‘nothing special’ but liked what he’s seen from his charges so far this season.
“Uni passed the ball around a bit more than us but we were more direct, getting the ball through midfield quickly to the forwards,” he said.
“We’re still missing a lot of goals but the boys played to their instructions, playing simple soccer, and opened them up completely a few times.”
Uni coach Tom Belcher would love to get the results he felt his team deserved. “Minus the result we played them off the park, I think,” he said.
“We gifted them two goals due to a lack of concentration, had plenty of possession and completed passes, we had 2-3 other chances and just didn’t take them.”
“I’m ecstatic with the performance because we’re starting to find our rhythm and understanding how we want to play. Even more pleasing was we didn’t drop our heads when we went behind and we’re already looking forward to next week.”
Prospect pen Bulls
It was tough and gritty and even pretty as Prospect United landed a 1-0 blow on Southern Bulls at William Lawson Reserve on Saturday night.
The tense freeflowing fixture offered some excellent quality football, two penalty saves, a send-off and bizarre goal that lifted Prospect to their first ever win over Bulls.
Prospect had an early opportunity from the penalty spot when Michael Woods was brought down inside the box but Chris Camilleri found glovesman Tom Romic up to the task with the Bulls keeper producing a sensational stop (his second spot-kick save this season) and then pouncing on the rebound to deny United the lead.
Southern had their own chance from 12-yards out but Prospect custodian Daniel Farias stopped that one too in similar fashion, and then tipped a blistering Bulls strike over the bar to keep the score unchanged at the break.
The game turned dramatically when Southern’s James Raiti picked up a straight red card for a clumsy challenge early in the second half and Angelo Martino stepped up to take the set-piece, his nasty freekick going though everyone to hit the back of the net for the game’s deciding goal.
Prospect coach Tony Caruso enjoyed the outing almost as much as the result. “It was a really good effort in a highly intense game,” he said. “Both teams played some exceptional football at times and the scoreline reflected the closeness of the match.”
“I’m definitely happy with the effort. We’ve been inconsistent with the results but not our performances and last night was another example of how well the players are approaching their matches… they were pleased to score, and even better was keeping a clean sheet.” 
Bulls coach Ramsin Shamon agreed it was a good game but one he’d rather have all over again with his full squad.
“We had dramas from the get-go with club captain Nick Dionisiou injured in the warm-up and several other players missing altogether, so we had to field a new defence,” he said.
“Either team could’ve won it, we just didn’t have our full squad… it was just one of those days but still a lot of positives to take out of it.” 
Hurstville hurt Branch
Ladder-toppers Hurstville FC did it tough in a 2-1 win against Southern Branch at South Nowra Football Complex on Sunday afternoon, the home side finishing the game with just nine men as Hurstville won with an injury-time penalty.
FC looked tired following their midweek Waratah Cup loss to South Coast Wolves as Branch enjoyed the better of the opening term and it took a piece of individual brilliance to open up the match in the second half, Denis Cutura turning at the edge of the box and smacking into the top corner for a 1-0 Hurstville lead.
Southern coach Brod Crighton made two substitutions with 20 minutes to go only to see Mick Van injured in a challenge and leave the home side with 10 men for the rest of the game, but Branch’s fortunes changed when a formation adjustment freed up Joel Wilson on a drive into the box and when he got brought down to win a penalty team-mate Kane Wolfenden stepped up to slot home the spot-kick and level up proceedings 1-1.
Disaster struck deep in stoppage time when Branch stalwart Jacob Cooper got tangled up inside box and copped a second yellow card while conceding a concerning penalty, Southern keeper Joel Lockard getting a hand to a thumping Marko Banic spot-kick but not enough to stop it rippling the onion bag for a decisive 2-1 victory with the last kick of the game – the third successive similar scoreline between the adversaries.
Hurstville coach Steve Zoric knew he’d got away with a couple of bonuses. “I’ll take the three points! Branch stayed in the game for ages and we only got them at the death after a bit of pressure,” he said.
“The boys were tired from our midweek game and we were sloppy in the first half. We controlled it a bit better in the second and ramped it up on the run home… our performance wasn’t the best but I’ll take the result any day.”
“To be undefeated with nine points and just one goal conceded [a penalty], defensively we’re looking strong and I’m proud of the boys. They’re on track and I hope we can keep it going.”
Crighton had mixed feelings about a match that seemed beyond his control. “We were kicked off the park, unfortunately, it was a very physical match… we were every bit as good as them and I’m gutted for the boys because they really came out to play,” he said.
“Even with men down we were still playing well and trying to get up the park, and we deserved to get something from the match. It’s so frustrating but that’s football; all we can do is come back next week.”
Lions devour Rovers 
Rydalmere Lions finally flexed its muscle in a 4-0 defeat of Enfield Rovers at Garside Park on Sunday afternoon, Enfield’s fourth loss of a sour season start.
Last-placed Rovers began brightest and rattled the woodwork several times before Nathan Attard slammed home from just inside the box at the other end to lift Rydalmere ahead and Tommy Semialjac chipped the Rovers keeper from 30-yards out to double the buffer by halftime.
Attard was in an adventurous mood and bagged two second-half goals to complete his hat-trick and round out a convincing 4-0 Lions victory, their first of the season and Enfield’s fourth straight defeat.
Rydalmere mentor Tony Basha was much happier this weekend. “To be fair they had some chances early and we really had our backs to the wall, clearing off the line and doing everything just to stay in it,” he said.
“Rovers were very good and didn’t make it easy for us to play at all. They pressed us and we were desperate and the rewards came. My boys showed a lot of character and got a very good result.
“The 4-0 scoreline doesn’t really indicate how close the game was and just shows that no points are guaranteed in this competition. If you don’t turn up to a game with them on, you’ll be caught with your pants down!”
Enfield coach Andrew Montgomery said he’d never been involved in a game like it in his life. “For large parts we completely dominated them. We hit the post 3-4 times, had deflections, balls cleared off lines,” he said.
“At halftime I said to them to give me more of the same because we wholeheartedly believed we were playing better than them but it wasn’t to be. It could’ve been 4-0 to us, instead it goes the other way. Credit to Rydalmere though, they played very well too.”
[What needs to be done at this stage?] “Changes. I’ve got players coming back from injuries and some signings we’ll make this week to get a good squad ready for our next game after the bye.”
Next week’s games
Football NSW State League Two round 5 starts with Hurstville FC versus Western Condors at St George Stadium on Saturday evening (5pm), Southern Bulls host Hurstville City Minotaurs at Ernie Smith Reserve on Saturday night (7pm), while on Sunday afternoon Rydalmere Lions tackle Prospect United at Rydalmere Park (3pm) and Southern Branch welcome University of NSW to South Nowra Football Complex (3pm). Enfield Rovers have the bye. Southern Branch and Rydalmere Lions will also play their round-two catch-up game at South Nowra Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon (3pm).
Waratah Cup
Hurstville FC’s NSW Waratah Cup dream run ended in a shuddering halt as South Coast Wolves belted them 6-0 at Hooka Creek Park, Berkeley, last Wednesday night, striker Ricky Zucco scoring four goals for the south-coasters.
-By Dan De Nardi