Mens State League 2 Round 5 Review
Hurstville FC chalked up win number four in a row as State League 2 round 6 sizzled with football’s sweet and sour sauce.
Hurstville FC led the ladder with a 3-0 defeat of Western Condors, Southern Bulls clawed back a 2-0 deficit to draw 2-2 with Hurstville City Minotaurs, Rydalmere Lions beat Prospect United 3-1 a day after defeating Southern Branch 3-1 in a catch-up game, while Branch fell 2-1 to University of NSW on Sunday. Enfield Rovers had the bye.
A second hat-trick from Bulls horn Nathan Attard has catapulted him to the top of the scorers chart with eight for the season, three more than Damian Jankovic (Enfield), Chris Camilleri (Prospect), Michael Wood (Prospect), Leigh Gunn (Bulls) and Hurstville FC pair Denis Cutura and Henry Kamleitner.
The grade-20 competition took an interesting twist this weekend as unbeaten Rydalmere and Prospect drew 0-0 on Sunday to stand alone at the top of the table with 13 points, six clear of everyone else.
Round 5
Hurstville FC 3 (Denis Cutura, Henry Kamleitner 2) Western Condors 0
Southern Bulls 2 (John Fahmi, Ninos Filips) Hurstville City Minotaurs 2 (Ruben Viglino, Mudrek Abaid)
Rydalmere Lions 3 (Mojtaba Mohebbee, Nathan Attard 2) Prospect United 1 (Chris Camilleri)
Southern Branch 1 (Kane Good) University of NSW 2 (James Peek, Macaiah Tarate)
Round 2 catch-up: Southern Branch 1 (Kane Good) Rydalmere Lions 3 (Nathan Attard 3)
Grade 20
Hurstville FC 1 Western Condors 3
Southern Bulls 2 Hurstville City Minotaurs 1
Rydalmere Lions 0 Prospect United 0
Southern Branch 1 University of NSW 2
Round 2 catch-up: Southern Branch 1 Rydalmere Lions 2
Hurstville pluck Condors
It was knees-to-chest as Hurstville FC maintained their top-of-the-table march following a 3-0 win against Western Condors at St George Stadium on Saturday evening.
Condors started briskly before some neat work from Hurstville’s Michael Karagiannis on the right wing led to a pin-point cross that Denis Cutura headed inside the far post for a 1-0 FC advantage, Karagiannis providing a second with a great switch to Henry Kamleitner who swathed into the box and buried his chance in the bottom corner to double their 2-0 halftime lead.
The visitors were more enterprising in the second half but Kamleitner sealed the deal with a second goal to underline Hurstville’s 3-0 victory, their first win over Western in 10 years (five meetings).
FC coach Steve Zoric was sitting on cloud nine with four wins in as many games under the cushion. “Condors worked hard and set themselves up at the back and tried to catch us on the counter, but once we gained control we scored two gems and could’ve got a couple more at the end,” he said.
“I’m proud of the boys again; they’re self-motivated and consistent at the moment which is great. We probably need a little bit more patience as we try to get control of the game, but hopefully it keeps going like this.”
Condors coach Erick Anabalon took the result in stride. “3-0 looks worse than what it was. The boys were at 100 per cent and full strength, we were just beaten by a better team; from what I’ve seen they’re definitely the benchmark,” he said.
“We didn’t execute our plan and paid the price for it. It’s only our second game so there’s no need for panic stations; we just need to improve in certain areas. Despite the score I think we can match it with them come round two.”
Bulls, Minotaurs lock horns
Southern Bulls fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Hurstville City Minotaurs under lights at a crisp Ernie Smith Reserve on Saturday night.
The two historic combatants certainly ushered in Sydney’s coldest day of the year with a sizzling hot finish but as the mercury dropped to single digits so did the home side’s hopes as they slumped to a 1-0 halftime deficit following Hurstville’s Ruben Viglino penalty after being brought down by the Bulls keeper.
Some sloppy Southern defending early in the second half saw Mudrek Abaid volley home a corner and build a 2-0 City buffer, tactical changes from Bulls coach Ramsin Shamon turning the tide as Johnny Fahmi scored one and substitute Ninos Fillips stepping up the ante with a late equaliser that split the points – a third draw in five encounters between the sides.
Hurstville coach Peter Sarikakis rued a string of missed opportunities. “At 2-0 up we let them back into it but you have to give them credit for coming back, they played well, but we should’ve won the game,” he said.
“I took a risk in not playing Paul Paras or Michael Di Meglio… but our depth is good because it’s only early days; there’s a lot of improvement to come. I’m disappointed in not getting the full points but the boys played some good soccer, especially away from home.”
Southern coach Ramsin Shamon zeroed in on his team’s major fault – set pieces. “We’re going fine, we’ve just copped goals from set plays or penalties,” he said. “We showed some character today… and played a 3-6-1 for the last 20 minutes; I don’t know how we couldn’t finish them off, we just couldn’t put them away.”
“Minotaurs have some very experienced players but tonight was just a matter of us losing our concentration. I can only see it as one point gained and two lost, but we’re still on track for our mid-season objectives.”
Lions gouge Prospect
A double win helped Rydalmere Lions surge up the ladder as they defeated Southern Branch at Nowra on Saturday then beat Prospect United 3-1 at Rydalmere Park on Sunday afternoon.
A Nathan Attard hat-trick set up Rydalmere’s triumph over Branch down south and they returned on a crisp Sunday to get the better of Prospect on home turf, Attard adding another two goals to take his season tally to eight after Mojtaba Mohebbee’s goal cancelled out Chris Camilleri’s freekick for United on the stroke of halftime.
The result catapulted pre-competition favourites Rydalmere to nine points, a win behind unbeaten leaders Hurstville FC, but Lions coach Tony Basha remained forthright.
“Prospect are a good side, they worked hard and pressed high, and they’ll do well this season,” he said. “I’m still not totally happy with the way we played as we could’ve kept the ball longer and missed a lot of chances, but the boys did alright and we’re still getting more players back… you don’t want to peak too early!”
United coach Tony Caruso wished his players had responded a bit better. “The first 10-15 minutes of both the first and second half is what really proved the difference – our minds weren’t really on the job,” he said. “The boys looked okay going into the match but when the whistle blew the enthusiasm seemed to die and then you have to exert more energy trying to get back into the game.”
“There’s definitely more to come from my team; short periods of the game were critical but I’m confident in the boys working hard toward a common goal. We are bordering on the consistency of being inconsistent and we have to make sure we don’t fall into that category; but the better team won today, kudos to Tony and his boys.”
Uni topple Branch
University of NSW rode their luck and came away from South Nowra Football Complex with a 2-1 win against hapless Southern Branch on Sunday afternoon.
A depleted Branch lost 3-1 to Rydalmere on Saturday and backed up to face Uni on Sunday, showing plenty of promise early on with a glut of possession and numerous shots on goal.
But it was the travelers who hit the target first as James Peek headed in an Alex Austin cross and Macaiah Tarate banged in another to make it 2-0 to Uni inside the opening half-hour.
Branch received a ray of hope when Uni midfielder Austin picked up two yellow cards to be dismissed from action shortly before halftime, and the hosts narrowed the gap through a James Peek score… but the fulltime whistle blew before an equaliser could be found and Uni claimed their third one-goal victory in a row over Southern.
Uni coach Tom Belcher was thrilled with his side’s second win of the season. “We got a couple of early goals before a lack of judgment saw Alex [Austin] red-carded. We changed formation but didn’t panic and held out until halftime when I could reshuffle the team a bit more,” he said. “I brought in the subs and the team kept going but, really, we parked the bus in the last 20 to get away with the win.”
“Full credit to the Southern Branch players though; a lot of them played a lot of minutes over the last two days and they had a small squad to begin with. They kept fighting and fighting, nicked one back and went really close to getting a second.
“Actually, I thought the Branch club were terrific hosts and the game was played in a good spirit. I guess I’m happier that we got the most reward out of the match.”
Southern coach Brod Crighton didn’t have much to say about a gloomy weekend that produced zero points from two home games. “We had no numbers against Rydalmere and they really only beat us in the last five minutes,” he said. “And against Uni we had 8-9 clear chances in the first half and just could not put the ball into the net.”
“The boys were just too tired to pull something out of the bag. They’re playing well; we just need one win to get us going, that’s all.”
Next week’s games
Football NSW State League Two round 6 is a Saturday fiesta as Enfield Rovers host Hurstville FC at Garside Park (3pm), Hurstville City Minotaurs face Rydalmere Lions at St George Stadium (5pm), and Southern Bulls meet University of NSW at Ernie Smith Reserve (7pm), while Western Condors welcome Southern Branch to Calabria Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon (3pm). Prospect United have the bye.
