SUPA IGA NPL NSW Mens 2 Round 10 Review
An interesting spread of results in round 10 of the SUPA IGA NPL NSW Mens 2 competition saw Parramatta FC close the gap to leaders Macarthur.
Down the other end of the ladder, Bankstown Berries jumped out of the dreaded 12th position, with Fraser Park replacing them as cellar dwellers.
Match of the Round
Sydney University v Mt Druitt Town Rangers
Sydney University claimed their first win in almost one month, putting in an embattled display to sink Mt Druitt 1-0 on Saturday night.
Raul Blanco’s men last tasted victory on April 26 and jumped ahead of their opponents courtesy of a favourable goal differential, with striker Gavin Forbes providing the only goal of the match after 46 minutes.
Rangers had their chances to grab a point or even more, including a controversial disallowed Hosyar Cakal goal late in the piece which the visitors believe should have stood.
Mt Druitt carved out the first opportunity of the match courtesy of a defensive blunder by Uni’s Phillip Bures. The centre half was dispossessed by on the edge of the area by Jamie Dib, who was left with just Marko Bozic to beat, but the goalkeeper was equal to the task and tipped it off Dib’s feet before he could get a shot away.
It was to be the only chance on goal in a shrewd opening 15 minutes as neither side established full control of the game.
Uni got within range in the 17th minute when Patrick Dixon looked to pick out Gavin Forbes and Peter Crevani on the six yard box with a dangerous cross, but neither player was able to connect with the ball.
The home side dominated the shot stats for the remainder of the first half, carving out a number of chances despite the match being quite well balanced.
On 20 minutes, Rangers’ stand-in ‘keeper Joel Tinker almost handed Uni the opener when his misguided clearance fell to Peter Crevani, but the midfielder’s heavy first touch allowed Tinker to recover well.
Forbes was the next to try his luck for Sydney Uni as he picked up a Patrick Dixon’s cut back and sent a snap shot on target.
Rangers plugged away but were unable to stamp their authority on the match and again it was Uni with the pick of the first half highlights when Isaac Lee picked out Niram Kanoun with a perfectly weighted cross field ball. Kanoun’s header put Gavin Forbes through and the no. 9 attempted to tink Joel Tinker but was denied by a brilliant block from the Rangers gloveman.
Almost immediately after the restart, Sydney Uni grabbed what proved to be a decisive 1-0 lead. The ball spilled through to Tinker, who tried to clear his lines but was shut down by a rampaging Patrick Dixon. The midfielder picked up the rebound and ran towards goal and was chased down by Peter Hubbard but the ball spilled to a grateful Gavin Forbes who tapped home into an empty net.
Rangers went close to cancelling out that opener when Hosyar Cakal spotted Mark Bozic off his line but the winger’s audacious chip agonisingly sailed just over the crossbar.
The goal certainly seemed to spark the contest into life and Sydney Uni had the ball in the net again in the 54th minute when Peter Crevani finished off a crafty move, but the linesman’s flag prevented the scoreboard from being altered.
Patrick Dixon had fed Niram Kanoun through the line with the winger chipping his defender and having just his defender to beat, but he opted to cut the ball across goal for the offside Crevani instead of taking the shot himself.
Captain Crevani was again in the thick of the action five minutes later as he made a darting run and latched onto Adrian Porcu’s precise through ball before sending in a flirtatious cross which narrowly evaded the unmarked Forbes and Kanoun in the centre.
Forbes registered another shot on target soon after when he leaped up to meet a Hyams Tomohiro cross, only to see his header fall inches wide of the far post.
The Rangers attack looked to be getting frustrated and resorted to shots from distance as Kojiro Jori’s effort from well outside the box failed to trouble Bozic in the Uni goal.
The final ten minutes belonged to the visitors as they made continuous raids on the Uni goal in a desperate search for the equaliser.
The efforts looked to have paid dividends with just two minutes remaining in normal time when Thomas Spencer’s header from a corner fell to Hosyar Cakal and the winger hit one at goal, which Rangers claim went over the line before the Uni defenders hoofed it clear.
The linesman didn’t budge, though, and the referee allowed play to continue in what was certainly a turning point. There was further misery for Rangers as Spencer received a straight red card for his protests to the decision.
Mt Druitt had one final chance to salvage a point when Cakal’s free kick deep into injury time bounced just before Bozic, with the keeper only able to parry it away into the path of Glenn McPherson, but his shot hit the side netting.
Rangers will feel hard done by to have gone home empty-handed but will take some positives away, including the performance of new recruit, former Marconi midfielder Kojiro Jori, who proved extremely reliable in the centre of the park, distributing with great accuracy and wreaking havoc in defence.
Three points was just what the doctor ordered for Sydney University, who reclaimed that winning feeling despite producing one of their more stale performances of the season. Uni’s backline deserves praise after keeping their first clean sheet of the season and will help turn the team’s fortunes around with similar showings in the coming weeks.
Sydney University 1 (Gavin Forbes 46′)
Mt Druitt Town Rangers 0
Saturday May 24, 2014
At Hensley Athletic Field
Referee: Ben Abraham
Assistant referees: Michelle Allen, Raphael Porret
Sydney University: 20. Nathan Amore, 18. Phillip Bures, 4. Peter Crevani, 34. Patrick Dixon (11. Anthony Villazon 65′), 9. Gavin Forbes, 7. Niram Kanoun (17. Rocco Domine 78′), 12. Isaac Lee (26. Dean Bereveskos 60′), 16. Adrian Porcu, 3. Nathan Sansom, 2. Hyams Tomohiro, 41. Marko Bozic
Subs not used: 31. Matthew Mckenzie, 13. Alexander Sopina
Yellow cards: Isaac Lee
Red cards: Nil
Mt Druitt Town Rangers: 5. Luke Boyd (2. James Thurtell 63′), 10. Hosyar Cakal, 4. Paul Crisp, 6. Paul Davies, 8. Jamie Dib (12. Nathan Attard 69′), 15. Kojiro Jori, 17. Peter Hubbard, 11. Glenn Mcpherson, 14. Brendan Salameh, 9. Thomas Spencer, 1. Joel Tinker
Subs not used: 20. Stjepan Fuduric, 7. Andy Matloub, 13. Daniel Mccann
Yellow cards: Paul Crisp
Red cards: Thomas Spencer
Macarthur Rams v Central Coast Mariners Academy
Macarthur surrendered a lead to concede a draw for the second consecutive week, this time in a 1-1 draw with Central Coast Mariners Academy.
Shannon Hankin handed Macarthur a 1-0 lead going into half time after bagging his fourth goal of the season, but his effort was cancelled out by Josh Bingham’s second half strike.
In what was a physical encounter – with nine yellow cards in total – neither side was able to break the deadlock and deservedly shared the points.
Macarthur Rams 1 (Shannon Hankin)
Central Coast Mariners Academy 1 (Josh Bingham)
Mounties Wanderers v Hills Brumbies
Mounties continued their surge up the table, moving into fourth spot after claiming a 3-2 win over Hills Brumbies on Saturday.
It didn’t take long for the home side to take the lead as Benjamin Gough made it 1-0 on the 13 minute mark. The night got even better for Steve Appleby’s men just three minutes later when Daniel Willoughby doubled his side’s advantage.
Hills tussled their way into the match but were made to wait until the 77th minute to pull one back, when captain Russell Farrell got his name on the scoresheet.
But Alvin Singh’s goal moments later restored Mounties’ buffer, making Dragan Savic’s late goal a mere consolation for Brumbies.
Mounties Wanderers 3 (Benjamin Gough 13’, Daniel Willoughby 16’, Alvin Singh 81’)
Hills Brumbies 2 (Russell Farrell 77’, Dragan Savic 90’)
Parramatta FC v Bankstown City
Parramatta FC moved within two points of league leaders Macarthur following an impressive 3-1 win over Bankstown City on Saturday night. There was plenty at stake during the match as the Lions looked to continue their surge up the ladder, while the Eagles looked to close the gap at the top and avoid allowing Bankstown a prime chance to move one point behind with a game in hand.
The sides went into the break level at 1-1 with strikes to the competition’s leading goalscorer Daniel Rezo and Bankstown’s Brad Boardman cancelling each other out.
But Parramatta emerged from the sheds on a clear mission and they put the visitors to the sword as Wandi Jajaw and Frank Martey both found the net to put the result beyond doubt.
Bill Pilovski’s Lions remain firmly in the top five and will sit in outright third if they can nab three points in their rescheduled fixture against Sydney University.
Parramatta FC 3 (Wandi Jajaw, Frank Martey, Daniel Rezo)
Bankstown City 1 (Brad Boardman)
Northern Tigers v Fraser Park
Northern Tigers picked up consecutive wins for the first time this season as they edged Fraser Park 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
The usual suspects popped up for Tigers, with Liam Mcconaghy and Matthew West providing the goals.
Sash Tirovski found the net for Fraser Park but it wasn’t enough for them to salvage a point and they slip to the bottom of the ladder courtesy of Bankstown Berries’ win.
Northern Tigers 2 (Liam Mcconaghy, Matthew West)
Fraser Park 1 (Sash Tirovski)
Spirit FC v Bankstown Berries
Bankstown Berries claimed their third win of the season to jump off the foot of the table thanks to a narrow 2-1 win over Spirit FC.
Strikes to Spirit’s Andrew Robertson and Berries’ Dimi Zakilas left the game evenly poised at half time, but the latter proved the hero with a second half strike to gift his side all three points and remarkably just two wins away from the top five.
Spirit FC 1 (Andrew Robertson)
Bankstown Berries 2 (Dimitri Zakilas 2)
– By Mitchell Grima
