Mens State League 1 Round 11 Review
A thrilling round of football took place over the weekend with lots of goals, strong comebacks and plenty of late drama highlighting the mid-way point of the competition.
Round 4 Catch Up – Nepean FC v Camden Tigers
Nepean FC claimed a gritty 1-0 victory over Camden Tigers on Wednesday night.
The only goal of the game came in the first half with a deflected free kick from Rafid Hermiz sealing the points.
Nepean FC 1 (R.Hermiz) Camden Tigers 0
Nepean FC v Granville Rage
Nepean and Granville Rage played out an entertaining 2-2 draw on Saturday night at Cook Park.
The home side got off to a fast start looking slightly sharper in the opening exchanges, and they didn’t have to wait long for the opening goal, with Jack Long giving Nepean an early lead after 5 minutes. The captain gained possession in the middle of the park, and some nice work with Terry Pannowitz saw Long burst through on goal and finish neatly with a shot from just outside the box.
The goal seemed to lift Nepean further as Jack Long and Ryan Colborne dictated play from the middle of the park, while Granville looked to get back into the game.
But it was Nepean who struck again in the 12th minute with midfielder Pannowitz doubling the advantage for the home side. A good ball over the top caught the Rage defence napping and Pannowitz ghosted in behind the defence and struck a left shot past the Rage keeper to make 2-0.
With a boil over on the cards, a shell shocked Rage turned up the heat and searched for a way back into the contest. Left midfielder Ahmed Chandab tried to unlock the defence with a mazy run down the left hand touch line, but the Nepean defence held firm.
The lifeline arrived soon after for Granville, with right winger Zachary Watters putting in an awkward ball into the Nepean box that resulted in a handball and saw the referee award a penalty to the away side. Centre back Manut Yel stepped up and converted the spot kick to make it 2-1, and it was game on.
After such a frantic start both sides looked to hold firm as the half wore on, with Nepean trying to break fast and use the space in behind the Rage defence, while Granville Rage tried to settle on the ball and get their passing game going.
For the Rage, wingers Chandab and Watters were looking particularly threatening down the flanks, and continually looked to link up with striker Dizdaric.
Rage kept pushing for an equaliser and nearly grabbed the goal just before the half time break, when a quick counter attack saw forward Daniel Bortolazzo streak down the left hand side and cut the ball back into the path of Dizdaric. With the goal at his mercy the striker saw his shot brilliantly blocked on the line by Nepean left back Nicola Pozder.
The second half commenced and neither team took a backwards step. Nepean saw a reshuffle with Captain Jack long and defender Aleksander Popovic leaving the field injured.
With ten minutes gone in the second half the Rage drew level. Dizdaric’s shot from outside the box was deflected and after hesitation in the Nepean defence the ball fell to Ahmed Chandab, and the winger hit an excellent low and hard drive past keeper Ryan Trussell to make the score 2-2.
With scores level the next stage of the game turned into a real arm wrestle as both teams looked to assert themselves in the middle of the park. But it was Rage who were slightly on top in that battle, with Daniel Vukovic laying the platform for the rest of his side with tight marking and good distribution.
Rage Coach Islas then made a switch with winger Watters moving into a central position up front and Dizdaric dropping a little deeper in the field.
A good chance materialised for the Rage when a switch of play from Vukovic left substitute Samir Eshani with a chance on goal, but the wingers attempted lob over the keeper was just snuffed out on the line by the Nepean defence.
Nepean had their best chance of the second half shortly after when some brilliant passing in the midfield saw the ball move from sideline to sideline and create an opening for Michael Noro outside the box, but his stinging drive crashed off the crossbar and then second half substitute Jason Browne saw his follow up header go just over the bar.
The game turned into a real end to end encounter as both sides looked for a winner, and after half chances for Watters and Dizdaric, the Rage suffered a setback when with ten minutes to go a second bookable offence saw defender Jonathan Ekehov sent off to leave the Rage with ten men.
Despite being a man down it was Granville who had a late chance to snatch all three points, with Dizdaric playing the ball out to the left and Ahmed Chandab putting in a great low cross into the Nepean box, but striker Zachary Watters just failed to get a touch on the ball.
With the full time whistle coming shortly after, both sides had to settle for a point a piece.
Nepean will be frustrated after letting go of a 2-0 lead and will also look to the loss of Captain Jack Long as a turning point in the game.
Granville Rage will be disappointed with the slow start in this contest, but they can take solace from a good fight back on the night and the fact that they created plenty of chances.
For Nepean strong performances came from Michael Noro, who had a good game in the heart of the defence and was spot on with his ball distributions for most of the night. Terry Pannowitz was involved in most of Nepean’s chances and was his usual energetic self, and Captain Jack Long was instrumental in getting Nepean off to a good start before succumbing to injury.
Nepean Coach Adam Malouf reflected on the game, “I think a draw was probably a fair result in the end. We got off to a good start by moving the ball quickly, but in the second half we just didn’t keep the ball well enough”.
Best for Granville Rage on the night were centre back Manut Yel who made some timely interceptions on the night and injected himself into the attack with his speed and skill. Daniel Vukovic got through plenty of work in the centre of the park and looked stronger as the game wore on, while Ahmed Chandab was a constant menace down the left hand side and provided plenty of quality crosses into the box, as well as getting the all important equalising goal.
Granville Coach Islas shared his thoughts on the game, “I was disappointed to drop points, we started off slowly and a couple of mistakes cost us. We had enough chances to win the game but it wasn’t to be in the end.”
Match Stats
Nepean FC 2 (J. Long, T.Pannowitz)
Granville Rage 2 (M.Yel, A.Chandab)
Saturday, 7th of June, 2014
Cook Park, St Mary’s
Referee: Jamie Gavin
Assistant Referees: Michael Kimber, Phillip Murphy
Nepean FC: 16.Anton Karla (9.Jason Brown), 2.Michael Sada, 12.Ryan Colbome, 14.Rafid Hermiz 6.Aleksander Popovic (Nicholas Cholerton), 17.Wiltar Jajaw, 4.Jack Long (7.Dylan Fasan), 11.Michael Noro, 8.Terry Pannowitz, 13.Nikola Pozder, 25.Ryan Trussell
Substitutes Not Used: 10. Michael Awad, 1.Robert Fanella
Yellow Cards: R.Hermiz
Red Cards: Nil
Granville Rage: 1.Carl McMahon, 2.Jonathan Ekehov, 8.Daniel Bortoloazzo (6. Samir Eshani), 10.Kushaba Kushaba (15. Joshua Mesiti), 12.Daniel Vukovic, 17.Manut Yel, 14. Alexander Bit, 9. Ahmed Chandab, 19. Almir Dizdanc, 20. Michael Ruzic, 13 Zachary Watters
Substitutes Not Used: 18.Kurdvan Abduljabbar, 21.Adam Green, 3.R. Smabel
Yellow Cards: Manut Yel, Kushaba Kushaba
Red Cards: J. Ekehov
Dulwich Hill v Western NSW Mariners FC
Dulwich Hill returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Western NSW Mariners FC on Saturday afternoon.
Adam Rowntree opened the scoring in the first half for the home side with a well taken goal.
Another goal late in the second half made sure of the points, with Adam Parr finding the back of the net.
Dulwich Hill 2 (A.Rowntree, N.Parr) Western NSW Mariners FC 0
Hawkesbury City SC v Northbridge FC
Northbridge have kept up their winning streak with a thrilling 5-4 victory over Hawkesbury City, with Northbridge striker Oliver Babington grabbing a hat trick.
Northbridge took an early lead in the game and looked to be in control, but in a see sawing game Hawkesbury managed to keep in touch throughout the 90 minutes.
With a 4-2 second half lead in favour of the Bridge, Hawkesbury mounted a fight back and was able to level the scores at 4-4 with 10 minutes to go.
But there was one final twist in store as Northbridge claimed a winner deep in stoppage time when Lee Jones kept his cool and converted a last gasp penalty.
Hawkesbury City SC 4 (M. Mccrory x2, J. Mawein x2) Northbridge FC 5 (O. Babington x 3, L. Jones, M. Lensink)
Camden Tigers v Inter Lions
Inter Lions claimed a crucial three points with a 3-0 victory away to Camden Tigers on Saturday night.
Marino Musumeci gave the away side a 1-0 lead at half time before second half substitute Anthony Foti grabbed a double to seal the victory for Inter Lions.
Camden Tigers 0 Inter Lions 3 (A. Foti x 2, M. Musumeci)
Balmain Tigers FCv Gladesville Ryde Magic
A late fight back by Balmain saw the Tigers claim a point in a 3-3 draw against Gladesville.
In a tight first half, Domenic Arcella gave Balmain the lead with the only goal of the half.
The second half however saw Gladesville take charge with three consecutive goals provided by Majid Eslami, Alistair McKie and Peter Yannopoulos.
With fifteen minutes to go Balmain managed to get one back from Domenic Dimento, and central midfielder Jacob Dimento was the hero for Balmain with a late equaliser in stoppage time.
Balmain Tiger FC 3 (D.Arcella, D. Di Mento, J. Di Mento) Gladesville Ryde Magic 3 (M. Eslami, A. Mckie, P. Yannopoulos
Hakoah Sydney City East FC v Stanmore Hawks
The round closed with a stirring comeback by the league leaders as they claimed a 3-2 victory against Stanmore Hawks.
Stanmore started brightly and were up to 2-0 courtesy of Lachlan Wright and Thibault Marchall.
With an upset on the cards and fresh from a 5-1 win midweek that saw them qualify for the FFA Cup, Hakoah managed to get one back when Lloyd Owusu got on the scoresheet just before the half time break.
Owusu then levelled the scores in the second half before the comeback was complete by Deklan Gilmartin, who got the match winner in the 75th minute.
Hakoah Sydney City East FC 3 (L.Owusu x 2, D.Gilmartin) Stanmore Hawks 2 (L.Wright, T. Marchal)
-By Diego Munoz
