Mens State League Two Round 13 Review
It’s tight in Football NSW State League Two
It’s a can of sardines in Football NSW Mens State League 2 following a regular round 13 of action.
While prospect United and Southern Bulls drew their top-of-the-table clash 1-1, Rydalmere Lions downed Enfield Rovers 1-0, Hurstville FC defeated Southern Branch 3-0 and Hurstville City Minotaurs beat University of NSW 2-1 to make it nice and squishy at the top of both grades.
It’s a real top-four race to the flag in firsts with Prospect (26), Hurstville FC (23), Bulls (22) and Lions (21) keeping Minotaurs (18) and Condors (14) at bay, and there’s a breakaway grade-20 top-four with Lions (25), Prospect (24), Uni (23) and Bulls (21) well ahead of Branch (13), Condors (12) and Rovers (11).
Round 13
University of NSW 1 (Andrew Moussallon) Hurstville City Minotaurs 2 (Mate Balazs, Mudrek Abaid)
Southern Bulls 1 (Joseph Mensah) Prospect United 1 (Chris Camilleri)
Hurstville FC 3 (Denis Cutura, Steven Flatt, Danny Bittar) Southern Branch 0
Rydalmere 1 (Amaury Gauthier) Enfield Rovers 0
Grade 20
University of NSW 1 Hurstville City Minotaurs 2
Southern Bulls 1 Prospect United 1
Hurstville FC 0 Southern Branch 3
Rydalmere 1 Enfield Rovers 0
Minotaurs pip Uni
Hurstville City Minotaurs beat University of NSW 2-1 in a climatic game of football at David Phillips Field on a swirly Saturday afternoon.
Thanks to Mate Balazs and Mudrek Abaid goals Hurstville were 2-0 up and looking ood at halftime but a near gale-forced wind picked up to make for a very interesting second half, Andrew Moussallon touching in off a Minotaurs goalkick into the massive headwind to make it 2-1 with plenty of football to play.
Uni were all over City but couldn’t find an equaliser as Hurstville held on for a very important win (they also got their first grade 20 victory against top-three Uni).
The General celebrated with several players on a, um, “fact-finding mission” to some Hunter Valley wineries on Sunday and not surprisingly was in a jolly mood, despite what he described as unbelievable conditions the day before at David Phillips Field. “We were 2-0 up and looking a little bit easy but [in the second half], I’m telling you, I’ve never seen a stronger wind in a game of football in my life! I thought the game might be called off,” he said.
“Their goal came from a goalkick where the ball went up in the air and came back down in the six yard box.. I’m not even sure if anyone touched it before it went in – it was incredible! Uni put us under the pump and we had to keep the ball low and to the sides; we really battled hard for the points. But if we want to play semi finals we have to keep winning games.”
Minotaurs trail fourth-placed Lions by three points ahead of a key match-up in two weeks time.
Hurstville beat Branch
Hurstville FC downed a courageous Southern Branch 3-0 at St George Soccer Stadium on Saturday evening, the league’s bottom-placed club putting up a great fight the whole game through.
Although Hurstville could’ve been up by a few more at halftime (they led 1-0 courtesy of a Denis Cutura strike), the southerners didn’t make it easy for them and late Steven Flatt and Danny Bittar goals secured the points for FC.
Hurstville coach Steve Zoric paid plenty of credit to both sides. “It certainly wasn’t clinical from us; the effort was there and we controlled the game, I asked them to be patient and put more pressure up the park, and they did everything to plan, and in the second half we put them to the sword,” he said.
“But I really have to congratulate Branch. They have the most depleted squad and probably the youngest squad in the league and they had a real go and to see this team competing despite what they’re up against was really enjoyable to watch.
“I also want to mention [attacking midfielder] Daniel Kocina who’s been training with our first grade side for a while and I popped him in there for his first grade debut and he was one of the best on field.”
A 3-0 win to Branch grade-20 gave its faint finals hopes a boost. They’re fifth but trail the top-four by eight points with five games to play.
Bulls, Prospect draw
Southern Bulls rued their missed chances in a 1-1 draw with frontrunners Prospect United in a gritty top-of-the-table clash at Ernie Smith Reserve on Saturday night.
Joseph Mensah put the home side ahead in a dominant start to the game only to concede a penalty later in the half that Chris Camilleri converted to make it 1-1 at the break. There were fewer chances in the second term and the match finished in a stalemate – that’s one win apiece and three draws from five tight state league encounters between the two clubs.
Prospect coach Tony Caruso said the game could’ve gone either way. “Some of us felt it was maybe two points lost but in the end a draw was probably a fair result,” he said. “Both sides had some quality players and they probably cancelled each other out to be honest.”
Bulls coach Ramsin Shamon started with a quote from an English Premier League coach, his frustration clearly evident. “I’d like to thank my players for an absolutely unbelievable performance, and I’d like to thank Prospect for coming and giving us a good game…”
“We were all over them, scored early and had a few good, clear chances; then we cop a penalty at the other end … [honestly]… all but one of the goals we’ve copped this year have been from corners and penalties… We could’ve won that game by a lot.”
Lions edge Rovers
Rydalmere Lions held off a dogged Enfield Rovers 1-0 at Rydalmere Park on Sunday afternoon to move within five points of leaders Prospect, who they meet next weekend in a blockbuster.
Enfield gave as good as it copped it and in the end an Amaury Gauthier goal for Rydalmere with 10 minutes to play decided the affair, Gauthier scoring in the last three matches since moving across from Sydney Olympic along with Kingsley Williams – the Lions now gaining momentum with a fifth straight win keeping them three points ahead of Minotaurs and only two points off a top-two spot.
Rydalmere coach Tony Basha applauded both sides for making the most of a rugged contest. “It was a tough game; the conditions didn’t make it easy for both teams as the field wasn’t at its best, but I thought [Rovers] were decent and outplayed us in parts today. They’re keeper pulled off a couple of good saves as well,” he said. “We’re looking for top spot and slowly closing in.”
Next games
Football NSW State League Two round 14 features Hurstville City Minotaurs versus Southern Bulls at St George Soccer Stadium on Saturday evening (5pm) followed by Prospect United against Rydalmere Lions at William Lawson Reserve on Saturday night (7pm). On Sunday afternoon (3pm) Western Condors host Hurstville FC at Calabria Sports Ground while Southern Branch tackle University of NSW at South Nowra Football Complex. Enfield Rovers have the bye.
-By Dan De Nardi
