Mens State League Two Round 16 Review
Hurstville FC jumped five points clear following Mens State League Two round 16 results but the top and bottom of the ladder is still far from certain.
Hurstville beat Prospect 1-0, Southern Bulls and Rydalmere Lions drew 1-1, Enfield Rovers and Southern Branch drew 2-2, while Western Condors downed University of NSW 2-1. Hurstville City Minotaurs had the bye.
Hurstville FC (32) tops the list followed by Bulls (27), Prospect (26), Lions (25), Minotaurs (22) and Condors (20). Rovers (9), Uni (7) and Branch (7) are embroiled in their own battle to avoid the wooden spoon.
Rydalmere (37) claimed the grade-20 premiership, with Bulls (27), Uni (26) and Prospect (25) left to fight out the remaining finals places.
The all-important club championship remains hotly-contested, Lions (87) narrowly ahead of Bulls (81) and Prospect (77). Rydalmere and Southern face the last two round byes but if Lions win both grades against Hurstville FC in a midweek catch-up they’ll claim the overall club title.
Round 16
Enfield Rovers 2 (Johan Anderson, Ghandu Tyson) Southern Branch 2 (Gary Vann, Luke McCann)
Prospect United 0 Hurstville FC 1 (Stuart Meney)
Southern Bulls 1 (Jason Garrido) Rydalmere Lions 1 ()
Western Condors 2 (George Quattrone, Chris Katarmbis) University of NSW 1 ()
Grade 20
Enfield Rovers 2 Southern Branch 1
Prospect United 2 Hurstville FC 2
Southern Bulls 2 Rydalmere Lions 3
Western Condors 3 University of NSW 0
Rovers, Branch draw
Nothing separated Enfield Rovers and Southern Branch at Garside Park on Saturday afternoon, the game finishing 2-2 to ensure the wooden spoon label won’t be revealed until season’s end.
Branch duo Gary Vann scored a penalty for Branch and Luke McCann added a 20m screamer into the top corner to cancel out Ghandu Tyson and Johan Andersson strikes for Enfield, and both sides missed chances to net a winner with the game remaining deadlocked.
Southern coach Brod Crighton agreed with the final score. “We opened them up in the second half but weren’t good enough to finish. They had a couple of chances too, so it was a fair result.”
Enfield moved to nine points, two ahead of Uni and Branch with two weekends remaining. Rovers play Uni in the final round.
Hurstville edge Prospect
The 2014 Mens State League Two first grade premiership plaque reads all but Hurstville FC following a tough 1-0 win over Prospect United at William Lawson Reserve on Saturday night.
The tight scoreline kept the nerves on edge but a 68th minute Stuart Meney goal following good attacking play from Daniel Bittar proved to be game’s deciding score.
Hurstville’s seventh winter cleansheet took their unbeaten run to seven matches (also undefeated on the road in seven outings) and kicked them five points clear of Southern Bulls (who have next weekend’s bye) with just two rounds remaining.
Prospect still have a mathematical chance of reaching Hurstville but FC require just one point from its three remaining games (albeit tough ones against Lions, Minotaurs and Bulls) to secure the season’s first major trophy. United play Branch and Condors.
Hurstville coach Steve Zoric knows they’re not quite there yet but excitement is building at the club. “The boys are focused, we’re one step closer to putting our names on the trophy but we still have one point to go, if we can get it this week against Lions we’ll wrap it up,” he said.
“The character in the team is very strong at the moment. With all the changes to the lineup over the last month to keep getting results is remarkable, and defensively against Prospect we were never troubled.
“We know Rydalmere is playing for the club championship, and we know we have a tough run home, so anything can happen… but it’s good to see the top-four in both grades go down to the wire, it’ll be interesting to see where everyone finishes.”
A 2-2 draw in grade-20 also dented Prospect’s club championship hopes. If Rydalmere win both of this week’s catch-up grades against Hurstville FC then Lions win the coveted title.
Bulls, Lions stalemate
Southern Bulls and Rydalmere Lions fought out a 1-1 draw at Ernie Smith Reserve Saturday night, ending both sides hopes of this year’s premiership.
Rydalmere grabbed an early lead and the action went end-to-end when Jason Garrido’s replica of Robin Van Persie’s diving World Cup header leveled scores midway through the second term, fulltime ending a fantastic game of football at 1-1.
It was Southern’s fourth 1-1 draw at Ernie Smith this winter (and sixth overall this season) but more importantly it kept both them and Rydalmere too far behind Hurstville FC on the ladder.
Bulls coach Ramsin Shamon reveled in the battle. “It was a really good tussle and both sides worked well,” he said.
“They started a bit better than us and we put so much pressure on them after that when we got the equaliser; it was just wave after wave of attacks but we couldn’t finish them off.
“We’re second and need a few results to go our way, but we can’t wait for the Hurstville game to finish off the season on a high.”
Lions coach Tony Basha agreed about the spectacle. “It was a really good game. The second half was open affair, and I think a draw was a fair result,” he said.
“I really enjoyed watching Bulls play and I hope they don’t miss out on the finals to a team that doesn’t try to play football like they do.”
The Bulls grade-20 side suffered its first loss in eight weeks, falling 3-2 to Lions to deliver the premiership plate the Rydalmere.
Condors down Uni
Western Condors defeated University of NSW 2-1 at Calabria Sports Ground on Sunday afternoon to maintain their mathematical chance of making the finals.
Chris Kartambis and George Quattrone netted for Condors to register a third straight win and move five points behind fourth-placed Rydalmere with two weekends remaining.
The Lions have the upper hand, but football is a beautiful game. At the other end, Uni hit rock bottom for the first time this season as Branch joined them on seven points, just two behind Enfield – Uni’s final-round opponent.
Next games
Mens State League Two round 17 features University of NSW versus Rydalmere Lions at David Phillips Field on Saturday afternoon (3pm), followed by the Hurstville FC-Hurstville City Minotaurs derby at St George Stadium on Saturday evening (5pm). On Sunday afternoon Western Condors host Enfield Rovers at Calabria Sports Ground (3pm) and Southern Branch face Prospect United at South Nowra Football Complex (3pm). Southern Bulls have the bye. A round-10 catch-up between big-guns Hurstville FC and Rydalmere Lions is scheduled for next Wednesday night at William Lawson Reserve (8.30pm).
-By Dan De Nardi
