SUPA IGA NPL NSW Mens 2 Round 19 Review

Round 19 of the SUPA IGA NPL NSW Mens 2 saw a number of teams pushed out of finals contention, with six teams now likely to battle it out for the final four spots to play post-season football.

Mounties bounced back into fifth, with Central Coast Mariners Academy and Bankstown City waiting for a slip up in the top five, while there was no change at the foot of the ladder.

There was change, though, in the club championship as Northern Tigers made up slight ground on leaders Parramatta FC and cellar dwellers Fraser Park crept up further on Hills Brumbies, who sit second from the bottom.

Match of the Round

Fraser Park v Bankstown Berries

On a bitterly cold evening at The Crest, neither Fraser Park nor Bankstown Berries were able to come away with maximum points as both sides played out a relatively drab 0-0 draw, leaving the bottom of the table unchanged with three rounds to go. 

With the match being switched to the Berries’ home ground, a standard practice for Fraser Park this season while their own ground refurbishment takes place, one could have been expected to believe the Berries would feel more at home in this wooden spoon encounter. 

But it was Fraser Park who started the more enterprisingly, with attack and goals clearly on their mind. They did have more to play for, in truth, as they are effectively playing for the NPL lives over the final stages of the season. For Fraser, it is more about their Club Championship position than the Mens 2 table alone. One sensed that Bankstown Berries, normally fighting for a playoff position, will be glad to see this year over. 

With Jeffrey Issa, Wassim Hijazi and Kevin Oliveira all prominently up front, Fraser Park’s intent was there for all to see. On one particular occasion, Fraser Park charged forward on the break with five men on the counter, but the Berries, on most occasions, were able to comfortably counter each move. 

It was through Issa that any breakthrough seemed likely, the lively winger promising plenty of danger out on the right, and midway through the first half, Fraser Park had a great chance to take the lead, with Issa’s cross being desperately cleared away at the last moment. 

This was the best period of the half for Fraser, with Nick Dimitropoulos just heading over from a corner, and Hijazi and Issa combining well but failing with the final shot. The Berries countered with their best chance of the half, Nick Paras’ great strike being quickly pushed onto the post by Michael Frost. A good hit responded to with just as good a save. 

Dimitri Zakilas, quiet for the most part, had the ball in the back of the net ten minutes before the break, before being ruled out for offside. It was a lucky escape for Fraser Park, who had carelessly given over possession midway in their own half just moments before. 

After the interval, Fraser Park continued on with the search for goals, Robert di Meglio drawing a diving save from Nestor Tsioustas four minutes in, and Issa again looking dangerous. 

But as the half wore on, the game degenerated somewhat, the ball seeming to spend as much time in the air as it did on the ground. For all their industriousness, Fraser Park could not breach the Berries backline, while Bankstown relied predominantly on deep free kicks as their source for a goal. Frost continually showed a clean pair of hands to give lie to that expectation. 

With ten minutes to go, Hussein Akil had the last decent chance of the match, perhaps at the end of the best move of the match, but shot over. 

The point apiece leaves Bankstown Berries in bottom spot, with Fraser Park just a point above but the Club Championship points earned, combined with victory in the Under 20s fixture, sees Fraser Park leapfrog Hills Brumbies and off the bottom for the first time since mid May. 

The last three rounds should prove very interesting indeed. 

Fraser Park 0

Bankstown Berries 0

Saturday 2 August 2014 

at The Crest, Bass Hill

Referee: Ben Abraham

Assts: Brendan Koehler and Matt Riedy

Fraser Park: 1. Michael Frost 19. Rocci Gabey 5. Nicholas Dimitropoulos 12. Adem Kir 21. Davide Talone 16. Robert di Meglio (10. Paulo Oliviera 67’)  20. Hussein Akil 15. Alex Veljanovski 6. Jeffrey Issa 9. Wassim Hijazi (17. Sash Tirovski 78’) 7. Kevin Oliviera.

Subs not used: 11. Carlo Musumeci 18. Mitchell Davidson 40. Wayne Estavao

Yellow Cards: Jeffrey Issa and Paulo Oliviera

Coach: Mile Todoroski

Bankstown Berries: 40. Nestor Tsioustas 6. Matthew Trotter 15. Steve Wright 3. Joseph Savor 5. Bradley Robertson 7. Kyle Ewart 4. Omar Saadi 10. Jun Kato 20. Peter Dimitropoulos 14. Nicholas Paras (8. Joel Anscomb) 19. Dimitri Zakilas (17. Aleksander Lekoski 78’). 

Subs not used: 11. Stephen Grbevski 18. David Chung.

Yellow Cards: Nil

Coach: Wally Savor

Parramatta FC v Northern Tigers

Parramatta and Northern Tigers shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw at Melita Stadium on Wednesday night, with the result undoubtedly favouring the hosts.

The draw meant Tigers failed to make up ground on the Eagles, who lead both the Mens 2 competition and the Club Championship with three games remaining.

There was very little to separate the two sides, who were evenly matched throughout the 90 minutes.

Parra skipper Pat Gatt could have found the breakthrough after just 20 minutes when he rose well to meet Mathew Clowes’ corner, but he sprayed his header wide of the goal.

The aerial route was again employed seven minutes later, this time Shayne Ardle got himself into a good position but headed straight into the arms of Tigers goalkeeper Stuart Page.

The visitors were gifted a chance on the half hour mark when Parra no. 1 Luke Turnbull produced an air swing with his attempted clearance and re-gathered the ball, resulting in an indirect free kick just inside the box.

But Guilherme De Souza offloaded to Shervin Adeli who blasted his shot into the wall.

Tigers continued to press high and Mitch Smith looked to add to his recent streak but his snap shot from Max Glanville’s long throw-in went just over the goal.

The best chance of the match came after 54 minutes when Max Glanville hit a shot with great precision that had Turnbull beaten, only for the effort to ricochet off the crossbar and back into play.

Despite a few half chances during the remainder of the second half, there was no decisive goal, although both outfits look in great knick heading into the finals.

Parramatta FC 0

Northern Tigers 0

Spirit FC v Central Coast Mariners Academy

Central Coast Mariners Academy maintained their top five push with a narrow 2-1 win over Spirit on Saturday night. 

Spirit waved goodbye to their chances of playing finals football with the defeat as Louis Bozanic and Tom Spencer cancelled out Nicholas Trimble’s effort to move the Mariners into sixth place, equal on points with Mounties.

Spirit FC 1 (Nicholas Trimble)

Central Coast Mariners Academy (Louis Bozanic, Tom Spencer)

Hills Brumbies v Macarthur Rams

It was a dour weekend for Hills as far as the club championship was concerned, with losses in each of the top three grades, with first grade going down 1-0 to Macarthur.

The Rams returned to second place and picked up a big boost of confidence with what should be enough to seal a finals berth.

Brumbies look to be out of the race for the top five but have plenty to play for with the overall championship hanging in the balance.

Hills Brumbies 0

Macarthur Rams 1

Mt Druitt Town Rangers v Mounties Wanderers

Mounties returned to the finals positions with a late 1-0 win against Mt Druitt at Popondetta Park.

Milan Zoric popped up in the 90th minute to hand Wanderers all three points and ensure they remain well in contention to continue in the post-season.

Rangers look out of the race, they sit eight points away from the five in ninth place.

Mt Druitt Town Rangers 0

Mounties Wanderers 1 (Milan Zoric)

Bankstown City v Sydney University

The points were shared at Jensen Park on Sunday afternoon as Sydney University held Bankstown City to a 2-2 draw to remain in fourth place.

Lions striker Jason Naidovski proved the hero with a double for the hosts, which saw them drop to seventh place but sit just one point away from the coveted fifth spot.

Bankstown City 2 (Jason Naidovski 2)

Sydney University 2 (Graeme Forbes 

– By Mitchell Grima