Mens State League 1 Round 22 Review
A frantic final day in the Men’s State League 1 competition has seen Balmain finish 5th on the ladder and in line for an elimination final against Gladesville.
Other results will see Northbridge play Granville in a qualifying final, while Hakoah will have a week off after finishing Premier’s. At the other end Camden Tigers have finished bottom of the Club Championship.
Round 18 Catch up – Stanmore Hawks vs Balmain Tigers
Stanmore Hawks claimed a big 3-1 victory over Balmain in Saturday afternoons catch up fixture.
Stanmore got off to a dream start in the first minute of the game with an errant back pass from Balmain allowing Costa Bakoulis to open the scoring for the Hawks.
The Hawks struck again in the second half with Thibault Marchal doubling the lead for the home side at 2-0, but with their finals spot on the line, Balmain mounted a fight back and a Domenic Arcella’s goal got the Tigers back in the contest.
However Stanmore wrapped up the points with 10 minutes to go when a counter attack saw Coasta Bakoulis set up Thibault Marchall for his second goal of the game to make the final score 3-1.
Stanmore Hawks 3 (T. Marchal x2, C.Bakoulis) Balmain Tigers 1 (D.Arcella)
Gladesville Ryde Magic v Balmain Tigers FC
Balmain have secured their passage into the finals with a 6-0 win over Gladesville Ryde Magic at Magdala Park. Needing a win after yesterday’s loss to Stanmore, the Tigers got off to a quick start and never looked like being troubled.
It didn’t take long for the scoring to begin, with Balmain taking an early lead in the 5th minute. Right winger Domenic Di Mento played in a delightful cross to the back post, which was acrobatically met by James Kiosidis, who struck the ball with the outside of his foot and past outstretched keeper Kiriakos Tohouroglou.
Two minutes later Kiosidis was on the score sheet again as the Tigers went up 2-0 in the 7th minute. Striker Rosario Occhipinti started the play by picking up possession on the halfway line and playing in a long ball in behind the Gladesville defence and into the path of Kiosidis, who took a touch and rounded the keeper before slotting the ball home.
A shell shocked Gladesville looked like they were still in the sheds, and chances to Occhipinti and Domenic Arcella only a short time later had the alarm bells ringing for the home side. But Gladesville were able to weather the initial onslaught and slowly worked their way into the game.
In the 22nd minute Gladesville looked like they were back in the game after Alexander Morris bundled home a Lachlan Wright free kick, but the assistant referee had his flag up and the goal was disallowed for offside.
The next stage of the game saw Balmain sit on their lead, with the Tigers looking comfortable on the ball and composed in the back, while Gladesville were looking more settled, but without any clear cut chances on goal.
On the stroke of halftime Balmain appeared to land a massive blow when Gavin Wenyon made it 3-0 for the Tigers. The left-back played a perfectly timed one-two with Valentin Broehl and was able to poke the ball into the net and just past the onrushing keeper.
As the whistle for halftime sounded, the Tigers went into the sheds knowing that they were well on their way to a finals berth, while Gladesville would need a complete turnaround to secure a top three finish.
The second half got underway and Gladesville came out with more purpose in their play, and an early chance fell for Lachlan Wright, but his header flashed just wide of the goal.
Gladesville turned to their bench in search of more firepower in the 55th minute and brought on forwards Thomas Nastoulis and Majid Eslami in place of defender Alexander Morris and Andrew McKie.
But it was Balmain who would strike next when in the 74th minute Rosario Occhipinti made it 4-0 for the Tigers. Once again Balmain were able to hurt Gladesville on the counter, and Occhipinti found himself on the edge of the Gladesville box before cutting inside his defender and curling a left foot shot into the bottom corner of the goal.
Two minutes later and Occhipinti would grab his second of the game, with the striker being played in with a long ball in behind the Gladesville defence and taking a touch at the edge of the box, before burying his low shot past the helpless keeper to make it 5-0. Balmain were now well and truly on their way to the finals.
Despite the scoreline Gladesville still looked to go forward, but it clearly wasn’t their day, and in the 82nd minute a chance for a consolation goal was denied when substitute Majid Eslami’s left foot shot came crashing back off the post.
With the game coming to an end, Balmain were able to rub some more salt into Gladesville’s wound when second half substitute and former Gladesville player Scott Tonkin made it 6-0, the striker volleying home from the edge of the box after a precise cross from right-back Denny Noor.
The huge win sees Balmain confirm their place in next week’s elimination final, which will be especially sweet for the side after sitting just outside the top five for the majority of the year.
Gladesville meanwhile were always assured a finals spot and were hopeful that a positive result would keep them in the top three, but as the scores from the other games filtered into the ground, Gladesville would learn that they were pushed down into fourth place and would meet Balmain again next week in an elimination final.
Best on the ground for Gladesville was forward Stephen Lloyd, who despite the scoreline battled away up front all afternoon and looked to use his strength to find an opening for the Magic. Midfielder Lachlan Wright also played with his usual spark and creativity and looked the most likely avenue to goal.
Gladesville stand-in coach Yianni Sievas shared his thoughts on the performance, “Today they outplayed us all over the pitch, we couldn’t defend and we didn’t pick up our men. We have to go back to the drawing board and hopefully this will be a lesson for next week”.
Balmain were ruthless in attack and today’s performance will have everyone else on notice as we head into the finals. Best performances came from star striker Rosario Occhipinti, who grabbed a brace and was clinical on the afternoon. Centre-back Liam Cole, who came in for the suspended Josh Karpes, didn’t put a foot wrong all afternoon and put in an assured display in the heart of defence.
Balmain coach Joe Di Giulio was proud of his side, “I thought we played well and I was pleased with the performance, especially considering we had to back up from yesterday. I’m very proud of the boys, they showed a lot of character and will be full of confidence for next week”.
Match Stats
Gladesville Ryde Magic 0
Balmain Tigers 6 (J.Kiosidis x2, G.Wenyon, R.Occhipinti x2, S.Tonkin)
Sunday, 24th of August 2014
Magdala Park, Ryde
Referee: Kevin Peddie
Assistant Referees: Jonathon Moore, Robert Warry
Gladesville Ryde Magic: 5. Alexander Morris (Thomas Nastoulis 55’), 33. K Tohouroglou, 6. C Gaitatzis, 16.Andrew Mckie (M Eslami 55’) 15.Stephen Lloyd, 10. Lachlan Wright, 4. Samuel Alexander Powell 12. Stephen Speirs , 8.John Martinez 2. Brett Townley-Jones 13.Benjamin Kerr
Substitutes Not Used: 9.Wool Reec, 14.Cameron Madden
Yellow Cards: k.Tohouroglou
Red Cards: Nil
Balmain Tigers: 21.Gavin Wenyon, 27. Domenic Di Mento (11.W Donato 72’), 10.Jacob Di Mento, 17.Liam Cole 29.Valentin Broehl (9.S Tonkin 60’), 6.Danny Noor, 14.Lachlan Kerr, 25.Yaw Billy, 7.Rosario Occhipinti, 23.Dominic Arcella, 19.James Kiosidis (8.Joel Cook 55’)
Substitutes Not Used: 114. Martin Kerr, 3.Andrew Casali
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Stanmore Hawks v Hakoah Sydney City East FC
Hakoah found themselves back in the winner’s circle courtesy of a high scoring 9-5 victory over Stanmore Hawks.
Hakoah started brightly and pushed out to a 4-0 lead before the Hawks got the score back to 4-2, but Hakoah stuck again to make it 5-2 at half time.
The goals continued in the second half, with both sides trading goals and going toe to toe, but the closest Stanmore came was a two goal deficit before Hakoah ran away to an incredible 9-5 win, with striker Lloyd Owusu grabbing a hat-trick on the day.
Hakoah will enjoy a week off next week after finishing Premier’s this season, while Stanmore finishes 8th on the ladder.
Stanmore Hawks 5 (C. Bakoulis 2, T. Marchal, N. Philippou) Hakoah 9 (L. Owusu x3, N. Bowden-Haase 2, A. Musumeci, M. Katz, K. Lopes, R. Ezekiel)
Granville Rage v Nepean FC
Granville Rage and Nepean shared the spoils with a 1-1 draw at Garside Park.
Nepean started the stronger of the two sides and took the lead in the 30th minute when a through ball from Jason Browne saw Michael Noro round the keeper and open the scoring.
The second half saw Granville start to get on top and Nenos Bobo equalised for the home side.
Some late drama saw Nepean keeper Ryan Trussell save a spot kick as Nepean held on for an important draw which sees them steer clear from the bottom of the Club Championship.
The point was enough for the Rage to leapfrog Gladesville and finish third on the ladder, which means they will face Northbridge in the qualifying final next week.
Granville Rage 1 (N.Bobo) v Nepean FC 1 (M.Noro)
Western NSW Mariners FC v Dulwich Hill FC
Western NSW Mariners ended their season on a high with a 3-0 win again Dulwich Hill.
Adam Scimone put the home side in front just before halftime, before goals to Ricky Guihot and Chris New-Tolley in the second half made the final score 3-0.
The victory sees the Mariners finish 10th on the ladder, while Dulwich Hill’s late season fade sees them end up in 7th spot.
The Mariners also said goodbye this weekend to club favourite Mark Rooke, who has decided to hang up his boots.
Western NSW Mariners FC 3 (A.Scimone, R.Guihot, C.New-Tolley) v Dulwich Hill FC 0
Inter Lions SC v Camden Tigers
Camden finished the season with an impressive 5-1 victory over Inter Lions.
Goals to Blake Armstrong, Dean Morgan and Dean Mugridge saw the Tigers go up 3-0 at halftime.
Inter hit back after the break to make it 3-1 before Dean Mugridge grabbed two more goals to complete his hat-trick and give his side a 5-1 win.
However the win was not enough to prevent Camden from finishing at the bottom of the Club Championship.
Inter meanwhile will finish bottom of the first grade ladder if they fail to beat Northbridge in their catchup game next week.
Inter Lions SC 1 v Camden Tigers 5 (D.Mugridge x3, D.Morgan, B.Armstrong)
Northbridge FC v Hawkesbury City SC
Northbridge got back to winning ways in an entertaining 4-3 victory over Hawkesbury.
The only goal of the first half was an own goal by Northbridge, which gave Hawkesbury a 1-0 lead going into half time.
In the second half Marquin Smith equalised for Northbidge to make it 1-1, before the floodgates opened and the two teams traded goals which saw Hawkesbury hold a late 3-2 lead.
However Northbridge weren’t to be denied, and two late goals to Kieran Hall saw the Bridge steal the three points to remain second placed on the ladder.
Hawkesbury meanwhile narrowly missed out on a finals place, finishing sixth on the ladder after a late season charge fell just short.
Northbridge FC 4 (M.Smith, R.Hardy, K.Hall x2) v Hawkesbury City SC 3 (OG, M.Mccrory, E.Daglis)
– By Diego Munoz
