Mens State League 1 Preliminary Final Review
Northbridge have moved into this week’s Grand Final after overpowering Balmain Tigers 3-1 at Arlington Oval on Sunday afternoon.
With the game all tied up at half time, two quick fire second half goals in the space of five minutes were enough for Northbridge to end Balmain’s run.
It was a cagey start to the contest as both sides looked to feel their way into the match. Balmain played some nice possession football early on, while Northbridge looked to sit in and find an opportunity to get forward.
The first warning shot came from Northbridge in the 8th minute after a Lee Jones cross found midfielder Marquin Smith in the box, but his firm header went straight into the arms of Balmain keeper Lachlan Kerr.
But Northbridge didn’t have to wait long to open the scoring, and in the 14th minute some nice passing through the midfield saw the ball end up with Mitch Lensink on the edge of the Balmain box, the left back hitting a clean and firm shot into the bottom left hand corner to put Northbridge in front 1-0.
The next stage of the game saw Balmain maintain some good possession and move the ball around well, but the Tigers weren’t able to penetrate the Northbridge defence and create any meaningful chances. At the other end only a brilliant Josh Karpes block prevented Northbridge striker Kieran Hall from doubling the Bridge’s lead.
The 34th minute saw Balmain coach Joe Di Giulio replace centre-back Yaw Billy with winger Will Donato, the reshuffle forcing Liam Cole into the heart of the defence.
Northbridge enjoyed a good spell during the next part of the game with captain Ricky Woodward starting to stamp his authority on the match, while attacking midfielder Jake Mavin was a constant threat to the Balmain defence.
As the half came to a close Balmain created their best chance on goal when Joel Cook played the ball out wide to overlapping right-back Denny Noor, who unleashed a thumping shot from the edge of the box in on goal, but Northbridge keeper Anthony Zecchinati was up to the task with a reflex save.
However there was nothing Zecchinati could do moments later when midfielder Jacob Di Mento pulled the Tigers level on the stroke of half time. The play started with Josh Karpes switching the ball to Donato, who did well to hold off his marker and lay the ball into the path of Di Mento on the edge of the box, the captain hitting a low firm shot across the face of the goal and into the bottom left hand corner to send the teams locked up at 1-1 into the break.
The second half saw Balmain coach Di Giulio make a tactical switch, with striker Scott Tonkin replacing midfielder Valentin Broehl, and the Tigers definitely looked to take the game on after the break, with the newly introduced Tonkin and Donato trying to unlock the Northbridge defence with some good link-up play.
The 60th minute saw Balmain nearly take the lead after Gavin Wenyon played a delightful ball in behind the Northbridge defence to Donato, the winger just nipping in before the keeper and poking a goal-bound effort towards the goal, which was only just cleared off the line in the nick of time by Northbridge defender Jack Grant.
It was now Northbridge’s turn to make some changes, with coach Joe Haywood replacing Kieran Hall and Jack Mavin with the influential Oliver Babington and Paul Orgad in the 65th minute. The double substitution certainly seemed to spark Northbridge into action and they started to look more threatening when attacking the Balmain goal.
Not long after, in the 70th minute, it was Northbridge that hit the front with a nice team move seeing the ball switched out to Lee Jones, and the attack-minded right-back unleashed an unstoppable rocket from 25 yards out, the ball flying straight past the helpless keeper and into the top left corner to give the Bridge a 2-1 lead.
Second half substitute Paul Orgad was becoming more involved as the game went on, and the midfielder was in the thick of it only minutes later when Northbridge went up 3-1 in the 75th minute. After picking up possession, Orgad played a perfectly weighted pass into the path of fellow substitute Oliver Babington, who took a touch and slotted the ball past the keeper to put Northbridge in control of the match.
With their season slipping away, Balmain looked to answer back and captain Jacob Di Mento tried his luck from distance, only for his long-range effort to sail just over the goal.
The Tigers kept battling and in the 80th minute they thought they had found a way back into the game after Scott Tonkin headed the ball home from a corner, only for the play to be called back by the referee for an infringement in the box.
Moments later another chance fell to Balmain from a corner, this time it was Domenic Arcella who had the opportunity to pull a goal back for the Tigers, but his header flashed just over the bar.
With Balmain pushing the numbers forward in the dying minutes, Northbridge looked dangerous on the counter attack and almost grabbed another one when Babington played a clever ball to Marquin Smith, but his shot also flashed just wide of the goal.
The final whistle blew shortly after, with a delighted Northbridge moving into next week’s Grand Final to meet Hakoah.
It’s the end of the road for Balmain, who went down gallantly on the day and have seen their fairytale run come to an end after a whirlwind last few weeks. The team will no doubt regroup and be back as contenders once again next year.
Balmain coach Joe Di Giulio reflected on the loss, “I think we played well, we had some good chances to score, particularly in the second half, but that’s football and well done to Northbridge. Overall I’m proud of the boys and especially how we played during the second half of the season”.
Northbridge were able to go up another gear when needed in today’s contest and can now look forward to their second consecutive Grand Final appearance next week.
Northbridge coach Joe Haywood was pleased with the result, “It wasn’t our best performance to be honest, but I still felt we looked comfortable throughout the game, we worked hard off the ball and held good shape. In the second half we were better and our passing improved”.
Match Stats
Northbridge FC 3 (M.Lensink, L.Jones, O.Babbington)
Balmain Tigers 1 (J.Di Mento)
Sunday, 14th of September 2014
Arlington Oval, Dulwich Hill
Referee: Rob Nieuwenhuis
Assistant Referees: J.Garcia, J.Adajon
Northbridge FC: 16.Jack Grant, 15.Jake Mavin (14.Paul Orgad 65’), 10.Mitchell Lensink, 27.Anthony Zecchinati, 13.Marquin Smith, 19.Lewis Walker, 6.Ricky Woodward, 12.Kieran Hall (20.Oliver Babington 65’), 11.Jay Wynter, 9.Ry Hardy (18.Agneesh Lahiri 85’), 2.Lee Jones
Substitutes Not Used: 23.Raymond Lee, 21.Thierry Heut
Yellow Cards: Ricky Woodward, Mitch Lensink
Red Cards: Nil
Balmain Tigers: 21.Gavin Wenyon, 10.Jacob Di Mento, 17.Liam Cole, 29.Valentin Broehl (9.Scott Tonkin 46’), 6.Danny Noor, 14.Lachlan Kerr, 7.Rosario Occhipinti, 23.Dominic Arcella, 8.Joel Cook (19.James Kiosidis 77’), 16.Josh Karpes, 25.Yaw Billy (11.W Donato 35’)
Substitutes Not Used: 5.Andrew Casali, 2.Tom Hyde
Yellow Cards: Yaw Billy
Red Cards: Nil
Grade 20
Dulwich Hill has moved into next week’s Grand Final against Hakoah Sydney City East FC after beating Northbridge FC 1-0 at Arlington Oval.
In a tight contest the only goal of the game came from Manuel Angelopolous, who converted a penalty in the first half to seal the win for Dulwich Hill.
– By Diego Munoz
