Men’s State League 1 Round 1 Review

An entertaining first weekend of Men’s State League 1 action saw 19 goals across the six games including a five goal thriller in Sydney’s west and a statement win from the newcomers Hills Brumbies.

Check out all the action, goal scorers and results in our weekly review below.

Inter Lions 2 defeated Granville Rage 1

It was a dominant display to open the season for the Inter Lions who remained in complete control throughout the match in the sunshine of Garside Park this Saturday afternoon. Lachlan Wright opened the scoring for the visitors.

Inter added a second after the break, to give themselves a two-nil cushion before the Rage built a comeback pulling one back. The Lions were able to see out the rest of the contest without much incident to record the win, and a valuable three points at the start of the season.

Western NSW Mariners FC 1 defeated Hawkesbury City SC 0

The new season brought a positive start for the Mariners, who collected the three points at David Bertenshaw Oval on Saturday afternoon. In a tense game where the home side shaded the possession and chances were caught out by the Mariners.

Kane Hughes scored on the half hour mark to give them the victory, which allowed them to dominate the rest of the game making the most the chances before the customary kitchen sink approach from Hawkesbury in the dying stages of the game. Mariners were good enough to see it out, banking the three points.

Gladesville Ryde Magic 2 defeated Balmain Tigers 1

Gladesville got their campaign off to a winning start, seeing off a gallant Balmain Tigers outfit in their Saturday evening clash. Their goals came from John Martinez and Stephen Lloyd who opened their accounts for the season. The Magic also scored the only goal for the Tigers as it was credited as an own goal which kept the home side in the contest.

They were able to see the game out without much incident, picking up two yellows to Lachlan Harte and Majid Eslami while Balmain saw a yellow ticket handed out to Thomas Hyde.

Nepean FC 3 defeated Dulwich Hill FC 2

Cook Park played host to a thrilling contest as Nepean FC and Dulwich Hill FC played out the match of the round by some way. The hosts were rewarded for their recruiting in the off season from international signings Kodai Hayashi and Alessandro Suarez with goals this afternoon. Mikal Awad chipped in with the third to round out their scoring.

Dulwich Hill were willing opponents though with Stephen Hrysanthos and Sash Tirovski scoring for the away side in a contest which was played in quite the fair spirit. The only yellow card was handed out to James Morrison.

Rydalmere Lions FC 2 drew with North Shore Mariners FC 2

Rydalemere and North Shore played out the first draw of the State League One season in an eventful game which featured six cards including a red card. Khalid Allybokus was dismissed on the half hour mark leaving them to play the majority of the game with ten.

Compounded by this, North Shore used the extra man to their advantage scoring twice through Mark Mcalpine and a vintage Michael Cole goal, to cruise through the rest of the game. As the game ticked over in the final twenty, the Lions roared back into the contest with two late goals to Amaury Gautier and Mark Jordan which salvaged a spirited point despite the dismissal.

Hills Brumbies 5 defeated Stanmore Hawks 2

There was a real statement of intent from the Brumbies in their first game in State League One, delivering probably the most surprising scoreline of the weekend. Brumbies went to Arlington Oval looking to impress and by the full-time whistle they sat atop of the State League One table with the other first round winners.

Steve Biason scored a brace for the Brumbies in the first half to give them a comfortable cushion in the second half. They dominated possession and didn’t rest on the two goal lead, Keunike Maralit adding a third before the flood gates opened with Daniel Morsillo and Gregory Giovenali rounding out the goals for a deserved five-two win. Goals for the visitors came via Vincent Leto and Christian Ekwerike.

-By Justin Davies