Men’s State League 1 Round 3 Review
IT was another action packed weekend of Men’s State League One action.
North Shore, Rydalmere and Gladesville remain the three undefeated while Hills continued their winning ways in the west.
Check out all the action below in our weekly review.
Match of the Round – Rydalmere Lions v Balmain Tigers
An undermanned Rydalmere took the pride in Saturday afternoon’s MATCH OF THE ROUND scoring two late goals to beat a lacklustre Balmain side.
Bright sunshine greeted the two teams as they stepped onto Garside Park, eager to attack from the offset. It didn’t take long as Joel Cook took the first shot of the afternoon glancing it wide, firing a warning shot to Rydalmere.
The Lions didn’t heed the call, as two minutes later Balmain had the ball in the net. Scott Tonkin found himself with some space on the edge of the box and unleashed a curled shot that would beat most keepers in football.
Following their bright opening, Balmain were pushed back by a tough Rydalmere side, who started to see more of the possession.
Former Sydney Olympic star Zakeriya Elrich was a constant danger down the right hand side, playing in a few quality crosses.
Elrich sparked the contest with his shooting ability though, the striker brought the game back to one-all in the twelfth minute. He cut in down his favoured right side, rasping a sweet shot right into the top corner of the net.
Rydalmere almost doubled their money in the 24th minute. It was once again Elrich was free down the right, found space and took on the shot. Luckily for Balmain this attempt could only rattle the crossbar but served warning if the goal wasn’t of his prowess.
The flurry of chances in the first twenty was replaced by a midfield struggle in the remainder of the first half as neither team could grasp a foothold in the game. Elrich and Tonkin, were ever present in the action following their strikes but couldn’t add further to the scoreboard.
Joe Di Guilo was animated on the sideline for most of the second half, as Balmain continued to cede possession to a Rydalmere side who were missing several main players. Serjei Kunst nodded their best chance wide as the chances were few and far between.
While Balmain threw on Tatsuya Nakadai to give them some forward emphasis, the quest for the second goal left them open at the back. Elrich broke with pace in the 85th minute, planting a cross right on Mortaza Safdari’s foot to tap home the heartbreaker.
There would be further heartache for Di Guilo late in stoppage time with Elrich fed in on a counter attack to slot past Anthony Costa, who was hampered with a back injury.
Match Stats
Rydalmere Lions 3 (Elrich ’12, ’93 Safdari ’85)
Yellow cards: Elrich and Safdari
Balmain Tigers FC 1 (Tonkin ‘5)
Yellow card: Tonkin
Round 3 Summaries
Hills Brumbies 2 (Morsillo and Biason) defeat Hawkesbury City SC 1 (Gough)
Hills continued their strong start to the new Men’s State League One campaign as they dispatched Hawkesbury City to continue the home side’s dismal start to the season.
Daniel Morsillo and Steve Biason scored their goals either side of halftime with Biason continuing his goal a game record. Hawkesbury got one back Benjamin Gough late to reduce the deficit.
Gladesville Ryde Magic 1 (Eslami) defeated Nepean FC 0
The undefeated start for Nepean came to an end this afternoon at Cook Park when they were stunned by Gladesville. Majid Eslami was the lone goalscorer in the second half following a tense first 45 that ended in a stalemate.
The Magic stayed undefeated themselves as they welcome the Rage to Magdala Park.
Dulwich Hill FC 2 (Johnston and Hyranthos) defeated Granville Rage 1 (Bobo)
Dulwich Hill continued on from their resilient 4-all draw last weekend to record a victory at home against a brave Granville side. Hill scored their two goals through Adam Johnston and Steven Hyranthos, who made it two goals in two weeks with his effort.
The Rage’s only strike came through Nenos Bobo.
North Shore Mariners 4 (Hardy, Mcalpine, Purtell and Woodward) defeated Stanmore Hawks 1 (Awad)
The first fixture on Northbridge this season, was a goal feast to match the occasion. Stanmore were once again involved, on the losing side this time.
The two sides traded strikes in the first half as Ry Hardy netted for the home side and Sam Awad the scorer for the visitors as they went in deadlocked at the break.
orth Shore broke the shackles in the next half, scoring three unanswered goals including one to recruit Tadgh Purtell, Ricky Woodward and Mark McAlpine to finish 4-1.
Inter Lions 1 drew with Western NSW Mariners 1 (James Christie)
Western NSW will rue their missed chances in a game where Mariners coach Andrew Fearnley praised his charges for their “best football of the season.”
James Christie was the marksman for the visitors with his first goal of the season. Inter were gallant as they stayed in the game and scored with the final kick of the game to earn the point.
-by Justin Davies, Men’s State League 1 Reporter
