Men’s State League 2 Round 7 Review

Heavy rain on Friday night and Saturday morning forced all Sydney matches to be postponed with only two matches being played this weekend. 

This has been the third time since Round 3 where the poor weather has resulted in washouts. 

Luckily for us, Wagga Wagga and Camden stayed dry enough to host their matches against FC Gazy Lansvale and Southern Districts Association Club.

Southern Districts SFA 5 vs Camden Tigers 2 (at Ron Dine Reserve, Camden)

In freezing conditions down at Ron Dine Reserve, Southern Districts find themselves back in the winners circle after picking up a valuable three points.

Southern Districts head coach, Ramson Shamon, was happy with the fight his team displayed, especially being down to 9 men in the second half and still managing to score two goals within that time. 

The Tigers look like a completely different team and this showed in this match.

After kicking off the season with three wins, they have now picked up their fourth loss in a row, with head Coach Dean Mackenchie putting this down to a disciplinary issue.

“Our discipline has been our downfall as we’ve been switching off in key moments of the match,” said Mackenchie.

Positives for them saw Jayden Russell back on the scoresheet, which brings his total tally to eight goals for the season.

Reuben Agyei Danso had an outstanding game for Districts by picking up a double.  He especially created a real spark for his side on counter attacks.  The highlight of the match however came from his second goal, which found the top right corner from close to 30 yards out.

Mirza Sehic joined his teammate with a double of his own while Mitchell Mclintock continued his outstanding goal-scoring form after deservedly finding the back of the net as well.

Despite the three goal deficit, Southern Districts went into the sheds at half time only one goal up after Camden goalkeeper Matt Johnston, pulled off a few terrific saves to deny the visitors a comfortable lead. 

The Tigers and quickly squared up the match moments into the second half, when they were awarded a penalty for a push in the box. Daniel Martinez made no mistake from the spot.  From there however, it was all Southern Districts who dominated both possession and shots on target.

One of the most pleasing things for coach Shamon was their ability to put their game plan into practice, which was seen through two of their goals coming from set pieces.

“It’s a good feeling as coach when a set piece comes together because it shows that all the hard work at training has been paying off,” said Shamon.

Southern Districts now place their focus onto next week’s match against Dunbar Rovers, which will be our match of the round.

“We’ve [Southern Districts] been waiting for this game for close to a month now,” said Shamon.

“We’re motivated by success and our whole squad has a winning culture.  We’re working our way to the champsionship but we need to put ourselves in a good position through consistent football.”

“All the boys are ready to go and we’re really looking forward to next week,” said Shamon.

FC Gazy Lansvale 4 vs Wagga City Wanderers 1 (at Gissing Oval, Wagga Wagga)

The second match of the round saw a similar scenario to that of Camden vs Southern Districts, with the away side winning with a three goal buffer.

FC Gazy Lansvale have strung together a solid performance in sunny conditions after picking up another tough win on the road. 

This time it was against the Wagga City Wanderers, with Engin Ongel starring for the visitors with his double.

There were no signs of ‘long-travel rust’ for FC Gazy who set the tone early by scoring a goal within the first two minutes of the match.  However, despite such a positive start, the score remained at one nil until half time.

Ongel finished off where he left by opening the scoring for the second half, courtesy of swift team passing that was described by FC Gazy Club President, Safet Alispahic as “pinball-like.”

With the score at 2-0, the Wanderers had to be next to score, which was exactly what they did through a clinical cross into the box, which found the head of Callum Dunbar.  However, FC Gazy quickly replied through Hoysar Cakal who made a brilliant come-back from injury, after the ball deflected into his path from a shot on goal, for him to calmly slot past the keeper.

The moment of the match went to Ozcan Cetinay though, with his bomb from 25 yards out.  Cetinay found himself in space after beating two defenders in the middle of the field and managed to curl the ball brilliantly into the bottom corner.

Despite the final score at 4-1, Wagga played competitively throughout the whole match but undid much of their good work through lack of concentration.

“We were right in it, but we made some crucial errors and turned the ball over in bad areas,” said Wanderers head coach, Blaise Fagan.

This effort was backed by Alispahic who said “Wagga are a good side and they will no doubt continue to improve in this competition.”

The Wanderers have been the subject of injuries and suspension, which have forced them to reshuffle their squad and call up younger players.

“Both our strikers were only 16 years old so it’s a good experience for those boys,” said Fagan.

“We’ll keep working at it and continue to promote youngsters, so the only way from here is up.”

For FC Gazy, Alispahic was pleased with the win and thought it was a good trip inland and that the hospitality shown by the Wanderers was excellent.

Next weekend the Wanderers will stay at home when they host the University of NSW who are on the back of a Round 6 loss to the Western Condors.

FC Gazy will also have the home advantage when they take on a tough opponent in Hurstville FC who have only lost one game all season.

– By Lars Roy, Men’s State League 2 Reporter