Men’s State League Round 13 Review
Rain played havoc with half the games this weekend but there was still some exciting action.
North Shore played hosts to Hills Brumbies in our match of the round.
Match of the Round: North Shore 5 v Hills Brumbies 3
The Mariners kept their unbeaten streak alive with a four goal second half to tame the Brumbies.
Hills got off to an ideal start when Daniel Morsillo swept home his tenth goal of the season in the sixth minute.
Mark Giovenali had his troops primed to go, as they were all over the leaders in the first half which was reflected in the 3-1 halftime score.
First it was Wade Giovenali that doubled Hills advantage on the half hour mark when he made it two goals in as many weeks.
North Shore clawed a goal back in the 36th minute when Lee Jones buoyed by his wonder effort against Rydalmere, struck to bring it back to 2-1.
It was the other Giovenali, in Gregory, that restored the two goal advantage. The tall forward was on spot to put a third past Mariners ‘keeper Anthony Zecchinati.
After a stirring first half – Hills left their heads in the locker rooms because North Shore attacked them with verve and turned around the result.
Jones struck once again for the Mariners in the 49th minute for his brace as the contest lived up to the pre match billing of goals galore.
Everything Mariners coach, Joe Haywood touched in the second half turned to gold. Mark McAlpine was introduced for Marquin Smith and proceed to draw his team level in the 51st minute.
From the equaliser, North Shore ran riot to keep their status atop the Men’s State League 1 competition intact with a 5-3 victory.
Left back Lee Jones completed his hat-trick in the 78th minute, to put the Mariners ahead for the first time in the contest.
Tadhg Purcell put the exclamation point on the victory in the third minute of stoppage time to round a dominant second half performance from the home side.
Match Stats
North Shore Mariners 5 (Jones ’36, 49 and 78, McAlpine ’51 and Purcell ’93)
Hills Brumbies 3 (Morsillo ‘6, G.Giovenali ’38 and W.Giovenali ’30)
North Shore Mariners: Grant, Walker, Wynter, Woodward, Cole, Lensink, Chapman(Collins), Smith(McAlpine), Zecchinati, Jones and Purcell
Subs not used: Baker, Lahiri and Esposito
Yellow card: Wynter
Hills Brumbies: Faulkner, Brandon(Rodriquez), W. Giovenali(Bedzo), Morsillo, Pivato, Biason(Savetta), G.Giovenali, Hoyer, Kelshaw, Franich and McCracken
Subs not used: Lawler and Miller
Yellow card: Wynter
Hills Brumbies: Faulkner, Brandon(Rodriquez), W. Giovenali(Bedzo), Morsillo, Pivato, Biason(Savetta), G.Giovenali, Hoyer, Kelshaw, Franich and McCracken
Subs not used: Lawler and Miller
Yellow cards: Hoyer and Kelshaw
Stanmore Hawks 1 v Dulwich Hill 1
The local derby ended up in a draw on an overcast Sunday afternoon.
Veteran Hawks star Evangelos Petratos scored first for the home side with his first goal of the season.
Dully struck back through Stephen Hrysanthos, his ninth of the season to pull one behind top scorer Daniel Morsillo.
Neither team could reproduce their form in the second half as the game petered out to a draw.
Inter Lions 0 v Gladesville Ryde Magic 0
In a game moved to Fraser Park due to the bad weather, the score reflected the conditions.
Inter will be pleased to continue picking up points with most of the competition off due to the rain.
Gladesville move back into the top five with their earned point ahead of Western NSW.
-By Justin Davies, Men’s State League 1 reporter
