Men’s State League 1 Round 17 Review
The rain conspired once again to shorten this weekend’s fixtures but the ones that went ahead were action-packed.
Balmain Tigers hosted North Shore Mariners in an exciting Match of the Round.
Match of the Round: Balmain Tigers 4 v North Shore Mariners 5
It was a wild night as the teams traded nine goals that warmed up a cold night at Valentine Sports Park, home to Football NSW on Sunday.
North Shore Mariners produced one of their best displays of the season in the first half.
They dictated play and got their reward with four first half goals.
Former Manly United and Marconi Stallions star striker Tadhg Purcell sent an early effort into the arms of Anthony Costa.
Costa wasn’t as lucky three minutes later when Michael Cole popped up to hook the ball in for 1-0.
The task facing the Tigers got much tougher in the 19th minute when Chris Lindsay bent a wicked cross in and deflected past Costa in-goal for 2-0.
With their tails up, North Shore Mariners soon got a third.
Lee Jones swung a corner to the tall striker in Thomas Bentham to nod home.
Balmain were sinking without a trace quickly.
Balmain continued to play despite being three down and pulled one back on 31 minutes. William Donato played through Domenico Di Mento to place his effort into the net.
Their revival was cut short though after a coming together earned the Mariners a free-kick.
Jones proceeded to step up and fire the free-kick into the top corner of the net for the fifth goal of the first half.
Following some encouraging words from Balmain boss Joe Di Giulio – Balmain came out of the sheds a changed team, pressing and forcing the usually composed North Shore Mariners into some errors to get back into the contest.
Donato sparked the comeback when he took a ball, turned and swept it home four minutes in the 49th minute.
Balmain sensed a comeback and peppered Anthony Zecchinati’s goal for the ten minute period following half-time.
The Tigers thrust forward though left gaps at the back which North Shore Mariners exploited to extend the lead back to three.
Bentham was sent through, rounded Costa and squeezed the ball into the net.
Di Giulio should be praised for the spirit he has fostered through this Balmain Tigers squad as they continued to attack and were further rewarded.
Scott Tonkin was subbed on and found himself on the end of a Domenico Di Mento ball for 5-3.
If the Tonkin goal was down to precision – Giacomo Di Mento’s was all power.
He took the ball into the box and arrowed the ball from a narrow angle to bring them within a single goal.
This brought both benches off their feet.
Di Giulio urged his side to push for another while Joe Haywood in the Mariners dugout wanted calm from his stuttering team that were rattled.
Ahmed Chandab forced a heroic goal-line clearance from the Mariners after Ciaran Muir wobbled the crossbar a few minutes earlier to keep their lead.
The Tigers pressed on further in the stoppage time with Costa pushed forward at set pieces.
Tonkin had a final chance in the last moments when the ball was flicked on but was judged offside.
North Shore Mariners survived their closest shave of the season.
Afterwards Joe Haywood hailed their first half.
“That was football in its truest spirit. I thought the first half was our best of the season as we tore them to shreds,” said the Mariners boss.
“They surprised us a bit in the second half but it showed the character and spirit of our team to get the points.”
Balmain Tigers coach Joe Di Giulio praised his team’s resolve after the first half.
“That [second half performance] is the way we’ve got to play all the time showing teams that we can play and not just get lucky,”
“[North Shore Mariners] are a good team but they got lucky tonight. We will continue to build and stay in the top five.” Said Di Giulio.
Match Stats
Balmain Tigers 4 (D. Di Mento ’31, Donato ’49, Tonkin ’62 and G. Di Mento ’82)
North Shore Mariners 5 (Cole ’10, OG ’19, Bentham ’21, ’58 and Jones ’33)
Balmain Tigers FC: Hyde, Cook, Gowdy(Muir ’45), Casali, Donato(Chandab ’64), G. Di Mento, Loke, D. Di Mento, Wenyon(Tonkin), Karpes and Costa
Subs not used: Kunst and Nakadai
North Shore Mariners: Zecchinati, Grant, Wynter, Woodward, Cole, Mcalpine, Chapman, Lindsay, Jones, Bentham and Purcell
Subs not used: Baker and Mbakwe
Inter Lions 0 v Stanmore Hawks 1
It was a day for the keepers as Stanmore Hawks nudged past Inter Lions thanks to a single goal.
Both Roberto Maiorana for the home side and James Webb for Stanmore pulled off some good stops to keep it close.
The presence of former Sutherland Sharks attacker Sam Awad in midfield for the Hawks helped them to get the three points.
Veteran Evangelos Petratos got the winner but the enthusiasm of his team was the most pleasing aspect for coach Soteri Mavrou.
Washed out fixtures: Gladesville v Western NSW, Hawkesbury City v Dulwich Hill and Nepean FC v Hills Brumbies.
Granville Rage v Rydalmere Lions to be played Tuesday 21st July.
-By Justin Davies, Men’s State League 1 reporter
