Men’s State League 2 Round 17 Review
Round 17 saw plenty of action across the fields especially in this week’s Match of the Round, which saw University of NSW host the Wagga City Wanderers in a two-all draw.
After University of NSW’s disappointing midweek performance against Southern Districts, it was clear that they had to come into this match with a positive mindframe if they were to stand any chance against the Wagga City Wanderers, who have been in good form of late.
Match of the Round
University of NSW 2-2 Wagga City Wanderers, Saturday 8 August, David Phillips Field
University of NSW (UNSW) will consider themselves lucky to get out of jail in a match that was heavily dominated by the visiting Wagga City Wanderers.
From the opening whistle, the Wanderers dictated the pace of the match. Within the first five minutes of play, it was clear that the Wanderers were keen to go aerial after three successive crosses into the box, found unmarked attackers who provided headed attempts on goal.
It was here where the first shot of the match came for the Wanderers after a Matthew Porch save in goals for University deflected the ball back into play and into the path of Wagga defender, Callum Dunbar.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Dunbar’s attempt on goals went sailing over the cross bar for a goal kick.
Moments later, UNSW found themselves on goal through captain, Samuel Zouroudis, only to be cut down in a desperate attempt by Callum Dunbar who quickly turned attack into defence.
Wanderers leading goal scorer Scott Dunn, got his first shot away in the eighth minute after he found enough space to set himself before putting a left foot finesse on target. Matthew Porch stood tall once again, denying the Wanderers an early lead.
Dean Zouroudis and Julien Tellier combined down the left hand side for University only to be denied yet again by a relentless Wanderers defence.
Just when University seemed to be gaining momentum, a misdirected header by Julien Tellier put Scott Dunn one-on-one with Matthew Porch. However, a heavy touch by the striker as well as great anticipation by Porch saved the day for UNSW.
Dunn ensured he would make the most of his next chance on goal when a brilliant ball in by Tyler Allen was hit first time on the half volley, curling across the face of goal and into the side netting. This gave the Wanderers a 1-0 lead on the stroke of half time.
The second half began similarly to the first with the Wanderers producing a bombardment of shots on UNSW’s goal.
Ahmed Badway should have increased the lead for the visitors when he only had the goalkeeper to beat, but failed to connect sweetly with the ball.
Badway and Dunn combined well, but brilliant goalkeeping yet again by Porch denied an almost certain goal. Despite the Wanderers pressing for a second goal, it was a different UNSW team that were playing to the one on Tuesday night that went down 10-1 to Southern Districts.
Nicholas Tsipiras tried to get in on the action but could not connect with the ball as he would have liked, these missed attempts having something to do with the glaring sun that the Wanderers had to contend with.
UNSW knew that they had to provide spark in attack in order to stay in the match and found that through left-midfielder Akira Koizumi. Just as things began to look up for the black and golds, a second yellow card to Mate Balazs left the hosts to 10 men and little hope of a come back with only 15 minutes remaining.
An injury to Callum Dunbar in the process of fouling Samuel Zouroudis saw the Wanderers best on ground, subbed out with only ten minutes remaining.
Remarkably, in the recommencement of play, Simon Hinde buried a headed attempt off the free kick where Dunbar would usually be defending. This evened up the score at 1-1 with only eight minutes remaining.
The Wanderers kept cool under pressure and hit back five minutes later through Nicholas Tsipiras, who never gave up on the play and was rewarded through his efforts off Scott Dunn’s deflected shot on goal.
As the Wanderers attempted to run out the clock by parking the ball in UNSW’s corner, an injury time counter off a throw-in found Ruben Viglino who put a perfect low cross into the box for Samuel Zouroudis.
The experience customer calmly slotted the ball past Aaron Thomas in goals first time which left the final score at 2-2
Match Stats
University of NSW 2
Simon Hinde (79’), Sam Zouroudis (90’)
Wagga City Wanderers 2
Scott Dunn (45’), Nicholas Tsipiras (83’)
David Phillips Field
Referee: Mr. L. Foster
Assistant Referees: Mr. A. Long and Mr H. Juhari
University of NSW: 1. Matthew Porch, 5. Mate Balazs, 21. Owen Steer, 2. Tom Cook, 8. Simon Hinde, 13. Akira Koizumi, 17. Michal Lalik, 14. Julien Tellier, 11. Ruben Viglino, 10. Dean Zouroudis, 7. Samuel Zouroudis
Substitutions not used: 6. Florim Binakaj, 29. Connor Maguire, 41. Nic Nelson, 12. Kevin Ribardière
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: 5. Mate Balazs (73’)
Wagga City Wanderers: 1. Aaron Thomas, 6. Jonathan Mathers, 4. Callum Dunbar (15. Samuel William Jones), 3. Samuel Mangelsdorf, 2. Dylan Berkrey, 13. Max Lysaght, 5. Carl Pideski, 9. Nicholas Tsipiras, 10. Ahmed Badway, 7. Tyler Allen, 11. Scott Dunn
Substitutions not used: 12. Roy Catanzariti, 18. Liam Dedini, 8. Adrien Jolly, 14. Alexander Mulrooney Castellano
Yellow Cards: 3. Samuel Mangelsdorf
Red Cards: Nil
Rest of the Round
Hurstville FC 2-0 FC Gazy Lansvale, Saturday 8 August, St George Soccer Stadium
Hurstville FC have ground out a 2-0 win against FC Gazy Lansvale in what was described by head coach Tom Vidovic as a “scrappy game”.
They [Hurstville FC] went into the break with their already 2-0 advantage with goals going to Denis Cutura and Nick Kougious.
Cutura calmly slotted a penalty to bring him up to equal leading goal scorer with 15 for the season, while Kougious displayed brilliant dribbling skills to slice through Gazy’s defence and provide a top quality finish.
Prospect United 4-2 Hurstville City Minotaurs, Saturday 8 August, William Lawson Park
Prospect United have found themselves back in the winning circle and keep their finals hops alive after downing the Hurstville City Minotaurs at home, 4-2.
The goal scoring was shared around by Prospect, with each goal being scored by a different player. Fubuki Sakurai, Matthew Viera, Adrian Jennings and Damien Stivala all found the back of the net for the hosts.
For the Minotaurs, Leonardo Pinto scored a volley while Modar Sultan headed the ball into the back of the net to get their names on the score sheet.
They [Hurstville City Minotaurs] will look to bounce back from this loss and end their season on a high when they take on the Camden Tigers at home next week.
Western Condors 2-1 Camden Tigers, Saturday 8 August, Ron Dine Reserve
The Western Condors have showed true resilience on the road when they picked up a tight win away against the Camden Tigers on Saturday.
The match was a must-win for the Condors in order to make a late run for the top four and despite being down a goal early, they rallied hard to score two of their own.
Giuseppe Zampogna starred for the Condors and had a hand in both goals. Firstly, with his assist for Chris Kartambis who finished near post, from just outside of the box.
Matthew Putanac was the second beneficiary of Zampogna’s work, after a pass across the face of goal found him unmarked at the far post.
Putanac stroked the ball past Matthew Johnston in goals, which left the final score at 2-1 to the Condors.
Dunbar Rovers 2-1 Southern Districts SFA, Sunday 9 August, Hensley Athletic Field
The Dunbar Rovers have scored a late winner to go up 2-1 against Southern Districts at home.
Despite a first half dominated by missed chances from Districts, the score remained nil-all at the break.
Michael Sealy opened the scoring for the visitors in the 52nd minute when he put away a header from just outside of the 6 yard box.
Districts hit back through Nathan Niski who provided spark off the bench which brought the score to 1-1. The highlight of the match however, came in the 89th minute when Sean Burke scored arguably the goal of the season.
Burke’s brilliant touch off his chest to hit the ball on the volley sailed into the top right corner from 25 metres out, which left the final score at 2-1 to Dunbar.
– By Lars Roy, Men’s State League 2 Reporter
