Men’s State League 2 Finals Week 1 Review
Week one of the Finals Series in the Men’s State League 2 saw two completely different games play out, both just as exciting as each other.
Southern Districts exerted their presence as a team to be reckoned with when they defeated the Condors in a dominating performance. While Hurstville FC narrowly lost in a penalty shoot out to the Dunbar Rovers.
As a result, Dunbar are through to the Grand Final while Southern Districts will battle it out with Hurstville FC in next weekend’s Major Semi Final.
Southern Districts SFA 5-1 Western Condors, Sunday 23 August, Valentine Sports Park (Minor Semi Final).
Southern Districts dominated the match after blitzing the Western Condors by a comfortable four-point buffer.
Despite the score line, it was a rather conservative start by both sides, when they took the opening minutes as an opportunity to feel out the synthetic pitch.
Mitchell Mclintock got the first shot of the match away in the fifth minute after some brilliant lead up play in the midfield by Leigh Gunn.
Their fluency in attack was quickly rewarded when referee, Robert Nieuwenhuis pointed to the spot due to a rough challenge in the box, by Ivan Sanhueza.
Leigh Gunn stood up to the mark by putting away the penalty deep into the left side-netting, giving Districts the perfect start 10 minutes in.
They extended their lead only four minutes later through Aldin Tuzlic. The movement began from a Leigh Gunn cross into the box, which was headed away by Condors centre back, Joel Dunajcik.
Unfortunately for the Condors the ball bounced straight into the path of Tuzlic, who beat two defenders in the box before getting a lunging shot away, finding the bottom right corner in the process.
They almost made it 3-0 one minute later when Nathan Niski showed desperation to keep the ball in play and produce a dangerous cross in to Mitchell Mclintock.
Mclintock soared above the rest, making good connection with his head, only for the ball to hit the cross bar and land away from goals.
The barrage of attempts did not stop there for Condors goalkeeper, Rodrigo Galiano, after he was called to diffuse an attacking free kick attempt by Rocco Luca.
Things went from bad to worse after Joel Dunajcik was injured in the process of clearing the ball.
The Condors did manage to stem District’s momentum through Chris Kartambis and Mauricio Navarrete, who both managed to take respective shots of their own.
The best Condors player of the half however was Galiano in goals who stopped a number of shots that should have been tucked away for goals. As a result, the score remained 2-0 at the break to Southern Districts.
The Condors began the second half as a completely different team and created a flurry of chances within the first five minutes.
A controversial decision saw Gordan Opacic pick up his second yellow card of the game for a deliberate handball in the box.
Despite being down to ten men, Southern Districts goalkeeper, Tomislav Romic pulled off a miraculous penalty save which boosted their confidence.
As the rain got heavier, the ball began to skid even more, resulting in shorter passes and more play from the midfield.
Both teams increased their levels of intensity, which could be seen by a number of overly physical challenges.
Mitchell Mclintock picked up his 15th goal of the season after a full-length counter attack, sparked by Romic in goals, saw the striker in enough space to calmly finish from outside of the box.
With the score at 3-0 and very little hope of a comeback, the Condors found themselves on the score sheet courtesy of a brilliant individual effort by Mauricio Navarrete.
Navarrete beat three players before shooting off one step from well outside of the box, to find the bottom left corner.
James Raiti picked up his first goal in two seasons when he found himself one-on-one with Galiano.
While under 20s youngster, Anthony Forcella made it two in as many minutes, leaving the final score at 5-1 to Southern Districts.
They will be going up against Hurstville FC next week in another sudden death encounter, while the Western Condors’ 2015 campaign comes to an end.
Southern Districts head coach, Ramsin Shamon said he was “extremely happy with the performance” and how his side rallied together after Opacic’s red card.
“It is important to show heart as a playing group, especially at this time of the season,” said Shamon.
Match Stats
Southern Districts SFA 5
Leigh Gunn (10’), Aldin Tuzlic (14’), Mitchell Mclintock (75’), James Raiti (89’), Anthony Forcella (90’)
Western Condors 2
Maurcio Navarrete (72’)
Valentine Sports Park
Referee: Mr. Robert Nieuwenhuis
Assistant Referees: Mr. Stephen Ellsmore and Mr. Muhammad Jahari
Southern Districts SFA: 23. Tomislav Romic, 11. Milan Atlagic (13. Domenic Mercuri), 6. Leigh Gunn, 17. Rocco Luca, 9. Mitchell Mclintock (29. Anthony Forcella), 4. Nathan Niski (2. Daniele Chiandotto), 5. Gordan Opacic, 8. James Raiti, 19. Rocco Romeo, 16. Mirza Sehic, 20. Aldin Tuzlic
Substitutions not used: 1. Adrian Iorfino, 15. Gracian Marando
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: 5. Gordan Opacic
Western Condors: 30. Rodrigo Galiano, 6. Raul Carrizo (10. Alan De La Cuadra), 5. Joel Dunajcik (14. Matthew Putanac), 17. Chris Kartambis, 12. Cristian Leiva Martinez, 18. Luke Mesiti, 11. Mauricio Navarrete, 3. Cristian Olivares, 8. Roberto Sanchez, 4. Ivan Sanheuza, 22. Giuseppe Zampogna
Substitution not used: 23. Aaron Riccardi
Yellow Cards: Raul Carrizo (10’), Roberto Sanchez (30’). Luke Mesiti (42’), Chris Kartambis (85’)
Red Cards: Nil
Major Semi Final
Dunbar Rovers 2-2 Hurstville FC, Sunday 23 August, Valentine Sports Park (Dunbar win in penalties)
The Dunbar Rovers have sneaked through in a thrilling Major Semi Final, booking them a spot in this year’s Grand Final.
Hurstville FC opened proceedings in the 18th minute through another brilliant goal by Michael Karagiannis. He also scored first last week with a brilliant first time volley.
René Mrva picked up a double before being sent from the field, along with three others (one Dunbar and two Hurstville players).
With nine men each, both teams had more room to move, which resulted in increased scoring opportunities.
Hurstville showed their calmness under pressure by equalising with only two minutes remaining through Tom O’Neill.
Neither team could gain an advantage during the extra time period, which resulted in a penalty shoot out, in which Dunbar would be victorious.
Despite losing, Hurstville will have a second chance next weekend when they take on Southern Districts in the hope of replaying Dunbar in the Grand Final.
“I am very proud of the players performance,” said Hurstville FC head coach, Tom Vidovic.
“We have moved on and are focused on next week, more motivated than ever to progress to the final.”
– By Lars Roy, Men’s State League 2 Reporter
