Southern Districts through to Grand Final
Southern Districts advance into next week’s Grand Final to take on the Dunbar Rovers after coming out 1-0 victors over Hurstville FC.
The theme of the match was defence, with both backlines coming up with the big play when needed.
Southern Districts SFA 1-0 Hurstville FC, Saturday 29 August, Valentine Sports Park (Major Semi Final).
The match began at a frenetic pace, which saw Southern Districts find success down the left hand side within the first few minutes of play.
As a result, Mitchel Mclintock got a shot away, which was brilliantly saved by Hurstville FC goalkeeper, Michael Rutherford.
For Hurstville FC, Michael Karagiannis and Paul Gagro linked on more than one occasion, which resulted in early corners and a chance to build pressure.
Despite this, Southern Districts cleared their line rather comfortably and looked at this as an opportunity to exploit Hurstville FC on the counter attack.
Nathan Niski and James Raiti worked hard from the midfield and managed to find their speed men on the edges including the very elusive, Rocco Luca.
Luca provided a number of crosses into the box with the hope of finding Mitchell Mclintock, only to be denied by Hurstville FC captain, Andrew Harb.
With the score remaining nil all at the break, “the game was in the balance,” said Southern Districts head coach, Ramsin Shamon.
“Although the opportunities were still coming, we knew we had to make some personnel changes,” said Shamon.
This saw their midfield reshuffled while Daniele Chiandotto entered the match. Within the first few minutes of the substitution, a brilliant ball by Nathan Niski put Mitchell Mclintock past the Hurstville FC defenders.
Despite being on an acute angle, Mclintock managed to strike the ball from the left edge of the box into the bottom right corner for a quality finish, giving Districts a 1-0 advantage.
As a result, Mclintock brought up his 16th goal of the season with none more important than that.
With less than half an hour remaining, Hurstville FC took it upon themselves to lift their intensity with the hope of scoring an equaliser.
Despite stringing some silky play together inside District’s half, it appeared that last week’s extended match caught up to Hurstville FC, as many players looked lethargic towards the end.
Their frustration and desperation to succeed was clear when three players received yellow cards in the last ten minutes.
Unfortunately for Hurstville FC, they could not salvage a late equaliser to send the match into extra time like they did last week.
This saw the final score end 1-0 to Southern Districts who will take on the Dunbar Rovers in next weekend’s Grand Final.
“I’m very proud of the effort the boys put in,” said Shamon.
“To make the Grand Final two years in a row is something special. We’ve put last year’s result behind us, now we’re just looking to continue this confident brand of football.”
Match Stats
Southern Districts SFA 1
Mitchell Mclintock (61’)
Hurstville FC 0
Valentine Sports Park
Referee: Mr. D. Richards
Assistant Referees: Mr. J. Lalic and Mr. W. Crabb
Southern Districts SFA: 23. Tomislav Romic, 29. Anthony Forcella, 16. Mirza Sehic, 20. Aldin Tuzlic, 6. Leigh Gunn, 19. Rocco Romeo, 4. Nathan Niski, 8. James Raiti, 17. Rocco Luca, 10. Glenn Williams (2. Daniele Chiandotto), 9. Mitchell Mclintock
Substitutions not used: 1. Adrian Iorfino, 13. Domenic Mercuri, 15. Gracian Marando
Yellow Cards: 20. Aldin Tuzlic (39’), 6. Leigh Gunn (45’), 9. Mitchell Mclintock (61’), 16. Mirza Sehic (81’)
Red Cards: Nil
Hurstville FC: 17. Michael Rutherford, 2. Steven Flatt, 6. Andrew Harb, 3. Vedran Jaganjac, 14. Michael Janov, 12. Michael Karagiannis, 13. Daniel Kocina (9. Ali Wehby), 8. Nicholas Kougious, 11. Henry Kamleitner, 4. Thomas O’Neill, 10. Paul Gagro
Substitution not used: 16. Jeffrey Forrest, 19. Matthew Mulroney, 7. Aydin Genc, 5. Hussein Dakdouk
Yellow Cards: 3. Vedran Jaganjac (38’), 10. Paul Gagro (81’), 6. Andrew Harb (87’), 8. Nicholas Kougious (90’)
Red Cards: Nil
– By Lars Roy, Men’s State League 2 Reporter
