Southern Districts named Champions of Men’s State League 2

Southern Districts are 2015 Men’s State League 2 Champions after they defeated the Dunbar Rovers 2-0 in a solid performance.
Mitchell Mclintock received best on ground with a fantastic two-goal display, which took his tally to 18 for the season, equaling first place with Denis Cutura from Hurstville FC.

Southern Districts SFA vs Dunbar Rovers, Saturday 5 September, Valentine Sports Park.
After a nervous start by Dunbar, which saw them concede two turnovers from just outside of the box, Southern Districts soon made them pay with their relentless effort.
As a result, the first shot on target of the match found the back of the net courtesy of Mitchell Mclintock, who bundled the ball in off a corner in the seventh minute.
Milan Atlagic had a chance to make it 2-0 within the first ten minutes after yet another mistake at the back put the rangy right-winger in on goal.
Unfortunately for them, due to the angle, the ball went across the face of goal without challenging Dunbar goalkeeper, Stephen Deasy.
Dunbar quickly showed why they are winners of the league after they built pressure of their own on the back of two attacking free kicks and a corner.
One of which almost found their target man, Clive Delaney who put in a great leap, but the ball was well cleared by the Districts defence.
The match continued serve-for-serve when Mclintock and Rocco Luca had shots of their own, again both on the back of Dunbar mistakes.
Fortunately for Dunbar, their strike men began to gel in Robbie Deasy and Michael Sealy, which saw Sealy trouble the Districts defenders but not their captain in goals, Tomislav Romic, who pulled off a couple of crucial saves.
With the hope of producing an equaliser, Dunbar made an early substitution when they brought on Paul O’Shaughnessy in the 25th minute.
The match remained relatively even after O’Shaugnessy’s injection, with both teams continuing their frantic pace.
Districts had the upper hand with counter attacks, which saw their front three find space on multiple occasions, while Dunbar aimed to control the game in the midfield through maintaining possession.
The score remained 1-0 to Southern Districts at the break and despite the many attempts on goal, both teams shone through their last-ditched efforts in defence, lead by their backlines.
The second half began with a brilliant chance for Dunbar after Robbie Deasy found Michael Sealy with a terrific ball, on the back of good lead up play by Malcolm Miller.
Despite being one-on-one with Romic, the Districts cover defence did enough to rush Sealy’s attempted shot, slicing the ball well wide of goal.
Down the other end, Districts showed the importance of taking your chances when Mitchell Mclintock picked up a double in the 53rd minute.
Again it went down to the class of Rocco Luca down the left edge who found the striker inside of the box.
Mclintock’s first touch was key to setting up his attempt before rocketing a shot into the left side-netting to make it 2-0.
Ten minutes later, Mclintock went down injured after colliding with a Dunbar defender in the box. Despite appeals for a penalty, referee Fuda was not influenced.
For Dunbar, captain Robbie Deasy saw the circumstances as an opportunity to spark his team, after his 70th minute, long-ranged effort narrowly missed the cross bar from outside of the box.
They went even closer to scoring five minutes later when a Sean Burke through-ball found Stephen Liu, who tucked the ball into the back of the net.
Unfortunately for them however, the linesman signaled offside which kept Southern Districts’ lead to a comfortable two-goal buffer.
Dunbar continued their long-ranged attempts on goal and found more success through this than closer attempts that they probably should have converted.
Despite these hopeful half-chances, Dunbar could not find the back of the net, which left the final score at 2-0, granting Southern Districts the title of competition Champions.
“It’s been a long 12 months but it feels like I’ve got the monkey off my back,” said Southern Districts head coach, Ramsin Shamon.
“Congratulations to Southern Districts as a club, they fully deserve it. We’ve got the trophy in the cabinet for the District boys.”
Although Dunbar will be disappointed with the Grand Final loss, head coach William Cullen has made it clear that they have achieved their primary objective, which was to win the league title and Club Championship – an impressive fete for their debut season in Men’s State League 2. 
“I’m very proud of the boys to only lose two games throughout the season,” said Cullen.
“To win the Club Championship the way we did with such good football is a credit to everyone involved. Hopefully from this, we can get promoted.”

Match Stats
Southern Districts SFA 2 Mitchell Mclintock (7’, 53’)
Dunbar Rovers 0
Valentine Sports Park, 5th September 2015
Referee: Mr. Dale Fuda
Assistant Referees: Mr. John Garcia and Mr. Francisco Sanabria
Southern Districts SFA: 23. Tomislav Romic ©, 5. Gordan Opacic, 16. Mirza Sehic, 20. Aldin Tuzlic, 6. Leigh Gunn, 19. Rocco Romeo (13. Domenic Mercuri), 4. Nathan Niski (18. Joseph Mensah), 8. James Raiti, 17. Rocco Luca, 11. Milan Atlagic, 9. Mitchell Mclintock (15. Gracian Marando)
Substitutions not used: 1. Adrian Iorfino, 29. Anthony Forcella
Yellow Cards: 19. Rocco Romeo (25’), 9. Mitchell Mclintock (39’), 4.
Nathan Niski (60’), Rocco Luca (95’)
Red Cards: Nil
Dunbar Rovers: 1. Stephen Deasy, 17. Stephen Liu, 5. Clive Delaney, 6. Ian Clayton, 2. Adam Smith, 18. Jonathan Smith (83. Paul O’Shaughnessy), 13. Sean Burke, 11. Malcolm Miller (3. John Niyonsaba), 14. Alexander Euripidou (16. Craig Mooney), 10. Robbie Deasy ©, 12. Michael Sealy
Substitution not used: 19. Juan Arcila Lopez, 9. Anthony Glasheen
Yellow Cards: 17. Stephen Liu (34’), 13. Sean Burke (75’)
Red Cards: Nil
– By Lars Roy, Men’s State League 2 Reporter