Round 2 Review – State League Men’s

Hurstville FC have moved to the top of the table after a thumping 4-1 victory over Gazy Auburn.

In our Match of the Round, Prospect United powered past the Hurstville City Minotaurs.

Match of the Round – Prospect United vs. Hurstville City Minotaurs: 3-1.

With the sun shining down on Progress Park, Prospect United and the Hurstville City Minotaurs faced off in a clash of breakneck intensity.

While momentum swung like a pendulum, and the game burst from one end to the other, neither side was able to forge any clear cut chances in the opening twenty minutes.

Prospect ever so slowly began to assert themselves as the dominant force in the game, and looked very dangerous with penetrating balls in behind.

In the twenty eighth minute, Prospect finally broke through. A well placed cross into the goalbox was met by a lunging Chung, who somehow managed to guide the ball with his outstretched foot underneath the goalkeeper.

In the thirtieth minute, a spectacular dribble from Hurstville City’s Kushaal Ram saw him rip a shot on target that could only be palmed away by the Prospect keeper. However striker Esoghume Dominic couldn’t connect with the rebound.

Chaotic defending saw Prospect double their lead in the thirty fourth minute. Hurstville centreback Hasnain Ali held on to the ball for too long, allowing Prospect’s Ahmed Chandab to rob him. Chandab burst down the wing and delivered a perfect cross to the feet of Joel Bayubahe, who was remarkably unmarked on the penalty spot. Bayubahe was then allowed enough time to bring the ball down, stop it, look up and fire home.

Bayubahe almost scored another in the thirty seventh minute, after slaloming his way brilliantly through three Hurstville defenders into the box and shooting. His effort was cleared off the line vitally by Paul Kirtley.

The game went to halftime with Prospect well on top, and Hurstville demoralised. Prospect’s front three were simply finding too much space, where conversely the Minotaur’s direct football towards Dominic and Ram was reaping no rewards.

Prospect almost added to their lead straight after the commencement of the second half. Bayubahe cut the ball back to Reece Iredale on the edge of the box, who powered a shot with his shoelaces. Hurstville City goalkeeper James Drahalivas made a spectacular reflex save to keep his side in the game.

In the sixty fourth minute Bayubahe continued to evade the Hurstville defence, hitting the crossbar after connecting with a low cross from Garry Ackroyd-Mosbey.

Hurstville City finally made a breakthrough in the sixty seventh minute. Esoghume Dominic burst into the Prospect goalbox and was clattered from the side. The referee wasted no time in awarding the penalty.

Kushaal Ram stood up confidently to take the penalty and smashed the ball to the right. His effort was saved superbly by the Prospect goalkeeper. The ball came out and Prospect failed to clear effectively. Ram retrieved the ball on the edge of the box and made up for his missed penalty by firing it powerfully into the top left corner.

Hurstville could smell an equaliser and began to throw everything at Prospect, who held on for the next twenty minutes with desperate but effective defending. On field chatter was deafening, as players from both sides began to lose their cool.

Prospect put the game away spectacularly in the eighty eighth minute, thanks to a brilliant strike from Garry Ackroyd-Mosbey. The winger hit a brilliant jumping volley into the top right corner, after connecting with a headed clearance.

The final whistle blew, with Prospect earning a deserved three points despite a few nervous moments in the second half. Hurstville showed plenty of potential, but were far too fragile defensively. They struggled to contain the strength, movement and pace of Prospect’s impressive Joel Bayubahe.

Match Stats

Prospect United                                               3 (Chung 28’, Bayubahe 34’, Ackroyd-Mosbey 88’)

Hurstville City Minotaurs                                  1 (Ram 68’)

Sunday, 10th of April, 2016

Progress Park, Auburn

Prospect United: 14. Joel Bayubahe, 15. Mitchell Bozzetto, 5. Ahmed Chandab, 11. Reece Iredale (13. Serkan Erel), 8. Adrian Jennings, 18. Peter Kefalas, 4. Joshua Smith, 12. Troy Sullivan, 6. Nicholas Valjak, 9. Matthew Viera, 10. P. Chung (16. Garry Ackroyd-Mosbey).

Substitutes Not Used: Paul Bekhit, 7. Damien Stivala, 2. Emmanuel Viciri.

Yellow Cards: 6. Nicholas Valjak, 4. Joshua Smith, 15. Mitchell Bozzetto.

Red Cards: N/A

Hurstville City Minotaurs: 15. Hasnain Ali (10. Mohamed Mustafa), 7. Esoghume Dominic, 1. James Drahalivas, 16. Alexander Fraser, 5. James Kay (19. Christos Dimitriou), 2. Paul Kirtley, 11. Nicholas Nisbet, 6. Kushaal Ram, 12. Modar Sultan, 4. Christopher Theodosiou (18. Zdravko Majkic), 17. Angelo Vagenas.

Substitutes Not Used: Anthony Holmes

Yellow Cards: 19. Christos Dimitriou 90’

Red Cards: N/A

Round Summaries

University of NSW vs. Bankstown United FC: 0-2

UNSW’s disappointing start to the season continues, dispatched convincingly at home by State League newcomers Bankstown United. Bankstown have now claimed their first ever victory, and look like very strong contenders this season.

Bankstown coach Petar Finka says that his side should have won by even more, “we got off to a great start but could not convert a host of chances we had in the opening twenty minutes.”

However, he was very happy with his team’s defensive work and believes “it was a great way to finish a busy week, with three games in six days.”

Bankstown’s goals came by way of Matt Harrison and Tommy Markrovski.

Wagga City Wanderers vs. Camden Tigers FC: 4-2

Wagga City like to win, and like to win in high-scoring games it would seem. The Wanderers won 4-3 in their opening round, and this weekend smashed the visiting Camden Tigers 4-2 to retain their spot on the top of the table.

It wasn’t a pretty game, with captain Mangelsdorf given a straight red. Nevertheless, goals from Kai Wilson, Daniel Maclennan and a brace from Scott Dunn powered the home side to victory.

Camden will be greatly disappointed to have conceded so many, however continue to find ways to score goals of their own; this week via Jayden Russell and Bailey Simpson.

SD Raiders FC vs. Western Condors FC: 1-3

The Southern District Raiders have been heralded by many as competition favourites, however have yet to register a win. This Saturday, they were blown away at home by the Western Condors FC.

Three goals for the visitors was enough to see them soar past the Raiders, whose lone goal came by way of Mark D’Alessandro. The Condors now move into fourth place, with plenty to build upon in the next round.

St. George FA vs. Nepean FC: 7-1

St. George claimed their first ever State League victory in incredible fashion, smashing Nepean FC 7-1 thanks to goals from seven different players.

Lawson, Spanoudakis, Messam, Dagher, Napoli, Richardson and Vass all found the back of the net for the State League newcomers. They were four goals up within the first thirty minutes, and five goals to the better by half time.

Coach Manny Spandoudakis is happy with the steady progress his side are making, “especially considering we only had eleven senior players available backing up from the FFA Cup midweek.”

“It was one of those games where every chance we created, we scored.”

Hurstville FC vs. Gazy Auburn FC: 4-1.

Hurstville FC have claimed top spot on the ladder with a commanding 4-1 victory against Gazy Auburn FC. Goals came by way of Karagianis, Banic, Turner and Borovickic. A lone effort from Gazy’s Gabriel Zihori brought mere consolation.

Hurstville coach Alex Prophet describes that his team “controlled the match well and had a relatively easy win.”

Prophet gave special mention to Henry Kamleitner as best on the park, after a dominant performance.

Gazy’s performance was in stark contrast defensively to that of Round One, and they will be undoubtedly looking to address this throughout the week. 

-by Daniel Palmer, Football NSW State League Men’s Reporter