Round 3 Review – PS4 NPL 3 NSW Men’s
The PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition is fast proving to be one of the most entertaining in NSW, with the weekend’s Round Three matches yet again producing a glut of goals, twenty six (26) to be precise, and that tally was derived from just over five games, given one match which was abandoned early.
There was drama at Rydalmere when floodlight failure brought a premature end to the match between the Lions and Granville Rage, Balmain managed to record their second successive win at Hawkesbury, Stanmore grabbed the spoils in the derby against Inter Lions, Sydney University prevailed on the road by the odd goal in seven against the Mariners, whilst the Dunbar Rovers juggernaut continued its momentum, this time at the expense of Hills Brumbies.
In the solitary Sunday match, Gladesville Ryde Magic grabbed their first points of the season with a narrow triumph over Dulwich Hill.
A seven goal thriller provided fantastic entertainment for the fans at Sir Jack Brabham Park on Saturday evening, Sydney University prevailing by the odd goal in seven against the locals, the Western NSW Mariners.
The long trip and 3-00pm kick off didn’t seem to bother the ‘students’, as they opened the scoring on 14 minutes. Gavin Wenyon robbed the ball off the home keeper, Adam Brackenridge, setting up Rosario Occhipinti for a simple tap in. It was Occhipinti’s third goal in successive matches, and a great start for the visitors.
Despite Sydney University having the better of the early running, some impressive keeping from Brackenridge kept the score down to 0-1.
The Mariners however restored parity 25 minutes in with a quick free kick. Whilst Sydney University were setting up their wall, the Mariners’ Jeremy Judge drilled the ball home to equalise.
The ‘students’ responded by edging back in to the lead when Adrian Porcu slipped a great pass to Johnny Gowdy, and the striker guided the ball past Brackenbridge to make it 2-1 to the visitors after 40 minutes.
This topsy turvy match continued with yet another equaliser by the Mariners, almost from the kick off. A sweeping movement down the right and a great square pass was diverted past Uni goalkeeper, Oliver Gibson, by Lachlan Thomas, and the teams went in to the break all square at 2-2.
Mariners keeper, Adam Brackenridge, was earning his keep with some great saves early in the second half, but could do nothing to stop Domenic Di Mento slotting home in the 70th minute after yet another defensive slip by the home side.
3-2 to Sydney University and the fan were getting value for money.
Scott Tonkin came off the bench for the ‘students’ shortly afterwards, and duly gave his side a 4-2 advantage within minutes.
The experienced striker netted with a sharp volley following an Adrian Porcu free kick, and Western NSW Mariners were on the ropes.
To the Mariners credit, they simply would not give up, and reduced the deficit in the 84th minute to set up a grandstand finish. Eduardo Berreuzo latched on to a long through ball that eluded the Syd Uni back line, expertly lobbing Uni keeper, Oliver Gibson, to peg it back to 3-4.
But try as they may, the home side could not muster a third equaliser, and Sydney University hung on to record their second successive victory, pushing them up to six points on the competition ladder, whilst it’s back to the drawing board for the unlucky Mariners.
Match Stats
Saturday, April 16
Sir Jack Brabham Park
Referee – Nick Mastrangeli
Assistant Referees – Mathew Downer & Mitchell Harvey
WESTERN NSW MARINERS 3 (Judge 25’, Thomas 41’, Berruezo 84’)
SYDNEY UNIVERSITY 4 (Occhipinti 14’, Gowdy 40’, Di Mento 70’, Tonkin 75’)
Western NSW Mariners; 1.A.Brackenridge, 6.E.Berreuzo, 4.M.Corben, 13.C.Couto Calderan, 17.N.Davis, 5.J.Henry, 7.M.Hobby, 8.J.Judge, 18.K.McCall, 26.A.Scimone (capt), 19.L.Thomas.
Substitutes – 9.J.Christie, 24.M.Wood, 12.J.Johnsson, 2.D.White.
Yellow Cards – 6.E.Berreuzo, 5.J.Henry.
Red Cards – Nil
Sydney University; 41.O.Gibson, 18.D.Di Mento, 14.J.Gowdy, 2.T.Hyde (capt) (22.R.Chery 75’), 17.J.Loke, 6.D.Mifsud (12.N.Kougious 46’), 15.C.Muir, 10.R.Occhipinti (9.S.Tonkin 70’), 16.A.Porcu, 21.G.Wenyon, 4.J.Wynter.
Substitutes –, 7.J.Ginges, 42.S.Antoniou.
Yellow Cards – 16.A.Porcu.
Red Cards – Nil
HAWKESBURY CITY – BALMAIN TIGERS 1-3
Saturday, April 16
David Bertenshaw Field
Balmain Tigers growled once more on Saturday afternoon to complete their second successive victory of the season, this time accounting for Hawkesbury City by 3-1 at David Bertenshaw Field.
Balmain edged the possession in the first period, and had two goals to show for their efforts, both netted by Marcelo Turdera.
Turdera’s first was a spectacular overhead kick after a quarter of an hour, whilst the second after half an hour was an exquisite finish, the striker seizing a through ball to lob the Hawkesbury keeper, Daniel Schwarzer.
Balmain went further ahead ten minutes after the break when Sangyu Park’s free kick took a slight deflection on the way in to the net, giving the visitors what became an unassailable lead.
Hawkesbury threw everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at Balmain, but were always going to find it difficult to peg back a three goal deficit, especially without the services of the suspended duo, Michael McCrory and Ben Gough.
The Hawks did eventually pull a goal back with about a quarter of an hour remaining, when James Mawein struck home after a goalmouth scramble, but it was all she wrote, and the visitors took all three points on the day.
STANMORE HAWKS – INTER LIONS SC 3-1
Saturday, April 16
Arlington Oval
A hatrick from big Sam Awad was the highlight of a feisty inner west derby between Stanmore Hawks and Inter Lions, with the Hawks doing enough to record their second victory of the season.
On the back of his goal in last week’s loss to Sydney University, Awad edged the Hawks in front before the half hour mark with a crisp header off a Meco Tripodi corner.
Inter Lions had the better of play in the twenty minutes or so after the break, and restored parity when Clayton Musumeci’s header found the net off the underside of the cross bar following a good cross by Daniel Fornito.
The challenges were fierce as both sides made every attempt to wrestle the match away from their opponents, but it was the Hawks that took the lead again with 14 minutes remaining. Tripodi once again was the provider, his free kick headed home again by Awad to send the home fans in to a chorus of cheers.
With only minutes remaining, ex-Inter Lions striker, Michael Toscano, got one over his old club when he raced on to a through ball out wide, drawing the lone defender before cutting the ball back for Awad to strike home his and his side’s third goal.
Inter’s plight wasn’t helped with Daniel Fornito’s injury time sending off, but in truth it was all over at that point as Stanmore Hawks took home the three points.
HILLS BRUMBIES – DUNBAR ROVERS 1-4
Saturday, April 16
Lilys Football Centre
Dunbar Rovers came from a goal behind to overcome Hills Brumbies 4-1 at Lilys Football Centre on Saturday night.
The Rovers have taken to life in the PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition like ducks to water, continuing their good form with their third successive win of the season.
Daine Merrin put Hills in front before the half hour mark with a cracker from distance, the first goal Dunbar have conceded in 2016.
Andrew Green restored parity soon after for Dunbar, and that’s the way the score remained until the break.
Robbie Deasy returned to the Dunbar lineup after missing the club’s opening two matches of the season, and he duly put his side in front just after the hour mark, before Rene Mrva extended the lead to 3-1 shortly afterwards with a screamer. Deasy got his second late on to finish off the night’s proceedings, handing Dunbar a comprehensive 4-1 victory.
Remarkably, this result was an exact replica of the score between the two clubs less than a fortnight ago, where Dunbar knocked Hills out in Round Four of the Westfield FFA Cup.
RYDALMERE LIONS – GRANVILLE RAGE 1-0 (match postponed)
Saturday, April 16
Rydalmere Park
There was drama of an unfamiliar kind at Rydalmere Park on Saturday evening when floodlights failure resulted in an unexpected early finish to the match between Rydalmere Lions and Granville Rage.
The Lions had started to arm wrestle the ascendancy, and had even taken an early lead when Rage goalkeeper, Carl McMahon,couldn’t hold Seiji Tarutani’s effort, and Zac Elrich bundled the ball over the line to give Rydalmere the lead.
Then much to the angst of everyone at the ground, the lights literally went out, and after a short delay, the referee had no option but to call time and postpone the match.
Stay tuned to the Football NSW website for details of when the match will be played.
GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC – DULWICH HILL 3-2
Sunday, April 17
Magdala Park
Gladesville Ryde Magic registered their first points of the season on Sunday afternoon, prevailing by the odd goal in five against Dulwich Hill.
It was Dully who opened the scoring on 34 minutes, Anthony Musumeci latching on to a nice through ball to expertly finish past Magic custodian, Kyriakou Tohouroglou.
It didn’t take Gladesville long to respond, when Majid Eslami won possession on 40 minutes, slipping a pass for Chris Tomaras to slot home the equaliser.
The home side were on a roll now, and Joel Carter put them 2-1 up in the 43rd minute, breaking in to the box after a run down the right to place the ball neatly in to the Dully net.
Dulwich Hill were on the ropes at this stage hoping for the half time bell, but Gladesville Ryde Magic incredibly managed another goal before the break to extend their lead to 3-1.
The evergreen Chris Tomaras was brought down inside the box, and Magic skipper, Chris Gaitatzis, stepped up to slot home the spot kick.
Dulwich Hill stepped up their intensity during a frantic second half, but all they could muster was an 87th goal to Hayden Pronin, who had been dangerous all afternoon for Dully in the attacking third.
Dulwich Hill have had three incredibly close matches in the first three rounds of the season, but alas, for all their enterprise, are yet to register a victory. Gladesville Ryde Magic were desperate for a win, especially at home, and it showed on a day where the result was probably more important than the performance.
