Round 7 Review – State League Men’s
At the conclusion of Round 7, the State League Men’s continues to be a fierce three-way race atop the table; while Bankstown United, the Western Condors and Camden Tigers FC claimed vital wins.
Match of the Round – Hurstville FC vs. Hurstville City Minotaurs
A balmy Sunday afternoon saw Seymour Shaw Stadium host a massive fixture between two local rivals, Hurstville FC and the Hurstville City Minotaurs.
Hurstville FC entered the match as strong favourites, unbeaten so far this season and in commanding form. The Minotaurs, on the other hand, have had an inconsistent year where they’ve failed to make their chances count.
The first half of football was dictated by cagey and aggressive football, with neither side able to assert a firm grip on proceedings.
Hurstville FC struggled to keep hold of the ball against a high pressing and determined Minotaurs lineup, who frustrated their opposition; evidenced in uncharacteristically poor distribution through the centre of the park from Hurstville FC. The Minotaurs had the better of possession, but were unable to use it effectively.
Neither side were able to forge any significant chances and the game entered halftime deadlocked. The Minotaurs will have felt the happier of the two, looking to pounce on a frustrated Hurstville FC in the second half.
Nevertheless, having had half-time to recollect their thoughts, Hurstville FC came firing out of the starting blocks in the second period.
In the forty eighth minute Dario Borokovic played the ball into a red-hot Henry Kamleitner, who struck it sweetly on the volley into the back of the net. The opening goal seemed to take a great weight off Hurstville’s shoulders, and they lifted rather than sitting back on their laurels.
Only minutes later, they added a second to their tally. Captain Andrew Harb played a pin-point cross field ball from just short of halfway to Tom O’Neill. O’Neill cooly finished, adding his first goal of the season.
Credit must be given to the Minotaurs who did not let their heads drop, though nevertheless struggled to get back into the game. Hurstville FC sat compact in defence and marshalled rather comfortably towards victory.
With just under twenty minutes to go, the Minotaurs had their hopes crushed as Kush Ram picked up a second yellow and his marching orders. From then on, they were out of the contest and lucky not to concede more before the merciful full time whistle.
Hurstville FC coach Alex Prophet says his team “controlled the match well, and even after an indifferent start, produced a great result.”
“We controlled the game well in the second half and scored two great goals.”
Hurstville City Minotaurs coach Peter Sarikakis was more frustrated with his team’s performance than in awe of his opposition’s, asserting, “It was a good game where the team that took their chances got the result.”
“Hurstville FC played a ‘safety first’ long ball style of football which relies on the opponent making a mistake. That happened twice and they scored twice.”
“Sometimes in football a team makes their own luck and the Minotaurs didn’t do that, making two crucial errors for which we were punished.”
Sarikakis also points to the early injury of Chris Theodosiou as a major blow to their chances.
Match Stats
Hurstville FC 2 (Kamleitner 48’, O’Neill 51’)
Hurstville City Minotaurs 0
Sunday, 15 April, 2016
Seymour Shaw Stadium
Hurstville FC: 14. M. Anwia, 9. M. Banic, 8. D. Borovickic, 2. S. Flatt, 10. P. Gagro, 6. A. Harb, 11. H. Kamleitner, 12. M. Karagiannis, 13. J. Koutzoumis, 5. P. Lloyd, 7. D. Marjanovic, 4. T. O’Neill, 18. M. Rutherford.
Yellow Cards: N/A
Red Cards: N/A
Hurstville City Minotaurs: 8. N. Adams, 14. H. Ali, 10. T. Atsas, 7. E. Dominic, 1. J. Drahalivas, 16. A. Fraser, 9. A. Holmes, 5. J. Kay, 11. N. Nisbet, 6. K. Ram, 12. M. Sultan, 4. C. Theodosiou, 17. A. Vagenas, 111. D. Vagenas, 3. E. Wong.
Yellow Cards: Kushaal Ram
Red Cards: Kushaal Ram
Round Summaries
University of NSW vs. SD Raiders: 1-3
First placed SD Raiders defeated last placed University of NSW this weekend, in a game much tighter than anticipated. While the Lions will be able to take a lot of positives away from the loss, they will be disappointed with their discipline – finishing the game with nine men.
The game started perfectly for the home side, with Luiz Lobo scoring very early on thanks to a kind deflection. Things quickly descended into chaos however, with Michal Lalik receiving a straight red for punching. Shortly after, the Lions gave away and then saved a penalty; eventually carrying their unlikely lead in to half time.
Southern Districts rallied in the break and fought bravely in the second period to secure all three points, thanks to strikes from Opacic, Mclintock and Atlagic.
UNSW’s Sean Miller picked up two late yellow cards, adding to the home side’s frustrations. After some time to reflect however, the team will take heart out of the fact that they were beating the league leaders for over an hour.
The Raiders finish the round in top place thanks to superior goal difference over St. George and Hurstville. UNSW finish the round in last place, despite interestingly having conceded only one more goal than Southern Districts all season.
Camden Tigers FC vs. Prospect United: 3-2
The Camden Tigers claimed a vitally important win in dramatic style this Saturday, scoring a late winner despite being a man down.
The Tigers started the game strongly, taking a two nil lead into halftime thanks to a brace from Blake Armstrong.
Prospect United rallied in the second period and showed great determination to level proceedings after goals from David Chung and Nicholas Valjak. They were aided by the sending off Mitchell Green, putting intense pressure on the home side.
In injury time, Camden’s Brody Page scored a winner after a scramble in the penalty box to send the stands into hysterics; heartbreaking for the visiting Prospect side.
Prospect coach Brian Vella believes that his side should have won the game, stating “silly mistakes is the tale of our season.”
“It hurts, but the boys’ effort and attitude was great.”
Vella highlighted Nico Valjak as his side’s standout performer, while Camden’s Blake Armstrong was awarded their man of the match.
Bankstown United vs. Nepean FC: 4-1
Four goals from star striker Tommy Markovski saw Bankstown United storm past Nepean FC, returning to winning form.
Despite the commanding result, Bankstown coach Petar Finka isn’t entirely happy with his side’s performance throughout the ninety minutes.
“We played very well in the first forty-five, where I was very happy with our structure. But I wasn’t happy with the start of the second half as I thought we came out a bit slow.”
Alongside the clinical Markovski, Finka gives special mention to the performance of midfielder Jovan Miladinovic, who he describes as a “key ball distributor”.
Nepean FC’s second half consolation goal was struck by Paul Chester, his first for the season.
St. George FA vs. Wagga City Wanderers: 4-0
St. George continue their remarkable form in all grades with a commanding 4-0 victory over the Wagga City Wanderers. Despite fielding a young and stretched outfit, the home side showed remarkable discipline and execution to coolly dispatch of the visitors.
The Wanderers failed to score for the first time all season, and while they appeared title contenders at the start of the year, have been plunged into red alert.
Nevertheless, St. George coach Manny Spanoudakis doesn’t believe Wagga were as bad as some might think.
“Wagga is a fit, well-constructed team and the result doesn’t reflect the closeness of the game.”
Spanoudakis gave special mention to Jason Lazarevski, Max Schulz, Adrian Webster and James Spanoudakis who all played through injuries that he believes “would have kept most other players out”.
“It typifies the culture we are building at the club.”
“Again, Sam Thorn played for the 20s and First Grade in goals and kept two clean sheets. Three players that are still eligible for the U18s and played a full game in the 20s contributed to first grade.”
St. George’s goals came by way of a brace from both Nicholas Napoli and Fouad Umlil. Meanwhile, another clean sheet highlights the strength of the league’s best defence, having only conceded five goals all season.
Gazy Auburn FC vs. Western Condors: 0-3
Gazy Auburn will be disappointed with their performance this weekend, defeated comfortably by a strong visiting Western Condors outfit.
Gazy will have felt confident of their chances after last week’s win against Nepean FC, but weren’t at the races this Sunday in a game that could have propelled them up the ladder.
The Condors, meanwhile, soar into the top five thanks to a crucial three points away from home. Although dangerous moving forward, their impressive form this season has largely come down to superb defending; they have kept a clean sheet in their last three games.
-by Daniel Palmer, Football NSW State League Men’s Reporter
