Round 8 Review – State League Men’s
A high scoring weekend of State League Men’s football saw the unbeaten Hurstville FC claim a huge victory against the SD Raiders, while the Wagga City Wanderers completed an incredible comeback in our Match of the Round.
Match of the Round – Wagga City Wanderers vs. Hurstville City Minotaurs: 4-2
Gissing Oval hosted the Wagga City Wanderers and Hurstville City Minotaurs, with each team seeking to break concerning losing streaks.
Both sets of players came firing out of the blocks, looking to out muscle each other in what would clearly be an extremely physical battle. Neither side was able to maintain possession for extended periods, and the midfield turned quickly into a scrap.
The home side had the better of the opportunities, nevertheless, and missed several significant chances to open the scoring.
Disaster struck for the Wanderers just on the cusp of half-time, with striker Callum Dunbar given a straight red for retaliating to a poorly timed tackle from Hurstville’s Nicholas Nisbet.
The game entered half-time a stalemate, but the Minotaurs will have felt confident about their ability to overpower a ten man Wagga in the second half.
Indeed, Hurstville immediately demonstrated their intent – scoring just minutes after the recommencement of play. Esoghume Dominic found himself completely unmarked at the back post, and slotted home with ease.
Just minutes later, the visitors doubled their lead and appeared to be running away with the game. A mixup between goalkeeper and defender saw the Wanderers score an embarrassing own goal.
With a man and two goals down, Wagga City could have been forgiven for giving up; instead, they would go on to complete an incredible comeback.
Just after the hour mark, Wanderers defender Kai Wilson scored a wonder goal to get his team back into the game. A cleared corner fell at his feet from well outside the box, and the Scottish centreback smashed the ball on the volley into the back of the net.
In the seventy fifth minute, Wagga equalised thanks to a well composed team goal. A pinpoint long ball found Dan Maclennan in the box, who cut the ball unselfishly to a ready Scott Dunn for the tap in.
Into the last ten minutes, the Wanderers sent the crowd into raptures – scoring an incredible winner thanks to a well placed finish from Adrien Jolly at the near post.
Adding insult to injury time, Andrew Grant smashed home a fourth goal in the ninety third minute to cap an incredible turnaround for the home side.
Wagga City coach Andrew Douglas says that his boys showed “a lot of fight and fitness to run over the top of Hurstville”.
“I think our mid week efforts against the Wollongong Wolves [in the FFA Cup] gave the boys a lot of confidence.”
Douglas asserts that the Wanderers must maintain consistency as the season progresses, but is delighted with where the victory places them.
“I’m happy to take the three points and stay in reach of the top four. It was also the club’s first ever clean sweep in all grades.”
Match Stats
Wagga City Wanderers 4 (O.G. 49’, Wilson 68’, Dunn 75’, Jolly 81’, Grant 93’)
Hurstville City Minotaurs 2 (Dominic 47’)
Saturday, 21 April, 2016
Gissing Oval, Wagga Wagga
Wagga City Wanderers: 15 T. Allen, 7 C. Barber, 14 K. Baumer, 1 L. Dedini, 6 C. Dunbar, 11 S. Dunn, 8 A. Grant, 10 A. Jolly, 2 C. Maccormick, 9 D. Maclennan, 4 S. Mangelsdorf, 13 J. Ploenges, 12 B. Schmid, 5 A. Vastano, 3 K. Wilson.
Yellow Cards: 7 C. Barber, 11 S. Dunn, 9 D. Maclenna, 3 K. Wilson.
Red Cards: 6 C. Dunbar
Hurstville City Minotaurs: 8 N. Adams, 14 H. Ali, 10 T. Atsas, 7 E. Dominic, 1 J. Drahalivas. 16 A. Fraser, S. Gurung, 9 A. Holmes, 5 J. Kay, 2 P. Kirtley, 11 N. Nisbet,12. M. Sultan, 4 C. Theodosiou, 111 D. Vagenas, 3 E. Wong
Yellow Cards: 1 J. Drahalivas, 5 J. Kay, 11 N. Nisbet, 3 E. Wong.
Red Cards: N/A
Round Summaries
Hurstville FC vs. SD Raiders: 1-0.
Hurstville FC claimed a massive win over the Southern District Raiders this Saturday, in a result that could have massive ramifications come the end of the season.
The home side managed to conclude the Raiders’ rampant winning streak with an incredibly composed performance, becoming the first team all season to hold a clean sheet against Southern Districts.
Coach Alex Prophet is delighted with Hurstville’s performance, saying, “It was a great result and another clean sheet. The whole team contributed but it was a great game by our midfield.”
The game was expectedly tight, deadlocked until the fifty fourth minute where Dean Cutura headed home a freekick from Dario Borovickic.
The Raiders fought hard to find an equaliser, but were denied by brave defending from the Hurstville back four and midfield unit.
Hurstville remain unbeaten this season, and share the top of the table with St. George. They play a makeup game against the University of NSW this Tuesday that could see them take a three point lead.
Prospect United vs. Gazy Auburn FC: 6-0.
Prospect got a lot off their chest this weekend, with Gazy Auburn the helpless victims. United have been greatly frustrated in recent rounds, but returned to winning ways in dramatic style.
Braces for Nick Valjak and Joel Bayubahe were supported by strikes from Abanoub Mickael and David Chung.
Prospect coach Brian Vella is proud to have been rewarded for his faith in the team, “It was a matter of time before we put our chances away and we played for a full ninety minutes.”
He highlights Nick Valjak and David Chung as the best players in what was a dominant attacking performance.
Vella is now setting his targets on ensuring Prospect can perform consistently, “It’s only a win, we need to back it up next week.”
Gazy Auburn will have to make good use of the open transfer window, as this resounding defeat only further emphasises how disappointing their start to the season has been.
Camden Tigers vs. St. George FA: 0-5.
St. George finish the round in first place on goal difference, after demolishing the Camden Tigers away from home. The Tigers will be devastated with the result, failing to back up from their win last weekend.
St. George’s goals came by way of Jordan Janic, James Spanoudakis, Dujon Webster and a brace to Christopher Lawson.
Coach Manny Spanoudakis says that the result was particularly impressive considering the physical and athletic ability of Camden.
“The pitch was poor, but we still tried to play football. Another makeshift lineup that stood up to be accounted for.”
“All the boys were outstanding, but a special call out to young goalkeeper Josh Kemmler from the U18s who had to play in all three grades due to injuries to Terry Da Broi and Sam Thorne.”
Nepean FC vs. University of NSW: 0-1.
It was only by the narrowest of margins, but the University of NSW will be very pleased with their victory over Nepean FC, lifting them off the bottom of the ladder.
A single goal from Luis Lobo was all it took for the visitors to steal all three points, lifting UNSW above both Nepean and Gazy Auburn.
The Lions have kept their first clean sheet of the season, perhaps not quite indicative of just how impressive their defence has been all year. In fact, UNSW have conceded the third least goals (12) of any team in the competition.
Nepean slump to the bottom of the table and have a lot of work to do if they’re to rescue anything from this season.
Western Condors FC vs. Bankstown United FC: 1-3.
Bankstown United have pushed into the top three with an important victory against an in-form Western Condors outfit.
Coach Petar Finka is happy with his team’s disciplined performance stating, “we kept our structure well in the middle and defensive thirds.”
“It was a particularly good performance, especially after we lost a couple of players from our matchday squad and this morning due to a virus.”
Bankstown’s Jovan Milandinovic opened the scoring with a coolly taken penalty kick, while Chris Denkov and Diego Andrade put the game away for the visitors in the second half..
-by Daniel Palmer, Football NSW State League Reporter
