Round 21 Review – PS4 NPL 3 NSW Men’s
Congratulations to the Hills Brumbies who captured the PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s Premiership crown on the weekend, courtesy of a thumping win over the Western NSW Mariners in the penultimate round of competition.
Credit to coach, Dan Shepherd, and his entourage of support staff, and of course the players themselves, who have swept all before them to clinch the title on the back of a run of nine victories from ten second round matches.
Elsewhere in Round 21, it took a solitary goal for Stanmore Hawks to win a predictably tight affair against Hawkesbury City, Dunbar Rovers defeated Granville Rage by the odd goal in three, Rydalmere Lions grabbed the points at Concord Oval against Inter Lions, whilst Balmain Tigers and Dulwich Hill shared the spoils at Wentworth Park.
Our feature match was in essence the equivalent of a fifth spot playoff, with Sydney University accounting for Gladesville Ryde Magic to confirm their place in the upcoming finals series.
Sydney University will be taking part in the 2016 finals series – starting with an Elimination Final in two weeks’ time – when they accounted for Gladesville Ryde Magic 1-0 on Sunday afternoon.
The equation was simple enough going in to the match – Sydney University occupied 5th position, five points ahead of their match day opponents, Gladesville Ryde Magic, with two regulation rounds of football remaining. Magic needed a win to keep their chances alive, whilst Sydney University needed to avoid defeat to clinch their 5th spot with one round still to play.
Sydney University were in fact backing up after a midweek match, a 5-1 drubbing of Granville Rage, so Magic were keen to run their opponents ragged, and hopefully finish over the top of them as they tired after their third outing within a week.
The match started very predictably, neither side giving an inch with so much at stake.
Sydney Uni striker, Rosario Occhipinti, had the first real strike at goal on 13 minutes, his 20 metre effort clearing the Gladesville cross bar.
Gladesville Ryde Magic skipper, Chris Gaitatzis, responded only a couple of minutes later, his firm strike from distance well parried around the upright by a diving Carl McMahon in the Uni goal.
Johnny Gowdy was causing the Gladesville defence some trouble during the opening half hour with his speedy wing play, but the Magic rear guard was holding firm.
Gaitatzis has had a real eye for goal this season, notching 13 goals to date, and he had another effort in the 27th minute, his right foot strike a little over the bar as the ‘students’ back pedalled.
Domenic Di Mento could’ve put Sydney University in front on the half hour, racing in to space to stroke the ball past the advancing Gladesville keeper, Kyriakos Tohouroglou, but alas, the ball rolled wide of the mark.
Gladesville replied in the 40th minute, with Chris Tomaras easily beating his man on the right flank before crossing in to the danger area, the ball racing across the face of goal without anyone in sight.
Uni’s Johhny Gowdy tried his luck with a free kick right on half time, but the ball floated wide.
A very tense opening first 45 minutes, with neither keeper overly troubled, but the unmoved scoreboard favoured Sydney University, so much was expected from Magic in the second stanza if they were to keep their season alive.
But the game seemingly continued where it had left off in the first half, a dour struggle without many openings, and both defences holding fort.
Uni’s Domenic Di Mento kept at it and had a couple of strikes without impact – a 59th minute effort after a break through down the middle which sailed over the posts, and another shot in the 65th minute which was low and wide.
Chris Tomaras tried to conjure something up for the visiting Magic on 74 minutes, but his left foot striker cleared the Uni cross bar.
Just as the match seemed headed for a stalemate, it was Sydney University who broke the hearts of the travelling Gladesville contingent, snapping the deadlock on 86 minutes.
Johnny Gowdy swung over a corner, and University substitute, Matthew Akehurst, met it perfectly, powering a header goalwards just minutes after he had entered the fray.
Gladesville’s experienced and agile goal keeper, Kyriakos Tohouroglou, responded by brilliantly tipping the ball on to the cross bar, but the predatory Rosario Occhipinti was first to react, slotting home the rebound from close range to send the home crowd in to raptures.
The ‘students’ then played down the clock – frustratingly for the Magic who earned a couple of injury time cautions – to take all three points, and book their spot in the final series.
It was a fitting end to a special day for the club, with Sydney University in fact celebrating ‘Homecoming Day’, where former students and players were welcomed back, along with the club’s juniors, resulting in the biggest attendance seen at the Sydney University Football Ground this season. Needless to say the noise was deafening when Rosario Occhipinti found the net with minutes to spare to give the club the win they so desired.
Sydney University were methodical in their approach on the day, taking the field for the third time in a week, and only needing a draw to clinch a semi-final berth. They stood firm defensively, restricting Magic to long range efforts, and ended up snatching a late winner to take all three points. Best on the day were skipper Tom Hyde, his experience in marshalling his troops evident throughout, stopping many a raid down the Gladesville left dead in their tracks with some effective defending; midfielder, Daniel Mifsud, was a workhorse in the centre of the park, quick to close down the Magic midfield and often winning possession for his side; flanker Domenic Di Mento was his usual penetrating self in attack, his wing play very effective as his did his best to set up his strikers and/or have an occasional effort on goal himself.
Gladesville Ryde Magic will be disappointed to fall just short of the finals series, even though a mid-season resurgence saw them make a real fist of it given their sluggish start to the campaign. The better performers on the day for Gladesville were predictably found in the defensive third; twin central defenders, Aaron Khan and Musashi Kokubo, did a stern job on Scott Tonkin and Rosario Occhipinti, one of the better twin strike forces in the league, with tight marking and anticipation the order of the day (although Occhipinti did escape them the one solitary time to snatch the winner); keeper extraordinaire, Kyriakos Tohouroglou, did his best in repelling any danger from the home side, barking instructions throughout as he did everything possible to almost grab a clean sheet.
PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s
Round Twenty One
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Sydney University Football Ground
Referee – S.Grasso
Assistant Referees – P.Stack and T.Plasto
SYDNEY UNIVERSITY 1 (Occhipinti 86’)
GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC 0
SYDNEY UNIVERSITY; 1.C.McMahon, 18.D.Di Mento (28.M.Akehurst 81’), 14.J.Gowdy, 2.T.Hyde (capt), 13.P.Kardasis, 17.J.Loke, 6.D.Mifsud, 9.S.Tonkin (24.V.Broehl 87’), 10.R.Occhipinti, 21.G.Wenyon (15.C.Muir 70’), 5.J.Karpes.
Substitutes Not Used – 41.O.Gibson, 4.J.Wynter.
Yellow Cards – Nil
Red Cards – Nil
GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC: 33.K.Tohouroglou, 17.J.Carter (27.A.Daskalopoulos 24’), 9.C.Gaitatzis (capt), 13.B.Kerr (25.D.Green 82’), 19.A.Khan, 34.M.Kokubo, 18.J.Kontos, 8.J.Martinez, 133.M.Sada, 10.C.Tomaras, 15.N.Tsioulos (11.M.Eslami 75’).
Substitutes Not Used – 1.M.Mangal.
Yellow Cards – 18.J.Kontos 78’, 9.C.Gaitatzis 90’ + 1’, C.Tomaras 90’ + 3’.
Red Cards –Nil
WESTERN NSW MARINERS – HILLS BRUMBIES 1-7
Saturday, August 20
Proctor Park @ 5-00pm
Hills Brumbies were confirmed as the PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s Premiership winners when they made easy work of the Western NSW Mariners on Saturday afternoon at Bathurst.
The 7-1 drubbing put the Brumbies on 53 points, an unassailable 5 points ahead of Stanmore Hawks with one round remaining, hence the title.
The task at hand became tougher still for the Mariners with inspirational skipper, Adam Scimone, ruled out before kick off, and they succumbed meakly after going behind 0-3 before half time.
Daniel Morsillo was the chief destroyer for Hills, bagging four of his team’s goals in a ruthless display of finishing. Tom Brandon, Dongyong Heo, and Peter Cejkaa – with his 30th goal of the campaign – were the other scorers on a monumental evening for the visitors.
Ken McCall was the lone scorer for the Mariners.
STANMORE HAWKS – HAWKESBURY CITY 1-0
Saturday, August 20
Arlington Oval @ 7-00pm
Stanmore prevailed in the battle of the Hawks on Saturday night, defeating Hawkesbury City 1-0 in a tight affair at Arlington Oval.
Hawkesbury were always going to find it tough with their third game in a week against three of the top four sides in the competition, having grabbed three points against Hills last Saturday and another point versus Rydalmere on Wednesday night.
Both teams boast two of the division’s most well-structured defensive units, including two of the best goal keepers, so it was no surprise that it took a solitary strike to win the points.
The winning goal for Stanmore came in the 25th minute of the first stanza, and it was Michael Toscano who was the hero. A patient build up out of defence resulted in Peter Yannopoulos sending Toscano in to space, and the youngster stroked it past Hawkesbury keeper, Daniel Schwarzer.
Hawkesbury’s opportunities were restricted mainly to set pieces, but Stanmore keeper, James Webb, was equal to the task on each occasion.
The win and subsequent three points sees Stanmore move to 48 points and retain second spot, ahead of their top of the table clash next week in the final round against Hills Brumbies.
DUNBAR ROVERS – GRANVILLE RAGE 2-1
Saturday, August 20
Hensley Athletic Field @ 7-00pm
Dunbar Rovers grabbed all three points in a closely fought encounter against Granville Rage on Saturday evening, making sure in the process that second place on the competition ladder will be decided next week in the final round.
The win sees Dunbar move to 47 points, equal with Rydalmere Lions, both clubs not only one point behind second placed Stanmore Hawks, but meeting each other next week in the final round.
Saturday’s match against Granville started fairly evenly, but the deadlock was broken on 15 minutes when the in-form David Desmond nearly took the net off the goal posts with a left foot volley in to the roof of the goal.
The Rage responded with plenty of intensity, but couldn’t break the Dunbar rear guard, and the score board wasn’t troubled for the remainder of the half.
The match then took a turn for the home side around the hour mark when they were awarded two penalties.
Dunbar skipper, Robbie Deasy, converted the first on 57 minutes, extending Dunbar’s lead to 2-0, but his second penalty just five minutes later, was saved by Granville custodian, Pat Ferrara.
Granville seemed inspired by that save and came at the home side with renewed vigour, eventually reducing the deficit on 82 minutes when Zac Watters netted with a fine strike from the edge of the penalty area.
But the Rage couldn’t muster an equaliser, and Dunbar held on firmly to take all three points.
INTER LIONS – RYDALMERE LIONS 1-2
Sunday, August 21
Concord Oval @ 3-00pm
Rydalmere Lions grabbed all three points in a tight encounter against Inter Lions at Concord Oval on Sunday afternoon.
It was Inter who in fact took the lead on 35 minutes, when Daniel Fornito played Eric Tomesek in to space, and the winger rounded Rydalmere keeper, Mario Farias, to put the home side in front.
Simon Zahra restored parity minutes later, curling a superb effort past Inter’s young stand in keeper, John Soulios, who did well to get a touch on the shot but couldn’t keep it out.
Just as the match was heading for a 1-1 stalemate, Zac Elrich popped up with the winner on 86 minutes, racing across the edge of the box before cracking a left foot shot back across the face of goal and in to the net.
It was an important three points for Rydalmere, as it means they join Dunbar on 47 points in equal third spot on the ladder, ahead of the showdown between the two clubs next week in the final round of the competition.
BALMAIN TIGERS – DULWICH HILL 1-1
Sunday, August 21
Wentworth Park @ 3-00pm
Balmain Tigers and Dulwich Hill shared the points in a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon at Wentworth Park.
It was Dulwich Hill who took the lead as early as the 8th minute, Tom Bentham slotting home past Balmain keeper, Hiroki Fujiwara.
Dully then dominated for the majority of the first half, although Balmain did go awfully close to squaring the ledger on 41 minutes. Joshua Spina played in central striker, Marcello Turdera, whose effort came back off the upright, much to Dully’s relief.
The same two players combined again just five minutes after the break, with Spina’s delivery this time poked in to the goal by Turdera, but after much deliberation, and initially giving the goal, the officials decided to disallow it.
Spina was again in the mix on 53 minutes, lobbing a delightful effort over the head of Dully’s keeper, Michael Frost, but the ball agonisingly hit the upright and was cleared from danger.
Dully responded with a couple of good chances falling to Tom Bentham, both efforts however kept out by Fujiwara in the Balmain goal.
But the Tigers were determined to get something out of the match, and Turdera netted his 11th goal of the campaign in the 78th minute with a clinical finish from inside the box, giving his side a share of the spoils.
