Round 22 Review – PS4 NPL 3 NSW Men’s
Just like it has all season, the PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW competition dished out some thrills and spills right till the end, with the results of Round Twenty Two causing some dramatic last day movement near the top of the ladder.
Stanmore Hawks came unstuck at the home of the champions, losing 1-3 to Hills Brumbies, which allowed both Rydalmere Lions and Dunbar Rovers to leap frog them into 2nd and 3rd spots respectively, courtesy of their 1-1 draw at Rydalmere Park.
Elsewhere on the final day, Dulwich Hill beat Western NSW Mariners 4-1 at Arlington Oval, Gladesville Ryde Magic defeated Inter Lions at Magdala Park by the odd goal in five, Balmain Tigers overcame a 0-2 deficit to win 4-2 against Granville Rage, whilst Hawkesbury City and Sydney University played out a scoreless draw.
Rydalmere Lions and Dunbar Rovers played out a 1-1 draw at Rydalmere Park on Sunday afternoon in the final game of the regular season, in the process earning themselves a ‘second chance’ as they will now both meet again in next week’s Qualifying Final.
With Stanmore Hawks losing on the final day against Hills Brumbies, the Hawks dropped from second to fourth, and will now meet Sydney University in next week’s Elimination Final.
It was an incredible finish to the season, with all three teams ending on 48 points and only separated by goal differential in a dramatic climax.
Rydalmere Park presented an uneven surface for the season’s finale, and both teams struggled throughout to put their foot on the ball and push the leather around on the deck.
Dunbar Rovers stunned the locals as early as the 5th minute. Captain Robbie Deasy swung over a free kick from the right flank that eluded friend and foe, the ball bouncing once on its way inside the far post to put the visitors in front.
On 14 minutes the visitors could easily have doubled their lead, the uneven surface rearing its ugly head however as Rene Mrva scuffed his shot wide when through on goal.
Even though they were competitive in the middle of the park, Rydalmere were having trouble penetrating the Dunbar defensive line with the Rovers rear guard standing tall.
It took an entire 34 minutes for the Lions to threaten, and it was Amaury Gauthier who went on a slalom run in to the box before his angled shot was well parried by Dunbar keeper, Stephen Deasy.
Robbie Deasy almost made it two from two free kicks in the 35th minute, this time however, he was going straight for goal, his curling effort inches wide of the keeper’s left hand upright.
Despite their limited opportunities, Rydalmere did draw level, and it was via a set piece of their own on 39 minutes. Zac Elrich was upended on the edge of the box, and Matthew Mayora did the honours, thumping a low shot in to the bottom corner of the net.
There was one final opportunity before the break, and it came via Dunbar’s overlapping left back, Robert Ezekiel, whose drive from the corner of the box was heading for the far top corner until Rydalmere’s keeper, Mario Farias, intervened with a full length diving save.
The second half was a dour affair, with both sides again struggling to make any real impact. This was partly because of the difficulty of keeping the ball moving on the deck, and partly because of each team’s resolute defence.
Yoel Silvestre did have a great chance to edge Rydalmere in front in the 49th minute, getting on the end of a superb low cross from the left by Ryunosuke Hayashi, but he was racing at top speed and overran the opportunity.
Dunbar almost edged in front in the 59th minute, when Clive Delaney powered a header goalwards from an inswinging Robbie Deasy corner. Rydalmere keeper, Mario Farias, was equal to the task, flinging himself to the right to pull off a brilliant save.
Rydalmere’s Zac Elrich weaved his way inside a defender in the 70th minute, but his curling shot from the edge of the box went straight down the throat of the Dunbar keeper, Stephen Deasy.
The match then deteriorated into an arm wrestle that simply wasn’t budging, both teams focussed on playing out time and defending their point.
The one point put both teams on 48 points and took both clubs past Stanmore Hawks on the ladder, with Rydalmere Lions finishing in second position, with a goal difference of +36, and Dunbar Rovers ending their first season in the NPL3 in third position, with goals at +31.
They will now be back next weekend to do it all again as they meet in the Qualifying Final in Week One of the Final Series.
Rydalmere were well lead on the day by Matthew Mayora, a tower of strength in central defence, winning many tackles via his anticipation, and scoring his side’s goal with an expertly struck free kick, whilst standouts for Dunbar Rovers were Gilad Swartz, who was tenacious in the tackle, especially during the second half where he dominated the defensive midfield area, and skipper Robbie Deasy, who toiled hard all day, leading by example as he fiercely contested all the midfield battles.
PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s
Round Twenty Two
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Referee – Adam Susz
Assistant Referees – Daniel Zautsen and Zack Coleman
RYDALMERE LIONS (1) 1 (Mayora 39’)
DUNBAR ROVERS (1) 1 (Deasy 5’)
RYDALMERE LIONS; 70.M.Farias, 7.Z.Elrich, 24.A.Gauthier (21.L.Dorretto 90’), 11.R.Hayashi (9.L.Owusu 64’), 2.D.Kim, 15.M.Mayora, 6.Y.Samba,17.Y.Silvestre (16.S.Tarutani 77’), 8.S.Webb (capt), 19.S.Zahra, 35.M.Pombart.
Substitutes Not Used – 14.M.Akca, 23.F.Aoun
Yellow Cards – 7.Z.Elrich 37’, 2.D.Kim 78’, 6.Y.Samba 81’.
Red Cards – Nil
DUNBAR ROVERS FC; 1.S.Deasy, 10.R.Deasy(capt), 5.C.Delaney, 16.D.Desmond, 8.A.Doddy (4.A.Simpson 46’), 6.R.Ezekiel, 21.A.Green, 9.R.Mrva (3.S.Liu 79’), 12.M.Sealy (18.A.Nicolosi 81’), 2.A.Smith,19.G.Swartz.
Substitutes Not Used – Nil
Yellow Cards – 8.A.Doddy 26’, 2.A.Smith 37’, 19.G.Swartz 90’ + 1’.
Red Cards – Nil
DULWICH HILL FC – WESTERN NSW MARNERS FC 4-1
Sunday, August 28
Arlington Oval @ 3-00pm
Dulwich Hill finished off their season on a high note, beating the visiting Western NSW Mariners by 4-1 at Arlington Oval.
Dully lead 2-1 at the half time break, and a couple of goals in the second stanza gave them a commanding outcome.
Goals for Dulwich Hill came from Tom Bentham, Vic Koutsoufis, Nathan Lopino, and Angus Chance, whilst Matthew Hobby replied for the Mariners.
The three points meant that Dulwich Hill finished on 18 for the season, climbing to 10th on the ladder by hurdling Granville Rage on the final day of action.
HAWKESBURY CITY SC – SYDNEY UNIVERSITY SFC 0-0
Sunday, August 28
David Bertenshaw Field @ 3-00pm
There were no goals at David Bertenshaw Field on Sunday afternoon, but you can thank the work of the two respective keepers for that, their efforts rewarded by keeping a clean sheet.
Hawkesbury’s Daniel Schwarzer managed to save a first half penalty from Uni’s Johnny Gowdy, and also kept out Scott Tonkin’s rebound.
Moments later Schwarzer was at it again, diverting a great drive from Uni’s Valentin Broehl.
Not to be outdone, Uni’s Carl McMahon pulled off a smart save to deny Hawkesbury’s Michael McCrory a winner, whilst Schwarzer saved the home side’s blushes with an athletic save to keep Rosario Occhipinti’s effort out.
Both sides settled for a point in the end. For Hawkesbury City, they ended up in a respectable 7th position on the ladder, and will now start planning for next season, whilst Sydney University move on to the Elimination Final next week courtesy of their 5th spot finish.
GRANVILLE RAGE – BALMAIN TIGERS FC 2-4
Sunday, August 28
Garside Park @ 3-00pm
Balmain Tigers showed some real fighting spirit at Garside Park, coming from 0-2 down at half time to defeat Granville Rage 4-2 in an exciting encounter.
Rage took the lead in the 3rd minute when Luke Mesiti curled a wonderful free kick over the Balmain wall and in to the corner of the net.
Balmain responded on 28 minutes, when Joshua Spina’s effort took a deflection before it was saved by Balmain’s keeper, Hiro Fujiwara.
But Granville extended their lead four minutes before half time, Daiki Sadahisa converting with a neat volley from six yards.
Balmain keeper, Fujiwara, then saved a one-on-one when faced with Granville’s Daniel Bortolazzo, a save which kept the score at 0-2 and kept the Tigers in the match.
Marcelo Turdera eventually pulled a goal back for Balmain on 69 minutes, side footing home after a left wing cross by Andrew Casali, before the visitors equalised in the 75th, Rentaro Osa restoring parity.
Now with the wind well and truly in their sails, Balmain stormed home to claim all three points, with Turdera poking home number three in the 80th minute – his 13th goal of the campaign incidentally – before Matthew Casali brought the house down with a screamer on 87 minutes, his 25 yard pile driver going in off the underside of the cross bar.
A disappointing end to the season for Granville Rage, the loss seeing them remain on 17 points and dropping to 11th spot, whilst Balmain climbed to a season high 9th position, the win and three points seeing them move on to 20 points.
HILLS BRUMBIES SC – STANMORE HAWKS FC 3-1
Sunday, August 28
Lily Football Centre @ 3-00pm
Hills Brumbies finished their bread and butter season on a positive note, downing Stanmore Hawks 3-1 at Lily Football Stadium.
Second on the ladder at the start of play, the loss sees Stanmore drop to fourth position, and now will have to play in the Elimination Final next week against Sydney University.
Goals for Hills Brumbies came from Daniel Morsillo and a brace from Peter Cejkaa – his 31st and 32nd goals of a remarkable campaign – whilst Stanmore replied through Peter Yannopoulos.
As Premiers, the Brumbies will have a week off next weekend, and await to play the winner of next week’s Qualifying Final.
On a very sad note, Stanmore Hawks’ inspirational captain, Steve Liavas, suffered what looks like a season ending knee injury after twisting it during the first half. The Hawks will find it tough but they’ll have to regroup and fight on in the Final series without their leader. On behalf of everyone in the NPL 3 competition and wider football community, we wish Steve all the very best for a quick recovery.
GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC – INTER LIONS SC 3-2
Sunday, August 28
Magdala Park @ 3-00pm
Gladesville Ryde Magic and Inter Lions put on an entertaining finish to the 2016 season at Magdala Park, with Magic prevailing by the odd goal in five.
Gladesville Ryde took the opportunity to give some of their U18s and U20s players some first grade experience, and were rewarded with a satisfying victory in front of their home fans.
But it was Inter who nearly broke the deadlock as early as the 4th minute, Daniel Fornito’s effort well saved by Magic custodian, Kyriakos Tohouroglou.
Two minutes later it was Gladesville’s turn to almost score, Inter’s keeper, David Plowright saving from youngster Peter Vikoudis in a one-on-one duel.
Inter Lions went even closer in the 14th minute when Daniel Fogarty cracked an effort against the upright before skewing his rebound wide of the mark.
The opening goal finally arrived on 32 minutes, and it came the way of the home side.
A wonderful interchange of play involving a number of Magic players resulted in Peter Vikoudis laying the ball off for Majid Eslami, and the striker smacked a left foot shot in to net to put his side in front.
Inter Lions only took five minutes to restore parity, with Clayton Musumeci taking advantage of a poor clearance to strike home on 37 minutes.
The two Chris’ combined to edge Gladesville back in front just four minutes before half time, with Gaitatzis passing to Tomaras who netted with a long range grass cutter to make it 2-1 to Magic.
Peter Vikoudis extended Gladesville’s lead in the 51st minute with a 20 yard effort, and that spurred the home side to continue to dominate the second stanza and try to put the game to bed.
But Daniel Fogarty scored his 23rd goal of the season to reduce the deficit for Inter, but Gladesville hung on for all three points.
The loss saw Inter drop to 8th spot on the ladder, overtaken by Hawkesbury City on goal difference, whilst Gladesville Ryde Magic ended the season in 6th position on 32 points, five in arrears of a finals berth.
Footnote – one journalist covering six matches per week is a difficult task, especially with limited resources, so I wanted to take this opportunity to thank my network of conscientious people who have taken the time to provide the relevant match details, with accuracy and without bias, each and every week. Without your continued assistance, I could not have provided the comprehensive cover of each of the 22 Rounds of football matches, so thank you, it has been very much appreciated by all involved in the 2016 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition.
