Round 1 Finals Series Review – PS4 NPL 2 NSW Men’s
The two lower ranked finalists in the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Mens competition showed league position doesn’t matter when it came to finals football, with Mounties Wanderers and Mount Druitt Town Rangers ending the respective seasons of Marconi and Bankstown City.
Elimination Final 1
Marconi v Mounties Wanderers
In a thrilling start to the finals competition, it needed extra time to separate Mounties Wanderers and Marconi before Mounties prevailed 4-3, with a match winner by Joshua Viera with just five minutes remaining.
This was a game which swung from end to end, with neither side quite being able to claim the ascendency, with the lead changing hands constantly throughout this hard fought match. After a cagey opening half hour which saw few chances, the clearest opportunity for an opener being a Marconi corner headed off the line by Neftali Gonzalez, it was Mounties who took the lead thirty minutes in.
It wasn’t without merit either, with Mounties having started very brightly but without causing much direct havoc to Chad Taylor. That changed when a corner was lifted into the area, and amidst a scramble, Wade Oostendorp was able to force home for the first goal of the game.
With Mounties’ tails up, Milorad Simonovic tried from distance three minutes later, drawing a good save from Taylor, before Marko Jesic just shot wide at the opposite end after Mirjan Pavlovic set up the chance.
But it was with five minutes remaining of the first half, that Mounties should have doubled their lead. A great run down the right by Reid Taylor, saw a cross land straight for Matthew West, who seemed certain to score. But inexplicably, the chance went begging. Amends would be made later in the game, doubly so.
The narrow lead at the break by Mounties was deserved, but of course, it was only narrow. And it lasted only nine minutes of the second half before the Stallions drew level. And an easier header Sean Rooney is unlikely to score in his career.
A cross from Jesic picked out Rooney, in space inside the six yard box, and it was nothing more than the simplest of tasks to choose his spot.
The equaliser sparked Marconi to life, as it did the game. Just ten minutes later, they took the lead after half time substitute, Christopher Godoy Boscur headed in from close range, for another one, to put the Stallions in front for the first time.
But Mounties weren’t going to take that lying down. They had been forced into a change when centre back Tayfun Devrimol left the field in the first half, resulting in Pat Cappuccio shifting back and George Codrea entering midfield. It was all hands on deck, with none more so than captain Neftali Gonzalez influencing everything. Gonzalez was in imperious form, directing Mounties play at every opportunity.
But despite the effort, Mounties just couldn’t break through again, and the task almost looked insurmountable when a superb sequence of play from Pavlovic, to Rooney and then Jesic saw a first time strike just go wide and over. So close.
A minute later and Mounties seemed to have scored themselves. A neat pass by West fell into the path of Taylor, who squeezed his shot around his namesake in the Marconi goal. Certainly a large portion of the crowd in the stand thought it went in, but the bulging of the net was the wrong side of the post.
With just seven minutes remaining though, Mounties got their due. An exquisite cross from Mitchell Davidson found West who made no mistake with his header, across the face of goal into the bottom corner.
The late equaliser, for 2-2, led the game into extra time. And the goals kept coming.
Marconi struck first blood, Rooney shooting into the corner two minutes before the turnaround, but that lead lasted only briefly. Gonzalez and West combined, as they had done for large parts of the game, with Gonzalez’s nifty cross finding West like a magnet who headed again, for 3-3.
Penalties were looming, players were cramping up, and Rooney was almost on one leg. There was nothing being left out on the pitch, and there was some desperate play.
But also, there was a winner. And it came to Mounties. With five minutes left, Davidson cut in from the right and tried to shoot past Taylor, who saved but parried, and Joshua Viera, who only came on in the 110th minute, knocked in the loose ball.
Even so, that wasn’t the end of it. Marconi pressured for a late goal, Chad Taylor came up for a corner, and but for another clearance off the line by Gonzalez in the dying moments, it could have been 4-4.
But Mounties survived, and it is they who continue into next week. Marconi certainly gave it their all, and there is no loss in that.
For Mounties coach, David Perkovic, it was a win to savour.
“I thought we started the game fairly well, and capitalised on a set piece for our first. But at half time, we knew that one goal wouldn’t be enough, as Marconi have plenty of quality”, he explained.
“But even when we went behind, I never felt that we were out of the game. We knew that they would play a lot of direct balls to Pavlovic, as his ability to hold up the ball is one of the best in this league, but I felt that we limited the chances. Even when Tayfun went off, and Pat Cappuccio went back, along with Wade, they didn’t miss anything”.
And it was no surprise to Perkovic that the winner should came from young Joshua Viera.
“He is only 18 years old, but he shows no fear. He has had plenty of first team football in lower leagues and he has scored winners for us in the past. So he has done it before”.
The win over Marconi was the first by Mounties this season, but again, was not of concern.
“It just go to show that the finals are a clean slate, and even though we didn’t beat them during the season, we prepared really well, and it is fantastic credit to the team. We can take a lot of confidence from this game”, he finished.
Marconi 3 (Sean Rooney 54’, 103’, Chris Godoy Boscur 65’) v Mounties Wanderers 4 (Wade Oostendorp 30’, Matthew West 83’, 105’, Joseph Viera 115’) aet
Saturday 3 September 2016
at Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Ben Abraham
Assts: Scott Edeling and James Tesoriero
Marconi: 1. Chad Taylor 2. Jarrad Ross 5. Peter Pelekanos 7. Mirjan Pavlovic 8. Sean Rooney 9. Kenta Hasegawa 10. Marko Jesic 14. Petar Markovic 16. Noah Chianese (24. Chris Godoy Boscur 46’) 17. Steven Drewery 23. Christopher Nunes (c).
Subs not used: 3. Ante Markovic 12. Bright Appiah 15. Robert Perre 21. Kristian Setkukoski
Yellow Cards: Petar Markovic, Christopher Nunes
Coach: Tony Candy
Mounties Wanderers: 21. Luke Kairies 6. Aleksandar Tomic 7. Neftali Gonzalez (c) 9. Matthew West 11. Mitchell Davidson 13. Pat Cappuccio 17. Milorad Simonovic 20. Reid Taylor (35. Alex Boyadjian, rep by 34. Joshua Viera 110’) 22. Wade Oostendorp 24. Jake Ingle 32. Tayfun Devrimol (39. George Codrea 39’).
Subs not used: 19. Ben Ansah 30. Daniel Sadaka.
Yellow Cards: Mitchell Davidson, Milorad Simonovic, Matthew West
Coach: David Perkovic
Elimination Final 2
Bankstown City v Mount Druitt Town Rangers
Sixth placed Mount Druitt Town Rangers overcame third placed Bankstown City to continue their foray into the second week of the finals after a come from behind 3-1 win on Sunday.
With the Lions taking an early lead, six minutes in, after Gerard Ouffoue turned away a Huseyin Jasli cross, it could hardly have started better for Bankstown. Despite two enforced changes from last week, with Chris Gomez suspended and Dhari Alsaad injured, the Lions still looked the goods and the quick lead augered well for last year’s losing Grand Finalists.
But Mount Druitt Town Rangers weren’t here to play a support act and within six further minutes, had drawn level. A run to the byeline by Goncalo Paradanto saw his cross cut back to Abraham Majok, who, almost in a carbon copy of Bankstown’s opener, tapped home the equaliser.
The Lions dominated the possession for the large part thereafter, in the opening forty five, but had few chances to retake the lead, despite the amount of ball. Apart from a shot deflected over the bar, after good work by Jasli and Todd Halloran, chances were minimal. Rather, it was Rangers who almost scored again, Kuag Reec having two chances in quick succession. The first he was denied by the feet of Dion Shaw, while the second saw his shot skew across the face of goal, just failing to sneak in.
It took a corker of a shot to breach either defence again, and that came from the boot of Brian Griffin-Colls, four minutes into the second half. It simply flew into the top right corner, from some twenty five metres, and was a goal worthy of a finals lead. It put Rangers’ noses in front and they worked hard to make sure it stayed that way.
Lions continued to press forwarded, Jasli dominant, but they just couldn’t break through a strong Rangers backline. They weren’t going to give up this lead in a hurry and Scott Goodwin, Nick Trimble and co were solid as a rock.
When Rangers extended their lead with eighteen to go, the game seemed over. Kuag Reec made certain of it all, turning his defender, to slot between Shaw and the post.
Bankstown kept at it, for their part, but there was a sense it wasn’t going to be their day. Shayne Ardle had the last word, almost reducing the deficit back to one, but his strike flew just wide.
Bankstown City 1 (Gerard Ouffoue 6’) v Mount Druitt Town Rangers 3 (Abraham Majok 12’, Brian Griffin-Colls 49’, Kuag Reec 72’)
Sunday 4 September 2016
at Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Katie Patterson
Assts: Raymond Osborne and Andrej Giev
Bankstown City: 1. Dion Shaw 2. Todd Halloran 4. Mato Lucic (15. Alessandro Pecora 80’) 5. Michael Beauchamp 9. Gerard Ouffoue 11. Huseyin Jasli 14. Dean Bereveskos 16. Kojiro Hori (25. Shayne Ardle 66’) 20. Nicholas Mouzourakis (22. Kyohei Kimura 73’) 23. Grant Lynch 30. Jack Musgrave.
Subs not used: 17. Joshua Brookes 41. Samuel Benton
Yellow Card: Huseyin Jasli 89’
Coach: Leo Carle
Mount Druitt Town Rangers: 1. Justin Biega 3. Brian Griffin-Colls 6. Nick Trimble 7. Luke Clifford (23. Frank Martey 89’) 8. Matthew Clowes 9. Kuag Reec (12. Nuno Soares Gomes) 10. Goncalo Paradanto (5. Jamie Dib 74’) 11. Abraham Majok 13. Nathan Ralph 14. Daniel McCann 16. Scott Goodwin.
Subs not used: 2. Lord Darkoh 21. Joel Tinker
Yellow Card: Nathan Ralph 84’
Coach: Aidan Desmond
– by Peter Rowney, Play Station 4 National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Men’s Reporter
