Round 4 Review – PS4 NPL 2 NSW Men’s
Blacktown Spartans’ fairytale start to the season continued at Blacktown Football Park on Saturday night with a 4-0 victory over Bankstown Berries.
With Marconi and Western Sydney Wanderers sharing the spoils 2-2 in a thrilling match of the round, the Spartans now sit alone at the top of the table, two points ahead of the Stallions.
In other matches, Central Coast Mariners finally turned on a complete performance to secure their maiden victory, a 3-0 effort over Northern Tigers; while Mt Druitt Town Rangers poured further misery on Bankstown City Lions in a gritty 3-2 win at Jensen Park.
In Sunday matches, Mounties had to wait until the 90th minute to beat a brave yet desperately unlucky St George; while Hills Brumbies edged out Macarthur Rams 2-1, and Spirit FC grabbed a fortuitous one-all draw with North Shore Mariners courtesy, of an equaliser in the 93rd minute.
Match of the Round
Marconi Stallions 2 Western Sydney Wanderers 2, Marconi Stadium
Marconi and Western Sydney Wanderers shared the spoils 2-2 in a thilling end-to-end PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Men’s match of the round at Marconi Stadium on Saturday night.
Western Sydney led twice, with goals to Emmanuel Gonzalez and Oliver Puflett; while Judah Cleur and Sean Rooney kept Marconi in the match with one goal apiece.
Wanderers coach Trevor Morgan expected Marconi to play aggressively from the start and he wasn’t disappointed as the more experienced Stallions tackled with intensity and attacked in waves through the middle and down the wings.
Mirjan Pavlovic tore into the young Wanderers from kickoff both with the ball and in defence; while Marko Jesic caused a few problems with his pace and skill down the right flank.
But despite the Stallions’ robust start, it was the young Wanderers who opened the scoring after nine minutes. Marconi goalkeeper Nenad Vekic found himself stranded outside the penalty box, allowing Wanderers’ forward Emmanuel Gonzalez to pounce and guide a long range effort into the back of an empty net.
With the likes of Mario Shabow, Liam Youlley, Tariq Maia and Keanu Baccus pulling the strings, Western Sydney played with panache, creating some wonderful moves; their pace, mobility and skill keeping Marconi on the back foot in the early exchanges. But slowly, the sky blues found their rhythm.
Brandon Vella, Sean Rooney and newcomer Judah Cleur went close but couldn’t find a way past brilliant Wanderers goalkeeper Nick Suman, who proved to be a major thorn in Marconi’s side.
In the 38th minute Pavlovic sent in an inch-perfect cross for Cleur, whose header rocketed towards the net, only for Suman to pull off a magnificent save.
Then just on halftime Rooney broke clear and in a one-on-one with Suman, the goalscoring ace came off second best as the 17-year-old goalkeeper again defied the locals.
The Wanderers went to the break with a 1-0 lead but it was Marconi who struck first in the second half, when Cleur scored from close range in the 47th minute. Rooney created the opportunity when he let fly with a rasping shot that Suman could only parry. Cleur was on hand to slot home the equaliser.
But just when Marconi fans began to get excited, Western Sydney struck again only five minutes later when Oliver Puflett rifled a shot past Vekic to give his side a 2-1 advantage
Despite the setback, Marconi’s belief never faltered and they continued to press and harry and while Cleur went close again; it was that man Rooney who struck gold in the 64th, striking home from close range.
Marconi had several more opportunities to score but Suman’s brilliance kept the wolves in blue at bay.
Marconi strung together some lovely passages of play and caused plenty of problems in the Wanderers’ defence. But again Suman continued to frustrate and deny the Stallions, who couldn’t believe the gloveman’s heroics between the sticks.
In the 65th minute Rooney sent in an inch-perfect low cross for Jesic who could only watch as Suman somehow pulled off a great save from point blank range.
Pavlovic then faced the young keeper in a one-on-one and, under pressure, the former A-League star could only deliver a weak shot straight at the gloveman.
Then with time almost up on the clock, Suman showed cat-like reflexes when he cut out a low Rooney cross destined for a lurking Pavlovic at the far post. Had the cross met its target, chances are Pavlovic would have given his side a 3-2 advantage and a likely victory.
But it wasn’t to be and the most eagerly anticipated match of the round finished in a 2-all draw, with the coaches of both sides going away content with the outcome.
For Marconi, the experienced Vesic, Pavlovic and Rooney proved to be a handful, while Cleur, Brandon Vella and Michael Beauchamp impressed. Beauchamp in particular deserves special mention for a cool and composed performance at the back.
The Wanderers were served well by Mario Shabow, Liam Youlley, Tariq Maia, Keanu Baccus, Oliver Puflett, and Emmanuel Gonzalez. But Suman was a cut above everyone else on the pitch and deserved man of the match honours for his brilliance between the sticks.
Wanderers coach Trevor Morgan wasn’t surprised by Marconi’s physical approach and said that while he was impressed with certain aspects of his side’s performance, other areas needed improvement.
"Marconi brought what we thought they would: physicality," Morgan told Football NSW. "They were brave to to come and press in our half early and we got a goal because they were punished for getting a bit too high. But we got what we expected and I think the result’s not a major surprise to anybody and probably shows we need to be better.
"I was impressed by certain aspects of our performance but there are individuals who could execute little things better. There were a lot of mistakes and balls given away without pressure. But then there were times when they dealt with the presure reasonably well.
"Marconi had more clear cut chances because of the pace and power in their running and their experience. We had plenty of chances to get into the final third and play balls into the box but we often took the wrong option. In the end a 2-all draw is probably a fair result on the night."
Marconi coach Tony Candy was also happy with the draw and his side’s performance.
"I think we played against a well organised, quality team," Candy told Football NSW. "It was a good game and I’m quite happy with the result, which I think is fair in terms of the performance of the game.
"I was really happy with the amount of chances we created today, we created a lot of opportunities. But we just didn’t finish them off which is something we’ve got to keep working on. Defensively we got caught by a couple of long balls which is unusual, so for me that was probably a little bit disappointing. All credit to Western Sydney Wanderers though."
When asked to name his standouts, Candy replied: "I thought Brandon Vella was outstanding and stood out today. The other boy Judah (Cleur), who just joined them today, took a little while to get into the game but for his first game I think he did really well. Michael Beauchamp too, put in a great shift."
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions 2 (Judah Cleur 47′, Sean Rooney 64′) Western Sydney Wanderers 2 (Emmanuel Gonzalez 9′, Oliver Puflett 52′)
Marconi Stadium
Saturday 25 March 2017
Referee: Samuel Grosso
Assistant Referees: Brandon Coveric, Paddy Reynolds
Marconi Stallions: 1. Nenad Vekic, 4. Dhari Alsaad, 5. Michael Beauchamp, 7. Mirjan Pavlovic, 8. Sean Rooney, 10. Marko Jesic, 12. Judah Cleur (24. Richard Darko 80′), 17. Theo Kofinas, 18. Peter Triantis (26. Fabian Monge), 22. Brandon Vella, 23. Christopher Nunes (14. Peter Pelekanos 14′)
Unused Subs: 11. Sam Perre, 21. Kristian Sekutkoski
Yellow Cards: 17. Theo Kofinas 69′, 7. Mirjan Pavlovic 71′
Coach: Tony Candy
Western Sydney Wanderers: 2. Lachlan Campbell, 4. Henry Davies, 10. Emmanuel Gonzalez, 11. Kosta Grozos, 18. Oliver Puflett (49. Abraham Majok 59′), 21. Mario Shabow, 25. Liam Youlley (22. Matthew Lecce 72′), 26. Jackson Bandiera, 40. Nick Suman (GK), 42. Keanu Baccus, 50. Tariq Maia (8. Charles Abou Serhal 68′)
Unused Subs:, 20. Daniel Axford, 22. Matthew Lecce, 24. Tate Russell
Yellow Cards: 42. Keanu Baccus 40′, 25. Liam Youlley 41′, 26. Jackson Bandiera 44′. 8. Charles Abou Serhal 70′, 2. Lachlan Campbell 75′
Coach: Trevor Morgan
Northern Tigers 0 Central Coast Mariners 3, Valentine Sports Park
Central Coast Mariners finally broke through for their maiden win of the season, a 3-0 victory over the in-form Northern Tigers at Valentine Sports Park on Saturday afternoon.
Lachlan Wales grabbed two goals and Yerasimakis Petratos scored one to lift the academy side off the bottom of the table.
The young Mariners had endured a nightmare start to the season, conceding a whopping 11 goals in three losses from as many games. But on Saturday afternoon, Ben Cahn’s rookies finally did the damage against a tricky opponent that, before kickoff, was sitting pretty in fourth-equal on the premiership ladder.
Lachlan Wales scored the first goal to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead at halftime; while in the second half, Yerasimakis Petratos and Wales added two late strikes for what turned out to be a convincing win.
"I’m very proud of the players because the bad weather during the week didn’t allow us to train as often as we’d like," Cahn told Football NSW. "But what we did with the limited time we had, we worked on some key principles in defence and obviously we kept a clean sheet against a very good side."
Despite losing three consecutive matches, the Mariners have this season played some brilliant football, dominating teams only to lose focus and concentration at critical times.
"We’ve been saying for a few weeks in terms of our dominance and overall performance, we’ve been very, very good," Cahn explained. "But lack of maturity, lack of leadership, lack of experience let us down and cost us in big moments of games.
"After a tough few weeks the team really pulled together (against the Tigers). The older boys showed some real leadership, there was really good communication amongst the group, there was a real desire and hunger to stop the opposition from scoring. We always know we’ll score goals because we’ve got such good attacking players, but the overall maturity of the performance was most pleasing."
When asked to name the Mariners’ standouts, Cahn replied: "There probably weren’t too many individual standouts. Everybody played above a seven out of ten so it was a really good collective performance. It was a good defensive display from the back four and goalkeeper but the difference was there were eleven players on the pitch working to defend well."
To stress his side’s potential, Cahn added that in previous games against competition leaders Blacktown Spartans and Marconi, the Mariners "played them off the park", demonstrating how dangerous his boys’ can really be.
Meanwhile, after a solid win against St George last weekend, the Tigers were primed to continue on their merry way but were confronted by a Mariners side that finally played to something resembling their full potential.
"Technically the Mariners are very good and they’ve got some good young players," Tigers coach Mark McCormick told Football NSW. "But you’d expect that of an A-League club.
"It was a bit of a tough one, they scored in the first minute and they scored in injury time. Everything else in between that was very even. I don’t think the score really reflected the game to be honest. But they were able to make it count when the ball came into the box."
When asked who stood out for his side, the Glaswegian replied: "Paul Turrin came in and did a real good job in place of Michael Rolston, who picked up an injury. Paul came in and played a role in central midfield, which he’s not accustomed to. Again, our goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares was very good. It’s his first season in first grade and he’s exceptional and has a bright future ahead of him."
Northern Tigers: 1. Harrison Devenish-Meares, 10. Lucas Dawson, 2. Josh Ward, 6. Jordan Ferrier, 18. Joshua Tanner, 3. Jamie Craig, 13. Paul Turrin, 11. Lachlan Hughes, 7. Joel Hardwick, 9. Liam Mcconaghy, 19. Ryan Peterson
Subs: 20. Ben Taylor (GK), 27. Karim Moursi, 8. Max Glanville, 5. Ally Brown, Edward Harvey-Latham
Coach: Mark McCormick
Central Coast Mariners: 1. Adam Pearce, 2. Shelford Dais, 16. Gianni Stensness, 18. Steve Whyte, 19. Jordan Lane, 6. James Enticknap, 15. Yerasimakis Petratos (Reece Papas), 8. Tom Lyons, 7. Lachlan Wales, 10. Duncan Stewart (14. Sean Pratt), 11. Peter Kekeris (9. Brenton Fox)
Unused Subs: 5. Charles William, 20. Aidan Munford (GK)
Coach: Ben Cahn
Blacktown Spartans 4 Bankstown Berries 0, Blacktown Football Park
Blacktown Spartans extended their lead at the top of the table to three points with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Bankstown Berries at Blacktown Football Park on Saturday night.
Goals to Alex Boyadjian, Michael Konestabo and a brace by Mohamad Rahimi condemned the Berries to their third straight loss of the season.
Buoyed by the confidence that comes with winning, the league leaders were too good for a struggling Berries side that currently sits on the bottom of the league.
Spartans coach Luis Contigiani wanted his side to be more ruthless in front of goal after squandering several opportunities last week; while he also demanded improvement on defence. With four goals and a clean sheet, his players certainly delivered.
"I’m not taking this win for granted but I think the scoreline flattered us a bit," the humble Spartans coach told Football NSW. "In the first half Berries kept the ball quite well and were pretty good in possession but poor finishing in the final third let us off the hook."
Spartans went ahead around the 15-minute mark when striker Alex Boyadijan’s shot took a freakish deflection over Berries goalkeeper Chad Taylor; while 15 minutes before the break, Michael Konestabo beat his marker and followed up with a low finish to score.
Despite leading 2-0 at halftime, Contigiani conceded that the Berries had caught Blacktown out several times with what he described as "wide rotations" between defence and midfield, a tactic that the Spartans rectified at halftime.
"We explained to the boys at halftime how to fix that and we pretty much stopped them from hurting us in the final third," Contigiani said. The Spartans then took control of the match and with the dismissal of Berries’ Dominic Hudap, that dominance continued.
The Spartans scored their third 10 minutes into the second half when Mohamad Rahimi pierced the Berries’ wall from a freekick. The Afghani scored his second, again from the setpiece, just before the end of the game with a masterful strike that, according to Contigiani, would have been the envy of any player anywhere in the world.
"Although I was happy with a slight improvement on our previous games, I’m still not 100 per cent certain," Contigiani said. "I believe there’s got to be a drastic improvement. When we play against teams that are good in the final third, we will get hurt unless we tighten things up at the back."
When asked who stood out for his side, Contigiani mentioned Kojiro Hori and Aaron White for their tireless work off the ball; while he also commended Rahimi and praised centre backs Daisan Kim and Emanuel Elali for their discipline and positional awareness on defence.
The ever-so-cautious Contigiani again stressed that despite his side’s fine run, there was plenty of improvement to come.
"The performance was better than previous games in that we didn’t concede goals, so hopefully that shows a sign of a bit of improvement in our defensive work. The fact that we put our chances away was also pleasing, although we did miss one from close range and one hit the post. Scoring four goals I’m grateful. And for now we’ll keep doing our best and hopefully things take care of themselves. "
Meanwhile, the manner of the Berries’ defeat wasn’t what player coach Perry Moustakas was hoping for. With a new team still coming to terms with combinations, Moustakas has been impressed with his side’s spirit and tenacity but stressed the need for results.
"We’ve got a lot of new players so to gel as a team will take time," Moustakas told Football NSW. "But we can’t keep using that as an excuse, we need to be more clinical and take our chances.
"We were much better than Spartans in the first half but again they took their chances and we didn’t. But we can’t keep saying the same things, the boys need to step up and be more clinical and start being men.
"I don’t like using excuses but their first goal took a wicked deflection and went over our keeper and bounced in the goal; things like that change the course of a game, so we need to be better. Simple as that."
When asked if there were any positives to come out of the game, Moustakas replied: "There were none, but we need to start taking our chances, we need to be better, so there aren’t many positives to take out of the game. We just need to keep going and get a result."
Blacktown Spartans: 1. Domenic Nascimben (GK), 2. Daisan Kim, 3. Emanuel Elali, 4. Tiano Boutoubia, 6. Mohamad Rahimi, 7. Michael Konestabo (23. Ogun Dullak), 8. Aaron White, 9. Garang Awac (13. Brendon Bezzina), 10. Kojiro Hori, 11. Alex Boyadijan (20. Mitchell Cross), 16. Alessandro Pecora
Unused Subs: 5. James Letta, 42. Jacob Forster
Coach: Luis Contigiani
Bankstown Berries: 1. Chad Taylor (GK), 5. James Combes, 6. Mitchell Farmer, 7. Kyle Ewart, 8. Dominic Hudap, 10. Vincent Giannini, 11. Andreas Vais (9. Gavin Forbes), 15. Perry Moustakas, 17. Daniel Fornito, 19. Hyams Tomohiro, 20. Nicholas Mouzourakis (2. Domenico Tripodi)
Unused Subs: 12. Jake Bradshaw, 3. Daniel Di Ruocco, 21. John Dimitrakis
Yellow Cards: 8. Dominic Hudap 51′ 70′, 2. Domenico Tripodi 66′, 1. Chad Taylor 70′
Red Cards: Dominic Hudap 70′
Player Coach: Perry Moustakas
Referee: James Lenis
Assistant Referees: Visaal Prasad, Toby Plasto
Bankstown City Lions 2 Mt Druitt Town Rangers 3, Jensen Park
Bankstown City Lions’ tale of woe continued when they suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat to Mt Druitt Town Rangers at Jensen Park on Saturday night.
Luke Clifford scored twice and Mitch Mclintock grabbed one for Mt Druitt; while for the Lions Huseyin Jasli grabbed a double from a freekick and penalty.
Mt Druitt coach Aidan Desmond said his side dominated possession but had to work hard for the win.
"They played very deep and we had to work for it," Desmond told Football NSW. "We gave them two stupid goals, which is something we need to be better at."
Mitchell Mclintock opened the scoring for Rangers after some good leadup work down the right-hand side. But on the stroke of halftime, the mercurial Huseyin Jasli equalised with a scorching freekick from the edge of the box.
Twenty minutes into the second half, Clifford again put his side in front after finishing a cutback from Lachlan Roberts; and five minutes later Clifford was at it again, beating a couple of defenders before striking home to make it 3-1.
"By this stage we were in total control but again gave away a silly penalty which brought the score back to 3-2, giving Bankstown a bit of a sniff," Desmond said. "But thankfully we were good enough to close it out."
When asked who stood out for his side, Desmond replied: "Lachlan Roberts and Luke Clifford were menacing whenever they got the ball. Lachlan was involved in two goals and Clifford scored two. Mitchell Mclintock was good, scored a goal and set up another. All of the front three were effective."
So what was the difference between the two sides?
"We created lots of chances and we took three. It should’ve been six or seven nil and should’ve been over after 25 minutes."
A perennial contender for premiership honours, Bankstown has struggled terribly this season. A coaching upheaval and complete cleanout on the playing front has led to consecutive defeats, with the Lions finding themselves entrenched on the bottom of the table.
New coach Mile Todoroski lamented his club’s precarious position, even this early in the season, and said there was plenty of hard work to be done if the club was to avoid relegation.
"Every game is very hard game," Todoroski told Football NSW. "Every team is looking like they’re too strong for us because it’s not easy to lose the whole squad from last year and just keep two players. It’s like a death sentence for the club."
With the shock departure of coach John Caruana after just one round, Todoroski added that it was a difficult situation not just for himself but also his players.
"It’s not easy situation, it’s looking really hard," the Macedonian said. "First game against North Shore Mariners was very disappointing, the game was ridiculous. Can’t describe. But yesterday (against Mt Druitt) I see some hope of my players. Mt Druitt was not much better than us but good enough to beat us. They deserve to beat us.
"They looked sharper, more comfortable as a team and as a team that got better at the end. They created four or five chances. Maybe we had one or two chances but not much.
"I know where’s the problem but it’s too early to talk now. I treat all players the same. Some of them I’m happy with but others I’m not (happy with), Still we’ve got 23 rounds to fix something and to try to avoid relegation."
When asked if there were any positives to come out of the match, Todoroski replied:
"Good things between the first game and second for me was players were more angry (against Mt Druitt) and the running is for a good 60-70 minutes. The first game against North Shore Mariners was 25 minutes and after 25 minutes we disappear. Lost all direction. We have to get fit enough to play all 90 minutes or more and only then can we talk about quality of game. It’s very hard to ask players to do something when they don’t have the basic fitness. It’s very hard.
"This club brought me here and I played seven seasons here. I left 17 years ago and I’ve come back here to rescue the club."
Bankstown City: S. Tarazona, 1. Dion Shaw (GK), 3. Alexander Becerra, 4. Billy Darwich, 5. Jeffrey Issa, 6. Aaron D’Mello, 7. Bruno Pivato, 8. David Mcmurray, 9. N. Todoroski, 11. Huseyin Jasli, 12. Steven Veleski, 14. Mate Lucic, 15. A. Tolomeo, 17. Adem Kir, 21. H. Timms (GK), 27. A. Gauci.
Yellow Cards: 8. David Mcmurray
Coach: Mile Todorovski
Mt Druitt Town Rangers: 1. Carlos Saliadarre (GK), 2. H. Satoh, 3. Brian Griffin-Colls, 5. D. Mavisa, 6. A. Vlismas, 7. Luke Clifford, 8. Matthew Clowes, 9. Mitchell Mclintock,12. Nicholas Trimble, 13. L. Darkoh, 14. Daniel Mccann, 15. Andre Guzman, 16. S. Goodwin, 18. Jamie Dib, 21. J. Tinker, 23. Lachlan Roberts
Yellow Cards: 2. H Satoh, 3. Brian Griffin-Colls, 9. Mitchell Mclintock, 13. L. Darkoh
Coach: Aidan Desmond
Mounties Wanderers 1 St George 0, Valentine Sports Park
Mounties Wanderers scored a last-gasp 1-0 victory over a brave St George at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday afternoon, with Zac Sfiligoi scoring the winner from a freekick in the 90th minute.
Saints were heartbroken at the finish and probably didn’t deserve to lose in such a cruel manner, especially after playing with 10 men for 33 minutes following the dismissal of striker Stevan Ilic. But despite going down to 10 men, the red and white showed plenty of courage and almost escaped with a point.
Mounties coach Lee Sterrey said his side dominated 60-65 per cent of the game and had a number of opportunities, especially when Ilic was sent from the field. But despite the chances, St George goalkeeper Andrew Depta denied the home side with an outstanding game between the sticks.
Mounties goalkeeper Jair Fernandez also kept his side in the game, pulling off some crucial saves from point blank range before Sfiligoi found the winner.
"At one stage it looked like the ball was never going to go in for us," Sterrey said. " We hit the post a couple of times and had a header off the crossbar in the first half. We had enough chances to win two matches again but we found a freekick at the right time to get the three points."
Sterrey again stressed that Saints were a dangerous side and warned that they shouldn’t be underestimated.
"St George are a troublesome team and they’re going to hurt a lot of teams this year," he said. "They were quite good today, so people can underestimate them at their own peril. People might think St George will just roll over but they’ll be in for a shock because they’re not a bad side at all."
Standouts for the winners included Todd Halloran who marshalled his backline well, while keeper Fernandez pulled off three crucial saves in the second half. Sterrey also had high praise for skipper Neftali Gonzalez.
"Nefta is a fantastic captain, fantastic leader and a great footballer," Sterrey said. "He could play Hyundai A-League, and at 34 he’s a very clever player. Even though he’s an PS4 NPL 2 player, it’s funny to say he could play A-League tomorrow for any team, including Sydney FC. He could play number 10 in Ninkovic’s position any time. He’s a great leader of blokes and he’s a good footballer."
Meanwhile, St George coach Terry Palapanis would certainly have been pleased with his side’s performance after last week’s disappointing effort against Northern Tigers.
The Saints mentor stressed during the week that his side needed to be at their best to even compete with Mounties. Given the result and the closeness of the game, Palapanis got his wish.
"It’s back to square one, back to basics," Palapanis told Football NSW last week. "I think Mounties will be hard. They’ll be tough and we’re not in any form at all. We need to be at our best to even have a chance."
Saints certainly rallied to their coach’s call and improved on last week’s effort significantly. As Lee Sterrey said, "underestimate St George at your own peril".
Sounds like pretty sound advice after today’s performance.
Mounties Wanderers: 1. Jair Fernandez, 4. Todd Halloran, 6. Anthony Schmidt, 7. Neftali Gonzalez (18. Michael Cklamovski 88′), 9. Michael Gaitatzis, 11. Mitchell Davidson, 13. Pasqualino Cappuccio (22. Mitchell Walker 75′), 20. Reid Taylor (14. Noah Chianese 75′), 23. Abanoub Mickael (15. Taewoo Jung 65′), 29. Jake Ingle, 33. Zac Zfiligoi.
Unused Subs: 21. Alexander Josipovic
Coach: Lee Sterrey
St George: 1. Andrew Depta (GK), 3. Ali Nasreddine, 5. Jayden Mcleod, 7. Robbie Deasy, 8. Tarik Ercan (C), 9. Stevan Ilic, 10. Nicholas Paras (6. Zac Ribeiro 84′), 11. Orman Okunaiya, 14. Jacob Bandur, 16. Daniel Loe, 20. Juan Carlos Romero
Unused Subs: 4. Jonathan Kontalis, 17. Antony Barca, 18. David ilic, 21. Matthew Williamson
Coach: Terry Palapanis
Hills Brumbies 2 Macarthur Rams 1, Lilys Football Centre
Hills Brumbies beat Macarthur Rams 2-1 at Lilys Football Centre on Sunday to claim their second consecutive win of the season.
Nathan Rayner and Peter Cejka scored one goal apiece to give the newly-promoted side a 2-0 lead at halftime, while the Rams’ James Ralston gave the Rams some hope for a revival when he struck home just after the hour mark.
"I’m happy with the result but not so much the performance," Brumbies coach Dan Sheppard told Football NSW. "Macarthur made life very difficult for us and we just didn’t quite settle into a rhythm."
When asked who stood out for his side, Sheppard replied: "Everyone put in a pretty even performance, I can’t really say that anyone really stood out. They just did their jobs and made the ending count."
After conceding four goals in last weekend’s 5-4 victory over Central Coast Mariners, Sheppard was pleased that his side tightened up at the back.
"The defensive effort was much better and we’re actually aggrieved that we conceded a goal. But that’s the way it is, one of those games when we’re happy with the result but not so much the performance."
Meanwhile, Macarthur coach Eddie Briscoe told Football NSW that while he was happy with his side’s effort, he wasn’t happy that mistakes led to goals.
"We (twice) played the ball out from the back and gave away the ball in the wrong areas and conceded two goals, which was really disappointing," he said. "That hurt us and obviously forced us to chase the game. We opened up and left ourselves exposed at the back but to be fair, we got the goal back and were back in the game. Five or 10 minutes after that we even thought we might grab an equaliser. But it wasn’t to be."
Briscoe conceded that while Macarthur played some decent football, they were desperately in need of forward options. "We don’t have the quality in the final third to finish the chances we’re creating. We’re playing midfielders in attacking roles and that’s an area we need to strengthen."
When asked to name his standouts, Briscoe replied: "Craig Cooley on the right-hand-side put in a good shift and Matt Trotter was solid. But overall, nobody really stood out but they all put in. We don’t have any standouts in our squad at the moment."
With a big cleanout during the offseason, Macarthur has been plagued by injuries, forcing Briscoe to keep a small squad, including a few players from the youth team.
"We’ve been under the pump with player numbers due to suspensions and injuries," Briscoe said. "We’ve been going into games quite short of manpower. Despite that, I’ve been impressed with their tenacity and desire to play. Given the circumstances, the commitment to the gameplan and what we’re trying to achieve has been fantastic."
Hills Brumbies: 1. J. Stancic, 3 N. Pradenas Meza, 6 B. Robertson, 7. Wade Giovenali, 9. Sean Mitchell, 10. Jordan Parfait, 11. Daine Merrin (C), 14. V. Anyimba, 15. Matias Toro Suazo, 16 Greg Giovenali, 17.B. Hoyer, 19. G. Kelshaw, 24. Nathan Rayner, 34. J. Franich, 35. M. Glenfield, 91. Peter Cejka.
Coach: Dan Sheppard
Macarthur Rams: 1. Nikodin Matic, 2. Craig Cooley, 3. D. Lazarevski, 4. Simon Valastro, 5. Regan Suters, 7. Frank Martey, 8. Matthew Trotter, 10. Ben Cornish, 13. Ben Aguilar, 14. Kurdy Abduljabbar, 15. Mason Versi, 16. Mitch Di Pietro, 17. Sho Arakawa, 19. J. Ward, 20. B. Needham, 23. George Codrea, James Rolston.
Spirit FC 1 North Shore Mariners 1, Valentine Sports Park
Spirit FC and North Shore Mariners played a one-all draw at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday night, with the home side salvaging a point at the death when Louis Bozanic struck home the equaliser in the 93rd minute.
Spirit coach David Perkovic was unimpressed with his side’s effort and said they were very poor and "undeserving of a draw". To add insult to injury, Dylan Whitlock was sent off for a dangerous tackle in the 66th minute, a decision that Perkovic agreed with.
"I have no dramas with the send off, it was the right decision," Perkovic told Football NSW.
As always, Spirit got off to a slow start and had to play catch-up after Mariners sharpshooter Mitch Smith opened the scoring just before halftime. For some unknown reason, Spirit has conceded first in all four of their matches this season, a factor that could become quite an issue as the season progresses.
Perkovic expected the Mariners to be a very tough opponent, especially after they’d achieved their first win of the season in a crushing 4-2 victory over Bankstown City Lions 4-1 last weekend. He was absolutely right.
"To be honest we didn’t deserve anything out of the game, we were very poor," Perkovic said. "Credit to North Shore, they were better than us, they competed better than us and we scored in injury time right at the death of the game. So we were very lucky.
"The whole team was poor. But we’ll analyse the performance and see why we were so poor. We’re going to have to improve everywhere. We didn’t execute to the team model at all. North Shore wanted the game more than us and were quite direct at times, which we didn’t deal with at all."
Meanwhile, despite their "unlucky" draw with Spirit FC, the Mariners will probably continue to work hard and look no further ahead than the next game.
"The boys were subdued after the win over Bankstown because we’re only three games into the season," Mariners coach Joe Haywood told Football NSW last week. "They’re just working hard and trying to stay focused."
Spirit FC: 1. M. Nelson (GK), 3. J. Musgrave, 4. M. Streeter, 5. Andy Robertson, 6. A. Doyle, 7. Jake Harris, 8. Grant Cornwell (C), 9. C. Godoy Bascur, 10. C. Gomez, 11. D. Whitlock, 12. L. Bozanic, 17. Y. Samba, 18. B. Gibson, 19. T. Lovell, 22. D. Von Dinklage, 26. J. Webb
Coach: David Perkovic
North Shore Mariners: 1. James Law, 2. Lewis Miller, 3. Chris Lindsay, 4. James Scott, 6. Ricky Woodward, 8. Mitch Arcosa, 10. Brayden Cheng, 11. Freddy Ankumah-Sey, 13. Marquin Smith, 16. Chris Woo, 18. Mitch Smith, 20. Josh Mbakwe, 21. Aaron Davis, 23. Chris Desa, 26. Hugo Forlico, 27. Robbie Kerr, 28. Michael Stojanovski,
31. Chris Deblaere, 36. Stefan Giglio (GK)
Coach: Joe Haywood
– By Derek Royal, Football NSW reporter
