Round 8 Review – PS4 NPL 3 NSW Men’s
The tension was evident over the weekend in Round Eight of the 2017 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition, with three draws – two of them scoreless – and three away victories, with only Stanmore Hawks registering a home triumph across the seven matches.
Fraser Park were held to their second successive draw when SD Raiders grabbed a point in a 0-0 stalemate; Granville Rage and St George City FA shared the spoils and four goals at Garside Park; Dulwich Hill returned to the winner’s list by overcoming Dunbar Rovers at Hensley Athletic Field by 3-1; Rydalmere Lions strolled over the Western NSW Mariners with a 3-0 victory on the road at Orange; Stanmore Hawks made it seven points in a week with a 4-2 victory over Balmain Tigers; whilst Sydney University got the bacon when they beat Inter Lions in Sunday evening’s match up at Fraser Park.
Football NSW made the trip to Magdala Park on Sunday afternoon to watch Gladesville Ryde Magic entertain the in-form Hawkesbury City.
The ‘magic’ was missing, and the ‘hawks’ weren’t flying, as Gladesville Ryde Magic and Hawkesbury City produced a dour 0-0 stalemate on Sunday afternoon at Magdala Park.
Both sides have had a busy schedule of late, including midweek matches where they both fought for positive outcomes.
Gladesville Ryde Magic conceded an injury time goal on Wednesday against rivals, Stanmore Hawks, to share the points in a tough 1-1 draw, whilst Hawkesbury City overcame Balmain Tigers 3-1 in a Thursday night match that didn’t kick off until 8-30pm.
The Hawks were the more depleted side coming in to this clash, losing a host of players in the build-up, causing coach, Dean Bertenshaw, some angst as he called upon players who had played some game time in the U20s.
Gladesville captain, Chris Gaitatzis, was first to test the firing range, scooping a free kick over the cross bar as early as the 2nd minute.
Aaron Khan and Chris Tomaras both had snapshots from distance within the first twenty minutes, but both fired wide of the mark as Magic searched for a break through.
Hawkesbury conjured up the game’s best opportunity, and the spectators had to wait until the 29th minute to see it.
Chris El-Hayek swung over a cross from the right flank that hung in the air for an eternity.
Santiago Pallares Palomeque met the cross just past the back stick and hit an angled volley back across the goal, where Rodney Cormack smacked his close-range effort against the upright from a few yards.
Chris Gaitatzis was coming in for some close attention during the first stanza, and ended up on the deck on a few occasions as the Hawkesbury defence worked hard at snuffing out any danger.
A couple of minutes in to the second half and Santiago Pallares Palomeque swivelled and managed to escape his marker, but Gladesville Ryde Magic keeper, Kyriakos Tohouroglou, was quick off his line to thwart any danger.
Magic had a great opportunity to open the scoring in the 63rd minute, when Gaitatzis and Tomaras interchanged some exquisite passes on the edge of the Hawkesbury penalty area, with Tomaras slipping Heo Wookbum in to space with a deft touch.
Wookbum disappointingly skied his effort with the goal beckoning.
Just two minutes later and Gladesville threatened once again, courtesy of a great right wing cross by Bibek Panta.
Chris Tomaras showed great technique to take the ball on the run, chesting it in front of a challenging Hawkesbury defender, before his snap half volley skewed wide of the upright.
Controversy reigned in the 69th minute, when Gladesville keeper, Tohouroglou, saved brilliantly by diving low to his right after Santiago Pallares Palomeque had executed a perfect downward header. Shouts of the ball crossing the line fell on deaf ears when the officials ruled there had been a foul in the build-up.
The final opportunity arrived in injury time, and it came with Gladesville pushing forward. The Hawks counter attacked with pace, with Santiago Pallares Palomeque retrieving the ball on the left flank, before delivering a great cross diagonally towards the back post. Ben Gray took a touch on the run before slicing his right foot volley wide, and that was all she wrote.
“We started off well in the first 20-25 minutes, but then dropped off, so I guess it was a fair result,” said Gladesville Ryde skipper, Chris Gaitatzis.
When asked whether fatigue may have played a part, Gaitatzis responded with… “I guess so, but they also had a midweek match, so I guess it was a fair result in the end.”
“Our objective remains to make the finals, but we have to start by grabbing wins instead of draws, otherwise it could be a struggle.”
Lachlan Harte was a standout for Gladesville Ryde Magic, the tall central defender kept the league’s top goal scorer, Santiago Pallares Palomeque, very subdued with a fierce defensive display.
Hawkesbury found it tough with their depleted personnel ranks, but toiled away and grabbed their 10th point in the last four games.
Hawkesbury skipper, Daniel Schwarzer, also thought the 0-0 draw was a fair outcome.
“A fair result. We didn’t take our chances, they had a couple of chances themselves, so a 0-0 draw I think was fair.”
Schwarzer agreed the midweek games are playing a part in the team’s fatigue.
‘Especially playing on the synthetic pitches, it’s a heavy load on the boys, we had a depleted squad today, the bare minimum, with a striker stepping up from the U20s.”
Schwarzer tried to explain the reason for the Hawks’ recent uplift in from, which has seen them move up to 6th position on the ladder.
“Consistency. Santiago (Pallares Palomeque) has added quite a bit for us up front, Benny (Gray) is now knocking in the goals, and the effort all round from the boys has been fantastic. We’ll be very disappointed if we don’t make the finals this year.”
Match Stats
PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s
Round Eight
Sunday, April 30, 2017
GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC 0
HAWKESBURY CITY 0
Magdala Park, North Ryde
Referee – D.Horstead
Assistant Referees – D.Fuda and O.Ferguson
GLADESVILLE RYDE MAGIC: 33.K.Tohouroglou, 2.Y.Mavrou, 3.B.Panta, 4.A.Khan, 5.L.Harte, 8.J.Martinez (11.M.Eslami 76’), 9.C.Gaitatzis (capt), 10.C.Tomaras, 13.B.Kerr, 16.P.Voukidis, 17.H.Wookbum.
Substitutes Not Used – 18.N.Tsioulos, 21.S.Hickson, 30.A.Daskalopoulos, 44.N.Ioannides.
Yellow Cards – Nil
Red Cards – Nil
HAWKESBURY CITY: 1.D.Schwarzer (capt), 4.B.Morley, 5.K.Zarafetas, 6.P.Sharma, 9.T.Pannowitz, 10.S.Pallares Palomeque, 13.B.Gray, 14.C.El-Hayek, 16.R.Cormack (22.M.Mccrory 82’), 25.A.Clarke, 3.K.Walker.
Substitutes Not Used – 20.C.Morley, M.Marshall, L.Misavich.
Yellow Cards – Nil
Red Cards – Nil
Fraser Park – SD Raiders 0-0
Fraser Park dropped points for the second consecutive week when they were held to a 0-0 draw by SD Raiders on Saturday night.
Fraser came in to the match on a huge high, having knocked out Playstation NPL 1 side, Sutherland Sharks, in the Westfield FFA Cup in midweek, courtesy of a 4-1 scoreline, which included a clinical hat trick to Nathan Sansom.
But this bread-and-butter Round Eight fixture proved a more difficult obstacle for Fraser to address, with SD Raiders having impressed this season since their promotion to the PlayStation NPL 3.
Both sides had passages of play throughout when they dominated proceedings, but a combination of strong defensive structures, goalkeeping prowess, as well as the woodwork, kept the scoreboard without movement.
Anthony Forcella almost broke the deadlock at the half hour mark for SD Raiders, but his 20 yard volley cracked against the cross bar, whilst Fraser keeper, Chris Becerra, did well to save at the feet of Raiders midfielder, Tyrone Gatt, when they faced off in a one-on-one shortly after.
Fraser Park’s Ben Vidaic fired a bullet volley himself in response, but similarly the ball struck the upright and bounced away to safety.
Both keepers – Chris Becerra (Fraser Park) and Tomi Romic (SD Raiders) – were inspired on the night, with some telling saves at crucial points of the match.
Vidaic once again, as well as Alex Euripidou, both felt the wrath of the woodwork with great efforts in the second half, but Fraser were denied as the game petered out to a draw.
A point each means that neither club move position on the ladder – Fraser stay 2nd on 17 points, but drop two points behind the leaders, Rydalmere Lions, whilst SD Raiders hang on to 5th position, climbing to 12 points in the process.
Western NSW Mariners – Rydalmere Lions 0-3
Rydalmere Lions avoided any potential slip up that comes with a long trek away from home by producing a thorough performance on Saturday night, defeating the Western NSW Mariners by 3-0 at Proctor Park in Orange.
The Lions raced to a 2-0 half time lead before scoring once more after the break, with the goals coming from Zac Watters, and a brace from livewire, Amaury Gauthier, who has now netted seven times this season from just five appearances.
The loss sees the Mariners remain in penultimate position on the ladder, whilst Rydalmere Lions move to 19 points and the sole outright lead, two points ahead of Fraser Park.
Dunbar Rovers – Dulwich Hill 1-3
Following a disappointing three game losing spell, Dulwich Hill returned to winning ways when they defeated Dunbar Rovers 3-1 on Saturday night at Hensley Athletic Field.
Dunbar had picked up a valuable three points the week before against SD Raiders, and coach Mike Dixon, remained faithful to the same starting lineup.
But Dully came to play, and play with purpose, taking the lead on just 12 minutes.
Tom Bentham got on the end of a long punt upfield from keeper, Michael Frost, and his nod on was picked up by Henry Wells, who skipped away, rounding Ayman Hill, the Dunbar keeper, before stroking the ball in to an empty net.
Dulwich Hill extended their lead just before half-time, with Luke Giverin and James Duvcevski combining down the left before Duvcevski’s cross was headed home by Tom Bentham.
Bentham has had to bide his time as he recovered from an ankle injury which kept him out for the best part of the season, in fact 10 weeks all up, and he showed what Dully has been missing with an effective display in a central striking role.
Dulwich Hill sat back somewhat after the break, keen to soak up whatever Dunbar had to offer and try to close off the match on the counter attack. Other than an effort which struck the upright, Dunbar couldn’t break through, and worse still, conceded a third goal which killed off the game as a contest.
Seán Burke had spent a couple of instrumental seasons at Dunbar Rovers before transferring to Dulwich Hill in the summer, and he reminded his old club of his capabilities, driving home a long range screamer on 89 minutes.
Dunbar did manage one last flurry, resulting in a close range goal to the hard working Tod Bamber, but it too little, too late, as Dulwich Hill ran out 3-1 victors.
The loss sees Dunbar Rovers remain on 8 points, but drop to 12th position, whilst Dulwich Hill’s fifth win of the campaign moves them back to 3rd spot on the ladder on 15 points.
Granville Rage – St George City FA 2-2
A see sawing match at Garside Park ended up with the points split as Granville Rage and St George City FA shared four goals on Saturday night.
Daniel Bortolazzo opened the scoring in the first half for Granville, but Aleksander Jovovic equalised for St George City FA before half time.
Jovovic in fact grabbed his second after the break, putting St George City in to the lead with his 8th goal of what has been a fruitful campaign so far for the speedy striker.
But Granville kept at it and eventually restored parity through Nenos Bobo with ten minute remaining, and then defied a late flurry by St George City to earn themselves a point.
The draw and subsequent point sees Granville Rage climb to 9th on 9 points, whilst St George City move to 14 points, but drop to 4th spot after being hurdled by Dulwich Hill on the competition ladder.
Stanmore Hawks – Balmain Tigers 4-2
Stanmore Hawks made it a very lucrative seven days when they defeated Balmain Tigers 4-2 at Arlington Oval on Sunday afternoon.
Victory over Dulwich Hill last weekend, a point on Wednesday night versus Gladesville Ryde Magic, and a win here against Balmain Tigers has seen Stanmore pick up seven points in a week, and in the process, it has catapulted the club to 7th on the Playstation NPL 3 competition ladder.
But they didn’t have it all their own way against Balmain, with the Tigers opening the scoring on the half hour mark.
Rosario Occhipinti combined with Dario Vujovic before striking home a right foot shot that flew in to the top corner to give Balmain the lead.
Stanmore drew level minutes before the break, and it all started when Michael Toscano chased down a long ball. In the ensuing scramble, Balmain’s keeper, Pat Ferrara, parried efforts by both Toscano and Petros Stefadouros, but could do nothing to stop Lloyd Owusu striking home the equaliser.
The Hawks edged themselves in front at the hour mark when Lloyd Owusu headed home from a perfectly delivered free kick from Chris Kolistasis, but this time is was Balmain who came back to draw level, with Domenic Grasso stabbing home after a goal mouth scramble.
Dario Vujovic had a great opportunity to put Balmain in front, but after a swift turn inside the box he spooned his effort over the crossbar and the chance went begging.
Stanmore’s fans were ecstatic when the Hawks took the lead towards the end of the clash, and it was that man, Lloyd Owusu, once again, who did the business, striking home a diving header from a great cross by Dario Ventimiglia. Much hype surrounded Lloyd Owusu’s transfer in the off season from Rydalmere Lions, and he looked the goods as he grabbed his first hat trick of the 2017 campaign.
Balmain threw numbers forward in the final minutes, including goal keeper, Pat Ferrara, and were caught out from one of their very own corners, when Petros Stefadouros ran unattended from well within his own half to score Stanmore’s fourth.
It was a familiar outcome for Balmain Tigers, but they showed plenty of spirit to suggest it cannot be too long for them to grab their first victory of the season.
Stanmore’s victory and subsequent three points sees them move to 10 points and climb to 8th on the competition ladder.
Inter Lions – Sydney University 1-3
Sydney University climbed to 6th spot on the competition ladder with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Inter Lions on Sunday evening at Fraser Park.
Young striker, Matthew Akehurst was the hero for the ‘students’, scoring a hat-trick with a clinical display of finishing.
Jacob Blundell provided the cross for the first goal, easily despatched by Akehurst from inside the penalty area. Adrian Porcu did the honours for the second goal, crossing from the right for Akehurst to finish with aplomb and make it 2-0 at the break.
Inter Lions managed to pull a goal back early in the second half, with Daniel Fogarty reaching a Domenic Arcella through ball before Uni keeper, Carl McMahon, to stab home.
The tempo increased for Inter Lions thereafter, but they couldn’t break through the Sydney University rear guard.
Matthew Akehurst netted his third and final goal by controlling an Adriano De Moraes cross before slotting past Inter keeper, David Plowright, restoring Sydney University’s two goal advantage.
In fact, Uni could’ve added to the scoreboard late on, with Peter Kardasis missing a penalty, and Akehusrt himself slotting wide when he was through in a one-on-one with Plowright, the Inter keeper.
The loss sees Inter Lions remain on 9 points but slump to 11th spot on the ladder, whilst Sydney University move into 6th spot on 12 points.
