Oliver Green breaks Parramatta FC hearts
A brace from Oliver Green led Hakoah Sydney City East to a comfortable 3-0 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s victory over ten-man Parramatta in a scrappy round nine affair at Melita Stadium.
The Hakoah midfielder struck early on after sweeping home from close range and added a stunning third for his side late on with a sweetly struck effort from outside the box.
Minutes earlier Robert Ezequiel had made it 2-0 after racing on to a clever flick from Andre De Jong before steering the ball past Parramatta gloveman Ryan Norval.
Parramatta FC had their luckless showing compounded by the sending off of defender Tomislav Mijic, who saw red after a melee between both sides.
It capped a hugely frustrating night for the hosts, who offered a lot of endeavor after going behind early but saw several chances to restore parity go begging.
The visitors opened the scoring inside fifteen minutes when Bradley Walker’s long ball was headed back across goal by Neil Jablonski and tapped home by Green.
Parramatta offered a good response and saw Mijic’s header crash off the underside of the woodwork, before Howard Fondyke’s header was easily claimed by Anthony Bouzanis.
The hosts enjoyed a decent spell after the half time interval but were unable to capitalise on a Hakoah side who were on the back foot and inviting pressure on goal.
It took a magnificent goal line clearance from Walker to deny substitute Lawrence Hannah an equalising goal after the forward looked certain to finish off an excellent Eagles counter attack.
And from the ensuing play the hosts missed the best chance of the evening when a mix up between the otherwise steady Walker and Bouzanis gave Gosue Sama a free header, but the Parramatta attacker sent his effort agonizingly wide of the post.
The dismissal of Mijic did not aid Franco Cosentino’s side’s cause though and with the home side pressing for an equalizer Hakoah seized control of the match and a solid away victory on the counter attack when Ezequiel fired home from inside the box.
The final say was then left to Green, arguably the matches most outstanding player, who added a sensational third with an exceptional first time effort that swerved away from Norval and into the back of the net.
Hakoah player-coach Gavin Rae was pleased with the victory on a testing playing surface but warned his side to lift their intensity in the coming weeks.
“It definitely was a sloppy performance in parts, we dropped our performance level after going ahead. I wasn’t happy at half-time even though we were winning,” he said.
“We want to play our football as much as possible but the ball wasn’t settling very well, we had to be smart.”
Match Stats
Parramatta FC 0
Hakoah Sydney City East 3 (Green 12’, 85’, Ezequiel 82’)
Saturday 6th of May 2017,
Melita Stadium, Chester Hill
Parramatta FC: 2. Spiros Agathos, 3. Christopher Carboni (18. Gino Cerasoli 87‘), 15. Jordan Crighton, 4. Howard Fondyke, 17. Joshua Gersbach, 11. Ryan Johnstone, 5. Tomislav Mijic 1. Ryan Norval, 8. Daniel Rezo (19. Lawrence Hannah 52‘), 9. Gosue Sama, 10. Marco Sama
Substitutes not used: 21. Christopher Moore, 13. Samuel De Oliverira, 12. Marcus Donatiello
Yellow Cards: 3. Christopher Carboni 63’, 17. Joshua Gersbach 74’
Red Cards: 5 Tomislav Mijic 77’
Hakoah Sydney City East: 1. Anthony Bouzanis, 10. Andre De Jong, 6. Cameron Draper, 14. Anthony Frangie (3. Robert Ezequiel), 12. Jack Green, 16. Oliver Green, 9. Neil Jablonski (7. Aleksandar Lekoski 45’), 11. Jordan Mundell (8. Paul Orgad 90’), 19. Gavin Rae, 17. Gideon Sweet, 4. Bradley Walker
Substitutes not used: 15. Dean Bereveskos, 2. Remy Wolanski
Yellow Cards: 14. Anthony Frangie 63’, 11. Jordan Mundell 79’
Red Cards: N/A
Player Ratings
3 – Oliver Green (HSCE)
2 – Gavin Rae (HSCE)
1 – Jack Green (HSCE)
-By PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Jacob Windon
#Photo credit Dan Ullman
