Round 4 Review – State League Men’s

This weekend we were treated to another huge clash in the shape of Hurstville FC and Camden Tigers FC, and once more it was the latter that prevailed and cemented their place atop the league ladder.

Elsewhere, we saw Nepean remain undefeated against a strong Hurstville Minotaurs who fought back with less players, while Prospect United and Bankstown United FC continued to build momentum.

It was another weekend of misery Western Condors FC and FC Gazy Auburn, who will need to come up with a miracle if they are to turn their seasons around.

Wagga City Wanderers vs University of NSW

It just seems to be going from bad to worse for Wagga City, while UNSW may have rekindled their mojo in a convincing 4-0 thumping at Gissing Oval.

Following difficult periods for both clubs this game was crucial, and a 4-0 victory would have been just what the doctor ordered, however, the result could have some huge repercussions for the Wanderers.

Ben Schmid labelled the result as Wagga’s “worst performance” to date.

“Our worst performance yet,” said Schmid.

“We were slow off the ball and technically poor, we didn’t seem to be mentally prepared in which we had a slow start to the game and weren’t able to lift from.”

“That’s something we are going to have to work on and continue to improve, we gave the ball away too easily through simple mistakes and gave too much space to work through, and UNSW were able to capitalise.”

Bankstown United FC vs Western Condors FC

Are Bankstown United beginning to show their real potential and perhaps starting to threaten those above? Well, they claimed a stunning 6-0 victory over the Western Condors who just can’t seem to catch a break at the moment.

Sean Robertson was the star of the show for Bankstown, scoring a terrific hattrick, the first of any player this season. Kazuya Yamamoto, Ibai Iparraguirre and Haruki Nakano were the other goal getters.

Claudio Canosa was pleased with another strong showing.

“Each player in the team did his job and that commitment made a good performance for us, we need to be focused at training to improve every week.

Match of the Round

Hurstville FC vs Camden Tigers FC

The Camden Tigers managed to beat Hurstville City last week, and that bite extended to Hurstville FC this week, as they ran out 3-2 winners in a tight matchup between arguably two of the league’s best.

Camden started with their typical all-out attack mentality and they were rewarded through the efforts of Blake Brooker just after 15 minutes. However, rather than attacking further, it seemed to only ignite Hurstville FC.

The home-side bounced back in a devastating fashion with two of their own. Adrian Livio steered the first one home after a well-placed corner off the boot of Paul Gagro, while Marko Banic took Hurstville into the lead at the beginning of the second stanza.

Despite that, Camden were able to fight back and Dean Mugridge restored parity not long after. With the scores locked and a stalemate looking likely, Cullum Rogers managed to come up with a third goal for the Tigers and rocket them to the top of the league ladder.

Jack Bulic believed Hurstville failed to take their chances after earning a 2-1 lead.

“When Marko Banic scored the header in the opening couple minutes of the second half we were looking good,” said Bulic.

“We had further opportunities to have at least a two-goal buffer but we were not able to capitalise on it.”

As mentioned, that victory sees Camden move to the summit of the table, however, they are just one point clear of Hurstville FC and Bankstown United FC. They will need to continue that form next week when they meet Bankstown, while Hurstville will look recover against Nepean FC.

Match Stats

Hurstville FC: (Livio, Banic)

Camden Tigers FC: (Brooker, Mugridge, Rogers)

Seymour Shaw Stadium, Saturday April 6, 2017

Hurstville FC: M. Banic, P. Gagro, A. Harb, H. Kamleitner, M. Karagiannis, A. Livio, P. Lloyd, T. Oneill, H. Rachid, J. Roberts, M. Rutherford

Camden Tigers FC: B. Brooker, M. Clarke, S. Doherty, M. Green, D. Harris, S. Lloyd, D. Mugridge, N. Mugridge, C, Rogers, J. Russell, M. Serone

FC Gazy Auburn vs Prospect United

FC Gazy took on a reinvigorated Prospect United in a make or break game for the Auburn side. Unfortunately, they were unable to come up with the three points in a scrappy encounter that ended 2-1.

The result leaves FC Gazy cemented to the bottom of the league ladder, and in a desperate state. Prospect United on the other hand are now starting to build some momentum as they continue chasing the sides toward the top.

Gazy will have a showdown with Western Condors FC next week, while Prospect United will look to continue their form against Wagga City Wanderers at home.

Hurstville City Minotaurs vs Nepean FC

Both Hurstville City and Nepean were looking for wins and couldn’t afford a defeat, so it was only fair the stars gifted them a point each, in what was tense 1-1.

Nepean took the lead during the second half but were unable to hold out a 10-man Hurstville City in the end. However, despite missing out on the three points Nepean remain undefeated and right in in the hunt.

Magdy Andrawes was a little disappointed with the loss of focus though.

“We deserved to drop the points because of our lack of focus. We are all very disappointed but we will make sure the drop of points is not in vain and we learn from this,” said Andrawes.

The result isn’t an overly negative one for the folks at Hurstville City either, however, after losing to Camden Tigers last weekend this marks two games without victory, and something Peter Sarikakas will be looking to fix against UNSW FC next weekend.

-By Jake O’Brien