Round 9 Review – PS4 NPL 3 NSW Men’s
Goals aplenty over the weekend in the 2017 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition, as Round Nine produced no less than thirty three (33) goals at an average of just shy of 5 goals per game – with, remarkably, every single team managing to find the net.
The momentum carried on for Hawkesbury City as they put half a dozen past Inter Lions with the league’s top goal scorer, Santiago Pallares Palomeque, nabbing a hatrick; Western NSW Mariners snatched a point at Ernie Smith Reserve with a late equaliser against SD Raiders; Rydalmere Lions got a real fright from Gladesville Ryde Magic before prevailing by the odd goal in five; Granville Rage came from two goals down to share the points in a 2-2 draw at Sydney University; St George City FA overcame Stanmore Hawks 2-1 in a tight tussle at Fraser Park; whilst Balmain Tigers notched their maiden point of the season when they drew 2-2 with Dunbar Rovers on Sunday afternoon.
Match of the Round
Dulwich Hill v Fraser Park
Football NSW ventured to Arlington Oval to watch the local derby between two of the competition’s heavyweights, Dulwich Hill and Fraser Park.
Fraser Park flexed their muscles for all to see after coming from a goal down early to comprehensively overpower Dulwich Hill 4-1 in the feature match of Round Nine.
There was a real buzz in the air at the picturesque Arlington Oval on Saturday, with a local derby of yesteryear taking place on a superb surface in the afternoon sunshine, the earlier 3-00pm kick off the outcome of a yet-to-be-rectified floodlight issue at the famous venue.
But that didn’t stop the fans from flocking to what promised to be an enthralling battle, the first half of which, at least, did not disappoint.
The fans barely had time to take their vantage points before we had the game’s first goal, and it was Dulwich Hill who made the breakthrough on 3 minutes.
Andrew Vitucci ventured forward from a defensive position to get his head on to the back of a long far post cross, with the ball looping diagonally over Fraser keeper, Chris Becerra, going in to the net off the inside of the post.
The goal shocked the Fraser contingent, but it needn’t have, as it sparked their team into action, and they drew level just four minutes later.
Fraser Park’s Nathan Sansom was afforded too much space by the Dully midfield just five yards outside the penalty area, and he unleashed a left foot half volley that simply raced away in to the bottom corner of the Dully net, leaving keeper, Michael Frost, helpless.
The tension was high in what was a fierce contest, with some over exuberant tackles showing intent and application from both sides.
Fraser Park then edged themselves in front in the 18th minute with a beautifully executed goal.
It all started with Musashi Kokubo showing tenacity to win possession near the centre circle, and immediately playing the ball in to the feet of striker, Tai Smith.
Smith ran infield as Jordan Simpson ran diagonally in to the vacated space, with Smith slipping a perfectly weighted pass in to the penalty area.
With the Dully pair of keeper, Michael Frost, and centre back, Nathan Bowden-Haase, advancing to close off the angles, Jordan Simspon got to the ball first, expertly clipping it first time over Frost and in to the far inside netting, racing away to celebrate.
After grabbing the early ascendancy, Dully were clearly rattled at this point, and almost went further behind on a couple of occasions within the next ten minutes.
In the 23rd minute, Jordan Roberts had two attempts at a 25 yard free kick once his first attempt had ricocheted back to him, but his second attempt took a deflection and landed at the feet of Nathan Sansom, in front of goal. The Fraser Park attacker reacted instantaneously by stabbing at the ball, with Dully keeper, Michael Frost, producing a superb reaction save from point blank to parry the danger.
It was then the turn of Fraser Park’s striker, Tai Smith, who was slipped in to space by Jordan Simpson in the 29th minute, but his snapshot from a very tight angle flew across the face of goal and missed the far upright by inches.
Dulwich Hill were finding it difficult to stay composed as Fraser Park looked to turn the screws, and the visitors eventually made it 3-1 in the 39th minute.
Fraser Park’s central striker, Ben Vidaic, was given space about 25 yards from goal, and needed no invitation to crack a piledriver that cannoned back off the upright with a thud.
Team mate, Jordan Roberts, followed the play and was first to react to the rebound, striking home a close range left foot volley to extend Fraser Park’s lead.
Three almost became four in the 41st minute, when Jordan Simpson sent Ben Vidaic in to a gap in the right channel inside the penalty area. Amongst cries of ‘shoot’, Vidaic intelligently played the ball square in to the path of a rampaging Simpson, who skied his shot under the pressure of Dully keeper, Michael Frost.
If the first half was full of excitement and incident, the second half faded insignificantly as the general play became punctured by intermittent fouls, free kicks, and yellow cards.
Dulwich Hill’s plight was not helped when they were reduced to ten men in the 51st minute. Having just picked up a yellow card in the 48th minute, James Duvcevski attracted the wrath of the referee again three minutes later, and it was all uphill from that point on for the home side.
Tom Bentham was a sole figure up front for Dully, battling for any loose balls, whilst Luke Giverin tried to spark the attack, but truth was, Fraser had numbers defensively, and thwarted any Dully forward movements.
Peter Crevani came off the bench for Fraser Park to put the icing on the cake in the 83rd minute, striking home clinically in to the bottom corner from the edge of the box to finish off proceedings at 4-1.
The game was won in the middle of the park, with Musashi Kokubo, Nathan Sansom and Jordan Simpson especially effective, working cohesively to close down the opposition whilst being supportive in attack, with Sansom and Simspon managing to get their names on the scoresheet.
Fraser Park skipper, Nick Dimitropoulos, was satisfied with his team’s efforts on the day.
“We started slow, copping that early goal, but after that I thought we wrestled control of the game. The front six were excellent today, we defended from the front, didn’t give them space, and penetrated in attack.”
“In the end it is only one game, but it was a big game for the club, an important game from the board through to the players. We felt the excitement during the week, trained well, and got the job done,” added Dimitropoulos.
PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s
Round Eight
Saturday, April 6, 2017
DULWICH HILL 1 (Vitucci 3’)
FRASER PARK 4 (Sansom 7’, Simpson 18’, Roberts 39’, Crevani 83’)
Arlington Oval, Dulwich Hill
Referee – Darren Richards
Assistant Referees – Jon Blower and Daniel Alter
DULWICH HILL: 1.M.Frost (capt), 9.T.Bentham, 4.N.Bowden-Haase (8.G.Ouffoue 30’), 13.S.Burke, 3.J.Duvcevski, 10.L.Giverin, 14.V.Koutsoufis (19.A De Brito 81’), 2.C.Sharpe, 12.N.Stanojevic (11.M.Mcalpine 58’), 22.A.Vitucci, 17.H.Wells.
Substitutes Not Used – 25.J.Conaghan, 28.E.Bardsley.
Yellow Cards – 4.N.Bowden-Haase 17’, 3.J.Duvcevski 48’ / 51’, 10.L.Giverin 66’, 9.T.Bentham 88’.
Red Cards – 3.J.Duvcevski 51’.
FRASER PARK: 1.C.Becerra, 2.F.Aoun, 22.L.Burke (23.D.Marjanovic 69’), 5.N.Dimitropoulos (capt), 6.M.Kokubo, 3.J.Roberts, 16.S.Salameh, 17.N.Sansom, 10.J.Simpson (9.A.Euripidou 61’), 11.T.Smith (4.P.Crevani 65’), 13.B.Vidaic.
Substitutes Not Used – 8.A.Malmierca, 60.M.Hastings.
Yellow Cards – 22.L.Burke 68’.
Red Cards – Nil
Hawkesbury City – Inter Lions 6-2
Hawkesbury City continued on their merry way on Saturday afternoon when they put Inter Lions to the sword 6-2 at David Bertenshaw Field.
Hawkesbury took control of the match early, taking a 2-0 lead within half an hour via an own goal – Gianni Fabbro diverting a Santiago Pallares Palomeque header in to his own net – and a Terry Pannowitz volley from inside the box.
But Inter Lions stormed back to restore parity within minutes. Domenic Arcella struck home from the edge of the box to make it 1-2, and skipper, Lachlan Wright, made it 2-2 when he converted a penalty for which he had been fouled.
Hawkesbury managed to sneak themselves in front before the break, when Ben Gray scored his sixth goal of the season, converting a far post cross at the back stick.
The second half belonged to Santiago Pallares Palomeque, who managed a hatrick to give Hawkesbury City a resounding 6-2 result, taking his season tally to 12 goals in the process.
SD Raiders – Western NSW Mariners 2-2
In a see-sawing game at Ernie Smith Reserve, SD Raiders and Western NSW Mariners shared the spoils in an entertaining 2-2 draw on Saturday night.
It was the Mariners who opened the scoring on 15 minutes when Jaiden Culbert netted, and in fact, Raiders keeper, Tomi Romic, kept the Mariners from extending their lead with some telling first half saves.
But SD Raiders have made a habit of turning games around in the second half, and they responded accordingly here with two goals, Dylan Stivala and Mark Symington edging the home side in front.
But Western NSW Mariners were not to be denied, and Jaiden Culbert scored his second of the evening towards the end to equalise for the visitors, bringing the final score to 2-2.
St George City FA – Stanmore Hawks @ Fraser Park 700 2-1
St George City FA picked up a valuable three points on Saturday night with a closely fought 2-1 win over a resurgent Stanmore Hawks at Fraser Park.
Stanmore have hit a purple patch of late, and brought that confidence in to this clash, bombarding the St George City goal with plenty of long balls and set pieces during the initial stages.
St George defended their lines stubbornly, and eventually came in to the match after the opening quarter of an hour, even taking the lead in the 35th minute.
Young Mark Kamara, a local junior, received the ball on the edge of the Stanmore penalty area, and showed quick feet to squeeze past the Hawks backline and slot home.
St George City picked up where they left off at the break, doing their best to retain possession and pry open the Stanmore defence.
They eventually succeeded in the 68th minute, and following a swift passing movement in the right channel involving James Spanoudakis, Juan Chavez and Aleksander Jovovic, it was that man again, Mark Kamara, who struck from close range following Jovovic’s cross.
Stanmore reduced the deficit in the 77th minute, when Petros Stefadouros produced a glancing header to convert a right wing cross, giving the Hawks something to play for in the remaining quarter of an hour.
The sending off of striker John Tsironis didn’t help St George City, but they defended stoutly for the remaining ten minutes and grabbed all the spoils.
Rydalmere Lions – Gladesville Ryde Magic 3-2
Rydalmere Lions and Gladesville Ryde Magic shared an exciting contest at Rydalmere Park, with the Lions prevailing 3-2 after they were pegged back to 2-2 in the second half.
Rydalmere Lions opened the scoring in the 21st minute, and it just had to be old boy, Alistair McKie, who did the honours, striking from outside the box, much to the delight of the home fans.
When Amaury Gauthier made it 2-0 in the 31st minute via a penalty, it looked like it was going be just another normal day at the office for Rydalmere Lions.
But Gladesville Ryde Magic had other ideas, and sparked in to life after the break.
Heo Wookbum pulled a goal back for Gladesville by slotting past Rydalmere keeper, Harrick Sinpraseuth, in the 48th minute, and Magic almost equalised when Chris Tomaras skied his effort in the 55th minute after a great run and cutback by Majid Eslami.
But Tomaras would eventually find the net for Magic, only a minute later, smacking home from the edge of the box to level proceedings at 2-2.
The momentum seemingly had shifted towards the visitors, but it was Rydalmere Lions who found the winning goal, and it came on 76 minutes.
Ahmad Elrich came off the bench to deliver a dangerous corner that was headed on by Zak Elrich. Daniel Ortega Roman met the ball at the back post to head home the third and decisive goal for Rydalmere.
Sydney University – Granville Rage 2-2
Granville Rage showed plenty of fighting spirit against Sydney University to come back from two goals down and snatch a point at the Sydney University Football Ground on Saturday night, despite being reduced to ten men in the first half.
It was Uni who went in front when a Domenic Di Mento corner was headed on by Peter Kardasis, and ended up in the net via Fergus Worrall at the back post.
Granville Rage were reduced to ten men shortly afterwards, and Sydney University doubled their advantage thereafter when U20s player, Nathaniel Sharpley struck home from inside the box after a Adriano De Moraes cut back.
Granville Rage pulled themselves together after the break, and showed enormous effort and application to score twice and take home a share of the spoils.
Balmain Tigers – Dunbar Rovers 2-2
Balmain Tigers lead 2-0 before being pegged back to 2-2 by a determined Dunbar Rovers on Sunday afternoon at Fraser Park.
It was the Tigers’ first point of the current season, and has been coming for a while, with improved showings of late.
Balmain took the lead after 18 minutes when Andrew Casali slipped a great through ball to Rentaro Osa, who struck a low angled shot to beat Ayman Hill in the Dunbar goal.
Dario Vujovic extended the lead for Balmain on 46 minutes, when he unleashed a rocket from a wide position on the left, the ball cannoning in to the net off the inside of the upright.
Paul Rawlings pulled a goal back for Dunbar in the 57th minute with a clinical header, but Balmain had the chance to restore their two goal advantage only sixty seconds later, when Dario Vujovic was upended in the penalty area.
Skipper Giustino Silvestro stepped up to the spot but crashed his penalty against the cross bar, providing Dunbar a huge reprieve.
Dunbar Rovers then equalised on 75 minutes when the referee awarded a spot kick to the visitors, and Tod Bamber didn’t disappoint, converting to give his side a share of the spoils.
