Round 10 Review – PS4 NPL 3 NSW Men’s
One thing is for certain in the 2017 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition – anyone can beat anyone on any given day, and take your focus off your opponent at your own peril.
Round Ten produced twenty-four goals, with three home wins, and four teams taking all the points on their away travels.
Rydalmere Lions continued on their merry way when a Zac Watters hatrick inspired them to a 4-1 home win over Hawkesbury City; Inter Lions returned to winning ways with an valuable 3-2 victory away at Granville Rage; St George City FA continue to fly under the radar, consolidating 3rd spot on the ladder with a 3-1 away triumph over Dunbar Rovers; Western NSW Mariners managed their first league win at home with an upset of sorts, squeezing past Dulwich Hill 1-0 in Bathurst; SD Raiders snared the Mother’s Day spoils at Magdala Park by beating Gladesville Ryde Magic 3-1; and Fraser Park continued to snap at the heels of Rydalmere Lions when they made light work of Balmain Tigers with a 3-0 home win late on Sunday evening.
Match of the Round
Stanmore Hawks v Sydney University
Football NSW visited Arlington Oval in the Saturday afternoon sunshine to see how the match between Stanmore Hawks and Sydney University would unravel.
Sydney University produced a well-structured and very composed performance to overcome Stanmore Hawks 2-0 at Arlington Oval on Saturday afternoon.
The Hawks struggled to conjure up anything of note in the attacking third, allowing Sydney University to take all three points with a goal in each half.
The opening goal of the match arrived as early as the 7th minute, and it was on the back of a few swift passes just outside the Stanmore penalty area.
Sydney University’s Adrian Porcu threaded the ball in to the feet of team mate, Jovan Blagojevic, and the nimble attacker took a touch inside a Stanmore defender before striking it home from inside the box.
It was not the start Stanmore wanted, given prior to the match they were three points behind their opponents and desperate to close the gap.
Both sides wrestled for the ascendancy in the middle third of the pitch, but neither were able to break open the opposition defences. The final pass often went begging, either too long or inaccurate as both keepers were resigned to little action.
Blagojevic had a great chance to double his side’s advantage in the 36th minute, when again he was put in to space inside the box by Adrian Porcu.
But Blagojevic blasted his left foot shot well over the bar with the goal beckoning.
Stanmore’s best opportunity on goal came in first half injury time.
Chris Kolistasis picked up the ball near the left touchline in Sydney Uni’s half, and went on a diagonal weaving run, leaving three defenders in his wake. Kolistasis hit a 20 yard shot back across goal, only for the ball to bounce inches wide of the upright.
The second half started much where the first half ended, with neither side able to take a real stranglehold on the match.
Sydney Uni’s Dom Di Mento swivelled and hit a low shot on 61 minutes which went inches wide, whilst team mate, Nathaniel Sharpley, managed to get his low shot on target in the 63rd minute, but Stanmore’s keeper, Matthew McKenzie, made light work of the save.
The ‘students’ wrapped up the match in the 69th minute with their second goal, and it all came from a cross field pass by overlapping left back, Christian Calderan.
Dom Di Mento took control of the ball on the edge of the Stanmore penalty area, laying it off to Adrian Porcu, who burst through a challenge before striking low to into the bottom corner.
Stanmore’s Dario Ventimiglia then had an effort on goal from 25 yards in the 79th minute, with Uni keeper, Carl McMahon, saving down low.
A minute later and Sydney Uni looked to extend the score when Adrian Porcu found himself in space after reaching a Calderan through ball, but his low shot was well saved by Stanmore custodian, Matthew McKenzie.
Stanmore went close to finding the net in the 81st minute, when Michael Toscano combined with Lloyd Owusu with a one-two on the edge of the Uni penalty area. Toscano took a touch towards the goal before shooting, but McMahon produced a brilliant parry from close range to divert the danger.
Lloyd Owusu then connected from the ensuing corner, but his angled header was blocked by a desperate Mihajlo Jonjic.
Sydney University had the final say, but young Matthew Akehurst headed over in injury time with the goal at his mercy following a great cross by Uni skipper, Josh Karpes.
Stanmore’s experienced striker, Lloyd Owusu was a dejected figure after the match.
“It was probably our worst performance of the season,” said Owusu.
“Fair play to Sydney University, they had a good structure, and we just couldn’t cope with the spare man in the midfield. We had to drop an attacker back to help out and then couldn’t seem to get going moving forward,” added Owusu.
“But it’s a close competition, anyone can beat anyone on their day, so we’ll regroup and keep making that push towards the semis.”
It was happier mood in the opposition dressing room where a valuable three points for Sydney University takes them to 16 points and 5th spot on the ladder.
“We can play better than that,” said Uni’s flanker, Domenic Di Mento.
“But we stayed composed and did the job. Our coach told us at half time he wanted us to keep the ball, hold possession, and if the 2nd goal comes, then great, but if we don’t concede, we’ll win the match….and that’s exactly what happened.”
Match Stats
PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s
Round Ten
Saturday, May 13, 2017
STANMORE HAWKS 0
SYDNEY UNIVERSITY 2 (Blagojevic 7’, Porcu 69’)
Arlington Oval, Dulwich Hill
Referee – Cameron Lee
Assistant Referees – Toby Plasto and Marco Alberto
STANMORE HAWKS: 1.M.McKenzie, 2.S.Awad, 4.C.Bottalico, 7.I.Hillier (capt) (10.M.Riganias 65’), 16.C.Kolistasis, 18.C.Lynch, 19.L.Owusu, 9.P.Stefadouros, 23.P.Theodosi, 6.D.Ventimiglia (5.S.Wills 88’), 11.P.Yannopoulos (8.M.Toscano 31’).
Substitutes Not Used – 17.A.Caragher, 51.M.Gabriel.
Yellow Cards – Nil
Red Cards – Nil
SYDNEY UNIVERSITY: 20.C.McMahon, 7.J.Blagojevic (12.M.Akehurst 76’), 13.C.Calderan, 3.A.De Moraes, 18.D.Di Mento (9.N.Preston 90’), 4.M.Jonjic, 8.P.Kardasis, 2.J.Karpes (capt), 16.A.Porcu, 33.N.Sharpley (5.F.Worrall 88’), 6.M.Hooke.
Substitutes Not Used – 22.J.Blundell, 1.O.Gibson.
Yellow Cards – Nil
Red Cards – Nil
Granville Rage – Inter Lions 2-3
After a couple of adverse results over the past week, Inter Lions responded the only way wounded Lions can, by toppling Granville Rage at Garside Park on Saturday night by the odd goal in five.
But Inter had to come from behind twice to get the result, with all the goals coming in a frantic first half.
Charbel Haddad edged Granville in front as early as the 6th minute, but Inter’s speedster, Daniel Fogarty, equalised for the visitors on 14 minutes.
Parity didn’t last long though as Granville took the lead again in the 16th minute, this time Tobias Elliott-Orr netting to make it 2-1.
Inter’s captain, Lachlan Wright, restored parity once more for the Lions, scoring on 27 minutes, before Clayton Musumeci initiated Inter’s third goal which came via a Granville player, putting them in to the lead.
Despite both teams committing to attack in the second period, there were no more goals, with the result giving Inter a very welcome and valuable 3 points.
The win sees Inter Lions move to 12 points in 8th spot, 2 points and one place above Granville Rage.
Dunbar Rovers – St George City FA 1-3
St George City FA consolidated their third spot on the PS4 NPL 3 competition ladder with a 3-1 away triumph against Dunbar Rovers at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday evening.
After a scoreless opening half hour, which included chances to Dunbar’s Hayden O’Kelly and Tod Bamber, it was St George City who netted twice before the break, with the diminutive James Spanoudakis scoring in the 31st and 37th minutes, the second a clinical header on the back of some strong build up play from City.
Alex Nicolosi pulled a goal back for Dunbar in the 61st minute, but St George restored their 2 goal advantage in the 80th.
Sam Messam has been missing since the opening 5 minutes of St George’s Round 1 fixture against Rydalmere, but returned with a vengeance in this fixture, getting on the end of a Nick Napoli ball to score his side’s 3rd and final goal.
Dunbar Rovers remain 11th on the competition ladder on 9 points, whilst the win and subsequent three points puts St George on to 20 points in 3rd spot, and they now opened up a 4 point gap to their nearest opponents below them.
Western NSW Mariners – Dulwich Hill 1-0
The Western NSW Mariners produced a stubborn defensive performance to overcome the visiting Dulwich Hill 1-0 on Saturday evening at Proctor Park in Bathurst.
Once again it was Jaiden Culbert who was the hero, grabbing the game’s solitary goal on 21 minutes, when he raced through the middle before slotting past Dully’s keeper, Michael Frost.
Dulwich Hill drop to 6th spot, remaining on 15 points with a 5-5 win-loss record, whilst the win lifts the Mariners to 8 points, and they are now within arm’s reach of a few clubs just above them occupying the quagmire just below mid table.
Rydalmere Lions – Hawkesbury City 4-1
The Rydalmere Lions juggernaut continued at Rydalmere Park on Saturday night when the home side accounted for Hawkesbury City 4-1.
Despite plenty of goalmouth action, the two teams went in at the break at 0-0, but the match erupted only minutes in to the second half, with three quickfire goals to Rydalmere.
There was much said pre-match of the league’s two top marksmen, and neither disappointed, with Rydalmere’s Amaury Gauthier scoring his 16th goal of the campaign, whilst Santiago Pallares Palomeque netted from the penalty spot to notch Hawkesbury’s goal on the night.
But both players were upstaged on the night by Rydalmere’s speedy striker, Zac Watters, who managed a hatrick, and was the difference on the scoreboard between the two teams.
Hawkesbury’s second loss in five days sees them remain on 14 points, but drop to 7th position, whilst Rydalmere Lions move to 28 points, holding a two point lead at the summit over Fraser Park in second spot.
Gladesville Ryde Magic – SD Raiders 1-3
SD Raiders came and conquered at Magdala Park on Sunday afternoon, beating Gladesville Ryde Magic 3-1 to take home all the spoils.
After a closely fought first period, the action exploded in a five-minute spell just after the hour mark.
It was the Raiders who took the lead in the 67th minute when Daniel Bittar received a pass from Dylan Stivala before slotting past Magic custodian, Kyriakos Tohouroglou.
But Gladesville restored parity within a couple of minutes, Yorgi Mavrou knocking in a rebound after Raiders’ keeper, Tomi Romic, parried a Peter Voukidis free kick.
The Raiders however themselves responded within sixty seconds, when cries for a penalty appeal fell on deaf ears. Players from both sides seemed to stop, all except Daniel Bittar, who picked up the loose ball to strike it home and edge the visitors in front.
SD Raiders put the game out of reach in the 88th minute, when that man, Bittar, this time played provider. Bittar made a run down the right flank, cut inside before drawing Gladesville keeper, Tohouroglou, and squaring the ball for Daniel Martinez to score Raiders’ third and final goal.
The loss leaves Gladesville Ryde Magic languishing on 9 points in 12th spot on the ladder, but SD Raiders move in to 4th position on 16 points courtesy of their win.
Fraser Park – Balmain Tigers 3-0
Fraser Park kept up the pressure on league leaders, Rydalmere Lions, with a 3-0 home victory against Balmain Tigers in the late match on Sunday evening.
Ben Vidaic slid in to open proceedings in the 10th minute when he got on the end of a Peter Crevani cross.
Rosario Occhpinti found space minutes later but his shot cleared the cross bar as Balmain looked to drag themselves back in to the match immediately.
But Fraser doubled their advantage just before half time when Nathan Sansom made a run in to box before his angled shot took a deflection on the way in to goal.
The match was well and truly over in the 55th minute, when Vidaic netted his second of the match, connecting powerfully to a Crevani corner to thunder his header past Pat Ferrara in the Balmain goal.
Despite the scoreline, Balmain’s keeper, Ferrara, pulled off some telling saves, including a one-on-one from Vidaic, to keep the scoreline from ballooning.
Balmain looked like pulling a goal back in the 65th minute when Rentaro Osa was fouled inside the penalty area.
Dario Vujovic stepped up, only for Fraser Park’s Chris Becerra to produce a wonderful save to keep out the spotkick. In the aftermath, Balmain’s Raffaele Moniaci was adjudged to have fouled Becerra, picking up his second yellow card, and subsequently being sent from the field.
The win and three points means Fraser Park stay second, moving on to 26 points, just two points behind Rydalmere Lions.
