Round 5 Review – State League Men’s

The Mother’s Day weekend round of football threw up some intriguing results in some huge match-ups, like league leaders Camden Tigers FC falling victim to the impressive Bankstown United FC.

Or perhaps the thrilling draw between the undefeated Nepean FC and Hurstville FC. However, there were also some diamonds in the rough, most notably Prospect United and University of NSW.

We also saw another disappointing result for Wagga City Wanderers, while the bottom dwellers took each other on to close out the weekend.

University of NSW vs Hurstville City Minotaurs

After two games without victory, it was very important for the Minotaurs to get back on track against UNSW FC, however, it was the underdogs that managed to pull through and collect all three points with a 1-0 win.

Hurstville City were very dangerous on the front foot and were constantly forcing UNSW into the depths of their defensive talents. However, the former league leaders failed to make anything of their chances which ultimately cost them.

Ilan Kessler had Uni’s best chance and he made sure they took it, in just his second game for the club. Hurstville head coach, Peter Sarikakas credited UNSW for their efforts, but was critical of his side’s finishing.

“Well done by UNSW. One chance one goal,” said Sarikakas.

“We had enough chances but did not score any. Good lesson – you need to put the ball in the net to win a game of soccer.”

Prospect United vs Wagga City Wanderers

The Prospect United snowball is rolling down the slopes and it starting to turn into an avalanche, as they wrapped up another three points in a convincing 5-2 victory over Wagga City Wanderers.

The damage was done rapidly, Prospect were ruthlessly clinical and scored three goals from their first three chances. Wagga City were wasteful in possession and got caught out by the game’s sheer pace. Although they fought back in the second half, Prospect were over the hills by then.

The result means Prospect have recorded three straight victories, and Darren Camilleri couldn’t be happier.

“Really happy with our performance after a lacklustre showing last week,’ said Camilleri.

“Our first half was exceptional, with a fantastic overall team effort. Hoping to make it four in a row next week!”

Match of the Round

Nepean FC vs Hurstville FC

Once again, the State League Men’s competition treated us to another mouth-watering bout between the undefeated Nepean FC and one of the title favourites, Hurstville FC. Like two fully sized bulls bashing heads, both sides planted their feet and recorded a 2-2 draw.

Hurstville FC took the lead through the work of Henry Kamleitner and Adrian Livio who have scored a combined total of five goals for Hurstville this season. Unfortunately, the former league leaders fell to the wayside in the second stanza.

Nepean FC bounced back with two goals of their own through Curtis Edmunds who bagged his first of the season in his third appearance for the club. While Mario Ghobrial scored the other, which was also his first of the season.

Hurstville FC were undoubtedly hampered by the sending off of Marko Banic, however, Jack Bulic also thought they were wasteful in front of goal.

“During the opening half an hour there were more scoring opportunities that were not taken,” said Bulic.

“We knew Nepean would come out firing and pressing us. They certainly did that. Things didn’t help when Marko Banic received a second yellow card with 15 minutes remaining.”

During this time, Nepean equalised the scores. Like last week against Camden we were not clinical enough in front of goal to shut Nepean out of the contest. Credit to Nepean who played their way back in.”

Magdy Andrawes was also pleased with the result after a gruelling midweek FFA Cup match against Bulli FC.

“I thought the boys did well to bounce back in the second half to show some of what we are capable of. I think a 2-2 result is a fair outcome,” said Andrawes.

“Looking forward to a full week of training and a fresher Nepean versus Bankstown United next Saturday.”

Match Stats

Nepean FC – (Curtis Edmunds, Mario Ghobrial)

Hurstville FC – (Henry Kamleitner, Adrian Livio)

Cook Park, Saturday May 13, 2017

Nepean FC: D. Adjassou, C. Edmunds, M. Elongo, M. Ghobrial, S. Hawthorne, J. Iannacito, D. Kanaley, A. Kosoko, S. Ly, C. May, R. Mcgeown, R. Polistina, S. Sabatho, J. Senior, D. Watson, J. Winckle

Hurstville FC: M. Banic, P. Gagro, A. Harb, H. Kamleitner, D. Kocina, A. Livio, T. Oneill, R. Hussein, B. Richardson, J. Roberts, M. Rutherford, R. Turner

Camden Tigers FC vs Bankstown United FC

As we mentioned earlier, the league has given us some great matches so early into the season, and in the spirit of the Mother’s Day weekend we were given a second thriller as league leaders, Camden Tigers FC took on the red-hot Bankstown United FC.

Considering, Camden knocked both Hurstville clubs off their perch, they would have come into this game very confident, however, Bankstown brought them back to reality with a devastating 4-1 victory.

Bankstown went into the halftime interval with a 2-1 lead, and they managed to go on with it scoring two more goals. Shannon Hankin starred for United scoring a crucial brace, adding to the goal he scored against FC Gazy Auburn two weeks ago.

Kazuya Yamamoto and Tom Markovski were the other goal getters for Bankstown.

The result sees Bankstown United leap frog both Hurstville FC and Camden Tigers onto the top perch of the league ladder.

Claudio Canosa was understandably pleased with the result.

“The display of football was exciting with lots of good defensive and attacking moves,” said Canosa.

Western Condors FC vs FC Gazy Auburn

After very poor starts to the season for both clubs, Sunday was the perfect opportunity to get the ball rolling, and despite the favouritism tag probably heading in the direction of FC Gazy Auburn, it was Western Condors FC that came out on top in a thriller.

It was perhaps one of the most exciting games of the weekend, as the Condors ran out 4-3 victors. The Western Condors took the lead early, heading into halftime with a comfortable 3-1 lead, however, FC Gazy did manage to bounce back with two goals of their own, but it was too little too late.

The result sees Western Condors move ahead of FC Gazy, however with their sheer deficit in goal difference they are still a long way off everyone else. However, this could mark their turnaround.

-By Jake O’Brien