Round 13 Review – PS4 NPL 3 NSW Men’s
The first half of the 2017 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition is now complete, with Round Thirteen providing us with its usual serving of surprises and great goals.
The clash of the Hawks on Saturday afternoon produced a 1-1 stalemate as Hawkesbury City and Stanmore shared the spoils; Dulwich Hill took advantage of the SD Raiders’ FFA Cup fatigue by putting five past them at Arlington Oval on the back of a Tommy Bentham hatrick; the lead changed a few times at Fraser Park on Saturday night when Gladesville Ryde Magic and St George City shared an entertaining six goal thriller; Tod Bamber produced a sterling performance to net a hatrick in Dunbar Rovers’ 3-0 win versus Granville Rage; Sydney University returned from their trip to Orange with a point after a 1-1 draw with the Western NSW Mariners; and Fraser Park flexed their muscles in a 7-0 rout of Inter Lions late on Sunday evening, with Ben Vidaic helping himself to a hatrick.
Football NSW ventured to Leichhardt Oval on Sunday night to watch the clash between Balmain Tigers and Rydalmere Lions.
BALMAIN TIGERS – RYDALMERE LIONS 2-3
Balmain Tigers put on a brave showing on Sunday night, succumbing 2-3 to Rydalmere Lions in an encounter that was much closer than expected.
The Tigers have struggled to get going at all this season, with a solitary win to their name, but on this showing, won’t take too long to commence their ascent up the ladder.
Both teams took a while to find their feet at the pristine venue of Leichhardt Oval, the players slipping on the moist surface whilst the passes raced away towards the respective keepers.
Raffaele Moniaci had the first opportunity of the match on 8 minutes, but his angled effort was gobbled up by Harrick Sinpraseuth, the Rydalmere keeper.
Rydalmere took a little while to get going, but scored in the 19th minute to break the deadlock. Mitchell Gibbs put Ahmad Elrich into space with a beautifully weighted ball in behind the Balmain defensive line, but rather than shoot, Elrich had the presence of mind to slide the ball across goal in to the path of Amaury Gauthier. Gauthier had some work to do, sliding at full stretch to sneak the ball in at the far post to put Rydalmere into the lead.
There wasn’t much else to report in the first stanza, although Balmain created a few half opportunities that they squandered with poor decision making in the final third.
Four minutes in to the second half and it was Moniaci again who threatened the Rydalmere goal, shooting inches wide from just inside the penalty area after some good lead up play from Rentaro Osa.
Ahmad Elrich responded for Rydalmere by slipping Amaury Gauthier into space with a great through ball in the 55th minute, but Gauthier’s shot was brilliantly parried by the advancing Balmain keeper, Pat Ferrara.
Five minutes later and it was 2-0 to Rydalmere, with Ahmad Elrich curling a free kick around the Balmain wall from directly in front on the edge of the penalty area.
But Balmain kept coming in their own spirited fashion, and pulled a goal back in the 70th minute when Moniaci wriggled in to the Rydalmere penalty area before cracking a low shot against the upright. Substitute Nick Ruoco raced in to tap in the rebound and all of a sudden it was 2-1.
Rydalmere upped the ante again and restored their two goal advantage in the 78th minute, Julian Aguirre tapping home from a yard following some exquisite passing that involved 3 or 4 Rydalmere players.
Once again Balmain fought back, reducing the deficit in the 83rd minute when Dario Vujovic collected a square pass from Jacob Di Mento before lashing the ball home from the edge of the Rydalmere penalty area.
Balmain kept coming with the hope of snatching a point, but a couple of late efforts were well blocked by the desperate lunges of the Rydalmere defenders as the visitors hung on for the three points.
Balmain Tigers would take much from this effort, showing some character and spirit to reduce the deficit not once, but twice, against one of the competition’s powerhouses. New signings, Jacob Di Mento and Gavin Wenyon, worked tirelessly in the midfield, whilst Rentaro Osa was effective at times at right wing back.
Rydalmere Lions would be happy to return to the winner’s circle after last week’s first loss of the campaign, and three points keeps the pressure on Fraser Park at the top of the ladder. Ahmad Elrich used his experience in the front third to have a hand in his team’s goals, whilst Mitchell Gibbs was effective with his distribution from the middle of the park.
Match Stats
PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s
Round Thirteen
Sunday, June 4, 2017
BALMAIN TIGERS 2 (Ruoco 70’, Vujovic 83’)
RYDALMERE LIONS 3 (Gauthier 19’, Ahmad Elrich 60’ , Aguirre 78’)
Leichhardt Oval, Leichhardt
Referee – S.McFarlane
Assistant Referees – J.Garcia and L.Lavigne
BALMAIN TIGERS: 1.P.Ferrara, 2.D.Grasso (capt), 3.M.Paras (23.N.Ruoco 46’), 5.H.Brown, 7.R.Moniaci, 9.R.Occhipinti (38.J.Spinola 84’), 13.Y.Moustakas, 16.R.Osa, 17.D.Vujovic, 18.G.Di Mento, 22.G.Wenyon.
Substitutes Not Used – 40.J.Speers, 32.C.Papadopoulos, 15.N.Ballard.
Yellow Cards – 7.R.Moniaci 88’.
Red Cards – Nil
RYDALMERE LIONS: 1.H.Sinpraseuth, 2.A.Sopina, 3.D.Ortega Roman, 4.R.Farrell, 6.A.Sayan, 8.M.Gibbs, 9.Z.Watters (7.Z.Elrich 67’), 11.A.McKie, 15.M.Mayora (capt)(10.J.Aguirre 72’), 21.A.Elrich, 24.A.Gauthier.
Substitutes Not Used – 36.M.Safdari, 30.A.Safdari, 72.M.Barkho.
Yellow Cards – 10.J.Aguirre 91’.
Red Cards – Nil
Hawkesbury City – Stanmore Hawks 1-1
The battle of the Hawks at David Bertenshaw Field finished all square when Hawkesbury City and Stanmore Hawks drew 1-1 late on Saturday afternoon.
The home side came flying out of the blocks, and scored early on when Michael McCrory netted inside the opening two minutes of play.
The match was a real arm wrestle, with neither team giving an inch, but Stanmore gradually played themselves back in to the fray when they were awarded a penalty on the hour mark.
Second half substitute, Lloyd Owusu, converted comfortably, to equalise for Stanmore, but was then substituted himself with a hip flexor injury.
Stanmore Hawks young keeper, Matthew McKenzie, had an inspirational performance for the visitors, producing a string of saves, including a couple of one-on-ones, to keep his side in the match.
The point apiece sees Hawkesbury City move to 19 points in 6th spot on the ladder, whilst Stanmore Hawks are 7th on 17 points.
Dulwich Hill – SD Raiders 5-0
Dulwich Hill put SD Raiders to the sword at Arlington Oval on Saturday night, winning 5-0 after taking a 3-0 lead within the opening 15 minutes of play.
SD Raiders were recovering from having proudly represented the PlayStation NPL 3 in midweek in Round Seven of the Westfield FFA Cup, losing 1-2 to APIA Leichhardt after over 120 minutes of play. Towering central defender, Mark D’Alessandro, was a notable omission for the Raiders in this fixture, having received a last minute red card in the Cup match on Tuesday.
Dully hit the front on 7 minutes when Tommy Bentham connected with a fine cutback by Angus Chance, with his first time effort taking a deflection on its way past Tomi Romic in the Raiders goal.
Luke Giverin doubled the home side’s advantage within a minute, slotting home after Romic had parried a shot in to his path, and then provided the cross for Bentham to volley home from the penalty spot to make it 3-0 to Dulwich Hill after 11 minutes.
The two Dully attackers have forged a wonderful partnership this season, and were at it again in the 39th minute. Giverin pinched possession and raced upfield, playing in Tommy Bentham as he peeled off to the left. Bentham beat his man with a neat step over before driving a superb effort in to the corner of the Raiders’ net, making it 4-0 at half time to Dulwich Hill on the way to claiming his hatrick.
Henry Wells finished off the scoring in the 55th minute, cutting inside after a swift run down the flank before slotting past Romic to make it 5-0 to Dulwich Hill.
The loss sees SD Raiders drop to 8th spot on the league ladder, remaining on 16 points, whilst the big win puts Dulwich Hill on 22 points in 4th position.
St George City FA – Gladesville Ryde Magic 3-3
St George City FA and Gladesville Ryde Magic produced an entertaining 3-3 draw at Fraser Park on Saturday night as both teams went hammer and tongs to try and grab the three points on offer.
Both sides went in to the match slightly depleted of playing troops – amongst the list of absentees were Marko Bozic and Chris Lawson for St George City, whilst Aaron Khan and Yorgi Mavros were missing for Magic.
Magic edged themselves in front after just 3 minutes, when Chris Tomaras played skipper, Chris Gaitatzis, in to space on the left hand side of the penalty area before Gaitatzis netted for the visitors.
Chris Tomaras made it 2-0 for Gladesville on 34 minutes, beating two defenders at the top of the box before striking home.
St George City managed to pull a goal back before the half time break, and it came in the 4th minute of time added on. Nicholas Napoli blasted a long range free kick that Gladesville Ryde Magic keeper, Kyriakos Tohouroglou, managed to get a hand to, but the ball cannoned off the underside of the crossbar before being adjudged to have crossed the goal line.
Gladesville Ryde Magic restored their two goal advantage in the 71st minute when Chris Tomaras got his second of the night, slotting home after getting on the end of a Majid Eslami pass to make it 3-1.
You could’ve been forgiven for thinking Gladesville had the points sown up, but St George City are made of sterner stuff, and refused to lie down. Big Sam Messam reduced the deficit when he struck home after a goal mouth scramble, and Nicholas Napoli got his second goal of the night in the final moments, rescuing a point for St George City when he headed in at the back post to make the final score 3-3.
The point sees Gladesville Ryde Magic move to 15 points but remain in 9th spot, whilst St George City FA move to 24 points whilst holding on to 3rd position on the competition ladder.
Dunbar Rovers – Granville Rage 3-0
Dunbar Rovers were efficient and clinical in beating Granville Rage 3-0 on Sunday afternoon at Hensley Athletic Field, with striker, Tod Bamber, helping himself to a quick fire hatrick.
Bamber hit all of his three goals in a deadly 25 minute first half spell, effectively ending the match by half time whilst taking his tally for the season to 11.
A clean sheet was just reward for keeper, Stephen Deasy, who celebrated his 50th first grade match for Dunbar Rovers by keeping the Rage attack at bay with his usual sound performance.
Granville Rage remain on 12 points in 11th spot, whilst Dunbar Rovers move ominously to 15 points and are in 10th position on the ladder.
Western NSW Mariners – Sydney University 1-1
Western NSW Mariners and Sydney University shared the spoils on a wintry Sunday afternoon at Jack Brabham Park in Orange.
It was a dour first half with minimal opportunities, but Sydney University did take the lead on 54 minutes when Jovan Blagojevic converted a penalty.
The Mariners equalised within ten minutes when Matt Hobby latched on to a through ball behind the defensive line, and slotted past Carl McMahon, the Uni keeper, to make it 1-1.
The Mariners move to 9 points but remain in penultimate position on the ladder, whilst Sydney University remain 5th on the ladder, moving on to 22 points.
Inter Lions – Fraser Park 0-7
Fraser Park started like a house on fire on Sunday night, going 3-0 up within the first twenty minutes, before going on with it and smacking Inter Lions 7-0 in runaway victory.
Ben Vidaic opened proceedings on 10 minutes, nodding home Chris Hatfield’s cross after Alvaro Malmeirca had put Hatfield into space with a superb through ball.
It was 2-0 before the Fraser Park fans could settle back in their seats, with Malmierca finding Vidaic with a quickly taken free kick, with Vidaic striking home from outside the Inter penalty area.
Malmeirca was in everything at this stage, and he found the net after 20 minutes, turning quickly and netting inside the near post with a deflected shot.
Half time only gave Inter a short reprieve, as Ben Vidaic grabbed his hatrick on 57 minutes. Peter Crevani found Vidaic with a lovely through ball down the middle, and Vidaic turned his marker inside out before hitting the bottom right corner with a sweetly struck left foot shot.
Nathan Sansom made it 5-0 to Fraser Park in the 67th minute, turning sharply inside the Inter penalty area before finishing in to the bottom corner.
Just as the referee was preparing to call it quits, Fraser Park weren’t quite finished, managing two late goals on the buzzer to take the final score to 7-0.
Peter Crevani made it six with a cracking effort into the top corner after connecting with a cross, and Jordan Simpson ended the rout with the final goal, volleying in from close range in injury time.
Inter Lions remain 12th on 12 points as a result of the loss, whilst Fraser Park retain the lead at the top of the competition, climbing to 35 points and remaining one points ahead of Rydalmere Lions.
