Round 8 Review – State League Men’s
Some huge encounters took place this weekend with the Hurstville Derby as well as an interesting match-up that involved the Camden Tigers and Prospect United.
In fact, there were little sub-plots all over the place.
Will University of NSW continue their devastating form?
What about Wagga City Wanderers at home? Can they make it an impenetrable fortress for league leaders, Bankstown United FC?
While, down the other end of the table, we had Western Condors FC welcoming the always consistent Nepean FC in what was an interesting fixture.
University of NSW vs FC Gazy Auburn
When will it end? The revival of University of NSW has been miraculous over thy past month, and at this rate that must be regarded as arguably the most dangerous team in the competition, but were they upset by a plucky FC Gazy Auburn?
Well, unfortunately for the Gazy faithful a shock victory was not on the cards, and perhaps unfortunately for the rest of the competition, University of NSW continued their march with 2-1 victory, their fifth straight win.
Luiz Lobo maintained his good form with an important goal, while Sam Wrublewski snagged University of NSW the pivotal winner, as FC Gazy took a rare early lead through captain Mory Konateh.
The triumph obviously kept the University of NSW camp, happy, as Gabriel Knowles said following fulltime.
“Gazy are a plucky outfit and it was a scrappy game at the best of times. We’re pleased with the effort to come back from their early goal even if it took two games worth of chances to finally get the winning goal,” said Knowles.
Wagga City Wanderers vs Bankstown United FC
Travel in football is always a hard pill to swallow, just look at the struggles Wellington Phoenix go through each year. To combat this, your home games become crucial, and Wagga City Wanderers began a stretch of three home games against league leaders, Bankstown United FC.
However, Wagga City is enduring an unlucky period, and it worsened when defender, Chinedu Arinze, was sent off inside the first five minutes, leaving the Wanderers with a teenage backline to fend off a ruthless Bankstown United attack. A 6-0 score-line was what came next, and possibly the worst way to kick off a handful of games.
From Bankstown United’s point of view, they will be delighted having tasted defeat last weekend. They remain atop of the ladder, and played some sublime football, especially, Tom Markovski, who scored a hattrick, however, Sean Robertson also bagged himself a brace. Shannon Hankin scored the remaining goal.
However, Wagga City are in a desperate state currently and need to bounce back quickly. Ben Schmid stood in front of the Bankstown storm, but highlighted his side’s heart,
“Our boys showed a lot of heart and fought for the full 90 minutes, but, unfortunately, our 10-man side were no match for a very quick, very classy Bankstown,” said Schmid.
Camden Tigers FC vs Prospect United
Camden Tigers FC started the season as title contenders and have managed to keep up with that reputation, while Prospect United have been building upon their own. Did one slip up when they clashed at Ron Dine Reserve on Saturday night?
Well, one thing we do know for certain is that Jayden Russell almost single handily made sure Camden Tigers kept their bite, scoring a superb hattrick, and cancelling out Joel Bayubahe’s goal. However, despite the 3-1 loss, it is difficult to say that Prospect United aren’t still right in the mixer.
Darren Camilleri was certainly positive with his sides efforts, but stated his side need to pounce on those crucial moments.
“Proud of the effort of my players. Three games in six days is tough. I thought we played well enough to get a result, but Jayden Russell was the difference,” said Camilleri.
“We are very close to being a contender but unfortunately need to be better in critical moments of games.”
Dean Bradley was obvisouly pleased with Camden’s performance.
“It was a great game and a great night for our club. Jayden did very well, though, his goals were as a result of good pressing as a collective from the team, though, his finishing was very good,” said Bradley.
Prospect United are still within a whisper of the top, while Camden are lurking dangerously close to the surface, and given their bite, no one should feel comfortable knowing the Tigers can smell the top.
Western Condors FC vs Nepean FC
After a convincing victory last weekend, Nepean FC were facing another one of the league’s bottom dwellers, however, this one has a much more ferocious bite than the last, having found some good form recently. Can Western Condors FC overcome the odds and cause another upset?
Close but no cigar is probably the best and most cliched way to answer that. Western Condors put up a meaty fight, but in the end the class of Nepean FC was a little too much and they ran out 2-0 victors, making it three straight wins.
Simon Ly scored the opening goal in the second half with a well-placed header off of a corner, while Daryl Watson scored a near post goal to round off the score-line, assisted by a clever dummy from Ly.
Nepean are not looking as though they are going to fade away anytime soon, and they remain behind the leading pack, as they head into a huge game next weekend against Camden Tigers, one Magdy Andrawes certainly wants to win.
“Happy to get our third win in a row, however, we need to focus on preparing for next week’s big game versus Camden. We need to be top of our game if we are to continue our winning form,” said Andrawes.
Match of the Round
Hurstville FC vs Hurstville City Minotaurs
A derby is a derby, it doesn’t matter if it is Real Madrid and Barcelona or a feisty tussle at your local. The passion among players, coaches, and fans is always the same, and a win at all cost mentality is personified through the action. What did the first Hurstville Derby of 2017 have in store?
Quality, quality and more quality. We should state that first, because the standard of football was some of the best we have seen this season. However, it was slightly better for Hurstville FC who managed to claim an extremely important 1-0 victory. It not only gives them bragging rights, but it is huge boost after a poor May.
Hurstville FC started the game superbly, and perhaps caught the Minotaurs by surprise. The link-up between Paul Gagro and Henry Kamleitner out wide was a constant throughout the 90 minutes and it is no surprise it led to the opening goal.
Gagro sprayed the ball to the flanks, where Kamleitner whipped a dangerous cross into new recruit and former UNSW player Rocco Luca, who managed to steer the ball back the other way and into the side netting. A classy play, finished off with a classier finish.
Hurstville City also moved the ball through their wide players quite frequently, and the electric Gerbe Magela and Ruben Viglino came close on a couple of occasions. However, Hurstville FC almost doubled their lead in the dying stages of the first half, via a powerful header from the towering Kamleitner.
The second half saw the Minotaurs take the early initiative, Esoghume Dominic was constant nuisance up front but couldn’t direct any of his shots away from Michael Rutherford in the Hurstville FC goal. Not even Lorenzo Fatica’s powerful header could find a way past the commanding shot-stopper.
Juan Arcila Lopez came close midway through the second stanza, with a picturesque curling shot that landed just wide, once again keeping the scores close and Hurstville City still with a sniff. However, the resilient defence of Hurstville FC survived the remaining efforts from the Minotaurs to collect a valuable three points.
Jack Bulic has been disappointed with recent results, but he thought tonight was a good platform for Hurstville FC to build from.
“Good thing was a positive start and maintaining control of the play for the majority of the match,” said Bulic.
“Very nice ball movement for the goal. We laid a solid platform tonight moving forward.” Bulic also acknowledge the calm composure Gagro showed. “The quality moments put Minotaurs under pressure.”
The importance of all three points for Hurstville FC cannot be understated this week. That results sees them just four points behind league leaders, Bankstown United FC. The loss on the other hand, sees Hurstville City Minotaurs eight points adrift and just four points clear of Western Condors FC.
Next week, Hurstville FC will travel to Prospect United, while Hurstville City Minotaurs will pay the competition leaders a visit, in what will be a game of desperate proportions for Peter Sarikakas’ side.
Match Stats
Hurstville FC – 1 (Rocco Luca)
Hurstville City Minotaurs – 0
Seymour Shaw Stadium, Sunday June 4
Hurstville FC: J. Arcila Lopez, G. Cabrera, P. Gagro, A. Harb, H. Kamleitner, M. Karagiannis, D. Kocina, A. Livio, P. Lloyd, R. Luca, J. Roberts, M. Rutherford, R. Turner
Hurstville City Minotaurs: M. Balazs, M. Cella, E. Dominic, L. Fatica, J. Gonzalez, J. Kay, B. Luate, G. Magela, N. Nisbet, K. Ram, A. Vagenas, D. Vagenas, R. Viglino, A. Villazon
