Round 26 Review – PS4 NPL 3 NSW Men’s
Round Twenty Six of the 2017 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition produced a plot to rival any thrilling television series, with many twists and turns throughout a nerve-wracking final ninety minutes of the season proper.
When all was said and done, congratulations must go to the newly crowned Premiers, the Rydalmere Lions, who finished first past the post after 26 rounds of football following their final day 5-0 drubbing of the Balmain Tigers.
There was plenty of drama elsewhere around the grounds, with the following outcomes; Fraser Park did what they had to hoping for a Rydalmere slip up, comfortably beating Inter Lions 4-0 to finish runners up in both the first grade competition as well as the Club Championship; Hawkesbury City picked up a point in a 1-1 draw at Arlington Oval against Stanmore Hawks, but missed the cut for the Top Six on goal differential; Gladesville Ryde Magic came unstuck 2-3 at Magdala Park to St George City FA, but scraped through into the Top Six on goal difference at the expense of the Hawks; SD Raiders lost 1-4 to Dulwich Hill, but retained fifth spot on the ladder and will play semi final football next week; Dunbar Rovers finished the season on a high note after overcoming Granville Rage 3-1 at Garside Park; Sydney University defeated Western NSW Mariners 4-1 at Orange.
RYDALMERE LIONS – BALMAIN TIGERS 5-0
Rydalmere Lions celebrated what has been a remarkable season of football by being crowned Premiers of the 2017 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition following their 5-0 victory over Balmain Tigers.
The eagerly awaited clash was switched late in the week to Marconi Stadium, and the venue was filled with fans of both clubs given what was at stake.
Rydalmere Lions were playing for the Premiership and the Club Championship, whilst Balmain Tigers were playing for survival and trying to get off the bottom of the Club Championship ladder.
Mobile phones were in constant use throughout as scores rained in from other grounds, and at any given point there were numerous outcomes evident. But results only count at the end of 90 minutes, not any earlier, and there were tears at some grounds amidst cheers of jubilation at other venues as final results filtered through.
Back at Marconi Stadium, the Rydalmere Lions looked a little nervous in the opening half hour as they manoeuvred their way towards what loomed as a likely Premiership victory.
Balmain Tigers had salvation on their minds, and conjured up the first real opportunity of the game on 15 minutes when tenacious midfielder, Frank Calcagno dispossessed Rydalmere’s Daisan Kim on the edge of the penalty area, before his low shot was gobbled up by Harrick Sinpraseuth in the Lions goal.
Rydalmere responded with venom within a minute.
Ahmad Elrich shaped to hit a free kick, instead opting to play a short ball into Zak Elrich, who took a touch inside the penalty area before his angled drive was parried by Balmain’s keeper, Pat Ferrara. The loose ball was whacked back at goal from close range by Amaury Gauthier, only for Ferrara again to deny Rydalmere with a splendid block.
Balmain again had an opportunity to open the scoring minutes later when Rosario Occhipinti stole possession inside Rydalmere’s penalty area, but the striker’s effort was diverted around the upright by Lions’ keeper, Sinpraseuth.
Rydalmere needed a goal to settle the nerves, and they got it on 34 minutes. Julian Aguirre split the Balmain defence with a lovely through ball for Zac Watters to run onto, and the Rydalmere flanker hit a left foot shot on the turn to give the Lions a 1-0 lead.
It should’ve been two in the 36th minute when Zak Elrich made a great run into the box before squaring, only for Rydalmere’s ex-Socceroo, Ahmad Elrich, to slice his effort wide from close range.
Amaury Gauthier then turned and shot in the 37th minute, only for Balmain’s Ferrara to divert the effort wide of the upright as Rydalmere kept their foot on the pedal.
Gauthier was at it again in first half injury time, stealing possession before releasing Zac Watters inside the Balmain penalty area. Watters steadied before nailing a grass cutter that raced inside the far post to give Rydalmere Lions a 2-0 half time lead, much to the cheers of the Lions’ contingent.
The writing was on the wall for Balmain after the break, needing to push forward if they were to try and retrieve anything from the match, but Rydalmere Lions kept up the tempo as they strolled towards what was a comfortable victory in the end.
Ahmad Elrich fired a warning sign on 53 minutes, his volley clearing the cross bar, as Rydalmere began to attack in numbers.
The league’s top marksman, Amaury Gauthier, then grabbed his 32nd goal of the campaign in the 63rdminute with clinical expertise.
Gauthier played a ball into the feet of Zak Elrich as he raced into the Balmain box, and Elrich returned the leather courtesy of a neat back heel. Gauthier took the ball in his stride before slotting home to make it 3-0.
Rydalmere’s fourth goal came in the 70th minute, and Zac Watters was the instigator, using his pace to dribble his way into the Balmain penalty area before laying it off across the face of goal. Alistair McKie came flying in at the back post to slam the ball into the roof of the net to make it 4-0, and the party had begun.
Rydalmere’s fifth and final goal came in the 75th minute. Substitute Mitchell Gibbs squeezed a delightful ball into the path of Amaury Gauthier in the right channel, and his cut back was directed into goal from close range by Ahmad Elrich to round off the afternoon’s proceedings.
Referee Adam Susz blew time shortly after to crown Rydalmere Lions Premiership winners, and the Rydalmere fans invaded the pitch to engulf their heroes.
Given Rydalmere Lions slipped up last weekend when a win could’ve won the Premiership with a week to spare, FNSW asked Rydalmere’s victorious coach, Tony Basha, how did he approach this week, and how was the build up for the entire club knowing what was at stake?
“We knew we had to fix a few things after last week, and we did. We needed to get the attitude right, and the application to the task, so we trained an extra night, and had some fun as well.”
On his team’s performance against Balmain, Basha responded with; “We did start a little cagey, but we were always confident, especially once we got the first goal. We have had a few players carrying injuries for a few weeks now, like Zac Watters, who played on one leg. Our defence has been makeshift for a while now, especially since our captain, Matthew Mayora, got injured, but they did a remarkable job today.”
Basha added; “We have firepower going forward, we can score goals from anywhere, and from so many players. We like to entertain, so winning whilst pleasing our fans is important to us.”
“We’ve brought in key personnel across the club, from players like ex-Socceroo, Ahmad Elrich, whose experience has been so valuable to the other players, to physios, assistant coaches, the board….we operate on a small budget, and many staff are volunteers who give up their time and effort for the club. This victory is just as much for them as it is the players.”
For Rydalmere Lions, they enter the finals series on a high, and along with Fraser Park, have the week off before returning to play an elimination semi final in two weeks time.
Match Stats
RYDALMERE LIONS 5 (Watters 34’ / 46’, Gauthier 63’, McKie 70’, Ahmad Elrich 75’)
BALMAIN TIGERS 0
Marconi Stadium, Fairfield
Referee – Adam Susz
Assistant Referees – Jerry Bitas and Jack Casey
RYDALMERE LIONS: 1.H.Sinpraseuth, 10.J.Aguirre, 21.A.Elrich (capt), 7.Z.Elrich (19.S.Zahra 85’), 4.R.Farrell, 24.A.Gauthier, 17.D.Kim, 11.A.McKie, 6.A.Sayan (71.J.Wrightson 80’), 2.A.Sopina, 9.Z.Watters (8.M.Gibbs 71’).
Substitutes Not Used – 3.D.Ortega Roman, 26.M.Safdari.
Yellow Cards – 9.Z.Watters 55’.
Red Cards – Nil
BALMAIN TIGERS: 1.P.Ferrara, 15.N.Ballard (2.A.Georgiou 48’), 5.H.Brown, 8.F.Calcagno (35.D.Siu 65’), 10.A.Casali, 42.L.Cole, 13.Y.Moustakas, 9.R.Occhipinti (capt), 16.R.Osa (17.D.Vujovic 17’), 3.M.Paras, 22.G.Wenyon.
Substitutes Not Used – 28.A.Varnier, 31.A.Mansaray.
Yellow Cards – Nil
Red Cards – Nil
Fraser Park – Inter Lions 4-0
Fraser Park ended their season by overcoming Inter Lions 4-0 in the final competition match, but alas, the win and subsequent points were not enough to hurdle Rydalmere Lions at the top of the 1stgrade ladder.
Despite the 0-4 scoreline, it was a much improved performance from Inter, who have been on the receiving end of some heavy defeats of late.
Ben Vidaic helped himself to a hatrick, whilst Michael Gatatzis grabbed the other goal for Fraser Park, who now have earned the week off next week courtesy of finishing as runners up.
Stanmore Hawks – Hawkesbury City 1-1
Stanmore Hawks and Hawkesbury City played out a 1-1 draw at Arlington Oval on Sunday afternoon.
With Gladesville Ryde Magic losing their final match against St George City, Hawkesbury City needed the three points to book their place in the Top Six finals series.
Ben Gray got Hawkesbury on the way by netting the game’s opening goal on 29 minutes, and the visitors fluffed a few more opportunities to put the game to bed.
Cristian Bottalico’s red card in the 63rd minute reduced Stanmore to ten players, but the home side rallied, and Chris Kolistasis grabbed an 86th minute equaliser.
The point saw Hawkesbury City move to 39 points on the ladder, equal with Gladesville Ryde Magic, but agonisingly for the Hawks, they remain 7th and out of the finals on the back of a four goal differential.
Gladesville Ryde Magic – St George City FA 2-3
Gladesville Ryde Magic survived a 2-3 home reverse against St George City FA at Magdala Park to hold onto 6th position on the competition ladder at the expense of Hawkesbury City.
St George City FA took the lead in the 24th minute, and it was always going to be Gladesville old boy, Peter Yannopoulos, who slotted past Magic keeper, Kyriakos Tohouroglou to put the visitors in front.
Aaron Khan has scored a couple of crucial goals for Gladesville in the past month, and he was at it again in the 28th minute, equalising with a firm header after a Peter Voukidis free kick.
The tough tackling midfielder scored his second in the 34th minute, edging Gladesville in front after cracking an effort from 25 yards that found the mark in the St George net.
St George City came out after the break intent on grabbing the spoils, and did just that, with a scrambled effort by Sean Richardson restoring parity, whilst Sam Messam grabbed the all important winner with a superb curling effort.
The win sees St George City FA finish the season 3rd on 49 points, whilst Gladesville finished 6th on 39, and the two teams will ironically do battle once more in Week One of the finals series commencing next week.
Granville Rage – Dunbar Rovers 1-3
Granville Rage were eager for points at Garside Park in order to stay abreast of the bottom of the Club Championship ladder, but Dunbar Rovers weren’t going to play to the script, and the visitors took the points in a 3-1 away victory.
Dunbar hit the lead after just four minutes courtesy of a sublime Andrew Doddy free kick from distance that flew into the Granville net.
Even though Granville equalised on 21 minutes, Dunbar edged themselves in front once more in the 70thminute via Tod Bamber, before Hezio Silva Neto secured the spoils near the end.
Results elsewhere meant that Granville Rage avoided last place on the Club Championship ladder, whilst Dunbar Rovers finished the season in 9th spot on 29 points.
SD Raiders – Dulwich Hill 1-4
Despite losing 1-4 to Dulwich Hill on the final day of the season proper at the Sydney United Sports Centre, results elsewhere meant that SD Raiders maintained their 5th position on the ladder, and can look forward to participating in next week’s semi final series with a match ironically against Dulwich Hill.
Gosue Sama and Shayne Ardle gave Dully a 2-0 lead with goals a couple of minutes either side of the half hour mark, and that’s the way it remained until half time.
Even though Dylan Stivala reduced the deficit for the Raiders just after the break, further strikes to Angus Chance and Henry Wells gave Dully an emphatic victory, and a real confidence boost in to next week’s rematch.
Western NSW Mariners – Sydney University 1-4
Sydney University finished their season on a real positive note, overcoming the Western NSW Mariners 4-1 at Jack Brabham Park in Orange.
Daniel Barrett, Jovan Blagojevic, Conor Quilligan and Nathaniel Sharpley all netted for Sydney Uni, whilst skipper, Adam Scimone, scored the Mariners’ consolation goal.
