Round 4 – State League Men’s Preview

What a weekend we have ahead of us in Round 4 of the Men’s State League.

A fixture at Central Coast Stadium serves as the perfect topping to this week’s serving.

However, this weekend’s match of the round takes us to the famous old ground, St George Stadium, to see an intriguing match up between Hurstville City Minotaurs and Prospect United.

Hurstville City Minotaurs come into this fixture after their first win of the season over Wagga City Wanderers away from home. They were rampant as they finally turned some promising performances from previous rounds into three points.

The Minotaurs have hit double figures in three games when it comes to scoring this season with half of them coming from Ketung Manyiel including four last week. So, we certainly shouldn’t be short of goals this coming Sunday.

Prospect United opened their season on fire, surprising many as they defeated Nepean in round one. In the two fixtures since, they have only picked up one point from two games. Coach Darren Camilleri knows that is not good enough and will be looking for his team to bounce back.

They face a different sort of challenge this week, last round they faced a structured Hurstville Fc side who were happy to sit back and absorb pressure. I fancy the Minotaurs won’t do that though, so maybe there is a prospect of more goals.

Central Coast United v Hurstville FC

Central Coast United host Hurstville FC at Central Coast Stadium this Saturday evening before the A-League F3 derby, a first for the code a one that many spectators, especially the locals are looking forward to.

Central Coast United come into this fixture after a match of the round win over the Western Condors at the most relevant name for a venue… Chopin Park. United overran the home side when they scored two goals in ten minutes midway through the second half.

However, they did let the Condors back into the contest, conceding a penalty. With no cup action this week and a returning striker, we could see goals feature at Central Coast Stadium.

Hurstville FC will be wanting to spring a surprise on the home side as they go into this match as the under-dog.

Having taken four points in three fixtures including a win against Prospect last week, the club will be hoping for a victory come Saturday.

Wagga City Wanderers v FC Gazy Auburn

Last year’s bottom two sides Wagga City Wanderers and FC Gazy Auburn open the round on Saturday afternoon at Rawlings Park.

Wagga City Wanderers had a disappointing home debut going down to a heavy defeat to Hurstville City Minotaurs. It was disappointing particularly after gaining a point on the road against their neighbours Hurstville FC.

They didn’t go empty handed from their heavy defeat though, a goal to Calyum Barber and an encouraging performance from Logan Flanagan giving them some encouragement moving forward.

FC Gazy Auburn are coming off probably the leagues most feared double at this point. Losses to UNSW FC and Bankstown United to begin their season haven’t really told us much.

This game however will provide a good marker for us to measure how far they have come since last campaign with a relatively new squad on board. They will be looking for more consistency in their play in this one.

So, two teams yet to trouble the win column, this game could be a scrap, an important one at that.

South Coast Flame v Bankstown United

It was a rough start for South Coast Flame at home last week, it won’t get any easier this week as they welcome Bankstown United to John Crehan Park.

UNSW FC were ruthless as they took control early against their hosts and never let go. Coach Paul Robaard was encouraged though by the resilience shown in the second half and to be fair, not many sides are beating UNSW at the moment.

This match will however show if their young team can apply lessons learnt last week to a full ninety-minute performance.

Bankstown United aren’t exactly easy to get a clear read on after three rounds. In their first two games they just seemed to do enough to overcome their opposition. Last week though, they stepped it up a gear in dismantling FC Gazy Auburn.

It has been rare in fact over the last couple of campaigns that they tear up an opposition like that. Worrying signs for the competition, maybe?

South Coast Flame will prove to be a worthy opponent though, can anyone stop Mitch Cross who has six goals in three games? So many questions to be answered in this one.

Western Condors v Nepean FC

Western Condors host their second fixture at home in a row as they face what surely is a desperate Nepean FC side on Saturday evening.

Western Condors was the other side to feature in last weeks match of the round and despite narrowly going down they showed they are improving rapidly from last season.

Indeed, for times in that fixture, it looked like they could take the chocolates in a tight fixture. Cristian Martinez proved he is always a threat though adding to his tally from a spot kick and just being an impressive player on the eye.

Is it desperation time for Nepean FC already? Three rounds in and they find themselves with only a point.

Last week they went down in hugely disappointing fashion to a Balmain side who came into the game off two hefty beatings from the “coast” sides. Nepean went ahead before half time thanks to a goal from Joel Bayubahe.

They were unable to hold out the desperate away side though. If Nepean want to mount a promotion or even tittle challenge this season, they need to start picking up points now.

Balmain Tigers v UNSW FC

In another intriguing fixture to round off the weekend. Balmain Tigers host UNSW FC at Illinden Sports Centre this Sunday.

Have fortunes turned around for Balmain Tigers? Balmain managed to secure a first win for the campaign against Nepean in Round 3. This coming on the back of a FFA Cup win may just be the jump-start their season needed.

A goal to returning captain Swaray Kamara and Johnathan Kontalis saw their efforts not go in vein against a Nepean side a lot fancied going into this season.

It doesn’t get any easier though for the hosts, UNSW FC are one of two teams sitting on a maximum nine points out of nine coming into this weekend. University dispatched of South Coast Flame away from home with relative ease.

Worryingly for the rest of the competition, there isn’t one source of the goals either. A double to Christian Soares the highlights from last weekends win. You wouldn’t bet against them to continue their perfect start.

-By Justin Smith