Round 10 – State League Men’s Review
A match of the round which reminded us all that those things that go up must come back down, and for Nepean FC that was exactly the case, as Bankstown United FC brought the highflying reds back to earth after their come from behind victory in a compelling round 12 fixture.
Elsewhere UNSW bounced back, Hurstville continued some good form and Prospect make a significant statement before next weeks fixture against fellow winners Central Coast United.
Match of the round: Bankstown United FC VS Nepean FC
It was a big day for the hosts, Jovan Miladinovic played his 50th match for the club in a game they really needed to win to stay in touch with the teams above. A double from Mitch Cross and goals to Ryota Oketani as well as Steven Wright secured a memorable victory.
Things were looking good for the visitors, Nepean FC found themselves with a three-goal lead courtesy of goals to Daryl Watson, Clement Waoci and Matthew Pritchard. However, a lapse in concentration let Bankstown back in and they never looked back.
The goal scoring floodgates were opened on the ten-minute mark as an inviting corner was whipped in from the left which was poked home by unlikely scorer Daryl Watson.
You would’ve thought conceding would be enough to wake up a defense, unfortunately that wasn’t the case for the hosts as Clement Waoci pounced on a lazy header back to the keeper. The striker composed himself before rounding the keeper calmly passing it into an empty net.
Nope, still not awake and as one reporter shared, bad things happen in three’s (Didn’t expect it here though). This time, Matthew Pritchard took advantage of a lapse in concentration in Bankstown’s defense, his shot placed into the bottom right corner after committing the keeper.
Three goal margin after twenty minutes, game over right? Nope, it turned out there was plenty more in store for the enthusiastic crowd. Mitch Cross struck first after a cross from the left-hand side found him in and around the six-yard box. The striker was never going to miss from there.
Goals were coming in gluts, so it was no surprise to see the margin cut to one a few minutes later. What was a surprise was seeing a centre back hitting a volley so cleanly! A set piece was punched clear by the Nepean keeper falling to Steven Wright who launched a volley from just over twenty yards curling right to left into the top corner. The momentum was all with Bankstown.
The game settled a bit but there was one twist in the tale before half time. A shot after sustained Bankstown pressure was parried into the path of an on rushing Ryota Oketani who just put enough power on his effort to see it get past the keeper.
Unsurprisingly after the preceding forty-five minutes, both teams were keener to stabilize their defenses. That was until Bankstown found an extra gear ten minutes into the half as Villazon found himself with plenty of time in the box and cut onto his left launching a shot which rattled the left-hand post.
The game deserved a winner and that winner came on the hour mark as Bankstown were given a spot kick after Anthony Villazon was adjudged to have been fouled in the penalty area. Talisman Mitch Cross stepped up to complete the come back sending the keeper the wrong way.
Chances suddenly were at a premium which made a miss from Nepean’s Simon Ly who found himself free at the back post all the worse. The midfielder spraying his effort across goal for a goal kick. Despite desperate attempts from that point on, the visitors couldn’t unlock the hosts defense who looked composed for the remainder of the outing.
Bankstown United coach Scott Belgre was ecstatic, “For us it was all about character, from 3-0 down on a night which will define our season. Tonight’s a massive win to keep up with the top 2 clubs and in the club championship”.
He continued, “In terms of players, they were all great tonight but special mentions go to Mitch Cross who got through a mountain of work tonight and Jovan Miladinovic who played his 50th game for the club tonight”.
Nepean Coach Magdy Andrawes was distraught, “At 3-0 it was a dream and it turned into a nightmare. We had our best start to any game we’ve had this season”.
“Unfortunately, after that it was a self-destruction and we only have ourselves to blame. Overall it’s got to serve as a learning experience”.
Match Stats
Saturday 26th May, 2018 – Crest Athletic Centre, Bass Hill
Bankstown United: 4 (Cross 22’ 62’, Wright 26’, Oketani 45’)
Nepean FC: 3 (Watson 10’, Waoci 12’, Pritchard 21’)
Referee: Khodr Yaghi
Assistant Referees: James Barnes & Jim Azar
Bankstown United FC: 99. David Hamilton, 3. Stephen Tomasich, 4. Steven Wright, 5. Andreas Kartsioulis, 6. Joseph Ninnes, 7. Jovan Miladinovic, 10. Mitchell Cross, 20. Ryota Ketani, 23. Daniel Ramirez (76. Futo Ihara), 70. Matthew Sadler (25. Toshihisa Sakawa), 77. Anthony Villazon (8. Sean Robertson)
Subs Not Used: 57. Dane Johnson, 64. Dujon Webster.
Yellow Cards: Cross, Oketani, Tomasich, Villazon.
Red Cards:
Nepean FC: 1. Thomas Hamilton, 2, Kurt Machut, 3. Daryl Watson, 8. Shomari Sabatho, 11. Clement Waoci, 15. Matthew Pritchard (20. Alex Moore), 18. Michael Fakiye (7. Mubarak Saeed), 24. Simon Ly, 27. David Adjassou, 30. Jamie Dib, 45. Roberto Polistina (28. Mason Mccomasky).
Subs not used: 14. Rory Mcgeown, 23. Jake Senior.
Yellow Cards: Waoci
Red Cards:
Around the Grounds
Wagga City Wanderers 1-8 Central Coast United
Wagga City Wanderers welcomed Central Coast United in a first verses last battle to open the round. There were no surprises to be found here though as the visitors steamrolled the hosts in a ruthless display.
It wasn’t all plain sailing though as Cade Mapu went down with an injury after six minutes. After such an event, it can affect your team… It didn’t. They took a lead just before 15 minutes through Josh Swadling who keeps up his impressive goal record. There was no stopping them from that moment on as in began to feel like a precession with a further seven goals coming throughout with a hat trick from Adam Woodbine and goals to Scott Mcginley, Alex Arbelo, Daniel Mcfarlane and Oscar Torres.
Wagga did manage to get a goal through Juma Abbas but it was really men against boys throughout with Central Coast notching up their first real dominant win.
South Coast Flame 1-2 Hurstville FC
South Coast Flame hosted Hurstville FC in a clash which could determine who challenges the top 5 this season.
It was the visitors who clinched a last-minute winner at the death with a goal to Paul Gagro or Cristian Di Meglio depending on who you ask. This came after a Rhys Turner finish earlier in the game.
South Coast Flame were left heartbroken after feeling like they deserved something from the match after taking the lead early on thanks to Louis Connell amongst plenty of other chances. The Flames goal came from a planned free kick, which gave Connell the chance to take a touch before scoring in his first start.
Hurstville were awoken and hit back before the half time break as Jesse Gagro whipped in a cross from the byline which found Rhys Turner to tap in at the back post after some questionable defending. After sharing chances throughout the second half in an open game, Hurstville finally stole the victory as a Paul Gagro back post header was deemed to have crossed the line before a Di Meglio tap it.
UNSW FC 4-1 Western Condors
UNSW FC returned to the winner’s circle with a solid yet unspectacular display to see off the Western Condors on Saturday Night.
Indeed, the draw was just a bit friendlier, although no game in this competition is easy if you ask the coaches amongst the competition. UNSW took the lead through Florim Binakaj who finished off a Christian Soares cross. Determined not to let them get away though, Condors struck back through Cristian Martinez (Remember him) who returned from a long suspension to continue his goal a game record.
From then on it was just a story of UNSW being that much more clinical with Nima Beik getting his customary goal. Bastian Monroy Vargas opportunistically pouncing on a spilt free kick (Karius moment) and Cristian Soares rounding out the result.
Condors were never out of it though and were only denied at 3-1 by a good save from returning UNSW goalkeeper Reece Richardson.
FC Gazy Auburn 0-3 Hurstville City Minotaurs
In the first of two Sunday fixtures, FC Gazy Auburn hosted Hurstville City Minotaurs at Progress Park.
It was the visitors who showed they don’t want their season to be written off yet as they comfortably dismantled the hosts.
Scoring was opened early on in the 6th minute as Hassan Abdul got his first goal for the season in his third appearance after a great run and cross by Alexi Brakatselos.
The Minotaurs finally turned it up a notch in the second half of the second half as they clicked into second gear and were rewarded.
We had to wait 70 minutes before another goal was scored however it was worth it as 48-year-old Angelo Petratos got on the scoresheet heading home a free kick from captain Angelo Vagenas.
The victory was complete when Alireza Yousefi netted the third goal in an impressive victory for the Minotaurs.
Balmain Tigers 0-3 Prospect United
To round off the round in the extremely annoying time slot of 6:30pm Sunday for any journalist with a deadline, it was Balmain Tigers hosting Prospect United.
As with the other Sunday fixture, one team must have had their head elsewhere as Prospect United produced a statement performance for anyone who wants to take their position on the ladder.
For Balmain it’s another case of ninety minutes going oh so wrong as their finals hopes are fading out fast.
Prospect opened the scoring after Rocco Romeo won a tackle and quickly played a ball to Nic Valjak who took one touch and finished well. The second saw the same goal scorer as a Balmain defender seemingly passed it to Valjak who beat his marker and doubled the lead. The game was capped off by Joel Bayubahe to round off a victory to consolidate 4th place.
By Justin Smith
