Round 23 – National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s Review
St George City FA extended their lead at the top to four points following the completion of Round Twenty Three in the National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s competition.
With Gladesville Ryde Magic and Hawkesbury City both being held 2-2 away from home, St George City took advantage to give themselves some breathing space at the summit with just three rounds left to play.
Bankstown City laboured to a 2-0 victory over the Western NSW Mariners to return home from Lithgow with all three points; SD Raiders and Gladesville Ryde Magic shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw at Ernie Smith Reserve on Saturday evening; Gosue Sama steered Dulwich Hill to their first win in 11 weeks with a hatrick in Dully’s 3-0 win over Fraser Park in the ‘Portuguese’ derby; Hawkesbury City recovered from a 0-2 half time deficit to snare a point in a 2-2 draw against Camden Tigers at Ron Dine Stadium on Saturday night; Sydney University kept their slim semi-final hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Inter Lions at the Uni Football Ground on Sunday afternoon.
Footnote – the final match of Round Twenty Three will be played on Tuesday, August 14th, with Granville Rage hosting Dunbar Rovers at Garside Park, the match due to commence at 7-30pm.
This week’s feature match was at Arlington Oval where Stanmore Hawks hosted St George City FA.
MATCH OF THE ROUND
STANMORE HAWKS – ST GEORGE CITY FA 2-4
League leaders, St George City FA, came from being a goal down early in the second half to overcome Stanmore Hawks 4-2 at Arlington Oval on Saturday night.
Recent form had allowed the teams below St George to creep that little bit closer in previous weeks, so it was of paramount importance to work towards the win to keep the challengers at bay.
But with both Gladesville Ryde Magic and Hawkesbury City dropping points below them, it was a most welcome three points for St George City, who have now moved to 50 points on the ladder, extending their lead to 4 points over 2nd placed Magic in the process.
St George City started on the front foot, controlling the leather and hoping for an early breakthrough.
Their wishes were granted when they took a 9th minute lead via Rino Zenari, after good lead up work from both James Spanoudakis and Emanuel Koumis.
But St George City didn’t have things all their own way at Arlington, with Stanmore proving a formidable foe on their own turf.
Defending deep and soaking up the early pressure, Stanmore looked to break quickly, with the Hawks being very competitive in recent weeks adopting a similar approach.
It only took a quarter of an hour, but Stanmore snatched an equalizer in the 23rd minute.
Stanmore played a long ball down the centre of the St George half, and speedster, Jonah Caragher, dashed down the middle of the St George defence, latching on to the ball before finishing calmly.
The parity remained until the break, and there was all to play for after half time with the score at 1-1.
Remarkably, the Hawks took the lead just two minutes in to the second half to throw the cat amongst the pigeons.
With the ball bobbling around the St George penalty area, Jackson McMenamie took advantage of some hesitation in the St George defence to strike home, much to the delight of the home faithful, ticking the scoreboard over to 2-1 to Stanmore.
St George didn’t sweat, responding as only they know, equalising on 53 minutes.
The tall figure of Sam Messam made a dash down the flank, before cutting in from the left to produce an exquisite shot, curling the ball centimetres past the fingertips of Stanmore’s keeper, Nicholas Carosi, to make it 2-2.
St George had the wind in their sails at this point, and were eager to hold onto their league ladder position at the top, upping the ante late on.
Having attacking substitutes of the calibre of Matthew Mayora and Steve Kuzmanovski shows not only plenty of depth in the club’s ranks, but also plenty of intent, given the league leaders would not settle for a draw.
Their reward? St George netted two late goals to clinch the spoils.
Recent acquisition, Matthew Mayora, edged St George in front on 82 minutes with a good finish from close range, making it 3-2 to the visitors.
Stanmore then suffered a blow in their quest to grab something from the match, with central defender, Harrison Brown, receiving a second yellow card on 88 minutes, with the Hawks to play out the final minutes with just ten men.
St George then made sure of the points when Sam Messam put the icing on the match with his second goal of the night in injury time, ending proceedings at 4-2.
The loss means Stanmore remain 11th on 22 points, but they showed plenty of vigour and fight in a competitive outing, suggesting they will take some beating in the final rounds of the 2018 competition.
The win has allowed St George City to extend their lead at the top as previously mentioned, with the Premiership title now firmly in their grasp, and for them to lose with three matches remaining.
National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s
Round Twenty Three
Saturday, August 11, 2018
STANMORE HAWKS 2 (J.Caragher 23’, McMenamie 47’)
ST GEORGE CITY FA 4 (Zenari 9’, Messam 53’ / 90’ + 2’, Mayora 82’)
Arlington Oval, Dulwich Hill
Referee – Adam Weir
Assistant Referees – Manwel Limnior and Mathew Khalil
STANMORE HAWKS;
1.N.Carosi, 8.S.Awad, 4.C.Bottalico (capt), 5.H.Brown, 17.J.Caragher, 29.J.McMenamie (12.A.Caragher), 16.J.Moro, 14.M.Nicolaou, 40.J.Seib, 23.P.Theodosi (18.S.Georgiou), 80.H.Wookbum.
Substitutes Not Used – 31.D.Vaccaro, 21.C.Dionisopoulos, 11.R.Alassmi.
Yellow Cards – 4.C.Bottalico 45’, 5.H.Brown 45’/88’, 12.A.Caragher 90’ + 2’, 17.J.Caragher 90’ + 3’.
Red Cards – 5.H.Brown 88’.
ST GEORGE CITY FA;
26.E.Davis, 6.M.Kokubo, 9.E.Koumis (21.M.Mayora), 16.K.Kumsuz (17.S.Kuzmanovski), 7.S.Messam, 3.K.Mori, 10.J.Spanoudakis, 2.S.Thomas, 5.B.Tsanidis (capt), 20.P.Turrin, 23.R.Zenari (8.A.Malmierca).
Substitutes Not Used – 28.M.Trajovski, 13.R.Thompson-King.
Yellow Cards – 2.S.Thomas 76’, 26.E.Davis 87’.
Red Cards – Nil
Western NSW Mariners – Bankstown City 0-2
Bankstown City Lions did what they had to do in acquiring all three points with a 2-0 victory over the Western NSW Mariners in Lithgow on Saturday afternoon.
It was the second time this season that Bankstown had to travel, and they made sure of returning with the spoils to keep their Premiership ambitions on track.
Overall it was a dour game due to poor playing conditions, but Bankstown did go close in the first half when Nikola Todoroski was played in by Lachlan Willmore for a one-on-one, but Brock Logan in the Mariners’ goal made a great save, spreading himself to deny the Bankstown attacker.
But Bankstown did hit the front when Mirza Sehic played a pin point through ball to Tommy Markovski, who raced down the left before crossing it for Nikola Todoroski, who made no mistake with a first time finish.
Todorovski’s season has been plagued by injury, and it is a welcome return for Bankstown to see him back in the fray finding the net.
The Mariners started to chase the game, and threw men forward in search of an equaliser.
That however was put to bed with a clinical counter attack by the Lions, started by keeper, Carl McMahon, who, after collecting a Mariners’ cross, released a huge throw to Lawrence Hanna on half way to set the Lions scrambling forward.
Hanna carried the ball all the way to penalty box before being upended by a Mariners’ defender, with the referee awarding the visitors a spot kick.
Tommy Markovski stepped up to send Mariners’ keeper, Brock Logan, the wrong way, ending proceedings at 2-0 on the scoreboard.
The victory and subsequent three points puts Bankstown City in to 3rd place on 45 points, one behind Magic and five behind leaders, St George City FA.
SD Raiders – Gladesville Ryde Magic 2-2
SD Raiders and Gladesville Ryde Magic played out a 2-2 stalemate at Ernie Smith Reserve on Saturday night in a tense match between two of the competition’s better sides.
Gladesville Ryde Magic suffered a blow before a ball was kicked when the league’s top goalscorer, Michael Gaitatzis, pulled out due to injury, but Magic have proven they are not a one man team with plenty of other attacking options.
Two of those combined early on with Chris Tomaras curling his effort wide of the mark after being fed by Chris Triantis.
Dylan Stivala replied for the Raiders soon afterwards, but his volley cleared the crossbar as both sides looked for an early goal.
Gladesville skipper, Chris Gaitatzis, then took matters in to his own hands, collecting the ball inside the Raiders penalty box, before dribbling around keeper, Michael Rutherford, but his shot on goal was cleared off the line.
The game remained scoreless until the break, but it was Magic that eventualy opened the scoring in the second half, with Chris Gaitatzis playing a delightful through ball for Chris Tomaras, who took control before placing the ball in the back of the net for a 1-0 lead to the visitors.
Magic youngster, Nick Ioannides, then made a long run down the right flank, dribbling into the box, before his cut back rolled agonisingly across the face of goal and out of reach of both sets of players.
The Raiders found an equaliser when skipper, Goran Ljuboja, struck home, much to the delight of the home fans, before remarkably edging themselves in front via an own goal in a passage of play that had the Magic players calling for offside.
A gusty wind was playing havoc with the flow of the game, with the dusty surface not helping, but both sets of players kept at it in search of the points.
Late in the game Gladesville managed an equaliser.
A long free kick played into the SD Raiders box by John Martinez resulted in a penalty being awarded to the visitors – the SD Raiders keeper, Michael Rutherford was penalised for a foul on Magic defender, Sergio Tarazona.
Gladesville’s skipper, Chris Gaitatzis, converted from the spot, to give the two sides a share of the spoils.
The point sees SD Raiders move to 42 on the ladder remaining in 5th position, whilst Gladesville Ryde Magic stay in 2nd spot whilst climbing to 46 points.
Fraser Park – Dulwich Hill 0-3
Dulwich Hill chose a great time to end a miserable run of poor results with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Fraser Park in the ‘Portuguese derby’ at Marrickville on Saturday night.
The experienced Gosue Sama was the hero for Dully with a hatrick, ending a run of 10 weeks without a win for Dulwich Hill in front of a boisterous crowd.
Sama had Dully in front at half time with a simple tap after great build up work by Henry Wells and Harry Browell.
Goal number 2 for Sama and Dully arrived in the 62nd minute, again after good work by Browell, and the two combined once more on 82 minutes to seal the three points.
The outcome had little impact on the ladder, with Fraser remaining bottom on 8 points, whilst Dulwich Hill stay 9th, but move to 27 points.
Camden Tigers – Hawkesbury City 2-2
With a howling windstorm playing havoc at Ron Dine Stadium throughout, Camden Tigers and Hawkesbury City shared the spoils by playing out an entertaining 2-2 draw on Saturday night.
Mitchell Brooker edged the Tigers in to the lead on 40 minutes with a near post flick, and Bailey Simpson doubled the advantage right on half time, converting a low cross after a great slalom run by Dean Mugridge, much to the delight of the delirious home support.
Hawkesbury weren’t without their opportunities during the back end of the first period, with the Tigers scrambling to clear two efforts off their own line from David Gardiner and Sebastian Gallegos Berriel.
The Hawks changed tactics after the break and started to make positive inroads, with Camden keeper, David Harris, saving brilliantly from Tobias Elliott-Orr whose shot was heading for the top corner.
Youngster, Daniel Zahra, came off the bench for Hawkesbury to great effect, pulling a goal back on 70 minutes with a low finish.
Camden’s fortunes took a turn for the worse when Blake Brooker was sent for an early shower with his second caution on 74 minutes, and the additional man advantage paid dividends for Hawkesbury, with Zahra equalising on 84 minutes to give the teams a share of the points.
The draw and subsequent point puts Hawkesbury on 45 points, but they drop to 4th on the ladder, whilst Camden remain 7th on 36 points, desperately holding on to their semi-final hopes.
Sydney University – Inter Lions 2-0
Sydney University kept their slim hopes of finals football alive by downing Inter Lions 1-0 at the Uni Football Ground on Sunday afternoon.
Inter came in to the match after parting ways with experienced coach, Michael Urukalo, and did their best to battle for ninety minutes in the hope of picking up a point or three.
But if truth be told, both sides struggled to find any rhythm on the bumpy surface at the Sydney Uni football stadium, producing a scrappy affair in the opening 45 minutes.
The closest the fans came to a goal was a stinging effort from Hezio Silva Neto just before the break, with Uni keeper, Charlie Fanner, doing exceptionally well to palm away the Inter playmaker’s effort.
The second half began along the same lines as the first, however, it was the ‘students’ who made the crucial breakthrough on 55 minutes.
A dangerously whipped cross from Conor Quilligan was headed goalwards by Daniel Mifsud, and, despite the best efforts of Robert Fanella in the Inter goal, the ball came off the crossbar before creeping its way over the line.
Inter did reply by pushing men forward in search of an equaliser, and created some half chances as Sydney Uni began to sit deeper to try and protect their lead.
At the other end, Sydney Uni substitute, Samuel Mehmet, was denied by a smart stop from Fanella in the Inter goal, but that was the last action of the game as the home side held on for a crucial win.
The three points sees Sydney University move to 35 points on the ladder, remaining in 8th place, and they will be sweating on the result of the rescheduled match on Tuesday night when the 6th placed Dunbar Rovers travel to Garside Park to tackle Granville Rage.
Granville Rage – Dunbar Rovers
This match has now been scheduled to be played on Tuesday, August 14th, at Garside Park, commencing at 7-30pm.
Footnote – Rescheduled Round 17 match
Western NSW Mariners – Dunbar Rovers 2-5
Dunbar Rovers picked up a valuable three points on Sunday afternoon, overcoming the Western NSW Mariners 5-2 at Jack Brabham Soccer Fields in Orange.
This match was rescheduled from Round 17, and it was the Mariners 2nd match in 24 hours, needing to back up after their 0-2 loss to Bankstown City Lions in Lithgow the day before.
Alex Crane gave the Rovers the lead on 13 minutes, but Adam Scimone equalised for the Mariners just three minutes later.
Ruben Mendes edged Dunbar back in to the lead in the 29th minute, and the scored remained at 2-1 to the visitors until half time.
The game see-sawed for the best part of the second half, before Dunbar clicked in to gear, starting with Henry Kamleitner’s strike on 74 minutes, which made it 3-1 to Dunbar.
Kenny McCall gave the Mariners some hope by converting a penalty in the 81st minute, but Dunbar skipper, Andrew Doddy, extended the Rovers’ lead in the 84th back to 4-2, before Ryan Shaughnessy finished off proceedings with goal number five in the 89th minute.
The win and three points were crucial for 6th placed Dunbar, who have now moved up to 40 points, 2 points behind SD Raiders. The Rovers have now opened up a four point gap to 7th placed Camden Tigers, and that gap could prove too difficult to handle for both the Tigers and Sydney University below them if the Rovers can defeat Granville Rage in Tuesday night’s rescheduled Round Twenty Three encounter.
