NPL 2 NSW Men’s – Round 2 Finals Series Review
The final 2 teams have stepped forward and the Grand Final is now set as St George FC and Mounties Wanderers FC will face off in the big dance in the National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Men’s next week.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers 1 vs. Mounties Wanderers 2
It has been a season where Mt Druitt have conquered just about everything.
On Saturday past, it looked as if they would be heading to the Grand Final and attempting to add the Championship to this year’s honours too.
Only for them to be felled at the hands of Mounties.
Lily Homes Stadium played host on a cool evening and when the mist finally settled it was the Wanderers cheering long into the night.
Mounties came out with all intentions of denying the match favourites Mt Druitt a chance to complete their clean sweep of prizes and honours this season. Clad in the alternate red and white strip, Mounties game plan was adjusted accordingly to take down Rangers and within the first 20 minutes of the match it looked to be working with great effect.
Starving the Premiers of the ball, they dominated possession and their passing and movement off the ball was effective giving them the greater opportunities to take advantage in the game. Davidson was making his presence known in the final third with a couple of fantastic opportunities to give his side the lead. He was denied twice from real goalscoring chances by Rangers shot-stopper Saliadarre, whose efforts seemed to lift the Rangers.
It was rather uncharacteristic of Mt Druitt to not have found their rhythm early in the match, but as they have done so well all year, their patience began to pay off. Some great interplay between Gonzalez and Sato was beginning to take place which led to chances for the Yellow and Green.
Now the match fully set in it began to play out end to end.
That’s when it seemed to start falling apart for Mounties.
Mid-way through the first half, Heras Romero was forced off with injury after almost putting his side in the lead from a well struck volley.
Rangers could smell blood and began to go on the attack. They went agonisingly close from several corner routines which were constantly causing havoc in the Mounties box.
Mounties were beginning to feel the pressure and to add to the mix, they were forced to substitute keepers.
Finally, the Premiers would deliver the blow to the wounded Mounties. They would strike just minutes before the break after O’Leary found Griffin-Colls rampaging forward into space who collected the ball then thumped home from outside the box giving Rangers the lead.
As the play resumed in the second half, it seemed the positive play from Mounties was beginning to falter as Rangers began to take control of the game. In full rhythm they made headway towards adding another to their lead, yet the Mounties stood firm. Battling it out and finding the extra gear they kept themselves in the match.
The turning point in the match would finally come and it would be the Mounties would found their spark.
Regaining their confidence, Mounties found space out wide and cutting a ball back it fell with a chance to Chianese who adjusted his body well for the volley and was only just denied by Saliadarre. Funny how football rolls, Mounties could have thrown their heads down in despair.
Not on this night.
The near chance lifted the Mounties and you could feel their sense of purpose rise throughout the stadium.
With this momentum they struck in the most clinical of manner. Lining up a free kick right on the edge of the Rangers box, Beneit Romero picked his spot in the top corner and fired up and over the wall giving the keeper no chance as it rippled the back of the net.
Pressing on they should have scored and with that the match began to tense up with the clock winding down, chances coming and going just out of reach for both sides.
The match seemed destined to head to extra time but as if scripted, the winner would be found just minutes from full time.
Catching Rangers out on the break, Mounties Ingle fired a ball across field finding Pivato, all alone in the box.
With the seconds trickling down and everyone on the edge of their seat.
The net ripples.
Mounties roar.
Pivato thundering home the strike to send Mounties into a scene of celebration as they now take their place in the Grand Final.
Match Stats
Saturday 8th September, Lily Homes Stadium
Mt Druitt Town Rangers 1 (Griffin-Colls)
Mounties Wanderers 2 (Beneit Romero, Pivato)
Mt Druitt Town Rangers: L. Clifford, M. Clowes, L. Darkoh, J. Gomez, E. Gonzalez, B. Griffin-Colls, D. Gullo, J. Mamone, D. O’Leary, L. Roberts, H. Satoh, N. Trimble, J. Veljovic, A. Vlismas, C. Saliadarre
Mounties Wanderers: R. Beneit Romero, D. Brischetto, N. Chianese, M. Davidson, J. Groeneveld, J. Heras Romero, A. Hess, J. Ingle, M. Jeffrey, T. Mijic, B. Pivato, A. Schmidt, A. Schroeder, D. Shaw, T. Smith, J. Viera
Wise Words from the Coaches
Mt Druitt Coach Aidan Desmond was full of praise for his side’s performance, not just on the night but throughout the entire season and the achievements they have earned.
“It just wasn’t our night, they (Mounties) did well and full credit to them,” he told Football NSW.
“No way we would give up Premiers and 26 Rounds leading the competition and Promotion for the Grand Final. I couldn’t be prouder of the boys of the season they have had.”
Terry Palapanis was very delighted with his side’s performance and believes his Mounties side at the end of the night were deserved winners. “I think we were very good apart from the period before half time,” he told Football NSW.
He spoke of again some magic words to help lift the spirts of the lads, “At half time, went in and rallied the troops…we had prepared well and knew exactly what to do.”
It wasn’t all easy for Mounties as they found their winner late in the match, Palapanis praised the contest between Mt Druitt, “It was still hard as we had to score the goals and Carlos is a top keeper.”
St George FC 2 (5) vs. Northern Tigers 2 (3)
It took every last second in the match and eventually penalties to finally split the two sides, with the Saints holding their nerve in the shootout to march into the Grand Final.
Tigers came out of the sheds and it was clear they had their prey in sight drawing blood early in the match. Young starlet Wiggin was causing havoc and was in on goal before being brought down in the box.
Ferrier keeping a cool head stepped up and tucked away the penalty and the momentum would continue for the Tigers. Finding ways in through St George they created more chances and were looking likely to find an answer and increase their advantage.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, St George finally caught their breath from the early onslaught and worked their way into the match. Both sides played with high temp and intensity and the action played out end to end for most of the match.
Out of the sheds, the Saints would gain the upper hand, scoring minutes after play resumed. Romero, an ever threating presence in the final third was on hand to fire home and the Saints kept on with the momentum.
The action would not relent and it was no surprise that tired legs began to falter as the minutes wound down towards the final whistle with the score still locked at 1 apiece.
Into extra time the match would run and it now became a test of who could strike early.
Again it would be the Tigers whose aim was on target once again.
Up top Mcconaghy rose to the occasion as he leapt the highest and nodded home.
There was barely enough time for the crowd to get comfortable again as the Saints struck back. Within 2 minutes, Romero received the ball on left, ran at his defender and was brought down in the box.
With the pressure mounting he kept his nerve and was clinical from the spot, tucking home the penalty and levelling it up.
The extra period began to wear on and finally all minutes were up. The dreaded penalty shootout would be the only way to find a winner in the contest.
It all became a matter of nerve and Tigers were boosted mentally when retiring Michael Rolston stepped up and nailed his penalty. It was almost the perfect send off but the Saints were clinical in the shoot out and nailed all 5 kicks and with the Tigers missing just the one that was all it took to send St George into the big dance.
Wise Words from the Coaches
St George coach Wally Savor delighted with the win praised his side’s resilience throughout the match.
“Boys have done it most of the year with their character and attitude…just stay positive…sometimes we are at our best when we are behind,” he told Football NSW.
“We need to make sure we don’t do that in the Grand Final our luck might run out.”
When speaking of the match where the winner could only be decided by penalties Savor spoke of how his side were well prepared. “Practiced penalties this week just in case. The 5 boys that were selected took the penalties and did extremely well” he said.
“It was a tough game against the Tigers, they run for fun. They definitely did that and we had to match.”
Tigers coach Jason Eagar commended his side for their efforts and gave credit to both teams for going all the way to the shootout. “We were electric in the first period with 3 or 4 good chances culminating with the penalty”, he told Football NSW.
“It was a pretty end to end game…Plenty of chances for both teams in normal time,” he said.
With the sides still locked at the end of 90 minutes Eagar was wary that his side needed to keep up the running and fire early.
“We grabbed the go ahead but only minutes later they equalised. Hurt us a little bit mentally” he said. Speaking of penalties, “We practiced during the week…we only missed one and that was enough.”
The season now comes to a close for the Tigers and coach Eagar reflected on his side’s impressive run of form almost culminating in a Grand Final appearance.
“We started the season with a few new faces and plus a change of coach, played a bit differently, different structure. I think that combination of the different play style and some new faces it took us half a season to get going,” he told Football NSW.
“I think the second half of the season we played more consistent football and from then we had an aim to make the semis”.
“We had Michael Rolston who is retiring from football and been with club for 10 years pleasingly play a part in extra time and took a penalty and converted it”.
-By Marcus Flottmann
