Round 4 Preview – State League Men’s
Desperate times mean desperate measures as the saying goes and if some teams don’t pick one up this week in the State League Men’s, the finals seem a long way away. Kind of like the South Coast from the Central Coast which opens up the round.
Elsewhere we see a derby to conclude the action and three games on Saturday night to entertain the masses.
South Coast Flame v Central Coast United, Saturday 13th April, 4pm at Ian Mclennan Park
South Coast Flame host Central Coast United to open the weekend in an intriguing contest to get us started.
It’s starting to look like round one was a one-off for the South Coast Flame. Since then they had a good win against Gazy and last week they secured a valuable point against Nepean FC.
Last week becomes more impressive by the fact that they were down to nine men for the last ten minutes.
It’s starting to look like they will be more competitive in their second season as opposed to their first.
Central Coast United on the other hand are settling into life without a few first-teamers from last year. Following a loss in week one, they have picked up two victories on the trot against UNSW FC and FC Gazy Auburn.
Last week against Gazy, they came out on top despite not being at their best (it’s hard to be when playing at Progress).
Special shout out should go to Jarred Steen who made his debut at 16 and was probably one of their best last week.
Fraser Park v Nepean FC, Saturday 13th April, 7pm at Fraser Park
It shapes to be the fixture of the weekend. Fraser Park host Nepean FC in a fixture which could shape the seasons of both sides.
Fraser Park have had an ideal start to life in NSW’s 4th tier. Last week they made it two wins from three with a victory over Balmain Tigers.
Having gone down in the fixture, Fraser showed resilience in bringing it back to parity before making sure of the points late on. This fixture stands as their biggest test yet although they may have picked a good week for it.
It would be easy to say their key man is once again Luiz Lobo but Shu Torihara is proving to be just as much of a threat for them early in this campaign.
The good news for Nepean FC, this game will not be washed out. The bad news? It’s fitted within a gruelling week in which they face a cup game the Wednesday and a catch-up game the Tuesday afterwards.
Too make matters worse they will be missing one or two first-teamers for this one. Motivation on the other hand should not be a problem given last week they only took a point in their fixture against South Coast Flame.
Balmain Tigers v UNSW FC, Saturday 13th April, 7pm Ilinden Sports Centre
Balmain Tigers and UNSW FC will both be looking to score their first win of the season when they meet on Saturday night.
The home side in this one, Balmain will be out to make their chances count in this fixture. They were unlucky last weekend against Fraser Park in a fixture where they saw the ball hit the post twice.
Only to be punished by a more clinical opposition when it counted towards the end of the fixture. Goals win matches and they’ll be keen to get their share this weekend.
UNSW FC were on the end of the surprise result of round three. In a tense fixture, the students went down to Hurstville FC on a foggy night at the same ground last week.
Throughout that fixture, they lacked an attacking edge unable to trouble the Hurstville keeper too often and you can be sure they’ll be keen to rectify that in this one.
It will also have to be done with the services of keeper George Arnold who will be serving a suspension.
Prospect United v FC Gazy Auburn, Saturday 13th April, 7pm William Lawson Park
The second of two fixtures which pit two sides which haven’t tasted victory against each other promises to be a tantalising one.
William Lawson Park should play host to it’s first State League fixture of the season. The home side should come in to the fixture refreshed after having the week off.
In their last fixture they secured a point against Fraser Park on the road. In that game, they were solid in withstanding their opponents and looked dangerous on the counter with Stephen Vukovic and Nic Valjak leading the charge.
Just a little closer, a little nearer to where they want to be. FC Gazy Auburn are an improving unit week by week. Last week, they gave Central Coast United a scare in a tight fixture at Progress Park.
Despite this, they have now played three fixtures without claiming a victory and you don’t want to be falling too far behind too early.
Much of their threat in the front third this season will come through the combination of Javier Diaz, Pedro Almeida, Haydar Al-Ameri and Esoghume Dominic.
Hurstville FC v Hurstville City Minotaurs, Sunday 14th April, 5pm Seymour Shaw
Hurstville FC host the first Hurstville derby of the season as they host the Minotaurs to round off the first month of the season.
The home side come into this in impressive form coming off two wins from two starts. In round one they defeated FC Gazy Auburn whilst last weekend they saw off UNSW FC in what was the upset of round three.
They were impressively clinical in the front half led by the efforts of Adrian Livio who bagged a double.
When you add the Gagro and Di Meglio bothers to the mix, they aren’t short of attacking threats which will surely trouble any opposition across the competition.
Hurstville City Minotaurs on the other hand come in to this one in desperate need of a victory. The General’s men come into the match having scored one goal in their first two fixtures whilst conceding six.
Safe to say its statement time and not many better places to do it than a derby against your neighbours (at least in name).
By Justin Smith
Twitter: @smiththejustin
