Round 9 Review – State League Men’s
The round nine theme of the State League Competition: Surprise! (And wasn’t there plenty of it!)
A goalkeeper come outfield player equalizer in our match of the round, UNSW and Balmain winning when they really had too and much more to get stuck in too.
Hurstville City Minotaurs v FC Gazy Auburn
The Goalie has scored, The Goalie has scored! Hurstville City Minotaurs relied on some late extra time scenes to secure a point in a game where they trailed FC Gazy Auburn 2-0 early on.
Gazy raced out to fast start, finding particular joy down the right flank. An early break saw Hayder Al-Ameri Endeavour into the box before his shot only found the Minotaurs keeper waiting at the near post.
And the Minotaurs defense couldn’t keep up with the pacey attacks coming at them and FC Gazy Auburn opened the scoring before the tenth minute. Javier Diaz was in the right place on the edge of the 6-yard box who calmly slotted home.
It became a one-two punch shortly after as Ali Al Waeli was found waiting at the back post with plenty of time to finish through the keeper’s legs.
Content with a two-goal advantage, Gazy decided to lower the intensity which allowed Hurstville City Minotaurs to cease the initiative.
For the remainder of the first half, all good things for the home side came through the returning Thiago Rabinovich. The striker sometimes seemed to be playing at a different pace than his team mates combining with Juan Botero for the first meaningful opportunity with his shot going over the top right corner.
The deficit was halfed before the break when Rabinovich curled a free-kick from around 25 yards into the bottom right corner of the net to give the Minotaurs hope.
Momentum continued in the same fashion for the first fifteen minutes of the second half. With the Minotaurs in charge of possession but only because Gazy were allowing them.
Their best shot came when a long-range shot was saved by Gazy keeper Pablo Meza into the path of Riad Agnache who just couldn’t get his shot away.
But as much as the Minotaurs pressed offensively, Gazy Auburn looked dangerous on the counter and Hurstville City nearly paid dearly conceding a penalty after Dominic held the ball up well. The penalty taken by Haydar Al-Ameri could only hit the left-hand post and bounce out.
Hurstville City Minotaurs continued to push and you would’ve thought scores would be brought level when Juan Botero broke through the visitor’s defense. His effort only dribbled wide though.
And they were made to pay late on when keeper? James Law scored a cracking goal. Controlling the ball outside the area before thundering a finish home to give them a share of the points.
Hurstville City Minotaurs coach Peter “the general” Sarikakis was happy with the result. “I’m happy, thought we could have won it, after the first 10 minutes we played better and had more chances. We’ll work from this, the boys showed real character come back.”
FC Gazy Auburn coach Leo Sansome, “we started off extremely well first 20 minutes through two great goals. We switched off and allowed them to come into it and couldn’t physically match it with them.”
“Overall, we did take a point away from home. We continue our run of five games unbeaten now and we’re slowly climbing up the ladder”.
Match Stats
Hurstville City Minotaurs: 2 (Rabinovich 17’, Law 94’)
FC Gazy Auburn: 2 (Diaz 8’, Al Waeli 11’)
Hurstville City Minotaurs: 1. James Law, 2. Alexi Brakatselos, 4. Angelo Petratos, 7. Angelo Vagenas, 8. Nicholas Nisbet, 13. Juan Botero, 16. Matheus Pontes, 17. Thiago Rabinovitch, 23. Keifer Dotti, 30. Riad Agnache, 35. Balazs Mate.
Subs: 21. Dean Vagenas, 9. Jason Gonzalez, 14. Michael Martinovic, 15. Seyfullah Eser, 115. Chris Matthews.
FC Gazy Auburn: 1. Pablo Meza, 17. Haydar Al-Ameri, 18. Javier Diaz, 23. Costandi Fallas, 24. Ali Al Waeli, 29. Samuel Head, 32. Koichi Ohtomo, 34. Saul Orellana, 36. Hassaniyan Al Zaidy, 39. Sanel Hodzic Mehic, 40. Esoghume Dominic.
Subs: 8. Pedro Almeida, 12. Edin Vejzovic, 20. Ibrahim Kamara, 26. Yianni Mavromovsthar, 30. Adam Bentany.
Central Coast United v Hurstville FC
Central Coast United have simply blown Hurstville FC in top three showdown at Pluim Park Saturday evening.
The home side scored twice within the first ten minutes of the fixture courtesy a quick-fire double to Jarred Steen. And the game was effectively over before the half time break when Hurstville were reduced to 10 men. From there on in Scott Mcginley got a goal before the half time break before Daniel Mcfarlane and Graham Toope scored second half goals.
Hurstville FC on the other hand struggled to get their motor running and after steadying the ship in hopes of reaching half time, things went awry just before the break. They did manage to get a consolation goal during the second half though ensuring they didn’t drive home completely embarrassed.
United started sharply with the hosts having two chances within the first five minutes, the second of which resulting in the opening goal. Jarrod Steen cleverly played a lofted one-two with Adam Woodbine and just beat the keeper to the ball poking home into the bottom right corner of the net.
Steen was clearly the most threatening weapon early on and he collected his second shortly after. The winger combing once again with Woodbine getting on the end of a nice bit of skill launching a powerful worm-burner into the bottom right once again.
Suddenly Hurstville FC needed to claw themselves back into the contest and fast. Their best chance came after fifteen minutes when a Michael Di Meglio’s goal bound shot was deflected wide. However, despite not being able to produce more chances they did tighten the contest.
And when it looked like they were going to have a chance of getting to half time with further damage. Goalkeeper Matthew Massarotto was sent off for handling the ball outside the box. Central Coast are too good a side to let such a window slip and their lead went out to three in injury time. An Adam Woodbine long range free kick fell behind Scott Mcginley who stuck his foot out and flicked it into the net spectacularly. Purposeful or not, you can decide.
Blood was in the water and Central Coast United made sure of the victory with Daniel Mcfarlane finishing off from close range after Alex Arbelo broke down the right wing.
Graham Toope was next on the scoresheet as he unleashed from downtown with his powerful effort capping off a goalscoring tally which wasn’t short of wonder goals to make it five.
They seemed to settle on the five goals as both teams probably would have been happy for time to be called there and then. However, Michael Martins opened his season tally by cutting inside of his marker on the right side before beating the keeper with his effort.
It’s a statement from Central Coast United as the tight race for the premiership nearly reaches the half way mark.
Central Coast United: 5 (Steen 2, Mcginley, Toope, Mcfarlane)
Hurstville FC: 1 (Martins)
Around the Grounds
South Coast Flame 1-2 UNSW FC
It’s that time of the year, when a bit of desperation can win you a football match. This was the case on Saturday night when UNSW FC defeated South Coast Flame on a brisk night down at Ian Mclennan Park.
If a football season comes down to individual moments, this one could be the spark of which UNSW FC need. They managed to take three points away from their travel’s courtesy of a Nima Beik penalty deep into second half injury time.
That goal came after Aaron Richmond opened the scoring after 20 minutes with the assist coming from Joshua Chahal who went off injured just five minutes later. Three points are obviously vital for any team in the league at this point, but these were possibly the most important gained throughout the weekend and UNSW FC find themselves just three points outside the five.
That wasn’t to say the hosts didn’t have their chances in the game. The home side had plenty of chances throughout the fixture but were unable to take advantage with more than one goal. The Flame got their goal from a deflected free kick which was headed in by Louis Connell just before the break. If they keep playing the way they are though, it won’t be long till another win.
Balmain Tigers 2-1 Nepean FC
It’s the biggest annual fixture on the calendar for Balmain Tigers and didn’t they make the most of it claiming their first victory of the season over Nepean FC.
Yes, it was the return to Leichhardt which may just serve as the spark of which they home side needed moving into the second half of the season. It didn’t always look likely for them though as they fell behind in the fixture and went into the break a goal down.
But some strong words inside the dressing room saw them come out a different side. An equalizer came through Miki Bisceglia from the penalty spot came before they scored what proved to be the winner through Mario Garcia who linked up well with Marley Jackson in the buildup. So, nine rounds in and every team has now won a game in the competition. In the words of coach Sasha Tirovski though, “it means nothing if we can’t follow it up with another 3 points”.
The curious case of Nepean FC. I had them down as favorites for the competition after round one and now they find themselves having notched up five losses this season already. It’s not like they are being outplayed either, they are just victims to frequent lapses of concentration and individual mistakes. In this one they took the lead through Jayden Young but couldn’t hold on. Once again, you’d suggest the pressure valve is well and truly turned up before next weeks fixture.
Prospect United 1-2 Western Condors
Western Condors have put a tough couple of weeks behind them in beating Prospect United at William Lawson Park in another super Saturday fixture.
It was the first time for a few weeks that the visitors were able to field something close to their best team. And it showed with a strong second half performance ensuring that they took away a crucial three points which take them back into the top 5 of the competition. After going down, Jay Takahashi opened their account early in the second half with his effort finding the top corner. Before Chun Him Yau came off the bench to score his first goal in a month in the league. They now look forward to a fascinating clash with Central Coast United next weekend.
They are not far away, but you don’t get points for being close in football. Prospect United took the lead 15 minutes into the first half through Daniel Vukovic who finished off in stunning fashion. However, from that point on, they found themselves being dragged back into the contest before the visitors simply flexed their muscles in the second half. Prospect visit the Hurstville City Minotaurs next weekend in another mid-table scrap.
