Round 14 Review – NPL 3 NSW Men’s
The 2019 National Premier Leagues 3 NSW competition turned the corner for the run home over the weekend, with the return fixtures from the season’s opening round taking effect.
There were seemingly plenty of gaps available given it rained goals – 34 in fact across the 7 matches at an average of just shy of 5 goals per game.
Dunbar Rovers recorded a routine 3-0 win over Parramatta FC at Hensley Athletic Field on Saturday afternoon; SD Raiders returned to Sydney from Orange with all three points in the bag after comprehensively beating the Western NSW Mariners 7-2 at Sir Jack Brabham Park; Hawkesbury City and Granville Rage shared the points in a dour 1-1 struggle at David Bertenshaw Field on Saturday evening; Bankstown United returned to fifth place on the ladder with a slim 1-0 success over Camden Tigers at Jensen Park; Gladesville Ryde Magic were clinical in front of goal as they ran out 5-2 winners away to Sydney University; whilst Stanmore Hawks picked up a valuable three points in a 2-0 win over Inter Lions in the late game on Sunday night.
FNSW ventured out to Arlington Oval for this week’s Match of the Round between Dulwich Hill and Bankstown City Lions.
MATCH OF THE ROUND
DULWICH HILL – BANKSTOWN CITY 4-6
After leading at crucial points of the game – including at half time, on the hour, as well as three minutes from the end – Dulwich Hill capitulated in the final moments to lose 4-6 to Bankstown City Lions in an extraordinary game of football at Arlington Oval on Saturday night.
The opening 10 minutes or so belonged to the league leaders, with Lawrence Hanna going oh so close for Bankstown in the 8th, his dipping half volley from 20 yards just flashing past the Dully upright. Hanna was at it again two minutes later, beating a defender as he dragged the ball along the goal line, his cutback scuffed by Ante Tomic in to the hands of Dulwich Hill’s custodian, Alexander Gornall.
The Lions were made to rue those chances when Dulwich Hill netted with their first clear opportunity of the encounter on 12 minutes.
Sam Messam raced down the left flank before sending over a delightful far post cross. Henry Wells had the presence of mind to nod his header back across the face of goal, and Robbie Deasy gobbled it up, racing in to sidefoot home and give Dully a 1-0 lead.
In fact, Dulwich Hill should’ve doubled their lead in the 15th minute, the experienced Gosue Sama slicing his close range header wide of the mark after Sean Burke picked him out with a fantastic far post cross.
Buoyed by their lead, Dulwich Hill kept at it, winning the midfield and pushing forward with confidence. Deasy almost made it 2-0 on the half hour, connecting sweetly on the edge of the Bankstown penalty area after a clearance, his volley brilliantly tipped over the cross bar by the Lions’ goal keeper, Carl McMahon.
But the home fans didn’t have to wait much longer when it became 2-0 in the 38th minute, Bankstown’s Stephen Drewery diverting Sam Messam’s low cross in to his own net to give Dulwich Hill the ascendancy.
Just as the teams were preparing for a drinks break, Bankstown City were given a lifeline when Mirza Sehic nodded home from a yard to send the teams in to the sheds with Dulwich Hill 2-1 in front.
Rather than rejuvenate the Lions, it was Dulwich Hill who came out of the blocks fired up after the rest, and almost netted a third just moments in to the second half, with Lions’ defender, Stefan Dubocanin, somehow miraculously blocking Gosue Sama metres from goal just as the Dully striker was ready to pull the trigger.
Dully speedster, Henry Wells, skied his effort in the 56th minute after a superb through ball by Sea Burke, but Dully kept at it, Sam Messam fortuitously finding the net on the hour mark, adjusting quickly to divert a David Burbidge shot after a Robbie Deasy cutback.
3-1 to Dulwich Hill, and you would be expected to think the Lions were on the ropes. If you chose to blink at this point, then you would also have chosen to miss a brace of goals that remarkably brought Bankstown City Lions level within two minutes.
A header from Ante Tomic made it 2-3 on 61 minutes, before Marko Filipovic thrashed home from inside the penalty area sixty seconds later to make it 3-3, much to the delight of the travelling contingent.
But before the fans could retake their seats, it was 4-3 to Dulwich Hill, in the 64th minute, with Sam Messam hitting a measured volley in to the net from close range after a Burbidge cross found him unmarked in front of goal.
The defensive structures simply went out the window as both sides executed swift counter attacks, but as the clock ticked over towards the end, no one could’ve predicted the explosive end to the encounter.
Sometimes you need a little luck in football, but they do say you make your own luck, and Bankstown City Lions went for the jugular once they sensed the kill was on.
Second half substitute and Bankstown City favourite, Jeffrey Issa, almost reached the goal line as he attempted to swing over a cross. The ball defied geometry, taking a slight deflection before looping over Dully keeper, Alexander Gornall, and sneaking in at the far post to drag the Lions level.
Before the scoreboard could be changed however, Bankstown hit the front for the first time in the match. Nikola Todorovski received the ball on the edge of the Dully penalty area, and his low shot also took a deflection before drizzling past Gornall, edging the Lions in to the lead as the Bankstown City captain ran off to celebrate with the visiting fans.
No one was going to dare say that the scoring had ended, and Dulwich Hill made some desperate attempts to throw men forward in injury time in search of an equaliser.
That was not to be, and it was Bankstown who in fact extended their lead to 6-4 via an Ante Tomic penalty in the 93rd minute, bringing an end to an extraordinary game of football.
For Dulwich Hill, it was an agonising evening. Having taken the lead early, and being in front for such a long stretch of the game, Dully would be filthy with the way they eventually succumbed to a very late onslaught, twice conceding goals in quick succession with two goals around the hour mark and three goals around the end of the game.
Robbie Deasy was there or thereabouts all night whenever Dully moved the ball in attack, whilst Sean Burke buzzed around in the midfield, his high workrate often stalling the Lions in their tracks.The loss sees Dulwich Hill remain on 18 points, dropping to 8th spot in the process.
For Bankstown City Lions, they will not be happy being behind for so long, as well as conceding four goals. But we all know in football that the only scoreline that matters is the one at full time, and the best time to concede four goals is when you can score five (or six!) down the other end. The Lions showed plenty of character to stay in touch with Dulwich Hill during the night, remaining calm as they kept their focus on trying to peg back the lead, a lead they eventually surpassed in the 87th minute. Lawrence Hanna was a real handful all evening, the Bankstown number 10 consistently and easily beating one or two men each time he had the ball as he constantly searched for a way through the Dully rearguard.
The win and subsequent three points moves Bankstown City Lions to 33 points, retaining top position on the NPL 3 NSW Men’s ladder.
National Premier Leagues 3 NSW Men’s Match Stats
Round Fourteen
Saturday, June 8, 2019
Arlington Oval, Dulwich Hill
DULWICH HILL 4 (Deasy 12’, Drewery own goal 38’, Messam 59’ / 64’)
BANKSTOWN CITY 6 (Sehic 45’ + 1’, Tomic 61’ / 90’ + 3’ pen, Filipovic 62’, Stanojevic own goal 86’, Todorovski 88’)
Referee – Chris Hughes
Referee Assistants – Alex Goodhew and Nicholas Kour
DULWICH HILL; 13.S.Burke, 8.R.Deasy, 5.N.Dimitropoulos (capt), 3.R.Farrell (16.C.Desa 20’), 21.A.Gornall, 11.S.Messam, 9.G.Sama (10.J.F.Canhada Alves 79’), 2.N.Sansom, 20.N.Stanojevic, 7.H.Wells (4.P.Crevani 65’), 18.D.Burbidge.
Substitutes Not Used – 23.H.Browell.
Yellow Cards – 13.S.Burke 45’.
Red Cards – Nil
BANKSTOWN CITY; 72.S.Drewery (18.H.Silva Neto 70’), 4.S.Dubocanin, 14.M.Filipovic, 10.L.Hanna (7.J.Issa 75’), 24.D.Jakimovski (3.J.Boutoubia 70’), 20.T.Markovski, 1.C.McMahon, 2.A.Savetta, 16.M.Sehic, 9.N.Todorovski (capt), 11.A.Tomic.
Substitutes Not Used – 38.S.Shivan, 23.A.Ismail.
Yellow Cards – 14.M.Filipovic 81’, 4.S.Dubocanin 83’, N.Todorovski 89’.
Red Cards – Nil
Dunbar Rovers FC – Parramatta FC 3-0
Dunbar Rovers made reasonably light work of Parramatta FC on Saturday afternoon, enjoying a 3-0 victory at Hensley Athletic Field.
The home side opened the scoring on 25 minutes thanks to Heo WookBum, the tricky flanker scoring his maiden goal for Dunbar after being picked out by Aram Tayebi’s ball into the penalty box.
Parramatta kept the Rovers at bay for the remainder of the first half with the hosts able to take the slim 1-0 advantage into the sheds.
Dunbar’s second goal of the contest arrived on 69 minutes, Daniel Fornito producing an exquisite finish after some individual brilliance to make it 2-0.
The match as a contest was put to bed in the 83rd minute with Fornito bagging his brace after a first-rate assist from youngster, Ahmad Taleb.
The Eagles outing was compounded on the stroke of full time when Khalid Allybokus was given his marching orders.
The loss sees Parramatta drop to 13th position on 9 points, whilst Dunbar Rovers move to 20 points as a result of the victory, climbing ominously to 7th spot on the ladder.
Western NSW Mariners – SD Raiders FC 2-7
SD Raiders made sure it would be a happy trip back to Sydney on Saturday night, picking up the spoils in a resounding 7-2 victory against the Western NSW Mariners at Sir Jack Brabham Park.
The Raiders raced to a 4-1 half time lead, before going on with it after the break to register a 7-2 result.
Jeremy Judge and Matthew Hobby found the scoresheet for the home side, the loss seeing the Mariners remain bottom of the ladder on 6 points.
Details of the scorers for SD Raiders were not forthcoming by the time we went to press, but the win in Orange and subsequent three points sees the Raiders climb to 27 points, remaining in 4th spot and within reach of those above them on the ladder.
Hawkesbury City FC – Granville Rage 1-1
Hawkesbury City and Granville Rage shared the spoils on Saturday evening at David Bertenshaw Field, the draw not favouring either side as they would both have looked at it as two points lost.
The first half was a little rusty from both teams, a few new players finding their way as both sides tried to settle quicker than their opponents.
With defences ruling and very little constructive play from either side, the game needed a goal and it came for the Hawks. Joaquin Velizcoccolo finished clinically from the top of the penalty area to give the home fans something to cheer about.
The battle continued after the break in fairly similar fashion to the first, except Hawkesbury started searching for a way to put the game to bed.
Samuel Bortolazzo kept Granville in it, the Rage goal keeper denying the home side with a spectacular double save off a penalty, whilst also managing to parry two one-on-one opportunities.
Hawkesbury then lost young marksman, Daniel Morsillo, to shoulder dislocation – we wish him a speedy recovery – as they battled to defend a narrow lead.
Granville Rage took advantage of their keeper, Bortolazzo’s, exploits, by nabbing an equaliser late on, substitute Christian Agliozzo bundling in a low cross with just 3 minutes left on the clock.
A point in the end was enough to see both teams climb the ladder. Granville Rage move above Parramatta, up to 12th position on 10 points, whilst Dean Bertenshaw continues to rally his depleted troops, with Hawkesbury moving two places to 9th on 16 points.
Bankstown City United – Camden Tigers 1-0
Bankstown United effected some sweet revenge for their opening day 0-4 loss to Camden Tigers back in March, grabbing all three points in the return fixture on Saturday night courtesy of a 1-0 victory.
The solitary goal came from Bankstown’s Mitchell Cross and was enough to separate the two sides as the striker weighed in for his 11th goal of the season.
The loss sees Camden Tigers drop to 10th position on the ladder, remaining on 15 points, whilst the win and subsequent three points pushes Bankstown United on to 24 points and 5th spot, hurdling Inter Lions in the process.
Sydney University – Gladesville Ryde Magic 2-5
Gladesville Ryde Magic completed the double over Sydney University in spectacular fashion, backing up their 3-2 opening day win by putting five past the hosts in a 5-2 triumph at Sydney University Football Ground on Saturday night.
The visitors struck first in this encounter, Magic captain, Chris Gaitatzis, fidning the mark with a sweetly struck volley. But it didn’t take long for the ‘students’ to find an equalizer, Panayoti Gotsis bundling in a pinpoint corner from last week’s hatrick hero, Michael Loupis.
Gladesville Ryde Magic restored the lead on the stroke of half time after Gaitatzis grabbed his second of the match, a lead they held until the break.
The visitors then put their foot well and truly on the pedal as they powered past Sydney University, racing to a 4-1 lead as Christos Tomaras and Chris Triantis got their names on the scoresheet.
Sydney University reduced the deficit to 4-2 thanks to James Tsokos’ effort, however, Magic’s Charbel Haddad was on hand to score his side’s fifth of the night to ensure that the visitors enjoyed a stress-free end to the match.
The loss sees Sydney University remain on 15 points but drop to 11th spot on the competition ladder, whilst Gladesville Ryde Magic are up to 28 points in 3rd position.
Inter Lions – Stanmore Hawks 0-2
The ‘inner west derby’ took to the road in the late game on Sunday night, with Stanmore Hawks defeating Inter Lions 2-0 at Valentine Sports Park No.3.
Stanmore did the damage early in the first stanza, with goals from Conor Quilligan and Jovan Blagojevic in the opening quarter of an hour, and held on to that lead for the remainder of the match.
Given the loss, Inter Lions remain on 23 points, dropping to 6th spot in the process, whilst Stanmore Hawks remain in second spot, moving to 31 points, just two points from the summit, being Bankstown City Lions on 33 points.
