Round 2 Finals Series Review – League Three Men
Newcastle Jets have become the first side to enter the League Three Men Grand Final this weekend, with the other spot heading to a decider between Prospect United and Nepean FC.
Prospect defeated Hawkesbury City to advance to the Preliminary Final, where they’ll take on Nepean FC, who lost on penalties to the Jets after a 0-0 draw in regular time.
In the Under 20’s matches, the Jets also became the first entrant of the Grand Final by defeating South Coast Flame, with the Wollongong side set to take on UNSW FC to decide the other position.
Hawkesbury City 1 – 5 Prospect United
Prospect United are now just one game off the League Three Men final after defeating Hawkesbury City in stunning style on Saturday night at Valentine Sports Park.
Prospect United was presented with an early chance to open the scoring in a one-on-one, but Hawkesbury goalkeeper Craig Morley made a good stop to prevent them from taking a lead inside two minutes.
Prospect United opted for a 4-4-2 diamond formation (4-1-2-1-2) in what has been their usual system in recent weeks.
Housam Sayour and Cristian Martinez operated as split strikers in the forward line, with Tallon Zahra as the attacking midfielder floating in between the lines while sometimes looking to advance with runs in behind.
Alec Purves was at the base of midfield, flanked by Praneet Singh and Alexander Gorgievski who operated usually in front of Purves.
In build-up, they looked to often create a lopsided 4-3-3.
Their two most direct and creative players, Martinez and Singh, looked t often hold their width in wide areas on the left and right flank respectively.
Gorgievski, meanwhile, remained more central slightly towards the left with Zahra occupying the right halfspace slightly further forwards on the right.
Sayour led the line during these movements with the ball, but it remained a compact 4-4-2 diamond without possession.
Hawkesbury City looked to operate in a similar shape.
Predrag Bojic sat in front of their back four in build-up, with Alexander Murrell and Zachary Reardon as wider central midfielders ahead.
Gregory Kondek operated as the attacking midfielder with a front two of Marco Turpeinen and Harry Drew ahead.
While the sides operated similarly without the ball, in build-up with the ball Prospect often looked to form their lopsided 4-3-3.
The first fifteen minutes of the match were quiet in terms of chances following Prospect’s golden opportunity in the first minute.
In the 20th minute, Prospect won a golden opportunity to score the first goal of the Minor Semi-Final, with Sayour being brought down in the box to win a penalty for his side.
David Muller converted on the first attempt with composure, but the referee called for the kick to be retaken due to players entering the box too early.
At the second time of asking, Prospect’s captain made no mistake, scoring his second goal in as many finals matches this season, with both coming off set pieces.
A minute after the opening goal, a square ball across the face of goal from Turpeinen found the back of the net after a Drew tap-in, but Turpeinen was deemed to be offside.
In the 27th minute, Prospect went close to finding a second as Martinez stole in behind, but fantastic anticipation from Morley halted the opportunity as he grabbed the ball with the forward trying to bring the ball around him.
In the 30th minute, Turpeinen forced a good save from Brendan Allen off an athletic effort from inside the box.
In the 32nd minute, Prospect doubled their lead with a well-taken finish from Zahra.
The midfielder made a positive run in behind and received the ball with time and space inside the box.
He composed himself in a close range one on one and converted a low shot to double Prospect’s lead in the Minor Semi-Final.
After conceding the second goal, Hawkesbury did well to start to work themselves back into the match, as they began to dominate territory and possession as they searched for a goal to bring them back into the game.
With a minute of regular time left to play, a great ball from Bojic saw Turpeinen in behind, but Muller read the ball superbly and got there just in time to prevent the striker from firing home.
Hawkesbury began the second half with high intensity as they looked to pin in Prospect with an emphasis on finding the byline through interchanges in wide areas to then play crosses or cutbacks into the box.
In the 53rd minute, after a sustained period of dominance, Hawkesbury had a good chance to find an equaliser.
Some quick thinking from Bojic saw an incisive pass off a close-range freekick find Kondek in behind.
The attacking midfielder unleashed a first-time shot on the turn but dragged it just wide of the far post.
Prospect looked to operate defensively and play on the counterattack, with mainly the front three (two strikers and attacking midfielder) looking to combine in fast-paced transitions.
The away side managed to halt Hawkesbury’s momentum by delaying the game both when keeping the ball in advanced areas and with a substitution.
Prospect continued to create chances to add a third with their quick attacking transitions, but the final touch was often off to give them a prized third goal.
However, in the 74th minute, a counterattack came to fruition.
Martinez played substitute Nicholas Boyd in behind with a fantastic ball and a good first touch from the forward saw him round the defender before he converted with a good strike into the bottom left corner.
A minute after their third goal, Prospect remarkably added a fourth, as Martinez got on the end of a cross to convert with his head.
Prospect’s dominance continued in extraordinary style, as they capitalised on a mistake in possession in Hawkesbury’s defensive line to convert a fifth goal through Boyd.
To Hawkesbury’s credit, they continued to play their style of football, as they looked to draw in Prospect’s press by holding the ball in the defensive line before looking to play through or over the top.
In the 90th minute, Hawkesbury found a consolation goal as Daniel Morsillo capitalised on a mistake and converted a shot into an open net from close range.
Coaches comments
Dean Bertenshaw – Hawkesbury: “Good respect to Prospect, they played a super match tonight. They got a good start and once they got that third goal we were open as we tried to get a goal back. We’re always at risk of copping goals as they’re a good side and set themselves up well for the match. We were a little shy in defence tonight and it hurt us but it’s more respect to Prospect as they played a good match today.”
Darren Camilleri – Prospect: “Today went perfectly to script. We got off to a good start and played some good football to score our two goals. Hawkesbury came at us and we did well to keep it at zero because that ten minutes prior to halftime was where they tried to hurt us. Hawkesbury came out with good intent in halftime but then they ran out of ideas after not scoring that goal. Then we made a sub and he (Boyd) changed the game.”
Newcastle Jets 0 – 0 Nepean FC – Newcastle advance on pens
Newcastle Jets have become the first team to enter the League Three Men Grand Final after defeating Nepean FC on penalties on Saturday night.
The Jets will now get a week off next weekend to prepare for the big dance, while Nepean FC will face Prospect United to decide who takes on Newcastle for the chance to become Champions of the League Three Men competition.
Under 20’s matches
Minor Semi-Final:
Parramatta FC 0
UNSW FC 1 (C. Sinclair 36’)
Major Semi-Final:
Newcastle Jets 6 (Own goal 5’, C. Kelly 45’, L. Griffiths 54’, 58’, 88’, J. Aitchison 82’)
South Coast Flame 1 (L. Hoefsloot)
By Football NSW League 3 Men’s Reporter, Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
