Round 3 Finals Series Review – League Two Men’s
Macarthur Rams’ Cinderella run in the League Two Finals Series will continue for another week, as they came back from a two-goal deficit against Rydalmere Lions to punch their ticket to the Grand Final against Inter Lions next week.
Preliminary Semi Final
Rydalmere Lions FC 2-3 Macarthur Rams FC
20’s: Rydalmere Lions FC 1-2 Dunbar Rovers FC
Macarthur have pulled off a sensational two-goal comeback against Rydalmere Lions, booking their spot in the League Two Grand Final.
After early goals from Nicholas Trimble and Jacob Chidiac, the Rams were up against it as Rydalmere’s high off-ball pressing paid off in the early stages.
However, with Christian Torelli’s strike in the 16th minute Macarthur were back in the fight as they began to match the high intensity of the Lions.
Anthony Vastag levelled the scores on the half hour mark, but it was Giovanni Panuccio’s effort in the second half that won Macarthur the game.
As the game entered its early stages, the hosts were in control of the game and they were quickly rewarded Trimble headed home the opener in the 7th minute.
The Rams had a chance to answer back immediately, but John Fahmi’s close range free-kick was comfortably collected by Dimitri Makapagkal.
Rydalmere’s early pressure paid off once again as Chidiac neatly buried his chance from inside the box to double the hosts lead.
The Rams have had slow starts in their first two finals games, but never had they fallen behind by two goals.
As Macarthur began to open their attack up more they found plenty of success and opened the scoring in the 16th minute as Torrelli capitalised and finished his chance.
It was the visitors who began to take control of the game in the backend of the first half, flipping the script on Rydalmere.
The high-paced approach paid off for a second time, as the Rams equalised in the 30th minute through Anthony Vastag, who has scored in all of Macarthur’s finals games thus far.
After an eventful first half, both sides went into the break with the game and a spot in the grand final up for grabs.
The visitors picked up from where they left off in the first half, continuing to play with a real intent for more goals.
Macarthur completed the improbable comeback in the 53rd minute as Fahmi played Panuccio at the edge of the box, as the attacker slotted his chance in the back of the net.
The Rams had a few more chances for a fourth goal in the following minutes, but the final half hour of the game was dictated by a determined Rydalmere side.
Rydalmere were desperately looking for a way back into the game, but they were consistently denied of an equaliser by a physical Rams defence.
With the seconds ticking away, Mark Symington narrowly missed a chance to seal the result as his free-kick was stunningly saved off the line by Makapagkal.
The Rams held on in the final seconds of play and were victorious against Rydalmere for the third time this season.
Rams’ coach, Brett Hewitt noted his pride in his side’s performance against such a formattable opposition.
“Congratulations to Rydalmere for another great season. They have been the form team over the last three seasons and the club deserves credit for their levels of consistency.,” he said.
“I’m extremely proud of the group of players that we have assembled at Rams, the last three seasons have seen the club relegated followed by two seasons finishing 8th and 10th respectively so to be promoted this season followed by the clubs first grand final since 2014 is amazing for the club.
“Every week the players are slowly showing their character with this result a massive effort especially coming back from 2 goals early in the game.
“For us it is onto another week of training and just as important enjoying the week as you don’t get the opportunity to play in a grand final very often if at all. Whatever the outcome I will be grateful to the club and players for an amazing season but we are under no illusions that we are against the best team this season in Inter Lions.”
Macarthur will now head into a grand final matchup with Inter next week, as they look to avenge the 8-2 loss they suffered at the hands of the Lion’s a few weeks ago. Special mention to Joseph Fahmi who helped out with this report on the night.
By Football NSW Men’s League Two Writer, Dominic Criniti @DominicCriniti
