Round 24 Review – League Two Men’s
Some big results among sides in the top five shook up the race for the promotion playoff spot this season as the competition reached 80% completion.
The Match of the Round this week saw two of those top five sides in action as a big 2nd vs 3rd clash saw Bankstown United FC emerge as big winners over Inner West Hawks FC.
Saturday, 13th July 2024
Match of the Round: Inner West Hawks FC 1-3 Bankstown United FC
Bankstown United FC came away with the victory in a big six-pointer in the battle for 2nd spot after they overcame Inner West Hawks FC 3-1 to complete the league double in what was a physical match.
The Hawks looked to keep the ball well early and got in behind Bankstown a few times through the likes of Peter Yannopoulos, Michael Morrow, and Takuma Hirano, but could not score early despite shots from Yannopoulos and Hirano which cleared the crossbar.
Bankstown were flat in the first half and looked to make amends after the break.
With the match scoreless at half-time, it was the Hawks who were the first to break the deadlock, however, in the 56th minute – a free-kick from near the halfway line was put into the box by Hesan Soufi, which resulted in a scramble in the box before Tomohiro Ishii slotted the ball home to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.
Bankstown struck back three minutes later, however, when a corner from Amaury Gauthier was whipped into the Hawks’ box at the back post to Mitchell Cross – he headed the ball back across goal to Jovan Blagojevic, who scored unmarked with a header to level the match at 1-1.
The visitors had confidence and the momentum from there and found the lead in the 67th minute when Gauthier beat his man on the left and cut inside into the box – he had his shot saved by Hawks goalkeeper Gene Marantos, but the ball rebounded to Mitchell Edmunds at the back post, who volleyed the ball into the roof of the net to give Bankstown a 2-1 lead.
Hirano had the chance to level the match late for the Hawks after a ball was played in behind the Bankstown defence by Hawks captain Sidhya Malhotra, but Hirano’s shot was saved by Bankstown goalkeeper, Mitchell Evans.
Bankstown ensured the victory in the 86th minute when a break from midfield found Edmunds – he cut the ball back to Jamie Dib, who dummied a shot on his right foot, then dribbled the ball back to his left foot before he drilled the ball past Marantos to give Bankstown a 3-1 advantage.
Bankstown were reduced to ten men in the 90th minute when defender Harry Stavris was shown a red card for violent conduct.
A fiery end to the match saw a war of words between the two sets of players and a big crowd getting fired up, but it was Bankstown who completed the league double and made their mark in the battle for the promotion playoff position this season with a big 3-1 away win.
For the Hawks, they will be proud of how they played but will look ahead to regrouping ahead of their next match, where they will need a response – the loss dropped them from 3rd to 4th, on 43 points, four points behind Bankstown.
Bankstown, meanwhile, moved up to 2nd with the win on 47 points, two points ahead of Mounties Wanderers FC, who have a match in hand over Bankstown.
The Hawks will hope to get their promotion hopes back on track when they host 7th-placed Granville Rage next week, while Bankstown face another tough challenge in their bid for promotion when they take on the now-3rd-placed Mounties Wanderers FC at home.
Inner West Hawks FC 1 (Tomohiro Ishii 56’)
Bankstown United FC 3 (Jovan Blagojevic 59’; Mitchell Edmunds 67’; Jamie Dib 86’; Harry Stavris 90’ red card)
Central Coast United FC 6-0 Camden Tigers FC
Central Coast United FC recorded their biggest win of the season after they hit Camden Tigers FC for six in a big 6-0 win in a clinical display where 11 shots resulted in six goals.
The Pirates started the match very strongly and found the opening goal in the opening minute – a corner saw the ball fall to Jack Barr, who got good contact on a volley and sent the ball into the back of the net to give Central Coast United an early 1-0 lead.
The hosts doubled their lead five minutes later following good combination play from Michael Singh and Cayleb Murray, where the latter played the former in behind – Singh played an early ball across the face of goal and Cade Mapu was in the middle to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
Central Coast United had a 3-0 lead within 15 minutes when Mapu won the ball near halfway and released Jack Ragen in behind, who went around the goalkeeper and cut the ball back to Murray, who slotted the ball home from the edge of the box.
The Pirates took a 4-0 lead into half-time when Murray released Mapu in behind the Camden defence – Mapu squared the ball to Ragen, who tapped the ball home for Central Coast United’s fourth goal of the first half.
Mapu completed his double and scored the Pirates’ fifth goal in the 65th minute when the hosts won the ball in their own half – Singh played a ball to Mapu in on goal, who slotted the ball home one-on-one with Camden goalkeeper Joshua Glasson to make the scoreline read 5-0.
The scoring was rounded out by the hosts in the 89th minute when Mapu was played in behind by substitute Connor Gallen – he squared the ball to substitute Ben Flakus, who tapped the ball home from close range for his 9th goal of the season to wrap up the big 6-0 win for the Pirates.
It was the first time this season the Pirates had scored five goals in one match, let alone six, and saw them retain their spot in 6th on the ladder on 35 points, six points behind 5th-placed South Coast Flame FC and three points ahead of 7th-placed Granville Rage.
The loss for Camden, meanwhile, was their fourth in a row and saw them move to nine matches without a win as they dropped from 10th to 12th on the ladder.
Central Coast United will hope to continue their strong second half of the season when they host 10th-placed Parramatta FC next week, while Camden will hope to end their winless streak when they travel to face 8th-placed Hurstville FC.
Central Coast United FC 6 (Jack Barr 1’; Cade Mapu 6’, 65’; Cayleb Murray 15’; Jack Regan 37’; Ben Flakus 89’)
Camden Tigers FC 0
Sydney University SFC 1-2 Parramatta FC
A 90th-minute winner gave Parramatta FC the three points over a ten-man Sydney University SFC in a match full of twists and turns.
Both sides played a transitional style of football in a goalless first half, where both sides hit the woodwork.
In the second half, University struck first when a ball worked to the right saw Jay Hirschowitz cross the ball into the box, where Domenic Abruzzese was waiting unmarked and headed the ball home to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
The match fired up around the hour mark when Hirschowitz and Parramatta’s Maalik Aydin were involved in an off-the-ball incident, which saw the latter receive a yellow card.
After his booking in the first half, Hirschowitz received a second yellow card in the 59th minute for denying Parramatta a counter-attacking opportunity, which saw the students reduced to ten men for the rest of the match.
Parramatta equalised in the 72nd minute when a cross from the left saw Aydin get through two defenders before he crossed the ball to Marco Sama, who scored to level the match at 1-1.
University had a few chances to retake the lead on the counterattack through substitute Stephen Marinos, who was unable to get contact on the ball after it had been missed by a Parramatta defender – the students mustered 11 shots in the match.
Parramatta had 20 shots and snatched the win in the 90th minute against the ten-man students following a University turnover – Marco Sama slotted a strong shot into the top corner to give Parramatta a late 2-1 lead.
University threw bodies forward late in a final attempt from a corner, but Parramatta defended it well to see out the come-from-behind 2-1 win to complete the league double.
The loss for University saw them remain in last place on 11 points, one point behind 14th-placed Gladesville Ryde Magic, while the win for Parramatta saw them rise three spots to 10th on the ladder on 24 points, level on points with 9th-placed Fraser Park FC.
Sydney University SFC have a Round 20 catch-up match at home to the Magic in a crucial match, before they look to upset the league-leading Newcastle Jets in Round 25, while Parramatta will hope to rise further up the ladder when they travel to face 6th-placed Central Coast United FC.
Sydney University SFC 1 (Domenic Abruzzese 50’; Jay Hirschowitz 59’ red card)
Parramatta FC 2 (Marco Sama 72’, 90’)
Gladesville Ryde Magic 1-4 Fraser Park FC
Fraser Park continued their best run this season after a big 4-1 away win over Gladesville Ryde Magic, who lost a third-straight match after they also fell 1-0 at home to 3rd-placed Mounties Wanderers FC mid-week.
Despite a shaky start from Fraser Park, they opened the scoring in the 16th minute through their top scorer for the season, Francis Mcalpine, who scored with a nice finish for his 12th goal of the season to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Fraser Park doubled their lead just 30 seconds later when Mcalpine played a ball into the path of Christian Dos Santos, who slotted the ball into the top-right corner of the goal to double Fraser Park’s lead.
Gladesville played well on the counterattack and got in behind Fraser Park a few times, but Fraser Park goalkeeper Amaro Ferreira dealt with the one-on-one situations.
In the 23rd minute, however, Gladesville pulled a goal back when Genki Kohyama found the back of the net in the middle of the goal to make the scoreline read 2-1 in Fraser Park’s favour.
15 minutes later, Fraser Park made the score 3-1 when tall centre-half Paul Turrin got on the end of a cross and scored with a header to beat Magic goalkeeper Kiriakos Tohouroglou.
Fraser Park kept the ball well in the second half and rounded out the scoring in the 53rd minute when Stavros Palapanis scored his third goal in three weeks since joining the club to give Fraser Park a 4-1 win as they completed the league double over the Magic.
The loss for Gladesville was their third in a row and saw them remain in 14th on 12 points, one point ahead of last-placed Sydney University SFC, while the win for Fraser Park was their third in a row and a big one as it saw them rise three spots from 12th to 9th on the ladder on 24 points.
Gladesville travel to face Sydney University SFC in a Round 20 catch-up match, then will hope to win a special match next week when they host 13th-placed Hawkesbury City FC for the Stroke Recovery Cup in what is also Tohouroglou’s retirement match, while Fraser Park travel to face Hawkesbury in a Round 20 catch-up match before they host 5th-placed South Coast Flame FC in Round 25.
Gladesville Ryde Magic 1 (Genki Kohyama 23’)
Fraser Park FC 4 (Francis Mcalpine 16’; Christian Dos Santos 17’; Paul Turrin 38’; Stavros Palapanis 53’)
Hawkesbury City FC 1-3 Granville Rage
Granville Rage continued their strong second half to the season after they held off Hawkesbury City FC 3-1 away from home.
Adrian Neoklis scored in consecutive weeks to give the Rage the lead in the 28th minute as the Rage looked to build on their recent strong performances.
Neoklis completed his double just three minutes later as the Rage took a strong hold on the match in the first half with a 2-0 lead at the break.
Hawkesbury made three changes after half-time and pulled a goal back through James Thurtell in the 65th minute to give them hope of a late comeback.
The Rage freshened up their team late in the match and grabbed a match-sealer in the fourth minute of stoppage-time through Timothy Trainor to wrap up a 3-1 away win over the Hawks.
The loss for the Hawks saw them drop two spots to 13th on the ladder on 22 points, while the win for the Rage was their third from their past five matches and saw them stay in 7th on 32 points, five points ahead of 8th-placed Hurstville FC and three points behind 6th-placed Central Coast United FC.
Hawkesbury have a midweek Round 20 catch-up match at home to 9th-placed Fraser Park FC, before they will hope to grab a win which could see them rise multiple places up the ladder when they travel to face 14th-placed Gladesville Ryde Magic in Round 25, while Granville will hope to shake up the promotion playoff battle when they travel to face 4th-placed Inner West Hawks FC.
Hawkesbury City FC 1 (James Thurtell 65’)
Granville Rage 3 (Adrian Neoklis 28’, 31’; Timothy Trainor 90+4’)
South Coast Flame FC 0-5 Mounties Wanderers FC
Mounties Wanderers FC made a big statement in their fight for promotion this season after they dispatched of their fellow promotion-fighting rivals South Coast Flame FC 5-0 away from home.
Mounties made their intent known in the 3rd minute when Eijin Kishimoto found Yuki Kanai with a through ball, who finished off the move well on an angle inside the Flame box to give the Mounties an early 1-0 lead.
The Flame had their best chance of the first half in the 30th minute when Jyden Harb had a strong shot after he was found off a free kick, but his shot took a deflection and went wide.
Mounties, meanwhile, continued to attack and were rewarded in the 32nd minute when Fletcher Williamson intercepted a long ball on the left flank and combined with Anthony Windsor and Kanai, who sent a low cross into the box which was converted by Fikret Berisha, who doubled the visitors’ lead.
Kishimoto intercepted another Flame long ball in the 39th minute with a header which found Brima Kamara, who drove into the Flame box and beat two defenders before he finished off the move to give Mounties a 3-0 lead.
That lead could have been four before the break, but Kamara could not control his shot from inside the box.
The Flame had a chance to pull a goal back before the break, but Jay De Gouveia could not head his effort on target from a Matthew Mazevski cross.
South Coast had a header from Michael Trajkovski to start the second half, but he was unable to direct his effort on target from close range.
Mounties, meanwhile, continued their positive play in the second half and found a fourth goal in the 60th minute following good build-up play from Kamara and Rai Colette – the ball ended up with Williamson before he crossed a ball into the box for Kanai, who scored his 23rd goal of the season to give Mounties a 4-0 lead.
The visitors wrapped up the 5-0 win three minutes later when good build-up play between Mitchell Gibbs, Andre Schroeder, Poda Da and Kanai led to the latter sending a cross into the box for Berisha, who scored with a powerful header to wrap up the five-star performance.
The loss for South Coast saw them drop from 4th to 5th and fall six points behind 2nd-placed Bankstown United FC, also having played a match more than them, while the win for Mounties saw them rise two spots to 3rd on the ladder and stay two points behind 2nd-placed Bankstown United FC as they kept their cool in the big match.
The battle for potential promotion will take another turn next week when South Coast Flame travels to face 9th-placed Fraser Park FC, while Mounties will play another crucial clash near the top of the table when they travel to face 2nd-placed Bankstown United FC.
South Coast Flame FC 0
Mounties Wanderers FC 5 (Yuki Kanai 3’, 60’; Fikret Berisha 32’, 63’; Brima Kamara 39’)
Hurstville FC 3-1 Prospect United SC
Hurstville FC ended their three-match losing streak with a big 3-1 win over Prospect United SC, who went a fourth match without a win after the loss.
Hurstville saw out the Prospect attack in the first half, with the midfield trio of Jonathan Maras, Samuel Shainfeld and James Tsokos holding firm in midfield, with centre-halves Declan Sheldon and Stephan Perak holding Prospect out.
Hurstville wing-backs Alexander Morabito and Jacob Botic found space down the flanks and caused Prospect problems, and Hurstville took a 1-0 lead into half-time when Jacob Ritchie had a shot which took a deflection off Dimos Vlachos, with the own goal given against the Prospect player.
Prospect had a few attempts to score to start the second half but were unable to turn their possession into a goal.
Hurstville started the second half strongly and doubled their lead in the 62nd minute when Jonathan Maras beat a player and took a shot out from outside the box, which flew into the top corner to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
Prospect attacked well in the ten minutes that followed and had a few counterattacks, with Hurstville goalkeeper Michael Rutherford pulling off a big one-on-one save and Sheldon clearing a shot off the line after Rutherford had been chipped.
Hurstville made the score 3-0 in the 75th minute when a ball played from Botic to Jonathan Maras, who made a run from out wide, beat his man and cut the ball back to substitute Andre Guzman, who slotted the ball home from six yards out.
Prospect scored a consolation goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Reo Hirose capitalised on an error from a Hurstville defender and slotted the ball home in a one-on-one situation to make the score 3-1 to Hurstville.
The win for Hurstville saw them hold their spot in 8th on the ladder on 27 points, five points behind 7th-placed Granville Rage and three points ahead of three teams behind them, while the loss for Prospect saw them drop two places from 9th to 11th on 23 points, with many teams close on points around them.
Hurstville will look to build on the win when they host 12th-placed Camden Tigers FC in Round 25, while Prospect have a bye.
Hurstville FC 3 (Dimos Vlachos 45’ own goal; Jonathan Maras 62’; Andre Guzman 75’)
Prospect United SC 1 (Reo Hirose 90+5’)
The league-leading, unbeaten Newcastle Jets had a bye in Round 24 and lead the competition by nine points as they sit on 56 points.
By Football New South Wales League Two Men’s Reporter, Dylan Costa (@_dylancosta)
