State League Two Round 4 Review
In round four Bathurst thrashed highflyers Gazy Lansvale 6-0, Prospect overpowered Hurstville 4-1, Roosters overturned Luddenham 3-2, Wanderers rebounded with a solid 2-1 win over Hakoah, Chopin Park dismantled Belmore 3-0, Northbridge held leader Hawkesbury 2-2, and a 10-man Nepean held on for a 2-2 draw with Springwood.
Forget the competition table, five points separates the top twelve teams (two points between the top seven), 2011 is already shaping up to be a season for the ages. But while Prospect (second In both first and reserve grade) has shaped up to be a real contender early on, beware the wounded Minotaur. The General?s men, usually so forthright in their approach to football, are stone cold last on the ladder and were evicted from Waratah Cup action at the midweek preliminary round – this could be the trigger for something unstoppable. What twist will turn next in this amazing competition?
Nepean, Springwood stalemate
A four goal explosion in 20 second-half minutes saw Springwood United and Nepean FC pick up their third draw of the season each in a 2-2 tie at Cook Park, St Marys, on Saturday afternoon. With both sides knocked out of the Waratah Cup in Wednesday night?s preliminary round ? Nepean losing 2-0 to Pacific Hills and Glenmore Park defeating Springwood by the same margin ? there was plenty to make up for in what has turned into a pretty good derby in Sydney?s west and the game was evenly poised after a scoreless first half.
A United substitution brought on some fresh legs and created more chances for the visitors, Tim O?Connell finally breaking through on the hour-mark when he dribbled across the top of the box, found space to have a shot and put it in for the game?s opening goal. The lead was shortlived, however, as Nepean equalised 10 minutes later via an attack down the left hand side of the park that ended up on the foot of Daniel Brooker, who made no mistake with a well-placed strike to the far post.
Springwood were back in front a minute later when O?Connell waltzed upfield from the kick-off and crossed it in for Peter Henderson to nod into goal for a 2-1 scoreline, but Nepean weren?t done with yet. With time ticking into the last 10 minutes of the match a shot on goal was deflected by the United defence and Kurt Vagueraro managed to tuck the ball into goal from the ensuing scramble to level scores up again. Not even the sending off of pivotal Nepean midfielder Emmanuel Azzopardi nearing fulltime ? his second dismissal this season ? could stop the derby from ending in an entertaining stalemate.
Springwood coach Errol Warwick-Day was hoping their midweek Waratah Cup loss would give his side more resolve against Nepean. ?We played like absolute bums [against Glenmore Park], an embarrassment for us really, and we did address Wednesday night?s game throughout the week and felt driven against Nepean,? he said. ?We did play better but it was like a local derby between two teams who both wanted it badly. It was an even arm wrestle in the first half, a balanced tussle and nothing separated either side. It was a shame to give away the lead twice as all we have to show for the first four rounds is three draws. We?ve had opportunities late in the games and just haven?t done it.?
Nepean coach Carlos Camacho is enjoying watching his side develop. ?[Springwood] are a very experienced team and our boys are learning a lot from playing teams like this? and it was a very good game of football to watch. It was a bit like a local derby, played in a tough manner and all the boys wanted to prove a point, but that?s okay,? he said. ?Both teams dominated at certain parts of the game. I think we may have had more possession over the whole game but they were a more clinical with their possession. We hit the post 3-4 times and were pretty much chasing the game being behind twice, so I was pleased to grab a point.?
In regards to Azzopardi?s second early retirement Camacho remained philosophical. ?He is just being a bit too exuberant unfortunately, and he knows he?s let the team down. I?m thinking of giving him a run in reserve grade to come back [into firsts] with his head better placed as we do need him on the field for the whole match. The other players picked it up and it can be a fine line between balancing commitment with control, but they are young and will make these mistakes.?
?We had a good talk after the game and we are very close to having most guys available for first grade,? he said. ?At the moment, I?m very happy with the style of play, it?s fluent, we created quite a few chances, held possession and played good attacking football. It?s about doing the stuff we train for ? moving the ball and creating opportunities through that movement ? and winning some of these types of games will be good for their development as it will show that what we?re trying to do does work.?
Nepean FC 2 (Daniel Brooker 70m Kurt Vagueraro 82m) Springwood 2 (Tim O?Connell 59m Peter Henderson 71m)
Reserve grade: Nepean FC 1 Springwood 4
Northbridge level with Hawkesbury
A determined Northbridge FC came from two goals down with 20 minutes to play to draw 2-2 with league leaders Hawkesbury City at Valentine Sports Park on Saturday night. The result keeps Northbridge winless while Hawkesbury remains unbeaten but just goes to show just how tight this year?s division two competition is. City had a little more of the running in the first half and took the lead five minutes before halftime when defender Rhys Alchin stuck out a foot behind the defence to sneak in a cheeky goal, the fullback?s second in successive weeks, and wily winger John McCrae doubled the advantage for the visitors on the hour-mark when he raced onto a neat through-ball, outpaced the Northbridge defence and whipped it around the keeper for a 2-0 scoreline.
But Northbridge have built up a bit of a reputation for not giving in and got their breakthrough moments later somewhat against the run of play, Bradley Clark getting his toe onto a bullet freekick across the box to find the back of the net to halve the deficit. A late challenge from Chris Hillege a minute later earned him a second yellow card and his absence almost proved costly for the Northbridge revival. However, with an injured McCrae leaving Hawkesbury with 10 men on the field themselves for the final few minutes, Northbridge did find an equaliser, in injury time, when Ry Hardy capitalised on a mix-up between the City keeper and defender to head into goal and lock the scores up at 2-2.
Coach Joe Haywood, who guided his team to a solid 1-0 win over Mosman in their opening Waratah Cup game midweek, was pleased with how his team was progressing in its debut season ? he just wants more than draws to show for the great fighting spirit displayed by his squad. ?We?ve instilled in the team that, no matter what, we keep playing football because we believe we?re good enough, and we seem to be able to fight our way back into games,? he said.
?It?s individual moments that are costing us at the moment and, to be honest, we?ve had a different team in each game; we need to get some consistency with the players on the field so everyone knows their responsibilities. The game against Mosman was a good battle and we tried to build on that result and get some confidence [for the league]. [The wins] will come eventually.?
Hawkesbury coach Gary Lewis ? who also had a first-up Waratah Cup victory following their 3-0 undoing of Glebe Wanderers midweek ? was annoyed his side blew a 2-0 lead against a reduced Northbridge side but paid tribute to their outstanding fightback, led by a solid game from midfielder Atsushi Yamada. ?We were all over them in the second half but they just kept coming back,? he said. ?I?m just disappointed we gave away two late goals. We created enough chances but took our foot off the pedal. Normally I?d be happy to get a point away from home, but I feel like we dropped two points.?
?The boys played extremely well and I?m pleased with the way they played ? they have got have that belief that we can compete, but four games in and we still haven?t had the same lineup, so we are continually having a new squad each week and still picking up points. It?s good to have the depth but we still have to learn to play together. The back four we?re tremendous and for 89 minutes they were fairly solid. A lot of boys played 20s last year so it?s a pretty young side and just need a bit more experience, and that?ll come with time. Northbridge will also be a good team by the end of the season, once they start to click.?
Northbridge FC 2 (Bradley Clark 72m Ry Hardy 90m) Hawkesbury City 2 (Rhys Alchin 39m John McCrae 65m)
Reserve grade: Northbridge FC 1 Hawkesbury City 1
Bathurst smash Gazy
Bathurst ?75 hammered a highflying Gazy Lansvale 6-0 under lights at Alec Lamberton Field on Saturday night (7pm) to underline the unpredictability of this year?s division two competition. Gazy had thumped Dee Why 4-0 in their midweek Waratah Cup knockout match and were riding a winning wave after beating Belmore comfortably in the league last week, but they ran headfirst into a brick wall out west when Mark Rooke?s men tore them apart with three goals in each half.
Gazy can only blame themselves for the way they started the match, their cautious defence opening the field up for Bathurst and it only took two minutes for Nick Riggs to finish off a good probe and hand the home side a 1-0 lead. This became 2-0 on the quarter-hour when John Holden smashed in another ball into box and Bathurst?s third was something to behold. Goalkeeper Chris Moase collected a Gazy corner, knocked it long to Riggs on the sideline, and he crossed it in for fullback Luke Sullivan, who had made a box-to-box run to get his head onto a terrific piece of counterattacking. On the other side of the fence, things went from bad to worse for Lansvale when Ado Smajovic was sent off following his second booking, leaving his side a man short and trailing by three goals.
Rooke asked his players to go on with it in the second half, and they certainly did just that. First Riggs was brought down inside the box and Jarrod Portegies converted the spot kick a few minutes after the restart, and some good lead up play saw Portegies blast into the bottom corner to make it 5-0 by the 50-minute mark. The rout didn?t end there as young substitution Jacob Harris came on for Riggs, took on a couple of defenders and hit a rocket from 25 yards out to finish the scoring 15 minutes from fulltime. Bathurst captain Ricky Guihot was marched from the field in the dying moments after receiving his second yellow card, but nothing could take anything away from his team?s resounding victory.
Rooke wasn?t overly surprised by his team?s emphatic win, but was a little taken aback by Gazy?s sluggish start. ?Look, it doesn?t surprise me that we created a lot of chances, but this time we?ve taken a few of them,? he said. ?We got a couple of early goals and that led to a bit of confidence and the boys just really took it from there. It?s all about producing a 90-minute performance and that?s what we got. To be honest, I thought they?d come out strong but they sort of played a retreating defence and that allowed us to dominate the game. I think this just shows that the competition is evenly balanced and that a lot of the results will all come down to turning up to each game with the right attitude.?
Lansvale manager Safet Alispahic hoped the game was a one-off, particularly with Wednesday night?s make-up match against Hurstville ahead of them. ?It was a bad day, we just fell asleep. The boys were confident [going into the game] but Bathurst performed very good and we just watched them,? he said. ?Maybe the score is too high for the difference between the sides, but full credit to them and congratulations. I hope this is just one bad day that can happen to anyone? maybe this is good it happened at the start of the season, and it?s a good indicator the competition is very even and hopefully this will keep happening through the whole season.?
?We still have strong belief in what we can do, and it?s just one more game to bring us closer together as a team. We realise there will be nothing easy and we have to work hard for every point. Bathurst played excellent, they were hungrier, very good on the counter attack, they deserved to win, and our boys got a good lesson. We still have plenty of positive energy in our squad, but we must realise that this does not come from the sky to just happen on the field? but I believe our good morale will get us back on track.?
Bathurst ?75 6 (Nick Riggs 2m John Holden 15m Luke Sullivan 35m Jarrod Portegies 48/50m J Harris 76m) Gazy Lansvale 0
Reserve grade: Bathurst ?75 2 Gazy Lansvale 0
Prospect smash Hurstville
Prospect United have blown their cover following yet another convincing 4-1 win over a surprisingly out-of-sorts Hurstville City Minotaurs at Punchbowl Oval on Sunday afternoon. But while Prospect can no longer fly under the radar, last year?s grand finalists Hurstville are in danger over dropping completely off it after taking bottom spot on the ladder with a solitary point next to their name. They were also bundled out of the Waratah Cup with a surprise 3-2 loss to Bankstown Association side Bass Hill midweek.
United got off to a great start against the Minotaurs when Justin McLeay put one in the onion bag after just four minutes, but the applause had barely died down when, straight from the kick-off, Hurstville returned fire and put the Prospect defence under immense pressure for the rest of the half. Their 11th-minute equaliser through Terry Sidiratos was fair reward for the football the Minotaurs were producing.
The 1-1 halftime scoreline in a high-end tussle may have set things up beautifully at the break when another twist in the tale appeared after United midfielder Gus Orcajo was brought down in the penalty box 10 minutes after the restart, dusted himself off and tucked away the spot kick to restore Prospect?s lead and ascendancy.
Good build-up led to their third goal when Orcajo was again the beneficiary of a fast break upfield and finished off the 70th-minute chance in fine style before McLeay took advantage of some tired Hurstville legs to catch the Minotaurs on the counter attack moments later to tuck away the home side?s fourth and final score. The victory also helped atone for United?s shock 3-2 loss to Canterbury Association based side Enfield Rovers in the Waratah Cup knockout midweek.
It was also Prospect?s first win over big guns Hurstville in three years, United are clearly in form with eight goals in two games, they?re unbeaten second on the ladder with a game in hand (in both first and reserve grade), but coach Tony Caruso has done his maths and was keeping everything in check. ?The atmosphere we?re trying to create so far is going good, but we still have more than 35 hours left of football left in the competition so we?re not going to get carried away with anything,? he said. ?The competition is very close, the same as last year, and it?s got to a stage where everyone has to be on their game until round 26.?
Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 (Terry Sidiratos 11m) Prospect United 4 (Justin McLeay 4/77m Gus Orcajo 60/71m)
Reserve grade: Hurstville City Minotaurs 0 Prospect United 4
Roosters claw past Luddenham
Roosters FC rubbed in a lack-lustre performance from Luddenham United to win 3-2 at Luddenham Oval on a balmy Sunday afternoon and grab back-to-back wins. After a 2-0 loss to Hakoah midweek in the Waratah Cup knockout, Roosters came out strongly against Luddenham but the home side opened their account first, Michael Wood popping up close to goal to head the ball in at the quarter-hour mark. The lead was only short as Roosters captain-coach Musti Akca got onto the end of a cross at the far post to send a speculator through a sea of legs to net his second goal in as many weeks to level the scores.
A penalty to United?s Huso Merdanovic and a terrific strike from Roosters Adem Taslak brought the scores to 2-2 and Luddenham thought they had hit the lead when Merdanovic?s freekick from 30m copped a deflection and the Roosters keeper parried it towards goal ? United claimed the ball hit the inside of the net but the referee called play on. Moments later and Luddenham fullback Ivan Bazina cleaned up Roosters substitute Bilal Elveren inside the box area to concede a penalty, Elveren picking himself up to bury it himself and claim a shaky 3-2 win.
Akca was delighted with the result. ?It?s another good one to get under the belt,? he said. ?It wasn?t the best of matches to watch on a bumpy pitch, but I think the quick play suited us a bit more and we capitalised on our chances. It was just unfortunate that we didn?t kill the game off completely. We started the season pretty slowly but the last two weeks have been pretty good. [In regards to the midweek knockout loss] Our main focus is on the [division two] season and we gave everyone else a go in the Waratah Cup for them to prove themselves. We weren?t worried about result, we tested players in a few different positions and learnt a fair bit from it.?
Luddenham coach Andrew Montgomery wasn?t about to let a wobbly performance get the better of his side. ?We got beat 3-2, it was a pretty poor match from both sides really. We missed headers from inside the six-yard box and maybe should have scored seven goals in the first half-hour ? it could have been a cricket score. But even if we had scored them all we still didn?t deserve to win. It was horrible to watch at times. The good thing is there?s still 22 rounds to go.?
Luddenham United 2 (Michael Wood, Huso Merdanovic) Roosters FC 3 (Mustafa Akca, Adem Taslak, Bilal Elveren)
Reserve grade: Luddenham United 5 Roosters FC 1
Fairfield defeat mighty Hakoah
The real Fairfield Wanderers came to play against a star-studded Hakoah side, coming from a goal behind to win 2-1 at Knight Park on Sunday afternoon (3pm). After their self-confessed woeful 4-1 loss at home to Luddenham last week the Wanderers were in no mood to disappoint their Knight Park faithful a second time and they dominated the game?s early running before Hakoah grabbed an unlikely lead when Moshe Wakil pounced on a defensive lapse to score the game?s first goal on 12-minutes.
Hakoah, buoyed by their midweek Waratah Cup preliminary round triumph over Roosters (which they won 2-0 with goals to Neil Jablonski and Rani Rimmer in each half), started to find a bit of rhythm and were unlucky not to go further ahead until Wanderers attacking midfielder Mauricio Sanchez blasted a freekick right through the Hakoah keeper for the anticipated equaliser on the half-hour mark.
The momentum had clearly shifted and Fairfield?s second goal a minute later was a brilliant piece of teamwork as Elias Navarette fronted a couple of defenders and laid it off for Diego Dominguez to score what would eventually prove to be the match-winner. As expected Hakoah came out with all guns blazing in the second half and pressed the Wanderers defence, but they held firm to see out fulltime with the 2-1 scoreline unchanged. It was Fairfield?s fourth straight victory over Hakoah.
After last week?s shocker against Luddenham, Wanderers mastermind was feeling a bit better this week. ?It was a totally different game altogether. We tried a different formation and I think that worked for us. After they scored we started to lift and play our football,? he said. ?They really came at us in the second half and I?m very proud of the whole team, they played out of their skins against a very good soccer team. The boys worked their heart out today.?
?I believe this competition is very much the same as last year in that we won?t know who can win on the day. It?s there to see that if you?re not on your game you get pinned, and that any mistake will get punished. Of course this win was very important to get the confidence back. The whole team was about concentration and performance.?
Fairfield Wanderers 2 (Mauricio Sanchez 28m Diego Dominguez 29m) Hakoah 1 (Moshe Wakil 12m)
Reserve grade: Fairfield Wanderers 4 Hakoah 1
Chopin Park beat Belmore
Chopin Park Rams became the first division two newcomer to chalk up a victory this year when they dominated Belmore Hercules 3-0 at Chopin Park on Sunday afternoon. Frustrated at blowing game-winning opportunities and ending with three successive draws to start the year, there looked no way the Rams would let coach Radek Czerwinski down a fourth time, racing to a 1-0 lead in the 24th-minute when Matt Pritchard thread the ball through to Wilbert Lawrence who pushed a rebounded effort into goal.
Belmore had a few chances of their own but let the game slip just after the hour-mark when Rams midfielder Liam Lawler went on the counter attack, took on two defenders, played it to the edge of the box for Ben Lam to slam away the game?s second goal. And the victory was sealed when moments later Marco Vrljic took the ball in central midfield, shifted it left to Lam who looked up at the Hercules keeper, opened his body and laser-guided his strike into the far post netting.
Chopin Park coach Radek Czerwinski appreciated his team?s performance, particularly as they proved they can win matches following their 2-1 victory over Lansvale United in their midweek Waratah Cup match in which Goran Sivric and Ben Lam scored goals. ?Finally the boys fired up! The previous three games we dominated and created chances and didn?t finish off; today we were actually able to find the target,? he said. ?Belmore is a competitive team? but we stayed compacted and shut them down.?
?There was no special pressure or tactics, the boys knew that they were unlucky not to come up with the winners in the first three games, so for them to get a reward with three points winning today underlined the fact that they are to be reckoned in this league. What we have got is a unit that works for each other? and the fact the firsts and reserves work as one squad will benefit us at the end of the season.?
Chopin Park Rams 3 (Wilbert Lawrence 24m Ben Lam 61/67m) Belmore Hercules 0
Reserve grade: Chopin Park Rams 2 Belmore Hercules 2
Round 4 scores
Nepean FC 2 (Daniel Brooker 70m Kurt Vagueraro 82m) Springwood 2 (Tim O?Connell 59m Peter Henderson 71m)
Bathurst ?75 6 (Nick Riggs 2m John Holden 15m Luke Sullivan 35m Jarrod Portegies 48/50m J Harris 76m) Gazy Lansvale 0
Northbridge FC 2 (Bradley Clark 72m Ry Hardy 90m) Hawkesbury City 2 (Rhys Alchin 39m John McCrea 65m)
Chopin Park Rams 3 (Wilbert Lawrence 24m Ben Lam 61/67m) Belmore Hercules 0
Fairfield Wanderers 2 (Mauricio Sanchez 28m Diego Dominguez 29m) Hakoah 1 (Moshe Wakil 12m)
Luddenham United 2 (Michael Wood, Huso Merdanovic) Roosters FC 3 (Mustafa Akca, Adem Taslak, Bilal Elveren)
Hurstville City Minotaurs 1 (Terry Sidiratos 11m) Prospect United 4 (Justin McLeay 4/77m Gus Orcajo 60/71m)
Reserve grade:
Nepean FC 1 Springwood 4
Bathurst ?75 2 Gazy Lansvale 0
Northbridge FC 1 Hawkesbury City 1
Chopin Park Rams 2 Belmore Hercules 2
Fairfield Wanderers 4 Hakoah 1
Luddenham United 5 Roosters FC 1
Hurstville City Minotaurs 0 Prospect United 4
Next week?s games
Round five of NSW division two sees Nepean take on Hakoah at Cook Park, St Marys, on Saturday afternoon (3pm), with Hawkesbury facing Luddenham at Benson Lane Field on Saturday evening (5pm). Two games feature on Saturday night with Springwood and Hurstville battling it out at Summerhayes Park while Chopin Park meet Bathurst under lights at Alec Lamberton Field (both games at 7pm).
On Sunday afternoon, Prospect play Belmore at William Lawson Reserve (3pm kick-off), and Gazy Lansvale take on Northbridge at Northbridge Oval (3pm), while Roosters meet Fairfield Wanderers in the evening at Hill Sports High (5pm kick-off).
In the Waratah Cup, Northbridge, Gazy Lansvale, Chopin Park, Hawkesbury and Hakoah won their preliminary round matches during the week (with Luddenham and Wanderers still to play their abandoned fixtures), while Belmore and Bathurst had a bye. Springwood, Roosters, Nepean, Prospect and Hurstville lost and will now be able to focus on their league commitments. Round one Cup matches start on April 6.
-By Daniel De Nardi
