An exciting weekend saw the lead change hands again, while the race for the top six will go down to the final day as four teams fight it out for the two remaining spots.
The relegation battle also remains undecided, another example of the competitive nature of the National Premier Leagues 2 NSW Men’s competition.
St George City FA 1 (Geoffry Lino 36’) v Macarthur Rams 0
A single first half goal was enough for St George City to grab three points in a competitive encounter at Seymour Shaw.
City were the better side in the first half, despite a lengthy stoppage due to a serious elbow injury for midfielder Hayden Morton – we wish him a speedy recovery. Mirko Jurilj’s side got their reward on 36 minutes when Reuben Awaritefe slipped a pass to Geoffry Lino, the speedy forward smashing the ball in off the post from an acute angle.
Macarthur had a good spell after the interval, and City goalkeeper Christopher Marques impressed with several stops, including an excellent double save. The Rams also hit the post, however their endeavour was not enough to grab a share of the points.
St George City have ended a six game winless streak, and they can confidently look forward to Thursday night’s encounter against Western Sydney Wanderers, while Macarthur have a tough test against Premiership-chasing Hills United to end the season.
Match of the Round: GHFA Spirit FC v Mounties Wanderers
Our featured game took us to Christie Park for a high stakes affair. Spirit FC hosted Mounties, both sides in the knowledge that a victory would secure a finals place with one round to spare.
Spirit prevailed after 90 hard-fought minutes, winning 2-1. Dominic Furness and Duncan Stewart struck for the home side before the interval, Michael Cklamovski finding the net for Mounties midway through the second half.
The Spirit FC junior players formed a guard of honour for the players as they entered the field, and this perhaps gave David Perkovic’s men an early edge. Stewart and Christopher Arditti linked to set up Andrew Robertson on two minutes, but Blake Tuxford made a solid save at his near post.
Following a shot from Mounties winger Michael Jeffrey which was blocked, Robertson was involved again in the tenth minute, collecting a pass from Jacob Harris and crossing for Stewart, however Jacob Poscoliero got in the way of the shot.
On 19 minutes, Spirit FC took the lead after some nice combination play. Dominic Furness beat a defender before playing a neat one-two with Futoshi Kondo, charging into the area and slotting the ball past Tuxford.
Furness was unable to hit the target from 20 yards in the 26th minute, but he had more success seven minutes later, turning provider for the second Spirit goal. The midfielder got on the end of an excellent long pass from Harris and dinked the ball towards Stewart, who sent a left footed strike into the net for his 18th goal of the season.
Stewart could have made it three less than 90 seconds later when he raced onto Arditti’s pass and was one on one, however Tuxford stuck out a hand to block the shot.
Mounties got back into the contest near the end of the first half, Anthony Windsor shooting over following some promising work from Matthew West, Jeffrey and Sean Rooney.
There were good opportunities at either end early in the second period. On 49 minutes, West cleverly chested Windsor’s cross towards Rooney, but his volley was off target. A couple of minutes later, Stewart played a fantastic pass to present Arditti with a one on one chance, Tuxford saving once again to keep his team in the match.
A Kondo corner kick on the hour saw Spirit go close again as Stewart tried to flick Sidhya Malhotra’s header into the net, Cklamovski clearing off the line.
Mounties substitutes Tai Smith and Mark Bridge then began to make an impact, and Smith headed wide from a Peter Triantis corner in the 66th minute. Three minutes later they pulled a goal back, Bridge getting on the end of Smith’s knockdown and forcing a save, Cklamovski scoring from the rebound.
Both defences tightened up as the game was in the balance. The sides were still willing to have a go from long range, but Kondo and Travis Cooper weren’t able to trouble the goal, and Bridge shot wide from outside the area.
Five minutes were left in normal time when Romic rushed out to the left wing to clear the ball into touch. Noah Chianese tried to catch him off his line with a quick throw in, however Windsor mishit his attempted lob and the chance was gone.
Mounties would throw the kitchen sink at the hosts late on, and Brian Brown’s side had one last chance in the fourth minute of injury time. Triantis whipped a free kick into the middle, but despite a penalty area scramble Spirit were able to hang on to secure the win.
This result means Spirit FC head to the finals for the first time since 2015. They finish the home-and-away season with a trip to Northbridge Oval to face North Shore Mariners, while Mounties can secure their postseason place by defeating Western Sydney Wanderers on Sunday.
Match Stats
GHFA Spirit FC 2 (Dominic Furness 19’, Duncan Stewart 33’) vs Mounties Wanderers 1 (Michael Cklamovski 69’)
Saturday 17 August 2019
at Christie Park No. 1
GHFA Spirit FC: 1. Tomislav ROMIC, 3. Jacob HARRIS (2. Dylan WHITLOCK 45+1’), 4. Futoshi KONDO, 5. Andrew ROBERTSON (c), 6. Emilio MANOS (11. Travis COOPER 74’), 7. Dominic FURNESS, 9. Duncan STEWART, 18. Sidhya MALHOTRA, 20. Jason PEREZ, 21. Lewis BEUMIE, 23. Christopher ARDITTI (24. Anthony VASTAG 90+1’
Unused substitutes: 12. Jacob FORSTER, 19. Dominic JOHNS
Yellow Cards: 7. Dominic FURNESS 62’
Mounties Wanderers: 1. Blake TUXFORD, 3. Benjamin SPRUCE, 4. Jacob POSCOLIERO (c), 7. Matthew WEST (9. Tai SMITH 58’), 15. Anthony WINDSOR, 16. Michael JEFFREY (14. Noah CHIANESE 64’), 18. Michael CKLAMOVSKI, 26. Peter TRIANTIS, 29. Jake INGLE, 33. Sean ROONEY (19. Mark BRIDGE 58’), 37. Zack DOUGLAS
Unused substitutes: 21. Jack GROENEVELD, 10. Joshua VIERA
Western Sydney Wanderers 0 vs Northern Tigers 3 (Alexander Brown 41’, Lachlan Lloyd 45+1’, Rory Spiers 77’)
Round 25 began on Wednesday night at Valentine Sports Park as Northern Tigers moved into the top six.
The game’s first clear opportunity came on the quarter hour when Tigers forward Ollie Wiggin stole possession off a defender, Nicholas Suman getting his angles right on this occasion. There was another one on one at the other end midway through the first half, but Marley Peterson didn’t get enough height on his attempted lob to trouble Tonu Liiband.
Just after the half hour, the Wanderers went close twice in quick succession. Daniel Wilmering got on the end of Jacob Vasiliou’s cross and struck the woodwork, and a minute later Rory Jordan beat two defenders, only for Liiband to make the save.
The Tigers would then take control, scoring twice as halftime approached. First, Rory Spiers picked out Alexander Brown, who sent a low shot between a defender’s legs for the opener. Brown also played a part in the second goal – his free kick from the right side came back off the post, Lachlan Lloyd tucking the loose ball away with a neat volley.
In the second half, the Wanderers pushed to get back into the contest. Halftime substitute Nicolas Milanovic went close on 63 minutes following good work from Ali Auglah, and six minutes later Vasiliou almost pulled a goal back when Liiband fumbled his shot, but the Tigers goalkeeper was able to stop the ball from crossing the line.
Spiers had a chance to make it three in the 73rd minute after cutting inside from the left flank, Suman making an excellent low save to deny him. However, the burly forward would not be denied thirteen minutes from time when a Tigers corner led to a scramble, Spiers eventually getting the final touch to a shot from the edge of the area.
Northern Tigers face Central Coast Mariners in their final home fixture of the year, and a win will see them progress to the postseason. Meanwhile, the Wanderers return to Valentine Sports Park on Thursday evening to play St George City FA, before finishing the season against Mounties.
St George FC 3 (Hussein Akil 47’ 89’, Marcus Beattie 73’) v Hills United 2 (Daniel Fogarty 76’, Jordan Parfait 87’)
There was high drama at Ilinden Sports Centre on Saturday night, St George FC snatching a late victory over Hills United.
Following a scoreless first half, the hosts struck first just after the break. A precise pass in behind the defence found Saints captain Hussein Akil, who managed to poke the ball past the goalkeeper. St George FC looked to be in control on 73 minutes when in-form winger Marcus Beattie did what he does best, outrunning the Hills backline and slotting the ball home to make it 2-0 – his sixth goal in his last seven games.
However, it’s been nearly impossible to keep a clean sheet against Patrick Zwaanswijk’s side in 2019, and they responded almost immediately, Daniel Fogarty heading in from a corner for his 17th goal of the season. United also have a winger in good scoring form, and three minutes from time they looked to have secured a share of the points when Jordan Parfait equalised with his fifth goal in four weeks.
Just as the contest was heading towards a stalemate, there was one final twist. As Hills pressed for a winning goal, the Saints countered, Akil beating a defender and then tucking the ball past the goalkeeper to seal a heartstopping win.
Canterbury Bankstown FC 5 (Zac Elrich x 3, Jake Bradshaw, Daniel Dias) v Bonnyrigg White Eagles 3 (Jack Fulton, Asmir Kadric, Aaron Peterson)
Canterbury Bankstown FC caused a shock at The Crest Athletic Centre, defeating Bonnyrigg White Eagles in an eight goal thriller.
It was business as usual when Bonnyrigg opened the scoring just before the quarter hour, however the home side turned the contest on its head, scoring twice in seven minutes to lead 2-1 at halftime.
Another goal early in the second half looked to have put Canterbury in control, but this one was far from over. Bonnyrigg pulled a goal back on 52 minutes to make it 3-2, then a strike on the hour for the hosts restored their two goal cushion. The White Eagles came up with another quick response soon afterwards, however that was as good as it got for them, a Canterbury goal nine minutes from time securing an incredible victory.
Canterbury forward Zac Elrich was a constant menace on the night, netting a hat trick to take his tally to 11 goals in 13 matches, while Jake Bradshaw and Daniel Dias also got their names on the scoresheet. They will be glad their final fixture at The Crest in 2019 saw their attack firing on all cylinders, and they haven’t scored five times in a game since their epic 5-5 draw against Mounties in Round 1.
For Bonnyrigg, the loss snaps a ten match unbeaten run, but there are positives. Jack Fulton and Aaron Peterson have scored in each of the last two weeks, and Asmir Kadric is in top form – he’s now hit the back of the net in seven consecutive rounds.
Central Coast Mariners 1 (Alec Vinci 63’) v Blacktown Spartans 0
Central Coast Mariners ensured they have something to play for next weekend after a narrow victory at Pluim Park stretched their unbeaten run to five games.
In an evenly matched contest, Spartans winger Lachlan Rose was unlucky not to open the scoring, striking the underside of the bar from Shun Tokuno’s cross. Mason Ireland also went close for Paul Hubbard’s side, while at the other end Jordan Smylie and Michael Katsoulis were looking lively in attack for Central Coast.
On another day the teams might have cancelled each other out, but this time it was Mariners captain Alec Vinci who made the difference, scoring with a fantastic individual effort in the 63rd minute. The youngsters in Yellow & Navy were able to hang on for their third consecutive victory, and they could still make the finals if they extend that streak on Sunday against Northern Tigers. Like the Mariners, Blacktown Spartans are in must-win territory now – they need to defeat St George FC to sneak into the top six.
North Shore Mariners 3 (Nathan Separovic 64’, Daniel Saric 71’, Mitchell Smith 89’) v Rydalmere Lions 1 (Christian Long 10’)
North Shore Mariners will take a two point lead into the final round after defeating Rydalmere Lions at Northbridge Oval.
However, it was the Lions who drew first blood. Christian Long had been inserted into the starting lineup following last week’s heroics and he repaid Chris Camilleri’s faith with a goal inside ten minutes, controlling Sam Perre’s excellent cross and slamming the ball into the goal. Some excellent play on the left flank by Garang Awac gave Long the chance to score a second goal midway through the first half, but he couldn’t hit the target.
A 40th minute red card for Rydalmere midfielder Abuzar Awaz threatened to spoil their chances of victory. The Lions kept pushing though, and on the stroke of halftime Mitchell Gibbs played a clever one-two before shooting wide from outside the area.
Despite being a player short, Rydalmere were coping well. Raimond Coletta threw himself at a Mitchell Smith effort to stop it from crossing the line, and two minutes later Harrick Sinpraseuth did brilliantly to save Smith’s header.
Just past the hour mark, things swung firmly in the direction of the hosts when Long received his second yellow card, reducing Rydalmere to nine players. North Shore took advantage straight away, Nathan Separovic collecting a pass from Daniel Saric and finding the net for the equaliser.
With a little under twenty minutes remaining, the same two players combined to put the Mariners in front. This time Separovic was the creator, crossing from the left for Saric to head home. The game still wasn’t over though, and Lions substitute Kuot Maliet was inches away from making it 2-2 on 84 minutes, his dipping 25 yard effort hitting the crossbar.
The contest was finally settled in the 89th minute as Smith scored from close range for his 18th goal of the season, and Joe Haywood’s side know they can clinch the Premiership next Sunday if they defeat Spirit FC. Meanwhile, Rydalmere need to overcome a four point deficit to St George FC in the Club Championship – they finish the season against Canterbury Bankstown FC.
By Eric Subijano
Twitter – @eric_subijano
