According to a BWE fan their crowd was 500 at best

Yeah firstly according to NSWPL website it has Sydney Olympic down as 700.

http://www.nswpl.com.au/index.php?id=554&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=3636&tx_ttnews[backPid]=537&cHash=ee640a1ec9

Secondly, also according to the NSWPL website it has the Manly crowd as 1000.

http://www.nswpl.com.au/index.php?id=554&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=3632&tx_ttnews[backPid]=537&cHash=a53b8f0210

And finally, crowd was only 600 at Sydney United.

http://www.nswpl.com.au/index.php?id=554&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=3638&tx_ttnews[backPid]=537&cHash=a1e248ea77

Someone ip ban this clown.

over 1000 people after a run of 4 losses and the next three home games wait for the big crowds back again

I like the way the official attendance was 1169, the Roar article he's quoting says 1169, the stadium announcement was 1169, yet he refers to approximately 1500. Way to inflate the gate by 25%.

Who to believe:

Agenda driven joke of a website and a banned idiot who is a known liar or the Official NSWPL website.

officially it was 1169 as said in the roar match report, that was what was announced on the P.A system

Don't change the crowd. It was 700.

Sydney United silence the Tigers
18.04.10 21:04


Sydney United celebrated their 2-0 victory over the A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers on Sunday
Sydney United cruised to a 2-0 victory on Sunday, outclassing a 10-man A.P.I.A-Leichhardt Tigers outfit in all facets of the game at Sydney United Sports Centre.
Sydney United cruised to a 2-0 victory on Sunday, outclassing a 10-man A.P.I.A-Leichhardt Tigers outfit in all facets of the game at Sydney United Sports Centre.

The win leaves the Reds in second position - one point behind Blacktown City FC - while the Tigers remain languishing at the bottom of the NSW Premier League ladder with one win from eight matches.

Sydney United were presented with the first opportunity of the afternoon when a free-kick was awarded on the edge of the penalty-area. Ivo Bosnar’s effort didn’t find the back of the net from his boot, but Elsid Barkhousir was first to react to the goalmouth scramble but was unable to convert his chance into a goal.

Sydney United were enjoying the bulk of possession in the opening 10’ minutes and it wasn’t long before it showed on the scoreboard.

The opening goal went to the Reds, but it was the boot of A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt’s John Kelso – who was trying to defend a cross - which deceived goalkeeper Matthew Nash and trickled over the line for an own goal.

The Reds should have been up 2-0 moments later but were denied by the arm of Stephen Kayes who was given a straight red card for his infringement on the line.

The Edensor Park faithful were already celebrating their second goal of the afternoon, but Barkhousir stepped up to the penalty-spot and pushed his shot wide of the left post.

Ante Tomic was creating havoc down the left-flank for most of the first-half and looked to have supplied an unmarked Barkhousir with his side’s second of the afternoon, but the striker failed to capitalise on Tomic’s effort.

Tomic then took it upon himself to find the back of the net, drilling a 20-metre free-kick into the direction of goal, but a diving Matthew Nash thwarted Tomic’s brilliant effort with a save at the top right-hand corner of goal.

But Nash’s deflection allowed Barkhousir to whip a cross into the direction of Mirijan Pavlovic, who made no mistake heading home goal number two at the far post for the home-side.

Barkhousir wasn’t enjoying the best of days in-front of the sticks, missing yet another opportunity when Todd Brodie found him charging into the penalty-area, sending his shot over the woodwork.

The second-half began the same way the first ended – with United on the attack.

Barkhousir was unable to shrug off his first-half jitters and again failed to execute another one-on-one opportunity, sending his shot wide of the left post.

A runaway Pavlovic looked destined to make it 3-0, but a brilliant chase from John Kelso brought a halt to the striker’s goal aspirations.

Luka Glavas came on the field after a couple of weeks on the sideline through suspension, immediately adding some spark to United’s game.

Tigers’ shot-stopper Matthew Nash did well to restrict United to just two goals, saving his side on numerous occasions throughout the match with some impressive work with the gloves.

A dour second-half failed to produce any goals, but the Tigers can take heart out of the performance that gradually improved as the match wore on.

United player/manager David Zdrilic said he was pleased with his side’s dominance but was disappointed with the execution:

“We dominated and got into the position we wanted but we dropped down to their level,” he said.

“We had a few chances we should have easily converted and that would have made it a lot easier night.”

“If they had got one goal we would have been in a dangerous position.”

Zdrilic also said his side didn’t react well to the red card to Kayes:

“To give them credit, they were buzzing around with 10 men,” he said.

“It happens a lot in football - the team with 10 men lift and the other team get complacent, which happened today.

“We started forcing passes instead of playing quicker and attacking space and when they got the ball they broke very quickly and made it tough for us until the end.”

Tigers Club President Tony Raciti said he was proud of the team’s effort:

“There were no standouts,” he said.

“All 11 were very good and I am pleased with the way they played.”

Match Stats

Sydney United 2: (John Kelso o.g 11’), Mirijan Pavlovic 27’

A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers 0

Saturday, 17th April, 2010

Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park

Referee: Sandro Perticarini

Assistant Referees: Steve Lucas and Paul Faithful

Fourth Official: Chris Wells

Crowd: 900 Approx.

Sydney United: 1.Vedran Janjetovic; 5.Damon Collina, 6.Joe Vrkic, 14.Peter Markovic, 23.Ivo Bosnar (21.Sean Mitchell 52’), 7.Todd Brodie, 9.David Zdrilic, 10.Steve Hayes (11.Luka Glavas 70’), 16.Elsid Barkhousir, 25.Mirijan Pavlovic, 32. Ante Tomic (45.Adam Jenner 85’).

Substitutes Not Used: 8.Shane Lyons, 20.Roy Bell.

Yellow Cards: David Zdrilic 6’, Ivo Bosnar 23’, Petar Markovic 82’, Sean Mitchell 87’.

Red Cards: Nil

A.P.I.A-Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Matthew Nash; 3.John Kelso, 5.Michael West, 17.Matt Fsadni, 19.Danial Cummins, 16.Mirofuni Moriyasu, 8.Anthony Hartshorn (6.Marton Vass 74’), 9.Robert Younis (18.Bishara Stephan 52’), 10.Franco Parisi, 11.Nicola Rizzo, 7. Stephen Kayes

Substitutes Not Used: 40.Terry Daibroi, 20.Mark Pinto, 2.Mark Byrnes

Yellow Cards: Michael West 31’, Matt Fsadni 49’.

Red Cards: Stephen Kayes 14’.

Player Ratings:

3 – Ante Tomic (SU)

2 – Mirijan Pavlovic (SU)

1 – Michael West (ALT)

-By Michael Chammas

Bankstown sink toothless Sharks at Seymour
18.04.10 12:56


Bankstown City FC's Scott Thomas (letf) challenges for the ball against Sharks midfielder Blake Powell at Seymour Shaw on Saturday evening
Two exquisite goals and a penalty were enough for Bankstown City to see off Sutherland Sharks at home in a disjointedly poor performance by the reigning Grand Final winners in-front of a large crowd.

Robert Mileski hit a hopeful long-range effort straight at Nathan Denham in the Sharks net immediately from the kick-off that was easily held but it was an early warning that went unheeded well inside the first 10’’ seconds of the match.

A further 90’’ seconds later, Blake Powell (Sharks) and Brett Studman clashed heads which left the latter spark out on the ground for a few moments causing great concern among the players. Luckily, he was taken to the touchline and re-entered the fray minutes later when obviously suffering a mild concussion at the least.

If he was it didn’t deter him as he proceeded to put in a classical hard but fair performance in a most determined fashion.

Sutherland competed well and had a few chances that were wayward, or well saved by Zlatko Joseski in the Bankstown net, although the visitors by far had the better of the opportunities that they couldn’t turn in to goals. If not for the bravery and positioning of their custodian on the night, the Lions may well have been left to rue later on.

The Lions pressure finally bore fruit when awarded a penalty in the in the 33’ minute that Denham got a hand to but couldn’t keep out from Mileski as Bankstown took a deserved lead.

Sutherland came back strongly but on the stroke of half-time Ben Spruce slipped an under hit back pass that was seized upon by the Lions midfield before Tallan Martin was put through and he made no mistake in putting the ball past a glaringly exposed Denham as the defence were caught out of position as the whistle blew for the end of the first 45’ minutes with the visitors two goals to the good.

A half-time rocket by Sharks coach Robbie Stanton appeared to fall on deaf ear as his defence was again caught out at the back early. Hussein Salameh watched his effort sail harmlessly over the crossbar by some distance as yet again Sutherland didn’t heed the warning.

The match became a more stifled affair until the tackles became harder and the cautions began to flow as the niggle crept in that made you wonder whether all the players would remain on the pitch as Neil Jablonski, Chris Price and Jimmy Bakis went into the book for Sutherland in an 8’ minute spell quickly followed by Mileski for the Lions.

The Sharks best move came when Bakis sent in a teasing cross that Ben Vidaic shaped to head but dummied for Panni Nikas who controlled well under pressure and fired in a stinging shot that Joseski blocked at point-blank range to deny Sutherland a lifeline for not the first time on the evening.

It was a slight hiccup to the Lions who continued to dominate, and the best was yet to come, when Bill Tsandis stole the ball inside his half and galloped off toward goal evading a lunging tackle from George Souris just inside the half with no other Sharks defender near enough to close him down. From the edge of the box he unleashed a left foot shot that was always curling away from the exposed Denham who made a wilful effort to keep it out at full stretch to his left, all to no avail though.

The match was never for the faint of heart and was in danger of boiling over several times as the players squared up to each other as yet again an uncharacteristic showing by Sutherland left many scratching their heads including coach Stanton when he said afterwards:

“We were a well beaten side tonight and made silly mistakes even though we had to reshuffle the pack after losing Michael Robinson to a hamstring injury in the pre-match warm-up but that is no excuse.

“We looked reasonably comfortable up until the first goal but after that we had too many players not up for it and prepared to battle for the points and they are now starting to find out that everyone wants to beat the Champions which, added to the fact we had a poor pre-season which is coming back to haunt us now, they are beginning to realise just what it takes to stay at the top.

When posed with the question of whether having a small squad is playing a part in things just now he replied:

“Yes we do have a small squad but that is the reality right now with the injuries we have to players so those who are fit need to suck it up and start performing to their abilities because winning the Grand Final is now history and you are judged by what you do now not last season.”

Peter Tsekenis was rightly delighted afterwards stating:

“We made a few changes to the side because we’ve got a few young lads who deserved a chance and it worked for us out there.

“We played well and the youngsters did well too as we kept our first clean sheet of the season after taking control of the game.

“Our goalkeeper kept us in it and we know we have goals in the team but keeping it tight at the back has been our downfall too often so we set out primarily to keep a clean sheet firstly and then look to win the match and so mission accomplished tonight and from here we’ll look to build on it.”

In the Grade-20 match, Sutherland Sharks and Bankstown City drew 1-1.

Match Stats

Sutherland Sharks 0

Bankstown City Lions 3 (Robbie Mileski 33’ (pen), Tallan Martin 45’, Bill Tsandis 81’)

Saturday, 17th April, 2010

Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda

Referee: James Lewis

Assistant Referees: David Lockeridge and Bachar Allam

Fourth Official: Thomas Klein

Crowd: 700 Approx.

Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan Denham; 2.George Souris, 6.Chris Price, 7.Jim Bakis (16.Jimmy Lawrence 82’), 8.Blake Powell, 9.Ben Vidaic (10.Steve McConologue 82’), 11.Ben Spruce, 12.Neil Jablonski, 14.Nick Stavroulakis, 22.Yianni Fragogiannis, 23.Panni Nikas

Substitutes Not Used: 36.Tyson Rhodes, 24.Jack Duncan, 31.Huseyin Jasli

Yellow Cards: Stavroulakis 53’, Jablonski 59’, Price 64’, Bakis 67’

Red Cards: Nil

Bankstown City: 1.Zlatko Joseski; 2.Scott Thomas, 4.Brett Studman, 5.Richard Luksic, 6.Peter Tsekenis, 8.George Nohra (99.Chris Godoy Bascur 87’), 9.Hassan Akil (7.Steve Liavas 71’), 10.Robert Mileski, 12.Bill Tsandis, 20.Hussein Salameh (18.William Angel 83’), 23.Tallan Martin

Substitutes Not Used: 3.Shannon Burgin, 22.Robert Napoleone

Yellow Cards: Studman 44’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3 – Brett Studman (BCL)

2 – Zlatko Joseski (BCL)

1 – Tallan Martin (BCL)

-By Micky Brock

Rockdale seals valuable win on South Coast
18.04.10 20:41


South Coast Wolves striker Mark Picciolini shown scoring his side's goal but it wasn't enough to see them defeat Rockdale City Suns on Sunday (Photo by Fisheye)
South Coast Wolves were denied the opportunity to leapfrog their opponents on the League ladder by a resilient Rockdale City Suns outfit on a warm Sunday afternoon at WIN Stadium.
With fifth spot on the table up for grabs, Rockdale came out on top as goals from Marino Musimeci and Sam Awad either side of Mark Picciolini’s equaliser ensured the NSW Premier League newcomers took all three-points from what proved to be an intriguing encounter.

The match began in reserved fashion as both sides appeared content to hold onto possession and failed to show any real attacking ambition.

After an opening period of cagey football and poor set pieces, the match eventually sprung into life on 34’ minutes as Rockdale broke the deadlock.

A lack of defensive organisation from the Wolves allowed Marino Musimeci to slip into the 18-yard box, skip past the challenge of Alex Mansueto, and clip the ball past Brody Crane with the outside of his right foot to open the scoring.

Their lead was short lived as Wolves were quick to respond with a goal of their own two minutes later. Tynan Diaz broke forward on the right wing to swing a pinpoint cross into the 6-yard box, leaving the defence and goalkeeper stranded for Picciolini to head into an open goal with a diving header from 1-yard.

Picciolini could have grabbed the lead for Wolves 1’ minute later as he out-muscled and turned past Askin Oygur in the box, however his finish proved less clinical than his control as he fired inches wide of the post from 12-yards.

Oygur, donning a protective facial mask for the match, also wasted a golden opportunity to put his side ahead just before half-time as he headed wide at the far post from a Rockdale corner.

With scores level at the interval, Rockdale emerged from the dressing rooms to take the game to their opponents straight from the kick-off of the second period.

Seconds after the restart, Musimeci’s smart through ball put Stefan Donevski one-on-one with Crane, however the Wolves’ goalkeeper reacted quickly to rush of his line and block Donevski’s shot. The rebound fell to Musimeci on the edge of the box, whose side-footed volley found nothing more than the side netting, although arguably Wolves’ Greg Valic was well positioned to block the shot off the line had it been on target.

Rockdale’s positive restart quickly paid dividends as they regained the lead seconds later.

After winning possession from Crane’s goal kick, George Lagoudakis was released on the left wing. His sharp cross found the head of Sam Awad at near post, who deftly diverted the ball beyond Crane and inside the far post to restore Rockdale’s advantage.

From this point Rockdale sat deeper in defence, attacking only on the counter as the Wolves desperately searched for a second equaliser.

Rockdale shot-stopper Ben McNamara was kept busy during the second-half, denying Ken Chun, Jason Trifiro, and Tayfun Buyokkopru to maintain his side’s advantage.

Despite defending for much of the second period, Rockdale still appeared the most likely to score again and could have extended their lead on numerous occasions had it not been for exceptional last ditch challenges from Mansueto and Diaz.

Brody Crane was again called upon to deny Donevski on 78’ minutes, this time tipping his shot onto the crossbar to keep the Wolves in the contest.

Despite their desperation, Wolves search for an equaliser went without reward as Rockdale ground out the final minutes of the contest to secure the vital win.

Rockdale’s Mark Bariamis was happy to come away with the result:

“We were hoping to go down there and give them a good run for their money,” said Bariamis.

“We intended to come away with three points, and we did it which is great for the club.

“The team is going well. There’s still quite a few games left though.

“So far so good but will still have a long way to go,” Bariamis added.

Wolves’ coach Trevor Morgan was understandably disappointed at the result, describing it as a ‘chance lost’ and crediting Rockdale with the deserved victory:

“I had expected them to be very organised, very mobile, and obviously decent on the counterattack,” Morgan said.

“Rockdale worked extremely hard and earned their result,” he added.

In the afternoon’s Grade-20 match, South Coast Wolves secured a 3-1 victory over Rockdale City Suns.

Match Stats

South Coast Wolves 1 (Mark Picciolini 36’)

Rockdale City Suns 2 (Marino Musimeci 34’, Sam Awad 46’)

Sunday, 18th April, 2010

WIN Stadium, Wollongong

Referee: Andrew Best

Assistant Referees: Sarah Ho and Steven Ngyuen

Fourth Official: Matt Samson

Crowd: 500 Approx.

South Coast Wolves: 1.Brody Crane; 17.Tynan Diaz (7.Andy Keep 79’), 2.Alex Mansueto, 3.Greg Valic, 5.Nick McInerney, 6.Lisandro Berbis, 14.Andreas Gomez (19.Ken Chun 46’), 8.Tayfun Buyukkopru, 9.Mark Picciolini, 10.Jason Trifiro, 11.Andrew Paine (18.Adrian Karakolevski 61’)

Substitutes Not Used: 16.Kieran Deane, 40.Nikodin Matic

Yellow Cards: Tayfun Buyokkopru 58’, Ken Chun 64’, Greg Valic 88’.

Red Cards: Nil

Rockdale City Suns: 1.Ben McNamara; 16.Steven Bozinovski, 21.Sam Awad, 12.Stefan Donevski (9.Pece Zaikovski 84’), 18.Robert Di Meglio, 3.Mark Bariamis, 19. Marino Musimeci (13.Akin Baturay 49’), 2.Paul Dee, 23.Askin Ogyur, 11.Adem Kir (17.George Lagoudakis 28’), 8.Dominic Hudap.

Substitutes Not Used: 22.Chad Taylor, 15.Daniel Pejovski.

Yellow Cards: Robert Di Meglio 32’.

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3 – Tynan Diaz (SCW)

2 – Marino Musimeci (RCS)

1 – Mark Picciolini (SCW)

-By Michael Shoolman

No goals but entertainment plus at Marconi Stadium
18.04.10 12:49


Blacktown City FC's Tolgay Ozbey on the attack as Stallions defender Christopher Nunes (left) looks on at Marconi Stadium on Saturday evening (Photo by Damian Briggs)
Marconi Stallions and Blacktown City FC did battle in a top of the table clash at Marconi Stadium in an exciting and hard-fought contest of the NSW Premier League.
With both teams leading the charge for honours in season 2010 the game, as expected, was very competitive and neither side was prepared to give too much away.

In the end, a scoreless draw doesn’t rate highly in the entertainment stakes but for the football purist this was a game that had everything.

Both teams defended superbly, both teams didn’t concede much space to the other and both teams challenged for every ball with the determination that is expected from teams in the higher echelons of the NSW Premier League ladder.

Blacktown City FC may feel marginally disappointed with a draw given that, on balance, they may have had the better of the scoring opportunities in the second-half.

However, this is to take nothing away from Marconi Stallions who could not be more depleted through injury and suspension.

Filling out the weekly team-sheet is fast becoming an arduous task in itself, but the club is lucky to have such a wonderful junior network that never seems to cease.

Tonight it was Kane Wright’s turn to make his debut and he was one of the better players on the park.

“We were down on troops a long way,” said Marconi coach Lee Sterrey. “We are missing (Alex) Canak, (Umut) Tokdogan, (Jared) Lum, (Matt) Hall and (Nahuel) Arrarte to name a few.

“To get a point is okay and, at the end of the day, we’ll take a point because it’s a good one against a team that is one-point above us leading the competition.

“However, even though we’ll still get a point, that was by far our worst performance of the season so far with the ball.

“We didn’t play anywhere near our real passing game and we turned over a lot of ball. I thought we handled them quite well overall in the circumstances.”

The Blacktown City FC dressing room was a somewhat sombre place even though a point away against Marconi would appear to be a commendable achievement.

Blacktown City FC coach Aytec Genc said after the game: “It was a tough game because they are a very speedy team, but I thought we looked fairly comfortable in defence.

“I thought we particularly dominated the second-half, but we just couldn’t execute. They defended well and defended in numbers.

“Our performance and effort were reasonably good but I was disappointed with our finish. This is a tough place to come to and get a result.

“Our dressing room is fairly disappointed because we were probably the better side.

“The season has been good for us so far, but there are probably a couple of games there where we should have picked up the three points instead of getting the one and therefore we could have been further ahead (on the ladder) than where we are at the moment,” he concluded.

The game itself offered a splattering of goal scoring opportunities. In the 18’ minute Tolgay Ozbey played through a lovely ball to Mitch Long, but his diagonal shot was just wide of the goal in the first real chance of the game, such was the determination of both teams to keep things tight.

In the 28’ minute Mitchell Malia, one of the young guns for the Marconi Stallions, made a great run down the right flank only to run out of options in the end and fire his shot straight at the awaiting Michael Herbet in an anti-climatic finish to a good move.

In the space of a couple of minutes both sides went close to scoring: in the 30’ minute a free-kick from the visitors found its way to Tyler Simpson who headed down only to see his shot suffer a slight deflection and end up for a corner.

Marconi’s reply was almost immediate when an accurate cross from Giorgio Speranza from the left found an unmarked Matthew Gordon in the box, but his header was well saved by Herbet.

The best chance of the opening stanza of play fell to Marconi in the 33’ minute when Jason Naidovski missed the target with a double barrel chance.

His first shot was cleverly blocked by a defender and his second ended up only a matter of centimetres wide as the visitors breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The second-half started in identical fashion to the first half with both sides continuing their war of attrition.

In the 63’ minute an accurate assist from Travis Major on the right to Lachlan Cahill in the middle resulted in the latter blasting his shot just over the crossbar.

In the 71’ minute a wild free-kick from Tolgay Ozbey sailed wide of the mark but in reality, against his former club, he should have done a lot better given that chances were so few and far in between.

In the 81’ minute Jordan Simpson danced his way nicely past some Marconi defenders but he couldn’t find his range with his finish and fired just over the crossbar.

There were to be no further goal scoring opportunities from either side in one the better games for the football purist rather than the casual, adrenalin seeking spectator.

Meanwhile, in the Grade-20s Marconi Stallions defeated Blacktown City FC 1-0 to record their first win of the season.

Match Stats

Marconi Stallions 0

Blacktown City FC 0

Saturday, 17th April, 2010

Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park

Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones

Assistant Referees: Scott Edeling and Lance Greenshields

Fourth Official: Cameron Bruce

Marconi Stallions: 22.James Chronopoulos; 2.Brenton Rhodes, 5.Adel El Jamal, 9.Erick Anabalon (34.Nathan Jagelman 72’), 11.Matthew Gordon, 16.Jason Naidovski, 23.Christopher Nunes, 25.Domenic Trimboli, 31.Mitchell Malia (17.Laurence Bradue 79’), 42.Giorgio Speranza, 45.Kane Wright (39.Sean O’Connell 69’).

Substitutes Not Used: 21.Jose Bello-Amigo, 38.Anthony Avati.

Yellow Cards: Chronopoulos 11’, Nunes 25’, Wright 68’, Bradue 80’

Red Cards: Nil

Blacktown City FC: 1.Michael Herbet; 2.Tyler Simpson, 5.Luka Dukic, 6.Matt Pressello, 7.Luke Roodenburg (8.Chris Bedzo 79’), 9.Kain Rastall, 10.Jordan Simpson (35.Bernie Ibini 84’), 11.Mitchell Long, 13.Lachlan Cahill (17.Joel Chianese 82’), 18.Travis Major, 19.Tolgay Ozbey

Substitutes Not Used: 20.Mat Ryan,

Yellow Cards: Long 51’, Rastall 83’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3 - Kain Rastall (BC)

2 - Kane Wright (MS)

1 - Matt Pressello (BC)

-By Joe Russo

Manly United snatch late draw at Bonnyrigg
18.04.10 01:54


Bonnyrigg White Eagles' Bradley Boardman slides in on Manly United's Roberto Hamad during their round 8 encounter on Saturday evening (Photo by: G-shotPhotography.com.au)
Manly United FC scored a late equaliser to take a point back to Cromer Park from Bonnyrigg Sports Club on Saturday evening.
After falling behind to a Daniel Severino strike late in the first-half, Robbie Cattanach scored for Manly United FC 15’ minutes from the end to secure his side a share of the spoils against the highly fancied White Eagles.

The match provided a fiery opening with neither set of players holding back with their challenges.

On the 6’ minute Nathan Elasi used his pace to beat the oncoming Brad Swancott to the ball on the right-flank. Elasi’s fine touch setup the space for the former Melbourne Victory midfield to unleash an effort on goal though, from an acute angle, the retreating Manly United defence managed to get a body behind the ball to take the heat off Elasi’s stinging effort.

The resulting corner presented Jamie McMaster with a loose ball on the edge of the penalty-area. His powerful drive was skewed across goal, though picked out Brad Boardman at the far post who could only manage to head McMaster’s powerful effort goalwards with little power.

In the 10’ minute, free-kick specialist Daniel Severino lined up one of his left-foot treats from distance. Severino’s effort carried a punch though was too central as Manly United shot-stopper Swancott parried the effort to safety.

The visiting side’s first forward foray of note arrived in the 11’ minute as the experienced Craig Midgley weaved his magic down the right-flank. Midgley’s whipped in effort had the White Eagles on the back foot, though the defence managed to retreat and divert behind for a corner.

Midgley was in the thick of the action again moments later as his lunging effort released Robbie Cattanach behind the Bonnyrigg defence. Marsahlled brilliantly by Vuko Tomasevic, the White Eagles defence diligently thwarted the danger.

At the other end, Milorad Simonovic squandered a glorious chance when released through on goal. With only the goalkeeper ahead of him, and the threat of a Manly United defender breathing down his neck, Simonovic opted to shoot first time directly at Swancott for a routine save by the Manly United goalkeeper.

White Eagles goalkeeper Phillip Zabaks was called into action to pull off a fine save down to his left. Joseph Gibbs beat the offside trap with a perfectly timed run behind the defence, testing Zabaks at his near post from a sharp angle.

On 28’ minutes, Manly United nearly got the break through. Cattanach’s powerful drive to the right byline saw the striker deliver a perfectly floated cross to the back post into the path of Keith Shevlin. The midfielder’s lunging effort was on-target, though denied by an exceptional goal-line save by Zabaks, retreating back across his line, much to the relief of the home crowd.

Manly should have taken the lead on 38’ minutes when Andrew Mailer played Joseph Gibbs through on goal. The Manly United striker, with only Zabaks to beat, failed to find the opener – denied by an outstanding Zabaks save down to his left.

Bonnyrigg’s response arrived via a set-piece in the 40’ minute. McMaster’s corner to the near post from the right found Boardman, though the striker’s glancing header lacked precision and failed to force Swancott into a save.

Manly United did find the back of the net on 45’ minutes via Pascal Julliard’s tap-in, though the referee quickly brought celebrations to a halt for the defender’s offside positioning. A fine glancing header by Cattanach was again parried by an in-form Zabaks, though the loose ball fell into the path of Julliard who was in an offside position.

Against the run of play in the closing stages of the half, the White Eagles quickly turned attentions to attack and found the opening goal via Severino. The White Eagles playmaker received the ball on the right side of the penalty-area and cut-back onto his preferred left foot to finish with aplomb past the helpless Swancott.

Jimmy Oates stung the palms of Zabaks in the early exchanges following the break – the White Eagles shot-stopper again proving his worth with a fine save.

The visitor’s best forward forays continued to arrive via the feet of Midgley, though in the final third, the White Eagles defence remained unyielding.

Shy of the hour mark, Bonnyrigg lost goalkeeper Zabaks due to concussion following a clash with a Manly United opponent. The shot-stopper was stretchered from the field and taken to hospital for further examinations, allowing Ali Akbal some game time. Akbal too was impressive, leaving his line confidently to claim a cross for his first touch of the evening.

Bonnyrigg came to life, after the sluggish start to the half, as Shane Webb cleverly picked out Boardman with a floated cross from the left-flank. Boardman headed goalwards with power though was denied by Joey Schirripa – much to the discontent of the home supporters who were certain a hand was used by the Manly United captain.

Manly United continued to search for an equaliser and Cattanach was the next striker to test the White Eagles’ defence. The former NSW Premier League Player of the Year cleverly created a yard of space to unleash a diagonal effort across goal, though again Akbal did well to get down to his right and parry the ball to safety.

Cattanach did make amends in the 74’ minute as some loose play in the White Eagles defence allowed the striker a look-in on goal. Cattanach, with a powerful effort, drove the ball underneath the crossbar to deservedly draw the visitors level.

The home-side’s response was one of frustration as the wheels started to come off with some poor passing across the park. On 85’ minutes though, a neat cross from substitute David Gullo found the feet of Tomasevic in the penalty-area. The Bonnyrigg captain turned sharply to get an effort away, though the ball scraped the paint on Swancott’s left-hand post.

Shane Webb took matters into his own hands moments prior to the 90’ minute with a fine slalom effort to create the space for a long-range effort. Webb’s shot packed a punch though finished wide of the intended target.

In the closing stages, Jimmy Oates nearly grabbed the headlines with what would have been an exceptional winner. The youngster picked up the ball on the right-flank and beat his marker with a nice cutback onto his left peg; the final effort though glanced inches wide of the up-right in what proved to be the final goal scoring opportunity of the night.

Following the match, Bonnyrigg White Eagles coach Brian Brown expressed his views on the performance:

“We started really well tonight, and played a positive first-half, though we really lost our way in the second-half with some very poor passing and decision making.

“Credit to Manly, at times you can only play as well as your opponent allows you and tonight Manly really went for it and made the task for us a difficult one.

“I am disappointed not to have picked up an extra two-points, though the season is still long and we have to continue to put in the work required,” ended Brown.

Manly United FC boss Phil Moss was proud of his team’s efforts:

“I have to commend the boys on their attitude tonight. To come to Bonnyrigg and pick up a point is a huge result, and we have gone through a difficult run of late.

“The performance tonight shows just how hard these boys have worked, and I am very pleased with their efforts tonight.

“I think, on the whole, the point is good, though we did create a number of chances and perhaps could have come away with something more in the end,” Moss ended.

In the Grade 20 division, Manly United FC ran out convincing 3-1 winners over the White Eagles.

Match Stats

Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1 (Daniel Severino 45’+1’)

Manly United FC 1 (Robbie Cattanach 74’)

Saturday, 17th April, 2010

Bonnyrigg Sports Club, Bonnyrigg

Referee: Ryan Shepheard

Assistant Referees: G. Askham and N. Backo

Fourth Official: L. Agram

Crowd: 1,200 Approx.

Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 99.Phil Zabaks (1.Ali Akbal 60’); 4.Michael Brown, 6.Vuko Tomasevic (C), 7.Nikola Zonjic, 8.Milorad Simonovic (17.David Gullo 80’), 9.Brad Boardman, 10.Daniel Severino (2.Paul Cotte 60’), 11.Shane Webb, 15.Nathan Elasi, 19.Jamie McMaster, 20.Wade Oostendorp

Substitutes Not Used: 5.Milan Zoric, 13.Juan Chavez

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

Manly United FC: 1.Brad Swancott; 2.Sean Bowden, 3.Roberto Hamad, 5.Pascal Julliard, 7.Andrew Mailer, 8.Keith Shevlin (19.Bradley Groves 72’), 9.Robbie Cattanach, 10.Craig Midgley, 16.Joey Schirripa (C), 17.Jimmy Oates, 22.Joseph Gibbs (11.Adam Foti 46’)

Substitutes Not Used: 20.Rhyss Keane, 12.Justin Hayward,18.Alex Hunt

Yellow Cards: Roberto Hamad 15’, Jimmy Oates 90’, 90’+3’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3 – Robbie Cattanach (MUFC)

2 – Phillip Zabaks (BWE)

1 – Craig Midgley (MUFC)

-By Joseph Carlucci

Late first half show seals points for Sydney Olympic
18.04.10 20:24


Sydney Olympic's new keeper Paul Henderson shown in action in his debut game for the Blues against the West Sydney Berries at Belmore Sports Ground
Sydney Olympic got back into the winner’s circle on Sunday afternoon with a 2-0 win over West Sydney Berries at Belmore Sports Ground.
Two goals in the final 3’ minutes of the first-half provided Olympic the much needed three-points.

Sydney Olympic started on the front foot attacking from the opening whistle. After Matthew Mayora won a challenge, Cedric Ramirez found space on the right hand touch line but his low cross was well picked by Hamish McLean.

The first clear chance however came in the 4’ minute as Andre Gumprecht took control of the ball in shooting range. A clever ball to the feet of Ramirez saw the striker turn well but could not control his shot as it went well over the crossbar for a goal kick.

The West Sydney Berries tried hard to get into the game as George Lagoudakis lobbed the ball into the box in the 7’ minute, only for new Sydney Olympic goalkeeper Paul Henderson to claim and thwart the minor chance.

The home-side continued to pile the pressure on the Berries defence, and could have had the lead in the 8’ minute.

Gumprecht took the ball in the middle of the park and played a sublime through ball into the path of Ramirez. The Blues player went one-on-one with the goalkeeper, only for the striker to fail to round Mclean and the chance went begging.

Sydney Olympic’s majority possession continued to pester the Berries as they struggled to string passes together in the opening quarter of the match.

The Berries almost stunned the big crowd at Belmore on 18’ minutes, as a floating corner found Henderson leaping backwards. Luckily for the former North Queensland Fury shot-stopper his defence stood tall and blocked two incoming shots to keep the scores level.

The Berries counter-attack football continued to shock Olympic as they produced another chance in the 24’ minute. After winning a corner, Jesse Pinto sent an out-swinging kick that found David Gardiner free to head the ball goal bound, though the effort finished just over the crossbar.

In the 27’ minute however, Sydney Olympic cleared the ball out of their defensive third to find Ramirez with an acres of space to run into. As he closed in on goal, Berries defender David Gardiner did well to close his angle as Mclean came off his line and win the ball cleanly.

As the game wore on, the Berries slowly gathered momentum in the middle of the park, making their presence felt and increasing their possession. The Berries then had the best chance to open the scoring in the 34’ minute. After a great one-two between Lagoudakis and Zakilas, Stefan De Jesus was found in the middle with his well timed volley exceptionally well saved by a diving Henderson.

A mistimed pass by Matthew Mayora in the 38’ minute gave the ball directly to Sash Tirovski, with the attacker trying to chip the ball over Henderson but misguiding his shot as Olympic’s day began to worsen.

The Blues however did take the lead in the 42’ minute. After a through ball from their own half, Iain Ramsey pulled the ball down and calmly placed it in the bottom right-hand corner of the Berries net to give his team a 1-0 lead.

And only 3’ minutes later Olympic made it 2-0. Following a huge miskick by Daniel Clifford, Matthew Mayora shot the ball past an oncoming Hamish McLean and into the empty net give his side a two-goal half-time lead.

After the break, both teams struggled to keep the ball and create any clear-cut chances, with last ditch defensive efforts thwarting any attempts on goal.

The first chance finally arrived for the berries in the 54’ minute. After winning a free-kick, Lagoudakis floated a cross across Olympic’s goal only for his attack to miss the chance to guide the ball into the net.

The chances then continued to come for the Berries as they searched to peg the 2-0 deficit back, and only 2’ minutes later, Dimitri Zakilas headed the ball wide from a Pinto cross.

Zakilas continued to be a menace in the air, and again had a header go inches wide of the mark in the 62’ minute.

With Olympic holding a two goal lead, they seemed to climb into a shell as they played a defensive game with few attacking options.

In the 65’ minute, Berries winger Jesse Pinto had a great shot on goal from out wide, only for Henderson, who was having a fantastic game on debut, to get down well and regathered the strong shot.

4’ minutes later and the Berries changed tactics as Sash Tirovski had a shot from 40-yards out but was easy pickings for Henderson.

The Blues seemed to be playing with a man short as they were continually left wanting across the park, with their Berries counterparts holding the majority of possession but struggling to find the back of the net.

The final ball became a problem for the home-side as well in the 78’ minute as Anthony Doumanis attempted to play a one-two with James Monie, his ball was too long and went directly to the waiting McLean.

As the game drew to a close, Sydney Olympic won more of the ball and began more attacking tirades at the Berries goal with all to no avail though, as the Blues settled for their second win of the season.

Following the match Sydney Olympic coach Pat Marando said he was pleased with the result:

“I am definitely happier than the past two weeks.

“The boys worked hard throughout the week and I think I a little bit of confidence in themselves goes a long way.”

Berries coach John Calleja was upset to not have taken any points away from Olympic after dominating play in the second-half:

“I was very happy the way we were playing up until the 40’ minute mark.

“I thought we were knocking the ball around creating opportunities.

“But we defended poorly for two minutes and it cost us.”

In the Grade 20 encounter, Sydney Olympic ran away with a 3-1 victory over a tough West Sydney Berries side.

Match Stats

Sydney Olympic 2 (Iain Ramsey 42’, Matthew Mayora 45’)

West Sydney Berries 0

Sunday, 18th April, 2010

Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore

Crowd: 1500 approximately

Sydney Olympic: 13.Paul Henderson; 4.Josh Lawson, 6.Andre Gumprecht, 8.Chris Triantis (10.Anthony Doumanis 30’) (24.Mitchell Stamatellis 81’), 11.Phillip Makrys, 12.Cedric Ramirez (9.James Monie 75’), 15.Matthew Mayora (C), 16.Steven Tibbets, 17.Iain Ramsey, 21.Ricky Perinich, 23.Luke Gearin

Substitutes Not Used: 1.Zaim Zanelli, 7.Dimitrios Petratos

Yellow Cards: Makrys 21’

Red Cards: Nil

West Sydney Berries: 1.Hamish McLean; 2.David Gardiner, 4.Daniel Clifford, 5.Ryan Walsh (Omar Saadi 75’), 7.Peter Peralta, 8.Jesse Pinto, 12.Stefan De Jesus, 15.Ryan Jones (21.Damir Prodanovic 61’), 16.George Lagoudakis (C), 17.Sash Tirovski (32.Leon Pirrello 69’), 19.Dimitri Zakilas

Substitutes Not Used: 22. Cem Akilli

Yellow Cards: Zakilas 67’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3 - Paul Henderson (SO)

2 - Andre Gumprecht (SO)

1 - Kosta Lagoudakis (WSB)

-By Christopher Georges