Blockbuster had it all

GREGOR MACTAGGART

April 11th, 2010
Darwin Dragons' Roland N'Sangou towers above fellow players for this header in his side's 6-3 Habitat Premier League loss to Port Darwin. Picture: BRAD FLEET

Darwin Dragons' Roland N'Sangou towers above fellow players for this header in his side's 6-3 Habitat Premier League loss to Port Darwin. Picture: BRAD FLEET

CASUARINA and Hellenic shared the points with a 1-1 draw in Friday night's 2010 Habitat Premier League season-opener at the Darwin Football Stadium.

The match was billed as a blockbuster and had a bit of everything, with a missed penalty, a scored penalty, three red cards, a bit of tension and some top-quality football.

Hellenic took the early advantage when Pedro Stefanidakis marked his return to playing with a well-taken finish.

Casuarina skipper Scott Piper wasted a great chance to level things after his penalty was stopped by Blues keeper John Tsaknis.

It was looking like Hellenic would exact early revenge for last year's grand final loss; that was until another penalty to Casuarina offered Piper a chance at redemption.

Piper duly delivered and even though they finished the match with nine men after Gareth Muchinguri and Kyle Goncalves were marched (as was Hellenic's Jason Williams), the Rowdies earned a point.

Matt King proved Port Darwin's hero with four goals in his side's action-packed 6-3 win over the Darwin Dragons.

Peja Milenkovic gave the Dragons a perfect start when he scored in the fifth minute, only for King to put his stamp on the Round 1 contest.

King had a double in the space of three minutes and sealed a hat-trick in 18 minutes with his third in the 32nd minute.

The game looked to be petering out to a pretty quiet conclusion as Port Darwin led 4-1, but Cameroonian star Roland N'Sangou decided to put his stamp on the contest.

N'Sangou made it 4-2 in the 79th minute and his second just two minutes later provided the Dragons faithful some hope of a miracle.

But Port quashed that dream just as quickly with Robert Cull's 83rd minute effort and King's fourth sealing the three points.

And a Michael Tsounias hat-trick steered Darwin Olympic to a 6-0 thumping of Mindil FC last night.

The Reds had the three points in their back-pocket inside the first 11 minutes and finished as they started with skipper Mitch Amidy putting the icing on the cake in the 89th minute.

Today, Palmerston travels to the Italian Club for the last Round 1 match against Nakara Azzurri-University Rangers.

Hellenic 1 (P Stefanidakis) drew Casuarina 1 (S Piper); Port Darwin 6 (M King 14, 16, 32, 85, R Cull 83, D Dale 71) d Darwin Dragons 3 (R N'Sangou 79, 81, P Milenkovic 5); Darwin Olympic 6 (M Tsounias 9, 51, 73, G Molloy 3, M Byrd 11, M Amidy 89) d Mindil FC 0.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/04/11/138591_ntsport.html