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Previous Match Reports 2008 28th
July 2008 Berries vs. Sharks 28 July 2008 Sharks season starts here as Berries buried
Brad Boardman notched up a hat-trick and put him in good stead in claiming the 2008 Andreas Golden Boot award in his side's 6-0 smashing of the West Sydney Berries The score-line may have flattered but the Sutherland Sharks knew their season was to start from this point as they battered a gallant West Sydney Berries into submission on the way to a 6-0 win. Forgetting the previous 20-matches, Sutherland knew nothing short of a victory in-front of their vocal home crowd would be good enough to take next weeks encounter with Wollongong FC into the Premiership deciding match in the TeleChoice Premier League for season 2008. Oddly enough, West Sydney Berries could smell a result early on and really took the game to the home side who were missing four first team regulars and looked a little disjointed for much of the opening period when being reduced to a couple of good half-chances. Unfortunately for the visitors, their task at hand became unbearable when Jack Sobczyk was given his marching orders, the Berries defender can consider himself dreadfully unlucky to be marched from the field. After 41’ minutes of a gripping contest, a long-ball was pumped up-field for Brad Boardman to chase. His marker, Sobczyk, had negated almost everything the lanky striker had produced to that point, but as Boardman ran across the front of Sobczyk the defender was forced to put the brakes on and inadvertently clipped the heel of the powerful front man bringing him to the ground outside the box. As the last defender, and under the rules of the game, Sobczyk was shown a straight red card for an innocent looking accident which proved the catalyst for the turning moment in the contest. Jimmy Bakis stroked the resultant free-kick from 25-yards out with some aplomb as it cleared the wall, dipped and slid home under the bar on Berries goalkeeper Hamish McLean’s right, with the custodian given no chance of reaching it as the Sharks hit the front. The Berries had created the better of the first-half chances with the good form of Phillip Zabaks in the Sharks net keeping them in the game on at least two occasions, but it was a goal down they found themselves at the break. Still with all to play for in the second period it was somewhat of a surprise the Sharks really rammed home the one-man advantage after Michael Katz put in a tantalizing cross for Nick Stavroulakis to head toward goal but only succeeding in finding the back of a defender who inadvertently put the ball out for a corner. Before the corner was taken, a yellow card was shown to McLean, presumably for pushing in the area. The Berries could have, and probably should have, equalised in the 53’ minute when a Michael Cunico effort screwed across the face of goal, though moments later the Sharks doubled their advantage. Stavroulakis, playing his best game in weeks, slotted home a second for the Sharks when deftly lobbing the advancing goalkeeper, all but ending any hope the Berries had as it was a bitter up-hill climb for the visitors from here on in. David Reid was brought down inside the box and up stepped Boardman to bury the penalty; and if the task for the Berries until now had been difficult it had just become impossible, especially as the lanky Sharks striker hit his second just two-minutes later to make it 4-0. Matthew Hall, who came on for Jimmy Nikas after 65’ minutes, added the Sharks’ fifth before Boardman completed his hat-trick and the Berries had Ryan Jones sent-off with 3’ minutes to go for ‘foul and abusive language’. A Berries spokesperson said afterwards: “ We took the game to the Sharks and everything was going according to plan until Sobczyk was sent-off. “ We had to readjust after that but we were still going for at least a point or even the win because we need points, but that was the pivotal moment of the game and after that we just couldn’t compete on even terms.” Brian Brown was far happier with the points after the two previous league defeats when saying: “ Well it’s nice to get a win again. “ It’s been a feature this season when in the tough games that something happens like a send-off and puts a team under the pump, it’s been the same for all teams I would think. “ We made a couple of positional changes after the break and moved the Berries around and tired them. After that the goals started coming. “ We’ve scored something like
47-goals in 21 matches so far this season and, obviously, Brad (Boardman)
is the competition leader but we’ve managed to share them around
too so we must be doing something right.” Match Stats Sutherland Sharks
6 (Jin Bakis 42’, Nick Stavroulakis 54’, Brad
Boardman 68’ (penalty), 70’, 86’, Matthew Hall
74’) Venue: Seymour
Shaw Park Sutherland Sharks: 99.
Phillip Zabaks; 15. Michael Katz, 2. George Souris, 39. Neil Jablonski,
38. Michael Robinson, 8. David Huxley, 7. Jimmy Bakis (20. Jimmy
Lawrence 76’), 14. Nick Stavroulakis, 37. Jimmy Nikas (10.
Matt Hall 65’), 9. Brad Boardman, 22. David Reid (19. Blake
Powell 80’) West Sydney Berries: 1.
Hamish McLean; 3. Omar Saadi, 5. Michael Cunico, 6. Jack Sobczyk,
8. Jimmy Fotiadis (32. Kosta Lagoudakis 77’), 7. Scott Thomas,
15. Ryan Jones, 17. Sash Tirovski (21. Josh Ferguson 80’),
18. Giosue Sama (14. Craig Jacob 65’), 20. Angelo Petratos,
11. Aheleas Kotsopoulos Player Ratings: 13 July 2008 Tireless West Sydney defeat listless Bankstown First-half goals from West Sydney Berries defender Jack Sobczyk and striker John Tsironis were enough to condemn Bankstown City Lions to a 2-1 defeat on at Jensen Park.
West Sydney Berries players celebrate Jack Sobczyk's goal in his side's 2-1 victory over Bankstown City on Sunday Despite grabbing a late headed goal through substitute Paul Harries, Bankstown will walk away from the match grateful that they only conceded two goals, as the chronic poor finishing which has plagued the Berries this season prevented them from embarrassing Peter Tsekenis’ Lions. Though there were superb performances from each of the Berries’ three-pronged attack force – Sash Tirovski, John Tsironis and Giosue Sama – all were guilty of missing wonderful goal-scoring opportunities throughout the match; Tirovski and Tsironis could have each walked away with a hat-trick. But an initially physical contest was won in midfield by the visiting side, with NSL veteran Scott Thomas particularly influential in the centre of the park. After just ten minutes of football, some clever interplay between Thomas and the lively Tirovski on the right-hand side of the pitch resulted in a free-kick outside the penalty area. A dangerous ball was curled into the box by Thomas and towering centre-back Jack Sobczyk rose highest, directing his header into the far corner of the net via the goal-post. West Sydney should have doubled their lead only ten minutes later, as the imperious Johnny Fotiadis – who last week inspired his side to a crucial 5-2 victory over the Marconi Stallions – won the ball in his own half before playing a neat one-two with hat-trick hero Giosue Sama. The right-back took the ball past half-way before looking up and delivering a delicately chipped through-ball for striker John Tsironis, who had beaten a poor offside trap played by a static Bankstown defence. Despite controlling the ball and composing himself inside the penalty-area, Tsironis only managed to hit it into a dirt patch in the box, the crowd gasping in disbelief as his effort rolled into the grateful arms of Bankstown goalkeeper Zlatko Joseski. A sharp Berries outfit were beginning to play some incisive football and again came agonisingly close to scoring a second goal in the 25’ minute. In what was a simple but effective piece of play, the hard-working Tsironis managed to slip the ball through to Scott Thomas, who snuck in-behind the Bankstown defensive line. The midfielder got to the byline before cutting it back for Tirovski, who slid his shot underneath the on-rushing Joseski but was forced to watch the ball trickle past the far-post. Enthusiastic Bankstown left-back Shane Webb attempted a harmless long-range strike just minutes later, in what was the home side’s first attempt at goal: it had taken them just over half-an-hour to register it and un-tested Berries goalkeeper Hamish McLean watched it rise over the crossbar. West Sydney finally increased their advantage after 36’ minutes with a text-book case of counter-attacking football. Johnny Fotiadis cleared a Stefanos Liavas cross out of the area, which the mobile Scott Thomas collected in his own half. The ex-Sydney Olympic player held the ball up and allowed for Sama to make a forward run before lifting a perfectly weighted through ball over-the-top of a flat Bankstown back-four. The striker collected the ball and sprinted – unchallenged - to the byline before cutting the ball back in the area for John Tsironis to side-foot home for the most simple of finishes. The effervescent Sash Tirovski – at the heart of many of the Berries’ attacking moves throughout the match – unleashed a wicked half-volley from just outside the box on 41’ minutes. Bankstown’s Joseski did extremely well to get down to his right and turn a ball which had bounced immediately in front of him, around the post. The final chance of a one-sided first-half fell
to John Tsironis, who hit a first-time shot after a West Sydney corner
was cleared out of the penalty-area. The ball swerved off the striker’s
right foot and only just flashed past the top-right hand corner of
the net. Bankstown City player/manager Peter Tsekenis would have been both relieved and frustrated to see West Sydney squander another two superb goal-scoring opportunities in the first five minutes of the half. On 48’ minutes it would be Tsironis with another weak effort rolling into the arms of Joseski in a one-on-one situation, Fotiadis again the provider of the chance after intercepting a weak pass in his own half, surging past half-way and playing the striker in-behind an uncomfortable Bankstown defence. Fellow striker Giosue Sama would imitate his team-mate’s wastefulness just two minutes later, following some excellent interplay with Tsironis outside the Lions’ penalty-area. Despite being thoroughly outplayed for over an hour, Bankstown almost clawed their way back into the match on 64’ minutes, when Robert Mileski’s brilliant free-kick was curled over the wall, beyond the outstretched Hamish McLean and against the upright, before bouncing across the face of goal and out for a goal-kick. Sash Tirovski then missed the opportunity to put the result beyond doubt on 82’ minutes. A long-throw by Johnny Fotiadis on the left was flicked through for the ‘number 17’ who sped into the box and looked set to score past a completely stationary Joseski. The attacker attempted to ease the ball past the goalkeeper with the outside of his foot but suffered the agony of seeing his attempt roll past the post. Just 3’ minutes later and Tirovski again found himself isolated with only the goalkeeper to beat. On this occasion, the striker appeared to slip in an awkward patch of dirt in the penalty-area as he was about to shoot. The ball still managed to roll to the supporting substitute Neil Phillipou, whose low effort was hacked off the line by a covering Bankstown defender. Bankstown substitute Paul Harries produced a superb header to pull a goal back for the home side after the tireless Stefanos Liavas delivered a lofted ball into the box, but it wasn’t enough to spark a late comeback from an uninspired Lions outfit, as the Berries held onto a crucial – and deserved – away win. Bankstown head-coach Peter Tsekenis said there were no excuses for the lack of passion and desire shown by his side, particularly with a Tiger Turf Semi-Final appearance approaching: “ We set ourselves the task of playing well today and getting ourselves on a roll into the Tiger Turf Cup, so we do have something to play for and apart from that, you’ve also got to show a bit of pride. “ Any game I play, regardless of whether it is a friendly match or a training game, I go out there to win and I have a bit of pride and today, the boys let themselves down in that department. “ The loss of Andre Gumprecht didn’t have an effect on our side. That is just something that people might want to pick as an excuse. “ Gumprecht is a loss but we didn’t
have him in the last three years and we won championships and now
with Gumprecht we haven’t, so you can look at it that way. “ The players are disappointed that they haven’t got into the Semi-Finals for the first time in a while, so sometimes you might switch off and feel as though the season is over and it is hard to pick yourself back up.” Berries head-coach Spiro Hantzis was relieved that missed opportunities didn’t cost his side but was pleased at the defensive performance by the West Sydney outfit: “ We got the two goals that we needed and then we couldn’t get the killer goal to put it to bed. Bankstown came at us towards the end there and put the pressure on us but we got away with it. “ This week we needed to step up defensively to get the result and the boys did that, which was encouraging. “ Everybody stuck together from the beginning, when Ramsin and myself took over and that’s something we have tried to do; get everybody to work together as a unit and it seems to be working. “ We’re sticking to the same formula for the last two games of the season. We’re going to try to take our chances and work hard on the pitch.” Fellow head-coach Ramsin Shamon echoed his colleague’s sentiments about team unity but lamented their absence from an upcoming finals series after having proven their ability to perform against some of the best sides in the competition: “ The team unity has been there all year but unfortunately the results haven’t been there. But in the last two weeks, we’ve scored 7 goals when previously we hadn’t scored 7 goals in a month. “ We’ve beaten some quality teams, some teams with history. We’ve had the right squad all year but lady luck hasn’t been on our side. “ But two wins in a row, I’ll take it. Hopefully in a fortnight’s time it will be three wins in a row and we’ll give Sutherland a run for their money.” MATCH STATS Bankstown City
Lions 1 (Paul Harries 86’) Venue: Jensen
Park Bankstown City
Lions: 1. Zlatko JOSESKI; 3. Shane WEBB, 4. Brett STUDDMAN,
5. Richard LUKSIC, 6. Peter TSEKENIS, 7. Stefanos LIAVAS, 9. James
MONIE (2. Ibrahim HAYDAR 45’), 10. Robert MILESKI (19. Paul
HARRIES 83’), 11. Phillip MAKRYS (21. Hussein AKIL 67’),
16. Tayfun DEVRIMOL, 99. Chris GODOY-BASCUR West Sydney Berries: 1.
Hamish MCLEAN; 20. Angelo PETRATOS, 6. Jack SOBCZYK, 3. Omar SAADI,
7. Scott THOMAS, 5. Michael CUNICO (21. Joshua FERGUSON 73’),
8. Johnny FOTIADIS, 15. Ryan JONES (19. Dimitri ZAKILAS 84’),
18. Giosue SAMA, 17. Sash TIROVSKI, 10. John TSIRONIS (12. Neil PHILLIPOU
67’) Player Ratings: -By Chris Paraskevas 6th July 2008 Sama hat-trick stuns Marconi as Barrett resigns
However, the sending off of midfielder Christopher Nunes after his second yellow card and the introduction of Berries right wing-back Johnny Fotiadis as a second-half substitute, were the catalysts for a stunning Berries fight-back which saw them score four unanswered goals on the way to a 5-2 victory. For Berries co-coaches Ramsin Shamon and Spiro Hantzis, the victory would have tasted especially sweet following a frustrating start to their respective managerial careers – they have been without a win since taking over the side from previous coach Scott Baillie. The sombre mood of David Barrett after the match as he revealed his official offer of resignation to his club, reflected a similarly frustrating season for the NSL legend, in which his talented Marconi side have arguably been the most disappointing of all this season. It all started so well for Marconi though, as they grabbed a deserved lead after just 14’ minutes of play. Young Berries defender Omar Saadi mis-timed a clearance inside his own penalty-area. The ball looped into the air and was volleyed across the face of goal from the byline by ex-Newcastle Jets striker Tolgay Ozbey. Fellow Marconi forward Tallan Martin was on-hand to plant a diving header beyond the stranded Hamish McLean from close-range, giving Berries fans an all-too familiar sinking feeling on their home turf. In an otherwise forgettable first-half, the only other highlight came courtesy of a goal by Ante Deur – which was correctly called offside by the assistant referee. The fleet-footed Stefan Donevski danced his way around a couple of Berries defenders inside the penalty box before seeing his close-range shot palmed away sharply by Berries goalkeeper Hamish McLean. Though Deur smashed home the rebound, the linesman was in the perfect position from which to deem the Marconi man offside. In a second-half which started in a similarly
dour fashion to the first, it would be the West Sydney Berries equalising
via the lively Sash Tirovski on 52’ minutes. A free-kick curled
into the Marconi penalty area from the left-flank was only half-cleared
by the Stallions, before the ball fell to Tirovski whose weak but
well-directed volley rolled past the despairing dive of goalkeeper
Cem Akilli to draw the home side level. But there was nothing the Berries goalkeeper could do to prevent Marconi re-taking the lead on 60’ minutes, as Tallan Martin brilliantly skipped around a West Sydney defender inside the penalty-area before getting to the byline and cutting the ball back for Deur to side-foot high into the net from a tight-angle at the near post. A well-worked goal giving the Stallions a 2-1 lead. Arguably, the turning point of the match was the introduction of Johnny Fotiadis – back from injury – to proceedings, replacing holding midfielder Michael Cunico. The Berries wing-back instantly gave his side a consistent attacking avenue on the right-hand side of the pitch, stretching the Marconi defence and giving West Sydney another dimension in attack. A late challenge by Christopher Nunes on Berries captain Archie Kotsopoulos would see him dismissed for a second bookable offence before some patient build-up resulted in an equalising goal for the home side. It would be the captain at the centre of the action again for the West Sydney outfit, as Kotsopoulos was slipped into the box before producing a low centre across the face of goal. The ball was touched by the outstretched arm of Cem Akilli but it was not enough to divert it out of the path of on-rushing Berries midfielder Ryan Jones, who finished from close-range to make it 2-2 after 77’ minutes. What followed during the next ten minutes of play was a reminder of one of the most attractive aspects of the beautiful game: it’s unpredictability. Just two minutes after the equalising goal, a rejuvenated Berries side with renewed body language and belief, cast off the shackles of a tiring and difficult return to the highest level of football in NSW to produce an inspiring come-back in front of their loyal following of 320. The ball was spread wide to Johnny Fotiadis on the right-hand side of the pitch, who took advantage of the generous space offered to him by the Marconi defence by bursting into the penalty-area unchallenged before dragging the ball across the face of goal. Again Akilli stretched to intercept but again the shot-stopper was unable to stop the ball from arriving at the feet of Giosue Sama, who tapped home from close-range for the easiest of finishes. Only three minutes later and a lovely back-heel would release the ever-present Sash Tirovski, who took the ball in his stride and broke into the Marconi penalty box. Though the striker’s cross did not find a Berries player, it was only half-cleared by the Stallions defence before falling to the feet of Giosue Sama, whose shot from inside the area wrong-footed Akilli and rolled into the net for a 4-2. Sama – who has been unable to nail down a regular spot in the first-team this season – completed an astonishing hat-trick which underlined his potential as a footballer with five minutes remaining. Picking up the ball outside the box, the Berries striker played a low pass to the feet of fellow substitute Neill Phillipou outside the box. Phillipou produced a delicate touch, shifting the ball to his left for the on-rushing Sama to take in his stride before cutting back onto his left foot and producing a superb curled finish into the top left-hand corner of the net, leaving Akili with no choice but to stand and admire the quality of the strike. A stirring win for the West Sydney Berries, who perhaps deserved the win on the basis of their performances and efforts over the past few weeks, which failed to produce any positive results for the club. Contrastingly, Marconi’s second-half collapse was the final straw for coach Dave Barrett, who cut a disappointed figure after the match: “ I would like to announce that I’ve offered my resignation to Marconi Stallions Football Club from my position as head coach. “ I am very disappointed with the
capitulation of the side in the second-half. It is rumoured that Stallions skipper Luke Casserly will manage the side till the end of the TeleChoice Premier League season. Ramsin Shamon expressed relief at a first managerial win for him personally but said that the victory was a combined effort between himself and fellow coach Spiro Hantzis: “ The way we were playing in the first half I think both sides were lacking any form of football. It was really ugly to be honest. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing from either side. “ But it’s been a few weeks coming. We’ve been dominating teams but not getting any results and suddenly we’ve scored five goals in one half of football. I don’t think we’ve even scored five goals even in the last four or five weeks! “ But it’s a culmination of all the work the boys have put in over the past few weeks and Josh Sama has delivered what he’s been talking about delivering for weeks.” Berries coach Spiro Hantzis echoed Shamon’s comments about a build-up to the result and a combined effort from staff and players alike to arrive at a victory: “ It was something that’s been brewing. Everybody’s been in good spirits and it was just a matter of scoring goals and today there was a relief at regaining our goal-scoring touch. “ Today, the first-half was a bit lethargic but we had a chat at half-time and change a couple of things. The players responded, so it was a good performance in the second half. “ We just don’t want to make it a one-off win and go back to the old habits, we want to finish on a strong note and against Bankstown, Blacktown and Sutherland I think we can get some good results and finish the season on a high.” Match Stats West Sydney Berries
5 (Sash Tirovski 52’, Ryan Jones 77’, Giosue
Sama 79’, 82’, 85’) West Sydney Berries:
1. Hamish MCLEAN; 20. Angelo PETRATOS, 6. Jack SOBCZYK,
3. Omar SAADI, 7. Scott THOMAS, 5. Michael Cunico (8. Johnny FOTIADIS
66’), 11. Archie KOTSOPOULOS, 15. Ryan JONES, 18. Giosue
SAMA, 17. Sash TIROVSKI (19. Dimitri ZAKILAS 83’), 10. John
Tsironis (12. Neill PHILLIPOU 81’) Marconi Stallions: 20.
Cem AKILLI; 2. Wade OOSTENDORP, 8. Tallan MARTIN, 10. Tolgay OZBEY,
12. Stefan DONEVSKI (14. Matthew GORDON 72’), 13. Ante DEUR,
17. Sean MITCHELL, 23. Christopher NUNES, 24. Zachary CAIRNCROSS,
26. Nahuel ARRARTE, 38. Umut TOKDOGAN Player Ratings: 3 – Josh Sama (WSB) -By Chris Paraskevas 29th June 2008 Wollongong show finals credentials with important win
Wollongong FC have closed the gap on Manly FC's strangle hold of second place on the TeleChoice Premier League ladder following a gutsy 2-0 victory over West Sydney Berries. The Wolves had it all to play for but the big question remained could they continue their red hot form over the past few weeks which saw them demolish Macarthur 7-0 and then a deserved 1-0 away win over Manly FC. The other question that remained was whether or not the week spell that the Wolves had with their round 17 fixture with Sydney United being postponed - would it affect the team’s rhythm? \Firstly, the Wollongong FC club have showed their hand of intention when they unveiled a new recruit to the first grade line up in the form of former Socceroo goalkeeper Michael Turnbull to replace the regular shot-stopper Justin Pasfield who is away with the Olyroos team in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games. To say that the Wolves were affected by the week off was clear to see in the opening stanza but the Berries would be determined to prove throughout the match that they didn't come down to Wollongong to return home empty handed and that their performance alone would be detrimental to the rhythm that the Wolves would be allowed to play. After the first 10 minutes of midfield “arm-wrestling”, it was the Berries who clearly had the better chance first up when Ryan Jones received a corner on the near post to half-volley only to find the side netting. Soon after “live wire” midfielder Matthew Bailey for Wollongong FC made two telling passes that created great chances in the hope for his side to open the scoring. Firstly, a perfectly weighted cross after a speedy solo run down the right found the head of Chris Price on the far post but Price's header sailed just inches over the bar, and then Bailey's second, was a sublime lob from just over half-way that found the bounding Prenzoski who found himself through beyond the last man and one-on-one with the approaching goalkeeper Hamish McLean for the Berries who did enough to force Prenzoski to shoot well over the West Sydney cross bar. In the 24’ minute a rocket of a shot was sent off on the edge of Wollongong's area by West Sydney's John Tsironis in what was arguably the best shot of the first-half but his shot hit the junction of the cross bar and post and flew off to safety for the Wolves. Just a couple of minutes later a nasty challenge
by Kosta Lagoudakis on Wollongong's Michael West saw referee Peter
Vrtkovski hand out a straight red card. To West Sydney's credit they grew a few feet taller following their teams reduction to 10-men and for most of the remainder of the half it was in fact the visitors who showed the most enterprise in attack, in-fact a Ryan Jones shot in the 39’ minute looked goal bound but Turnbull made his save look rather easy as the teams took the 0-0 scoreline to the break. The second-half started similar to the first with both teams “arm-wrestling” for midfield domination. The turning point for the match would arguably
be in the 55’ minute when a close-range shot by Tsironis looked
a certainty for the Berries but Turnbull pulled off a great diving
save to his right to block the shot away in what was clearly the
save of the match. To West Sydney's credit their spirited fight never dwindled and they could have levelled the scores in the 69’ minute when a scrambled effort in-front of the Wolves goal saw Angelo Petratos shoot at Turnbull, but he muscled his way to block the shot and grab the ball from his attackers feet. A minute later it was the Wolves turn to pressure
and another enterprising run and cross by Man of the Match Chris
Price this time found the head of Prenzoski who couldn't repeat his
strike partners result and McLean easily saved for the Berries. It was the Berries who had the best chance of
the final few minutes when Turnbull again combined to keep the Berries
scoreless when a Scott Thomas shot was rocketed at Turnbull who did
brilliantly to parry away. Kotsopoulos’ follow-up looked also
goal-bound after beating the fingertips of Turnbull’s second
save but the ever reliant Danial Cummins was perfectly positioned
on the line for the Wolves to preserve the 2-0 win. “ My boys really struggled to get into their normal rhythm at times during the match and the week off probably didn't do us any favours in the end. “ I was pleased with the performance of
Captain Ben Blake who really rallied in defence and the form of Chris
Price has continued, which is good to see” he said. “ It is too soon to tell how serious the knee injury is but I will go for scans in the next day or so to see the extent of the damage”. For the West Sydney Berries a despondent Coach
in Ramsin Shamon said: “ At times it feels like we as a club are still doing our apprenticeship and this game can be real cruel at times but I am so proud of the way we fought for everything today.”
Wollongong FC 2 (Dez Giraldi 56', Ilija Prenzoski 85') West Sydney Berries 0 Wollongong FC: 1. Michael TURNBULL, 4. Michael
WEST (3. Lachlin CAHILL 36'), 5. Steve HAYES , 6. Ilija PRENZOSKI,
9. Dez GIRALDI (8. Mitchell LONG 76'), 10. Balla CONDE (2. Alfredo
ESTEVES 73'), 12. Chris PRICE, 13. Tynan DIAZ, 14. Danial CUMMINS,
17. Ben BLAKE (Capt), 19. Matt BAILEY West Sydney Berries: 1. Hamish MCLEAN, 3. Omar
SAADI (18. Giosue SAMA), 6. Jack SOBCZYK, 7. Scott THOMAS, 8. Johnny
FOTIADIS, 10. John TSIRONIS (14. Craig JACOB 65'), 11. Aheleas KOTSOPOULOS,
15. Ryan JONES, 16. Kosta LAGOUDAKIS, 17. Sash TIROVSKI (13. Neil
PHILLIPOU 76'), 20. Angelo PETRATOS Player Ratings: -By Andrew Byron 22nd June 2008 Five-star Manly put four past hapless Berries
In a match that epitomized West Sydney's season thus far, co-coaches Ramsin Shamon and Spiro Hantzis watched on helplessly as their side squandered a number of excellent goal-scoring opportunities inside the opening half-an-hour before being punished emphatically for their defensive naivety. In a bright opening to the match, Manly goalkeeper Brad Swancott needed to be alert as he was forced to punch a way a dangerous free-kick whipped into the United penalty area after just one minute of play. The shot-stopper saw the ball late as it curled toward him through a crowd of bodies and instinctively palmed the ball away from in front of him. Two minutes later and Berries attacker Dimitri Zakilas wasted an excellent chance to give his side the lead. Creative midfielder Sash Tirovski played a dangerous through ball in-behind the Manly defence and across the penalty area. The ball missed three players and the committed Swancott before being caught-up in the feet of Zakilas at the far post. The striker did superbly well to composed himself and take the ball away from the Manly ‘keeper but from a narrow angle and with only one defender protecting an otherwise open net, he dragged his weak shot across the face of goal, with another United defender arriving late to produce a desperate clearance. The Berries continued to press high up the pitch and dictate the tempo of the game from midfield. After 6’ minutes Ryan Jones showed his strength by winning the ball in the opposition half. Holding the ball up just outside the box and remaining unchallenged by a panicking Manly defence, the midfielder shot low and hard with the outside of his foot, only to see Swancott make a sharp save to his left. After 17’ minutes however, Manly striker Robbie Cattanach showed why he is one of the top scorers in the Telechoice Premier League this season. A long throw taken by Manly on the left hand side was latched onto by the mobile Cattanach, who dashed into the penalty area, turned experienced centre-back Petratos inside-out, before dragging his shot just past Hamish McLean’s left –hand post from a tight angle. Cattanach was almost rewarded for his predatory instincts on 26’ minutes, as he took a bouncing ball past two Berries defenders before slipping it delicately underneath the on-rushing McLean. The ball agonizingly hit the post, before returning to Cattanach whose follow up effort was desperately blocked by a West Sydney defender. Despite the best efforts of Sash Tirovski and Ryan Jones – working tirelessly in the Berries midfield – Manly would take the lead on 34’ minutes after a superb team move. Striker Craig Midgley received the ball on the edge of the box and with his back to goal, before slipping a pass through for Cattanach, who accelerated into the penalty area and squared the ball across the face of goal for the unmarked Bradley Groves to produce a cool side-footed finish. The pace and intelligent movement of Midgley, Cattanach and Williams was unsettling the Berries defence and on the stroke of half-time Manly doubled their lead thanks to the brilliance of midfielder Joey Schirripa. Collecting the ball on the left flank, Schirripa took advantage of some lazy Berries defending by darting inside and onto his right foot. From outside the box, the midfielder unleashed a thunderous shot which swerved away from Hamish McLean at the final moment and dislodged the top right-hand corner of the net. A ferocious strike worthy of any 2-0 lead but the lethargy of the West Sydney defence in not putting Schirripa under any pressure was certainly a factor in the goal. Any suggestion of a Berries comeback was dashed only three minutes into the second-half. With the Berries defence back-pedaling, Robbie Cattanach played a delicate through ball for Craig Midgley, who dribbled around the goalkeeper before producing a superb finish, placing the ball beyond a lunging Berries defender and into the back of the net from a tight-angle for a comprehensive 3-0 lead. Manly almost scored again six minutes later, with Robbie Cattanach rolling the ball into the post after some superb build up play. The ball rebounded to Midgley, who cleverly pulled the ball back and away from goal, creating space to shoot but seeing his effort blocked well by McLean from close-range. Despite a couple of half-chances being missed by Tirovski and Tsironis, Manly dominated play during the second-half, with Cattanach, substitute Dusan Mihajlovic and Michael Williams, combining superbly up-front and tormenting a depleted West Sydney back-line. On 78’ minutes, an innocuous long ball toward the West Sydney penalty box was knocked down for Robbie Cattanach outside the box. The striker allowed the ball to bounce once before producing a superb half-volley which dipped into the left-hand side of the net with McLean statuesque, giving United an unassailable four-goal lead. Just as the crowd was finishing admiring the fourth of four excellent Manly goals, the effervescent Williams continued his relentless work down the right-hand side, twice setting up Mihajlovic with accurate crosses into the box – both opportunities spurned by the substitute in an encouraging performance after lengthy injury problems. And it was Mihajlovic who would have the final chance of the match, as an intelligent attacking move by Manly – started after substitute and debutant Caetano Lima won the ball in midfield – resulted in a Roberto Hamad cross finding the towering Mihajlovic at the back post. The big striker however, only managed to smash his effort against the sprawled body of Hamish McLean, who saved his side the embarrassment of conceding five goals at home. For Manly, there are promising signs ahead of the finals series, with the likes of Lima and Mihajlovic producing encouraging performances which suggest they might have a big impact on the championship race. Contrastingly, West Sydney produced one of their poorest all-round performances of the season. Plagued by injuries and troubled by a lack of confidence, co-coaches Ramsin Shamon and Spiro Hantzis have a tough job to turn around the rapidly deteriorating fortunes of a proud club. Club legend Spiro Hantzis, who has no doubt seen the toughest of times in a career spanning 16 years with the Berries – then Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic – is under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task at hand: “ The collapse we saw today seems to be happening every game. We start well and then we don’t take an early opportunity or two, the other team scores a goal and we fall in a heap. “ The effort was there, it seems to be there every week. We need to get a result and the guys are trying very hard but conceding a goal just on half-time and right after half-time is what killed us off. If we had gone in 1-0 down at half-time, we probably could have come away with a result. “ The only way you can get out of it [the winless streak] is by training well. If you train well during the week and confidence is up and we try things, then that is the only way that things will start to come off for us. But I’ve been in situations where I’ve gone through seasons without winning but all you’ve got to do is turn up game by game and be in the right frame of mind every week and things will turn.” Ramsin Shamon pointed to injuries and a run of bad-luck as a main contributor to the Berries’ winless streak but conceded that a lack of clinical finishing in the final-third is at the heat of their problems: “ We had a few key players out and we had a few pull out this morning. Our main stopper Jack Sobczyk came off at half-time, he was struggling and didn’t train all week and was only really passed fit this morning.” “ Obviously now, it’s a week to week proposition for us. We have five weeks to turn things around. “ The results aren’t going our way. Lady luck has got to turn for us soon but it’s not happening for us. We’re trying to take positives out of everything we do but if you don’t score, you lose.” Phill Moss hailed a collective team effort as the driving force behind the impressive victory but singled two or three players for special praise: “ I think the Manly of old turned up today. It’s no secret that we’ve been in a rut for the last four of five weeks but I put the challenge to them today, to go out and enjoy our football and do the things that make us a good side and I think we did that today. “ Both ends of the field were much better for us today. It is always good to see two strikers get on the score-sheet and big Dusan showed some glimpses when he came on of why he is going to be a big player for us toward the back-end of the season. “ I thought Cattanach returned to some of his best form today and Mickie (Michael) Williams was outstanding. There was a whole host. But if you look at players who can turn the game in the blink of an eye, you’d have to point out Cattanach and Bradley Groves.” Match Stats WEST SYDNEY BERRIES 0 MANLY UNITED 4 (Bradley
Groves 34’, Joey Schirripa 45’, Craig Midgley 48’,
Robbie Cattanach 78’) Crowd: 220 West Sydney Berries: 1.
Hamish MCLEAN, 6. Jack SOBCZYK (13. Sargon GEORGES ), 3. Omar SAADI,
7. Scott THOMAS, 10. John TSIRONIS, 11. Aheleas KOTSOPOULOS (5. David
ABEL), 15. Ryan JONES, 16. Kosta LAGOUDAKIS, 17. Sash TIROVSKI, 19.
Dimitri ZAKILAS (14. Craig JACOB), 20. Angelo PETRATOS Manly United: 1.
Brad SWANCOTT, 2. Adam ISRAEL, 3. Andrew MAILER, 4. Roberto HAMAD,
6. Bradley GROVES (14. Caetano LIMA), 8. Michael WILLIAMS, 9. Robbie
CATTANACH, 11. Craig MIDGLEY (10. Dusan MIHAJLOVIC), 15. Cameron
JONES (7. Ashley RYAN), 16. Joey SCHIRRIPA, 18. Beau BUSCH
3 – Robbie Cattanach (MU) 15 June 2008 Thriller at Lambert as Tigers hold on against Berries A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers and West Sydney Berries did battle at Lambert Park on a very wet and windy afternoon in another thrilling game in the TeleChoice Premier League. It had everything: great goals, a spectacular comeback from West Sydney Berries, a missed penalty, a sending off and spectators with their hearts in their mouths. After the game A.P.I.A. coach John Romeo said: “I need a triple by-pass after that. “ Going 2-0 up and it looks like it is going to be an easy game, then all of a sudden you get a player sent off and the game turns completely. “ Full credit to West Sydney because they fought to the very end and, for us, we knew it was going to be hard with ten men.” After only two minutes Robert Younis rose
above everybody else to meet a corner, but his header was just
over. A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt opened the scoring in the 18’ minute when a free-kick from Stephen Kayes found King who placed the ball neatly forward for Mark Byrnes, and the classy defender showed all of his experience to turn the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net past an outstretched McLean. In the 32’ minute A.P.I.A. scored
again with a truly world class goal: Kayes, from well inside his
own half, found Parisi with
a long ball forward and the quick striker outsprinted
his rivals and with a magnificent finish to beat McLean. The Tigers continued to dominate until
the break and the Berries seemed to have little riposte in
the driving
rain. The lights were turned on for the second-half and, metaphorically at least, they were also turned on for the Berries at half-time by recently appointed coach Ramsin Shamon who after the game offered the following: “ We made some key changes early in the second-half and I thought we could have beaten them. “ We have a very fit squad, but we just haven’t been on song in the last few weeks as we walk away with nothing again, but there’s a lot of pride in this team. “
It’s a cruel game, but that’s what it is in the TeleChoice
Premier League,” he philosophically said. However, shortly afterwards the Berries did score: Sash Tirovski, virtually out of nothing, powerfully sent the ball crashing into the back of the net. In the 60’ minute controversy erupted: Marton Vass was booked for a challenge and acting Tigers captain Ian King protested against a free-kick. Both Vass and King were booked. However, what followed was not clear: King seemed to be clarifying the spot where the kick should be taken from and he was booked again meaning he saw the referee’s red card. Down a man, it was always going to be hard work for the Tigers. In the 74’ minute John Kelso, in an attempt to intercept a Kosta Lagoudakis cross from the right, sliced the ball into his own net for a superb own goal. There was nothing Matthew Nash could do to prevent it from going in. In the 80’ minute the Tigers regained the lead: Franco Parisi scored from close-range after superb work from Jamie McMaster on the right. Nevertheless, there was still time for more: Ryan Jones was adjudged to have been brought down in the box by Byrnes and a penalty was awarded. If revenge is a dish best served cold then the outcome of the spot-kick ensured a fair win for the Tigers: Sash Tirovski’s shot was too central and Nash saved and in the end the Tigers managed to hold on to the lead. Match Stats Venue: Lambert Park A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt
Tigers: Matthew
Nash; John Kelso,
Mark Byrnes,
David D’Apuzzo,
Paul Kohler, Ian
King, Stephen Kayes,
Jamie McMaster, Robert
Younis, Franco Parisi,
Marton Vass. West Sydney Berries: Hamish McLean;
Omar Saadi, David
Abel, Jack
Sobczyk, Scott
Thomas (64’ Sargon
Georges), Johnny
Fotiadis (88’ Dimitri
Zakilas), John
Tsironis, Archie
Kotsopoulos, Ryan
Jones, Kosta Lagoudakis,
Neil Philippou
(53’ Sash
Tirovski). Player Ratings: 3 - Franco Parisi
(AL) June 08 2008 Sydney United steal victory in the West
The win moves United into third place, one-point behind Manly in second, whilst West Sydney languish in 8th spot, only two points ahead of Macarthur Rams who are second last. Recently appointed Berries coach Ramsin Shamon made key changes to his first team squad ahead of the match, calling up young defender Omar Saadi for his Premier League debut. Shamon’s decisions were almost vindicated
within the first minute of the match, as Berries left-back Archie
Kotsopoulos burst into the United box. The West Sydney captain managed
to get to the by-line before crossing low for striker Phillipou,
whose poor first touch allowed the ball to trickle agonisingly through
to United goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic. Following more West Sydney incisions into the penalty area, Ben Vidaic – another of the Premier League’s ex A-League prospects – produced a wonderful individual effort. Collecting the ball without much space on the right-hand touch-line, Vidaic managed to cut inside before skipping past a host of static Berries defenders in the box, unleashing a right-foot shot that clipped the legs of McLean before rolling agonisingly past the far post. After 15’ minutes, the energetic Aheleas
Kotsopoulos embarked on another crusade on the left-hand side. Using
his pace to beat United right-back Josip Moric to the by-line, Kotsopoulos
squared the ball across the face of goal. Striker Neill Phillipou
managed to beat his marker to the near post but could only manage
to guide the ball into the side netting. The Berries started the second-half brightly, pressing high up the park, dominating possession in midfield and creating a number of opportunities, in what would become a recurring theme during the second-half. Only 5’ minutes into the second-half and Neill Phillipou squared the ball across the penalty box for Josh Sama, who from a few metres out could not manage to curl the ball toward the United goal, seeing his effort fly well wide of Janjetovic’s right-hand post. Sama was again at the centre of play two minutes later, as he took control of the ball near half-way before producing a wonderful turn to beat his man. After breaching the communication barrier with midfield team-mate Lagoudakis – who for a moment looked as though he was going to take possession of the ball – Sama raced into the box and turned two United defenders before seeing his strike deflect just wide of the right-hand post with Janjetovic stranded. In a moment that epitomised the Berries’ failed efforts to score, man-of-the-match Kotsopoulos used his raw pace with the ball to reach the by-line again. The left-back delivered an accurate low cross which Josh Sama attempted to hit first-time inside the box. Unmarked and under no pressure, the Berries striker missed the ball completely with the goal beckoning. Kotsopoulos again in the 79’ minute of
the match helped create another goal-scoring chance for his side.
Making a late run on the left-hand side to support the isolated John
Tsironis, Kotsopoulos squared the ball to the on-rushing Kosta Lagoudakis
outside the box, his first time-effort flashed past the left-hand
post with the goalkeeper fully stretched. For Ramsin Shamon and his Berries side, the battle to avoid relegation has just become that little bit more difficult. For Ivan Petkovic and Sydney United, perhaps such an undeserved victory is an indicator of the strength of a side who can win without playing at their best. After a promising performance by his new side, Ramsin Shamon applauded the efforts of his players and bemoaned a lack of finishing: “ It is the cruelty of the game isn’t it? We dominate probably 90% of that game and they’ve gone up once and scored a scrappy goal like that but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter how you score, as long as it goes in. It doesn’t matter how it goes in or with which part of the body it goes in. “ Sydney United were lucky to get what they got today, I think they weren’t the best team and sometimes results go your way but unfortunately it is not going our way right now. “ The positives are that we again dominated a team in the top 3. The team is there for us to win a lot of these games but unfortunately our final touch, our final pass, is not doing us justice, but at the end of the day Sydney United should walk away today relieved and should probably buy themselves a lottery ticket because that is about as much luck as you can give someone. But good teams win these games.” Ivan Petkovic reminded us of the old cliché that great teams win matches in which they haven’t played to their best but conceded that his side were lucky to escape with 3-points: “ It was very bad conditions today to play soccer in. At the end of the day 3-points is the most important thing for us, so I think the fair result was maybe a draw, but we’ll take it. “ The positive thing was that I think it is a sign of a good sign team you are winning when you aren’t good enough. All of the boys tried to play hard and that’s what the game is about. “ We believe in ourselves and from the beginning we said we were going to be a very competitive team. And I think slowly we are getting there and we are now in third spot only one point behind Manly, which presents a very good opportunity to at least try to go for second spot but first spot is a little bit harder. Sutherland is a very good team and they are unbeaten all season and they have a big gap over the others.” Match Stats West Sydney Berries 0 Venue: Sydney
Olympic Park Athletic Centre West Sydney Berries: 1.
Hamish MCLEAN; 20. Angelo PETRATOS, 6. Jack SOBCZYK, 5. Omar SAADI,
7. Scott THOMAS, 8. Johnny FOTIADIS, 11. Aheleas KOTSOPOULOS (C),
15. Ryan JONES, 18. Josh SAMA (10. John TSIRONIS 59’), 19.
Neill PHILLIPOU (17. Sash TIROVSKI 65’), 16. Kosta LAGOUDAKIS Sydney United: 30.
Vedran JANJETOVIC; 5. Damon COLLINA, 3. Josip MORIC (4. Milan BOSNAR
71’), Joseph VRKIC (C), 21. Sash TRAJCEVSKI, 23. Ivo BOSNAR,
10. Mark ROBERTSON, 14. Petar MARKOVIC (7. Todd BRODIE 55’),
15. Christopher BOYLE, 11. Luka GLAVAS, 13. Ben VIDAIC (16. Elsid
Barkhousir 59’) Player Ratings: -By Chris Paraskevas 1st June 2008 Five-star McLean denies Penrith Nepean United
In a crucial encounter between two struggling sides, an indifferent opening to the match by the Berries saw Penrith pressing for an early goal in the first few minutes. It was after only 10’ minutes however that the Berries fashioned their first opportunity, as Sash Tirovski skipped past NSL-Championship winning defender Ante Juric before squaring the ball across the face of goal. Striker John Tsironis tried to roll the ball past Penrith goalkeeper Chad Taylor but the custodian produced a superb instinct save. It would have been the perfect start for new Berries coach Ramsin Shamon, who took charge of the West Sydney side for the first time following the departure of Scott Baillie from the club after the Berries’ loss at home against Macarthur last weekend. Only 4’ minutes later and the lively Panagiotis Nikas almost gave Penrith the lead. Collecting the ball just outside the penalty-area, the Nepean youngster showed excellent control to dribble around the lunging Sobczyk before slipping the ball under the body of the on-rushing McLean, only to see his effort roll agonisingly past the post. The Penrith side were clearly out to salvage some lost pride after last weekend’s humiliation at the hands of the Sutherland Sharks, where they were beaten 7-0. Abbas Saad’s side produced an attacking first-half display which saw them pressing high up the park, playing a neat passing game and monopolising possession. On the stroke of half-time United almost took the lead, as Ante Juric’s free-kick from outside the box was curled expertly over the wall, only to be palmed acrobatically away for a corner by Berries goalkeeper Hamish McLean. After a fairly tepid first-half, it was perhaps the deterioration of pitch conditions during the second 45’ minutes which allowed the game to open up, as both sides allowed mistakes to creep into their play. The increasingly wet surface had nothing to do with the quality of Jason Browne’s driven free-kick only 8’ minutes after the break however. From around five-metres outside of the penalty area, Browne saw his thumped shot swerve agonisingly away from McLean’s left-hand post at the last moment, to the relief of the home crowd. The Berries were unlucky not to be leading only 3’ minutes later though, as Lagoudakis’ low strike from outside the box was palmed away by Chad Taylor, only for Ryan Jones to blast over his follow-up shot under pressure. The hard-working Berries midfielder made no mistake in the 68’ minute, though. Jones produced a brilliant run with the ball from midfield before delicately slipping Josh Sama into the box. The substitute’s shot was blocked brilliantly by Taylor but the rebound was sharply side-footed into the back of the net by Jones to give the Berries a 1-0 lead. A momentary lapse of concentration by the Berries
defence ten minutes later saw the Penrith side opportunistically
snatch an equaliser. A lofted ball into the Berries box was headed
backwards by centre-back Angelo Petratos. In the 87’ minute, the effervescent Kosta
Lagoudakis almost produced a superb winner for the West Sydney side. The next 3’ minutes provided fans with one of the most superb goal-keeping displays of the season. For his first save in the 88’ minute, the Berries ‘keeper Hamish McLean managed to tip away a deflect shot from atop his body after going to ground early. Only a minute later and McLean saved sharply down to his right from point-blank range before having to tip a bullet header onto the crossbar from a near-post corner to deny the Penrith side a winning goal. In a frantic last few minutes, the Berries still had time to create another chance for themselves, as Nicolo Sama saw his awkward shot from outside the box saved along a wet surface by the reliable Chad Taylor. A jovial Penrith coach in Abbas Saad was quick to praise Hamish McLean for his supernatural display: “ Three points to the goalkeeper, he was brilliant, what more can you say? “ It was a great game, I thought both teams went at each other. “ You can see there’s a lack of confidence in-front of goal. We could have scored 5 goals in the last 10 minutes but their keeper made 3 magnificent saves. “ In the first-half we had our chances, even in the first 15’ or 20’ minutes but we couldn’t convert. It has been the story of our season but everybody had a go, I thought it was a good performance from our boys and hopefully we can get a couple of good players back again.” After his first game in charge, Ramson Shamon similarly looked on the lighter side of an entertaining match that was played in extremely good spirits by both sides: “ We had one point at the start of the game and we kept it, which was pretty hard. It is pretty hard to do anything with the pitch today since the boys were falling over left, right and centre, so it was a bit hard to really allow the guys to express themselves but what can you do. “ I thought I had the win with about 10’ minutes to go but we seemed to have copped one or two cheap goals throughout the season and this is another example of us not concentrating for the full 90 minutes. “ But, we need to take the positives out of it. The boys tried hard, played really well. They put it in for me today, they put it in for themselves and one point is a good start.” “ I’m undefeated as the new gaffer and I’ll take it that way! There’s a lot of positive vibes in their right now so everyone’s working hard for the next eight games, we’ve got United this week and I think we can ‘do the dirty’ on them.” MATCH STATS West Sydney Berries
1 (Ryan JONES 68’) Venue: Sydney
Olympic Park Athletic Centre West Sydney Berries: 1.
Hamish MCLEAN; 6. Jack SOBCZYK, 7. Scott THOMAS (21. David ABEL 83’),
8. Johnny FOTIADIS, 10. John TSIRONIS, 11. Aheleas KOTSOPOULOS, 15.
Ryan JONES, 16. Kosta LAGOUDAKIS, 17. Sash TIROVSKI (9. Nicolo SAMA
57’), 19. Dimitri ZAKILAS (18. Josh SAMA 65’), 20. Angelo
PETRATOS Penrith-Nepean
United: 1. Chad TAYLOR; 23. Devrim HUSEYIN, 7. Javier MANCINO
(9. Carl McNAUGHTON 65’), 5. Luke BOYD, 16. Michael CROMAR,
13. Nathan RALPH, 17. Ozgur KANYILMAZ, 2. William STUART, 28. Ante
JURIC, 14. Panagiotis NIKAS, 19. Jason BROWNE Player Ratings: -By Chris Paraskevas
Rams edge Berries in Western thriller Two deadly shots fired off the boots of James Young and Steven Old gave Macarthur Rams a 2-1 victory over the West Sydney Berries in an entertaining encounter at the Sydney Olympic Athletic Centre. In a match where the Berries hit the woodwork on three separate occasions, Scott Baillie’s side might have felt slightly unlucky to not have at least salvaged a draw. Macarthur Rams however were rewarded for their lethal finishing and willingness to press forward in attack for lengthy periods of the match, as they claimed a surprise victory away from home. It took the home-side only 2’ minutes
to display their attacking intentions, as Neill Phillipou saw his
looping header tipped over the bar by Macarthur goalkeeper Roy Bell,
after a long-throw into the box by Berries captain Aheleas Kotsopouloas. The positive opening to the match by the Berries sparked a resurgence from their West-Sydney rivals as they went on to dominate possession, and territory, for the next 20’ minutes. Only desperate, last-ditch defending by both sets of defenders prevented any genuine attempts on goal in what was an otherwise fast-paced, entertaining opening to the match with both sides unafraid to push players up the field to attack. During the opening exchanges Macarthur found space in behind the West Sydney Berries full backs, as the attacking 3-5-2 formation set out by Scott Baillie allowed for an open encounter to unfold in front of 320 dedicated football fans. As the Berries began to build some attacking rhythm of their own they fashioned for themselves the best chance of the match in the 38’ minute. Striker Neill Phillipou took advantage of a square Macarthur back-line as he ran onto a through ball inside the box. Under no pressure and with only the goalkeeper to beat, his first-time shot was misfired and flew well over the crossbar. Carrying their attacking momentum into the second-half, Scott Baillie’s side was rewarded for their attacking endeavour in the 50’ minute as referee Peter Vrtkovski awarded the home side a penalty after Shannon Hankin mistimed his challenge on Neill Phillipou inside the penalty-area. Berries midfielder Sash Tirovski stepped-up and coolly slotted the ball past Bell to give the Berries a 1-0 lead. What followed however was a classic example of tactical triumph by Rams coach Paul Carter. In the 55’ minute he sent on striker James Young for Steven Baveas and within 2’ minutes the Macarthur substitute scored the equaliser, latching on to a Cooley strike which was dragged across the face of goal and placing the ball calmly beyond Frangeskou to make it 1-1 with the Berries defence static. West Sydney almost regained the lead 3’ minutes later after a brilliant piece of football. Collecting the ball on half-way, substitute Nicolo Sama back-heeled the ball into the path of the on-rushing Sash Tirovski who played a first-time through ball over the Macarthur defence for left-winger Aheleas Kotsopoulos. The Berries captain surged into the penalty-area and side-footed the ball past Bell, only to see his shot roll onto the post and agonisingly across the face of goal before being cleared away. In the 67’ minute of the match, a similarly positive run by Steven Old saw the lanky defender take the ball into the Berries penalty-area before placing the ball calmly past Frangeskou to give Macarthur a 2-1 lead. Berries substitute Nicolo Sama then embarked upon a positive run in the 74’ minute before slipping through a delicate pass for Kotsopoulos, who again slid the ball past Bell, this time seeing his shot roll past the outside of the post. The sustained pressure from the Berries was being repulsed by some sharp goalkeeping and heroic defending by the Macarthur side, with Bell saving down to his left from a Ryan Jones shot from inside the box and Hankin making up for conceding the penalty by throwing his body in-front of Sash Tirovski to deny the midfielder from close-range following a Berries corner only half-cleared by the Rams. The Berries still managed to create two late chances to salvage a draw in this enthralling encounter. In the 85’ minute, Nicolo Sama was fouled just outside the Macarthur penalty-area with his back to goal. The midfielder stepped-up to take his own free-kick and saw his curled effort clear the wall but hit the crossbar with Roy Bell statuesque. Scott Baillie was then denied what would have been a dramatic late equaliser as he saw his driven shot from outside the box acrobatically palmed away by an outstretched Roy Bell. Macarthur coach Paul Carter was relieved yet sympathetic to the cause of the losing side: “ I think in the last six weeks we’ve
been more than a match for most of our opponents, but I don’t
think things have bounced for us. The funny thing is today, we probably
deserved a draw. The Berries were unlucky but I think in other weeks
we’ve been unlucky and it probably balances out over the rest
of the season. Berries player/coach Scott Baillie echoed Carter’s words but lamented his side’s inability to finish their chances: “ Carts (Paul Carter) probably put it
in the right words, he said he didn’t deserve to win after
the game but he’ll take it and I tend to agree with that. You
can’t have four one-on-ones in the second-half and miss them
all, that’s not good enough. MATCH STATS West Sydney Berries 1 (Sash Tirovski 50’) Venue: Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre Referee: Peter Vrtkovski Crowd: 320 West Sydney Berries: 69.
Johnny Frangeskou; 6. Jack Sobczyk, 4. Scott Baillie, 12. Neil Phillipou,
10. John Tsironis (9. Nicolo Sama 55’), 11. Aheleas Kotsopoulos,
17. Sash Tirovski (18. Josh Sama 68’), 16. Kosta Lagoudakis
(8. Johnny Fotiadis 66’), 21. Joshua Ferguson, 7. Scott Thomas,
15. Ryan Jones Macarthur Rams: 40.
Roy Bell; 2. Craig Cooley, 5. Michael Brown, 6. David Gardiner, 7.
Mat Toogood, 9. Steven Old, 12. Shannon Hankin, 13. Kosta Barbarouses
(23. Josh Ford 90’), 14. Daniel McCann, 16. Steven Baveas (27.
James Young 55’), 17. Adam Wither Player Ratings: -By Chris Paraskevas |
|
