Round 1 Results

[cigan1996]

Round 1 Results

South Coast - Sydney Olympic 0-3
Sutherland - Blacktown 2-1
Sydney United - Manly 2-2
Parramatta - Bonnyrigg 2-2
Rockdale - APIA 1-1
Bankstown - Marconi 0-0

[oden]

Hmm - How'd United play against manly? Manly, i heard are a pretty solid team. They smashed bonno 6-0 two weeks back in a trial match. Great result for olympic though, can't wait for next week. hehe.

[paoktzi]

Manly was up 1 nil then united scored twice and then manly equalised what an up and down game SUS boys give us a report

[paoktzi]

[paoktzi]

Rockdale and APIA share spoils in opening round
27.03.11 20:43

Franco Parisi opened his goalscoring account with the APIA Leichhardt Tigers in their 1-1 draw against the Rockdale City Suns on Sunday
Season 2011 kicked off for the Rockdale City Suns and A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt at Bicentennial Park in Rockdale with a draw that probably was the best reflection of a game that tried, but never rose to any great heights.

The game struggled especially early on to keep spectators entertained.

The best opportunities were with Anthony Hartshorn trying his luck with a shot that ended up wide before Rockdale City almost replied instantly when Kosta Lagoudakis broke free from midfield before firing his shot over the crossbar.

Set pieces proved to be each side’s best friend midway through the first stanza of play: A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt were first to try their luck when a lovely David D’Apuzzo corner made its way to Nicola Rizzo who forced the goalkeeper Dion Shaw into a convincing save just under the crossbar.

Rockdale’s reply was equally dangerous when an Adem Kir corner was beautifully floated into Joshua Lawson who fired his header just wide of the intended target.

Another set piece almost rewarded the Tigers when Robbie Younis’ free-kick forced Shaw into another good save low down.

In the 36’ minute A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt could really have taken the lead when a long ball, that should have been easy prey, was terribly dribbled in an attempted clearance by Shaw.

The resulting error gifted Hartshorn the ball but, by the time he rounded the goalkeeper, his weak shot which still seemed certain to go over the line was wonderfully intercepted by Giorgio Speranza off his own line to save Rockdale’s bacon and Shaw’s blushes.

A late free-kick from Younis was once again unable to penetrate Shaw’s resilience and poise between the posts and, as such, the first-half finished goalless.

It didn’t take too long in the second-half for Rockdale City to break the goal drought when Kir fired in a rocket from approximately 30-metres that was never going to miss the back of the net, leaving Jose Bello-Amigo stupefied between the posts.

It may not be goal of the season given that it is only Round 1, but it will surely go close.

The home side should really have extended the lead shortly afterwards when Steven Veleski was gifted a great ball that allowed him to charge freely, but unfortunately at the crucial moment with only Jose Bello-Amigo to beat, he pulled his shot across the face of the goal and just wide of the posts.

It was the lucky break A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt needed, and perhaps deserved, because only minutes later the ball bobbled its way into the box.

Franco Parisi, ever the opportunist, made no mistake in slotting the ball home.

Another Younis free-kick shaved the posts shortly afterwards before the home side missed two clear cut chances later on.

Firstly, Sash Trajcevski headed just wide before replacement Jeffrey Issa was thwarted by an out-coming Bello Amigo.

After the game Lee Sterrey, coach of the Rockdale City Suns, was reasonably pleased with his side’s efforts:

“I thought we went alright given that APIA were a top five team from last year,” he said.

“I thought we handled their attack well and we had to get men behind the ball, that’s why we played with five in the backline to break out in the counter [attack].

“Adem Kir scored a great goal and 5’ minutes later we had a clear break away with Veleski and we didn’t score with a one-on-one. If we had have gone 2-0 up, the game was over.

“We set the game up great but our execution wasn’t there at times. However, for a team that’s only about fifty percent of last year’s squad, and I have only been here five weeks, there is more positives out it than negatives.”

When quizzed about what he expected for season 2011, Sterrey was definitely upbeat:

“Look, at the end of the day, we want to make the play-offs, like all teams, so once a team is in the five there is every opportunity to go on and win a Grand Final.

“There’s a good character in this club and the Board [of Directors] and the committee is very progressive, so it’s all good.”

The message from the opposition was remarkably similar with A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt’s Football Manager Tony Raciti impressed with his team’s first official outing:

“I thought that obviously we were the better team even though we didn’t play that well today, but we did create four to five clear-cut chances,” he stated.

“I think we started three weeks too late and the boys are still picking up their fitness, but today’s ground was heavy to play on.

“The positives are that the whole back four and goalkeeper were exceptional and didn’t put a foot wrong all game and also David D’Apuzzo had a great game.”

When quizzed about the prospects of APIA Leichhardt in 2011, Raciti was equally positive and full of expectation:

“I think every team should expect to finish first, otherwise they shouldn’t bother to go into the competition, so obviously we are aiming for that position.

“It’s either first or nothing for us,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, in the Grade 20s A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt started the season with a convincing 3-1 win over the home side, Rockdale City Suns.

Match Stats

Sunday, 27th March, 2011

Bicentennial Park, Rockdale

Referee: Kurt Ams

Assistant Referees: Thomas Lee and Alex Long

Fourth Official: Thomas Diakos

Rockdale City Suns 1 (Adem Kir 50’)

A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers 1 (Franco Parisi 61’)

Rockdale City Suns FC: 22.Dion Shaw; 7.Peter Apolevski, 23.Askin Oygur, 10.Sash Trajcevski, 6.Joshua Lawson, 13.Giorgio Speranza, 4.Kosta Lagoudakis (11.Adem Kir 13’), 8.Dominic Hudap, 3.Shay Spitz (19.Marino Musumeci 88’), 9.Jason Naidovski (5.Jeffrey Issa 74’), 12.Steven Veleski.

Substitutes Not Used: 17.Sash Tirovski

Yellow Cards: Naidovski 60’

Red Cards: Nil

A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Jose Bello-Amigo; 2.Mark Byrnes, 3.John Kelso, 13.David D’Apuzzo, 4.Cole Tinkler, 5.Michael West, 7.Stephen Kayes, 8.Anthony Hartshorn, 11.Nicola Rizzo (19.Sam Messam 74’), 9.Robbie Younis, 10.Franco Parisi (16.Chris James 88’)

Substitutes Not Used: 40.Terry Dalbroi, 17.Matthew Fsadni, 15.David Dascal

Yellow Cards: Hartshorn 81’, Parisi 83’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3 - Adem Kir (RCS)

2 - John Kelso (ALT)

1 - David D’Apuzzo (ALT)

-By Joe Russo

[paoktzi]

New boys Parramatta FC denied famous victory at the death
27.03.11 18:27

Parramatta FC very nearly pulled off the scalp of the season in the club’s first match back in the NSW Premier League against Bonnyrigg White Eagles on Sunday.

Leading 2-1 with less than 60’’ seconds of injury time remaining, the defending Premiers scored a last ditch equaliser via the feet of Nathan Elasi to ensure Bonnyrigg would return home with at least one-point.

Played for large spells inside the Parramatta FC defensive half, Bonnyrigg White Eagles were constantly frustrated by the well-organised rearguard set out by Parramatta FC coach, Brian Dene.

Fabien Iacovelli was the hero with a brace for the home-side, meanwhile Brad Boardman opened his account for the season with a well taken goal, before Elasi’s last ditch effort denied the passionate Parramatta FC supporters what would have been a very memorable afternoon at Melita Stadium.

The visitors carved out the first real opening as Elasi centred for Wely Al-Rikaby in the centre of the penalty-area, though the new White Eagles’ signing failed to get a shot on target.

Despite Bonnyrigg’s powerful start in their opponent’s half, Parramatta FC secured some decent possession via the feet of captain Ben Delicata in the middle of the park. Delicata’s composure and quick feet allowed his team mates to get forward, though the White Eagles defensive line, marshaled expertly by Wade Oostendorp, left very little for the likes of Almir Dizdaric and Kutaiba Elrich.

On 17’ minutes, a fine overlapping run by Daniel Severino down the left opened up space for a delivery to Nikola Zonjic at the back post. Zonjic’s first-time header back across goal was destined for Brad Boardman, though some scrambling defence by the home-side thwarted the opportunity.

1’ minute later, Elasi picked up a loose ball on the edge of the penalty-area and shot first-time only inches over Tom Romic’s goal.

Against the run of play, Parramatta FC found the opening goal in the 18’ minute. A poor back pass by Chris Tadrosse was intercepted by Dizdaric who in-turn laid the ball off to Bryan Soane. The midfielder’s first time cross, from the right, towards the back post picked out Fabien Iacovelli who finished past Phil Zabaks with aplomb for the opener.

Bonnyrigg regained the monopoly on possession immediately following the goal as Ben Spruce nearly caught Romic off his goal-line with a shot-turn-cross from the left-flank only just clearing the crossbar.

Romic was quick off his line moments later to thwart Brad Boardman’s attempted chipped’ effort inside the penalty-area, the shot-stopper showed composure to deny the burly striker.

Boardman did get one over Romic in the 32’ minute though, as the home-side failed to deal with Nathan Elasi’s cut-back effort from the right-flank. Boardman was on-hand to pick up the scraps and drill the ball into the back of the net from the penalty-spot mark with a powerful left-foot drive.

The goal was certainly deserved by Bonnyrigg who called most of the shots with a mountain of possession, though the home-side regained the lead with their next forward foray. Iacovelli latched onto a fine searching ball out of midfield to go one-on-one with Phil Zabaks. Despite the close attention of David Vrankovic, Iacovelli maintained his composure to nicely place his effort into the back of the net.

Bonnyrigg kept their foot on the accelerator as Boardman laid the ball off to Severino first, then Elasi, only for the scrambling Parramatta FC defence to clear their lines with some desperate defending.

Tom Romic ensured Parramatta FC would go in at the break with their one-goal lead intact as he was lightning quick off his line to claim the ball at Elasi’s feet with a brave dive to deny the White Eagles striker.

The last play of the half almost saw Parramatta FC add a third goal as Dizdaric’s lunging attempt at Zabak’s feet saw the goalkeeper’s clearance ricochet off the striker and over the crossbar.

After the break, Parramatta FC opened up a little and pushed men forward in search of a third goal. Bryan Soane tried his luck with a low driven effort inside the penalty-area, though his effort finished on the wrong side of Phil Zabak’s left up-right.

Nathan Elasi tried to get some momentum going for his side as he cleverly cut in from the right-flank onto his left foot. Despite creating the space, the striker blasted his effort well wide of the target.

In the 55’ minute, Elasi again got forward with displaying some silky touches to get into a promising position. From an acute angle, with only the goalkeeper to beat, Elasi failed to hit the target with his powerful effort finishing over the crossbar.

The home-side continued to frustrate the White Eagles with some very compact defending. The likes of George Strogylos kept the defensive line in order, with Delicata and Chris Camilleri scrambling in midfield to keep Zonjic and Severino from playing for the visitors.

In the 62’ minute, Severino cleverly danced off the challenge of a defender to play a one-two with Al-Rikaby, though a return pass inside the Parramatta FC penalty-area was not forthcoming and the chance amounted to nothing.

The home-side responded immediately with a searching ball from Delicata thrusted forward towards Dizdaric. The lanky striker used his pace to chase the ball down, though Zabaks was first on the scene, clearing his lines neatly to send the White Eagles on the attack.

Bonnyrigg thought they had found their second equaliser of the afternoon in the 67’ minute when Elasi’s low-driven effort was parried by Romic into the path of Boardman. The striker’s first-time blast on goal was blocked by no less than two defenders, putting their bodies on the line to keep their lead intact.

Kutaiba Elrich was denied at point-blank with a fine save by Zabaks following a Parramattta counterattack, though the home-side’s clearest chance to put the result beyond Bonnyrigg’s reach arrived in the 76’ minute via the feet of Iacovelli. On a hat-trick, Iacovelli received an inviting square ball across the face of goal. With only Zabaks to beat, Iacovelli tentatively hit his effort over the crossbar, much to the disbelief of the vocal Parramatta FC supporters.

In a last ditch attempt, Bonnyrigg White Eagles found their equaliser. A short corner from the left was poorly dealt with, as the resulting ball left fell into the path of Elasi who stabbed the ball into the back of the net for a share of the spoils.

Following the match, Parramatta FC coach Brian Dene expressed his disappointment at conceding a late goal:

“The boys are heartbroken in the dressing rooms,” Dene stated.

“We knew our job at hand was going to be a tough one, so we set out to work as hard for each other as possible. We kept things tight at the back, and really frustrated them as we didn’t let them play their free-flowing game.

“I am very happy with the attitude and performance of the team, even though we did panic a little in the final minutes, which led to the equalising goal,” ended Dene.

Bonnyrigg White Eagles coach Brian Brown was relieved at securing the point, though is quietly confident his side will be back in the winner’s circle very soon.

“A very tough match today, we knew it was going to be.

“The surface was very difficult for our boys, and we also needed to reshuffle our lines with a number of our key guys missing through suspensions that were carried over from last year.

“Leaving that aside, I was happy with the attitude and commitment of my players as the boys kept pushing throughout the match searching for the goal, and this is a very important sign for me.

“We did concede a slack goal, defensively speaking, though we did move the ball around and did create the chances to win the game.

“I am looking forward to next weekend’s match with A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt back on our home surface,” ended Brown.

In the Grade 20 division, Parramatta FC recorded an impressive 2-0 win with a dominant second-half display against the White Eagles.

Match Stats

Parramatta FC 2 (Fabien Iacovelli 18’, 35’)

Bonnyrigg White Eagles 2 (Brad Boardman 32’, Nathan Elasi 90’+3’)

Sunday 27th March, 2011

Melita Stadium, South Granville

Referee: James Lewis

Assistant Referees: Christian Mehl and Bachar Allam

Fourth Official: Tom Klein

Crowd: 850 Approx.

Parramatta FC: 23.Tomislav Romic; 2.Nicholas McInerney, 5.George Strogylos, 6.Tom Wilson, 8.Bryan Soane, 9.Kutaiba Elrich, 10.Chris Camilleri, 11.Peter Crevani, 14.Fabien Iacovelli (7.Shayne Ardle 77’), 15.Ben Delicata (C), 18.Almir Dizdaric (20.Angelo Petratos 87’)

Substitutes Not Used: 16.Jonathan Castano-Acero, 17.A. Attaee, 21.Anthony Costa

Yellow Cards: Tomislav Romic 71’

Red Cards: Nil

Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 99.Phil Zabaks; 3.Nikola Zonjic, 4.Wade Oostendorp, 5.Chris Tadrosse, 6.Ben Spruce (11.J.Chine 77’), 7.Nathan Elasi, 9.Brad Boardman, 10.Daniel Severino, 15.Wely Al-Rikaby, 16.David Vrankovic (23.J. Cho 83’), 17.Michael Robinson

Substitutes Not Used: 12.A. Draca, 14.D. Jevtic, 20.T. Hamilton

Yellow Cards: David Vrankovic 23’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3 – Fabien Iacovelli (PFC)

2 – Ben Delicata (PFC)

1 – Phil Zabaks (BWE)

-By Joseph Carlucci

[cigan1996]

oden wtf

they beat us 2-1

we were missing most of our main players

[mini]

shock result for Parra, and very easily could've been 2-1.

[anothermp]

very interesting round of results I expected Syd Utd and Bonno to come home easily

Did Marconi win or draw?

[mini]

3-1 win

[sydcro57]

Copped a penalty in the last minute of stoppage time. They basically equalised with the last kick of the game. What a shit weekend of fucking football :lol:

TBH, we didnt look anywhere near as good as we did in pre-season. JP would have torn them to shreds at full time. We still should have had it wrapped up before then.

Copped a soft goal after a misunderstanding between Janjetovic and Collina.... then Collina watched the ball trickle in from the edge of the box when it looked like he could easily have gotten to it. Then Glavas and Elsid scored two very nice goals within 2 minutes of each other and it looked like we would put a few more away. Their defender should then have been sent off for bringing down LG when he was through on goal as he was the last man. LG, Elsid and Vidaic all had one on one opportunities to seal it and LG hit the bar with one of his.

There was that feeling of "this isnt looking good" as the game was winding down and then it fucking happened. Cindric got caught flat footed as always and pulled down his man for the penalty. Dont really know if he had pulled him down but it looked like a penalty from where I was standing.

Manly matched us for most of the second half which was very disappointing. Theyre the kind of team we should be putting 3/4 goals past, IMO. Their Korean import (#14) looked pretty good.

[mini]

Nice copy and paste

[sydcro57]

From my own post

[mini]

I thought this forum was special though

[elina4lyf]

Opopo opopo Olympic se agapo