Match Reports Season 2008
Division 1 Firsts / Reserves | Division 3 Firsts / Reserves

S.A.A.S.L. Round Nine Saturday 14th June 08

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DIV 1 FIRSTS 1 v 2 MODBURY JETS
Sawicki (1)

Ciccianni, Ciano, Matthews, Condon, Barolo, George (Pavia), Ripa, Sawicki, Stenta, Rossi, Manou

A trip up north to face the Jets is never an easy encounter, and Saturday’s match was no different.  Played out on a beautiful deck, the match lived up to its hype and was keenly contested by both sides and highly entertaining.  To be fair, the result could have gone either way with Modbury making the most of their chances and the Wolves left to rue a swag of missed opportunities.

It was a ‘new look’ Wolves that took to the field for this match with Ciccianni back into the starting line up for the first time since the match against the Saints and Condon returning to partner Matthews in the centre of defence.  Barolo partnered George in the centre of midfield and Ripa and Sawicki lined up out wide.  Stenta was given a more attacking role in the centre of the park and supported Manou and Rossi up front (the sperm finally shaking his ‘super-sub’ tag to gain a starting berth).

Both sides began brightly looking for a weakness to exploit.  In past matches, the Jets may have found one, but the Wolves who took the park for this match seemed to have a steely determination about them.  Absorbing the early pressure with ease, Iggies set out establishing their own footprint on the match.  Sawicki had the first real opportunity when he was put through with a beautiful ball.  He only had to beat the keeper, but the Jets custodian made a fine save to deny Sawicki his first of the season.  It would be the first of many fine saves made by the Jets number one, who would prove to be the difference in the tight contest.  Sawicki finally got the goal he thoroughly deserved a little later.  The pleasing thing about the goal was that almost everyone was involved.  Ripa, Rossi and Manou had the final say in setting up Sawicki who smashed the ball home from inside the box.

Soon after the goal, a significant passage of play would take place.  Stenta’s poor pass to George set up the tough midfielder who was forced to lunge for a challenge that would end his day.  George bravely tried to run off the damage to his ankle but could not and his loss was hard to offset.  Iggies lost momentum and the Jets stepped up there efforts, sensing the time was right to equalise.  Their inevitable goal would come via a Stenta mistake.  The skipper was caught flat footed in his own box which caused him to miss-control an incoming cross.  The ball fell beautifully into the path of a Jets striker who scuffed his shot into the back of the net.  It was a goal that was hard to swallow for Iggies, especially as the defence had done so well to keep the Jets at bay up until that point.

The goal seemed to get Iggies going though and we certainly finished the end of the half all over our more fancied opponents.  A host of chances came and went, but the Wolves could not find the back of the net.  Rossi hit the post, Pavia had a good opportunity to score for the third week in a row, Ripa created havoc inside the box and had a chance to score, and Manou probably had one as well, but I can’t remember.  It was all to no avail though as a combination of excellent goal keeping and poor finishing meant that the score would remain tied at the half.

The second half began much in the same manner that the first ended.  The best early chance fell to Stenta who ghosted into the box unmarked and latched onto a long throw by Manou which caught the Jets napping.  It is a move that has bore fruit on a couple of occasions this season to date, but the captain’s volley was swatted away by the keeper again!  Not long after this effort, the Jets would take the lead.  A long ball forward was cleverly flicked into the path of a forward running midfielder who was left unmarked.  This exposed the back three and allowed the Jets player to run at them confidently before firing in a quality finish over Ciccianni’s outstretched arms.

At 2-1 up, the Jets went in for the kill and began a period of dominance over Iggies.  One attack after the other was met with resolute defending by the Wolves with Ciano in outstanding form in his best display for the season.  Matthews and Condon were also very solid in what is fast becoming the norm for these two, whilst Ciccianni was sensational in goals, keeping us firmly entrenched in the match with a string of fine saves.  He also showed supreme confidence with a Lance Franklin type performance, grabbing every single cross that came his way with fearless intent.

The resolute defending would provide Iggies with the confidence to wrestle back the upper hand and for the final 15 minutes we threw all that we had at the Jets.  How we did not find an equaliser I still do not know, but an equaliser was certainly deserved.  Whilst it was extremely disappointing to lose again in another close match that we were leading in, the effort that flowed from the players in the red and blue was nothing short of inspirational.  Lady luck might not have been on our side this week, but with this sort of effort, we will begin to make our own luck in the future.  Next week’s cup match is important as it will enable us to build on this week’s performance, but, as President Uren noted, “The next two league games will define our season.”  Without looking too far ahead, victory over BOSA and Navarino would go along way to ensuring our survival in the first division this season.  Let’s hope the players realise the importance of our next few weeks and get out on the training track in force this week.

DIV 1 RESERVES 1 V 1MODBURY JETS

Lineup: Arboit; Dew, D’Argenio, Cosenza, Ventura; Barone (J. George ’85), Maio, Siklich (J. Kitching ’77), Rayner; Hawkes, P. Sparapani

Goalscorer: Hawkes

Modbury is not an easy place to play football.  Deceptively long, and ridiculously wide, the pitch allows teams enough room to play ‘the beautiful game’, yet also invites direct balls to be played with significant space to run into.  That, and Modbury traditionally play in an ‘English’ manner, leaving little time on the ball for the opposition, and hard (but fair) challenges at every opportunity.

The result was a tale of two mistakes.  From the outset both sides played direct balls to their strikers, which the opposition defence and goalkeepers were able to consistently handle.  We took the lead early (10th minute) as a result of a goalkeeping error.  Good work down the left saw a freekick awarded on an angle, 25 yards from goal.  Pez shot straight at the ‘keeper, which he fumbled into the path of Hawkesy, who tapped in from 4 yards.  The rest of the half was a tactical battle; neither side was able to impose themselves on the opposition, and as a result chances were scarce.  Indeed, this reporter does not remember either ‘keeper being forced into a save.

The second half started similarly to the first – direct football, a mistake, a goal.  A cross from the left hand side resulted in confusion between ‘keeper and defender, both calling for the ball, allowing a Jets striker a simple header from a similar position to Hawkesy with both OISC players stranded.  Again, the rest of the half produced few chances, although OISC arguably had the better ball play in the final third as the half wore on.  Unfortunately, the Modbury keeper had little to do except catch crosses.  D’Argenio had a half-chance in the last minute, but he mistimed his angled run and blazed over the bar from 15 yards.

The 1-1 result was a fair result for two very evenly matched teams.  However, it places a significant dent in our championship aspirations.  We face MSSC Blue Eagles next week in the Cup, a match which we should win.  The Cup probably offers our best chance of silverware for the season and we are determined to make a good fist of it!

DIV 3 FIRSTS 2 V 1 FLINDERS UNI

Goals; Iordan, Ciccarello D

Lineup: Bacon, Butters, Radcliffe, Wills (JD Bolognese), A Rossi, Woods, Ciccarello D, ZEEE, Ortner (Callaghan), Andrawos, Iordan (Kitching A)

Another trip made outside suburbia and our common comfort zone, Flinders Uni, from past experiences last year they always provide a good matchup and are around our mark on the table. After not picking up any points since defeating Murray Bridge we had once again slipped into last place in the league and are embroiled in a real relegation dogfight. Thankfully a win here would see us move up the table, and after the dreadful effort against Strathalbyn we played very very well against the Eagles last week so the signs were there.

Spirits in the camp were high prior to kickoff, jokes were made about ze's calling for the ball; *ahem* "ALRIGHT! OK! ALRIGHT!" Wills set about an ultimatium with Ze that everytime he called for the ball like that he owed us all a beer. We also heard a colorful story from Andrawos previous visit to Flinders involving a pair of pants, due to its graphic nature i won't recall on here but please feel free to go upto him at training and ask about it. Whilst all this was occuring we were all seemingly concentrated at the task at hand, playing well and getting some more points on the board. Big Wills and Andrawos did an exceptional job in getting us focused for the game and i must say for once there was a real feeling of desire to win amongst the players.

The start of the game was back and forth with neither team taking a real ascendancy on possession. At about the fifteen minute mark an innocuous long ball was played over our defence and the Flinders player took control after communication breakdown between Bacon and previously mentioned backline, lobbing Bacon and putting Flinders ahead 1-0. Disappointing to say the least, as was the next five minutes and only stubborn defending kept us in the hunt, we were panicking far, far to much and there was no composure. Woods, Wills and Radcliffe forming a triangle at the back picked up their communication and from here the game improved, we started seeing more of the ball and held onto it better as well. Andy made note at the beginning of the game to play less counter attacking football and get the ball in our half more often to keep the pressure on and we were slowly getting on top. We nearly struck back after a half clearance fell to Rossi who smashed a shot in, that became a beautiful cross onto Iordan's head who deflected it pass the keeper, the ref cancelled the goal ruling offside...it was a strange call considering there didn't seem to be a flag up or a linesman for that matter.

Flinders seem to play in a similar style to us, long balls. Usually we struggle with this, but this week we were far more switched on and far more accountable, it was encouraging to see. The full backs in Rossi and Butters started upping their game and started linking with those ahead of them as Ortner and Zee started to introduce themselves into the game. I have to be honest i don't really remember Iordan's goal to level it, so it must have been amazing lets just pretend it was a rifle from 35 yards that not even disputed best keeper in the world Buffon would have stopped, anyway we were level and regardless of how the goal was scored Iordan was fantastic up front and gave us great drive in our forays forward. The game fell back to 50-50 and the ref called for half time.

The desire was still alive at half time, we were keeping the dream alive and only one change was made with Andrawos dropping into midfield next to Woods and Ciccarello moving into the much famed STRIKER (c Tom Earls) position. We began the second half with a call to arms from Woods "Im sick of f**king losing lets put some goals in" unfortunately not as touching as a Jimmy Sourdin rallying cry but none the less we picked up again. Rossi was aging like a fine wine on the left as alot of the play went down the spectators side of the pitch, he's a pretty boy so i'm sure he was playing it up for the crowd. Nonetheless once again we seemed to be on top, making plays forward and at the same time nullifying any attempts on our goal. Iordan played a nice little ball onto the path of the mighty DC and ball stayed glued to his feet as he persisted forward and broke clear in the box cooly slotting it past the keeper to put us ahead!!

We've rarely taken the lead this year so it was unlikely we were going to be playing sweet flowing passes looking to carve up their defence, no, it was basically called "park the bus" and as an England fan let me tell you it must give everyone a heart attack. Closing down was at a premium as was the perceived time wasting, this was at its peak when Andrawos, after being told to hurry up and take the throw by every member of the opposition went one further and told their captain if they wanted us to take less time then he should start getting the ball and then called him a lovely well rounded man, well words to the affect that earnt the crazy egyptian a yellow card. Tensions increased as tackles started going astray and back chat was being delivered aplomb. It reached boiling point when Rossi went on a barnstorming run from left back only to be taken out before he was about to let fly on goal. Operation park the bus was working as Flinders started bickering amongst themselves, it reminded this writer of many games this season but the bickering was usually amongst ourselves.

JD, Chief and Callaghan had all made their way onto the pitch at this stage and settled in right away as they realised the intensity of the game, there was a period of intense pressure but we quelled all attacks well enough and held out til the final whistle, just a note here for the flinders ref from the reserves game, there was about 3 minutes stoppage time in our game unlike the 13 minutes in the game prior.

Everyone played very well, there were no passengers. Iordan did well scoring one and laying another on for DC and always looks comfortable with the ball at his feet, A Rossi has been having a purple patch these past few weeks and here's to his form continuing. The most encouraging thing about today is that we took our chances and were solid at the back, communication also picked up and this was aparent after we conceeding it was a major contributing factor to our win.


DIV 3 RESERVES 1 V 2 FLINDERS UNI

Goal: Ciccarello M

Lineup;