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

S.A.A.S.L. Round Three Saturday 19th April 08

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DIV 1 FIRSTS 2 vs 3 ST PETERS OLD COLLEGIANS

Goals: Ripa (1), Stenta (1)

Lineup: Ciccianni, Kari, Matthews, Zanin, DeIeso (Galipo), Sawicki, Drazetic (Takumi), George, Stenta, Rossi (Andrawos), Ripa

Discipline – “Training that produces obedience and self-control”.  That was the key word for yesterday’s derby game against St Peters.  Coach Romano had mentioned it in his pre-game talk and the players had re-instated the importance of it only seconds prior to kick off.  It was discipline that would play a central role in this week’s loss to the old enemy.

The Wolves, seeking to draw on another fantastically disciplined performance from the well marshalled and well drilled reserves side, were confident, controlled and disciplined in large patches of Saturday’s match.  We knew we would be in for a difficult encounter, but were not overawed by the task in front of us.  Our early challenges were strong, and our passing neat and quick as we took the game right up to our more fancied opponents.  That is not to say that St Peters didn’t have their moments in the first half.  In fact, our defence was under enormous pressure for long periods of the game as SPOC tried to take advantage of their aerial dominance up front continually driving long balls forward and using long throws as attacking forays into the box.  But the defence, marshalled expertly by Kari (in his best game of the season to date), withstood everything thrown at them.  Even more pleasing was the support Kari got from the ever improving Zanin, who looks to be growing in confidence week by week, and the impressive showing of first team debutant Matthews, who had an outstanding first up game that should ensure his selection next game.

With this sustained SPOC pressure as the backdrop, OISC was forced to forge out opportunities on the counter, which we did very well.  In fact, for the first time this season we would take the lead in a match.  A free kick was awarded in our attacking half which Kari looped into the box.  From the ensuing clearance, the ball was sent back into the box by the ever present George.  He found Drazetic who, with his back to goal cleverly flicked the ball on to Stenta who was denied at close range by a sprawling keeper.  That deflected save however found its way to Ripa, who fired in his first goal of the season and the Wolves were away.

As is becoming the norm though, we would throw away our hard work and concede a soft, undisciplined goal before the end of the half.  In what is becoming an alarming trend, we were again caught out by a ball cut across the box and a late run from an unmarked midfielder as SPOC equalised.  What could have been a heartbreaking, head-dropping moment for the Wolves actually spurred us on even more.  With good, hard, disciplined play we were able to finish off the half well and should have gone ahead with only a few minute to go.

A corner was swung in from the far side and was met solidly by the head of George, bound for the top corner.  In a moment of cheating desperation, a SPOC midfielder positioned on the line stopped the goal-ward bound header blatantly with his arm to deny us a goal.  Everyone at the ground saw the handball; the SPOC player knew he had done it; the referee even blew his whistle whilst the ball was still in play and our players rejoiced!  However, in what turned out to be the first crucial, game-turning decision, no action was taken and a drop ball was rewarded.  The SPOC player should have been red-carded, a penalty should have been rewarded, and Iggies should have gone into half time 2-1 up with spirits high.  The referee chose to consult with the linesman though; a 16 year old SPOC supporter who claimed to have “seen nothing”.  It was gut-wrenching and we went into the half tied at 1-1.

The second half could have been the script for a Hollywood blockbuster.  Emerging with renewed confidence and a steely determination the Wolves set about restoring their lead with some great play.  Our short term international signing, Takumi, was injected into the midfield and we surged forward on continuous raids looking for the lead.  It would come from the boot of Stenta who neatly tucked away the shot-come-cross from the Japanese superstar about 15 minutes into the second half.  The goal sparked another 15 minute period of dominance by the Wolves who put together some of the slickest passing moves ever seen at Glenunga.  What was particularly pleasing was that most of it came from the Wolves young brigade as players like Sawicki, Rossi and George combined well to bamboozle our shell-shocked opponents.  The highlight of this 15 minute period was no doubt a neat 6 pass move that saw the ball cut its way through the SPOC defence like a knife through butter.  The exchange included first time, one-two passes from the like of George, Sawicki, Stenta and Rossi.  At the end of the delightful foray, the ball was cut back to Stenta who fired an effort across the goal from outside the box only to miss narrowly.

Things would turn ugly soon though.  At 2-1 up and with the momentum going our way, we failed to find and deliver the knock-out blow.  Instead, we would concede another soft, undisciplined goal from a scrappy goal mouth scramble.  At 2-2 it was now SPOC’s turn to pile on the pressure and search for a winner.  In a show of strength not seen at Glenunga this year, the home side held firm; that is until the second crucial, game-turning decision was made.  After being fouled in the box, Ciccianni had a Barry Hall like brain snap and proceeded to attack the offending SPOC player with a rugby-style tackle, jumping on him and taking him to the ground.  The keeper was given a straight red card and unnecessarily reduced Iggies to ten men.  The discipline that was talked about before the game, the discipline that was so keenly displayed by all and sundry up until that point had been thrown out the door and would cost the side (and will no doubt cost the club in the upcoming weeks).  Rossi was sacrificed for Andrawos who made his season debut as keeper for the firsts.  Andrawos (the field player turned keeper) must be commended for his keeping this year to date, taking hold of the gloves for the club when no-one else would step up and doing an excellent job in the specialist position.

Again it was a cross that would determine the fate of the Wolves five minutes from time.  The ball was swung in from the right and another unmarked midfielder ghosted into the box, beating Andrawos to the ball.  His looping header found the back of the net and gave SPOC a 2-3 lead and the game.  It should be noted that this was the same player who should have been sent off for his blatant hand ball in the first half.  Such is life though.  The lads should hold their heads high though, as we battled hard all day and deserved at least a point from this fiercely contested encounter.  The Wolves were left to rue a poor decision by the official and some poor discipline, both which would cost us maximum points.  President Uren, with his silky smooth dolce tones on the mic, chose to focus on the positives though later at the pub; “At least Family Day was a success!”  We must learn from today and move on as a club.

 

DIV 1 RESERVES 5 v 0 ST PETERS OLD COLLEGIANS

Goals: Ortner, Sicklich, Hawkes, Pavia, Sparapani

A beautiful day greeted us at the Glenunga Superdome for the traditional derby between Old Ignatius and St. Peters. With family day in full swing the whole side was eager to show off their talents in front of their loved ones. Especially one man ‘Hawkesy’ who ran like a steam train for 90 minutes to maybe impress that special someone he brought along on the day.

With two players called up to the As squad we faced some positional changes with Frank ‘onions’ Maio and Ventura coming in to partner D’Argenio and Dew at the back, with Siklich, Ortner, Woods and Rayner making up the midfield quartet.

From the outset it was clear that everyone on the park was up for this game. We controlled the tempo well and resigned Saints to trying their luck from outside the 18 yard box. With the midfield working hard and linking well with the two front men we were awarded with a goal from a set piece. D’Argenio drifted the ball to the far post where it was headed on into the path of Ortner who showed Hawkesy-like composure to beat the keeper. Many chances followed as both Siklich and Hawkes missed narrowly from tight angles. Siklich finally got his reward for some fine work with a free-kick that cannoned into the wall and luckily curled into the bottom corner of the net.

With the half-time talk still ringing in our ears, from coach Sparapani and captain Dew, the team came out like men possessed in the second half. The midfield was totally dominant winning the ball and distributing it with composure all other the park. We quickly extended our lead with a great cut-back by Pavia to the feet of Hawkes who finished comfortably in front of his lady friend who was surely impressed by his efforts.

The 2nd half continued with Ignatius playing some great football leading to Pavia and Sparapani getting themselves on the score sheet with two well taken goals.

With the game in the bag for Ignatius, Saints threw men forward in an effort to gain something from the game but to our credit the defense held strong to keep our first clean sheet of the season.

Well done to all players taking part in this game especially those brought up from the C-side; Woods, Condon and J. George. It is great to see the amount of depth we have at the club and that all players can do a job when required at any level.

Andrawos, Dew, D’Argenio, Maio, Ventura, Ortner, Rayner (George), Woods (Condon), Sicklich (Sparapani), Pavia,  Hawkes

DIV 3 FIRSTS 0 v 4 ADELAIDE TIGERS


Goalscorer: Nil

Lineup: E. Ciccarello, Condon (Caeran), Williams, Lai, A. Rossi, Callaghan, J. Kitching, Balestrin (G. Bolognese), Al-Hinai, Leach (Angley), Sourdin.

‘Family Day’ had arrived at Glenunga, and the 3As went in to the match feeling confident that their first point of the season (at a minimum) could be obtained.  There were girls watching us, Darren Woodhouse had a wolf painted on his face, and the 1Bs had just thrashed the spooners 5-0.  There was even a minor Adelaide football celebrity in the crowd – the infamous computer user Bødo Glimt of the internet forum footballnews.com.au was in attendance!

In the opposite corner stood the Adelaide Tigers, a team formed from within the African refugee community (there are at least two others that this author knows of – Africa United in Saturday Division 1, and Burundi Eagles in Saturday Division 3).  It’s a pity that nobody taught them in English school that there aren’t any tigers in Africa.

Before the game, the focus was to ensure that we maintained our concentration.  In previous weeks we had gone down behind early and had fallen apart rather quickly thereafter.  Following the inspirational words of Captain Marvellous, we fought hard with the Tigers in the opening stanza, not allowing any easy opportunties.  Kitching and Al-Hinai continually broke down opposition forays through the middle, whilst Rossi and Condon didn’t allow any easy cutbacks.  Our main source of attack was through Balestrin and Leach on the left side.  We had a numerous of set piece opportunities which just failed to hit the target, and we looked the most likely to score first.  However, disaster struck in the 35th minute as an innocuous ball into the box wasn’t cleared properly by Al-Hinai and was struck first-time into the bottom corner by a grateful Tiger’s player.

We were under the pump for the rest of the half as our heads dropped, and we were lucky that another Tigers goal was disallowed for a questionable offside.  Al-Hinai went on an excellent run right before half-time, and after some good link-up play with Leach and Callaghan was unlucky not to be rewarded when the ‘keeper seemingly plucked his shot out of mid-air. 

We resolved to score early into the second half at the break.  After a few promising forays and penetrating corners, we were let down by a slightly dodgy refereeing decision – Rossi was fouled in the box by an oncoming striker, and retaliated with a challenge.  The referee penalised the second foul, and Tigers duly converted the penalty.  These things are cyclical, apparently, having given away three penalties in three weeks we are expecting some love of our own soon from the refs.

The wind had been knocked out of our sails after that decision, and it showed.  Tigers were the first to every ball and created a wealth of opportunities.  It was no surprise when they scored their third and fourth in the last 15 minutes to pad the scoreboard.  Both goals came from goalmouth situations – very similar to the majority of goals Comets scored.  At the other end, we were unable to capitalise on any opportunity, and didn’t test the ‘keeper at all. 

What had started as a promising day turned into another disappointing loss. Realistically, we understand that as the third side at our club we will continually be facing quality opposition, but in this author’s opinion there is no better test of one’s character than playing against opposition perceived to be better than you.  There is still a long way to go in this season and a lot to build upon from this performance – although the bottom 4 go down and we stay rooted to the bottom of the table, we are only 2 points from 7th, so our next league game against McClaren Districts in two weeks will be pivotal in maintaining touch with our rivals.  We have a Preliminary Cup game next week at Glenunga against Greenock which we hope can springboard our season!!

DIV 3 RESERVES 0 v 2 ADELAIDE TIGERS

Goalscorer: Nil

Lineup: