On Saturday night, I ventured
out once again to Fairfield to see the boys play, a place where we had already
lost 3 times this season, twice at Sydney United and once at Bonnyrigg. It
always feels special to be at Marconi Stadium no matter what the occasion is,
even if the crowds are no where near what they were during the golden days of
the NSL or the pre-NSL State League era.
The 1st half began with both teams understandably showing nerves, a by-product of the poor recent form both teams have been experiencing. After the slow start, Olympic had the better of possession and had the upper hand in proceedings. Our inter-play and passing was quite good but we were having trouble with the final pass and carving out clear cut opportunities. We did have a couple of chances during the 1st half but the scoreboard was not troubled by either side and the score remained 0-0 at the half-time break.
As with most teams who are sitting at the bottom of the ladder, if you don’t finish them off early they seem to grow another leg, and Marconi certainly did that as they came out for the 2nd half with great enthusiasm and endeavour in their bid to open the scoring. The first 15 minutes of the 2nd half saw Marconi have a couple of really good chances and I’m sure if you ask them they would say that they should have buried at least one of those chances. As it was, we weathered that storm and found our rhythm again midway through the 2nd half. We played some good football had a couple of chances to once again open the scoring, all to no avail. With about 20 minutes to go Michael Gaitatzis who worked hard up front was replaced by Dimi Hatzimouratis in a bid to find a goal. 5 minutes from the end, the goal would come thanks to a great run from Will Angel into the box where he was fouled by a Marconi defender. Harris Gaitatzis stepped and put his penalty into the top corner to give us a deserved lead. A couple minutes later the 3 points were sealed, a good cross from Troy Danaskos found Dimi Hatzimouratis whose first-time volley flew into the back of the net to seal the valuable 3 points.
It was Marconi v Olympic, so it was never going to be easy no matter where the clubs sat on the ladder. The performance was an improvement on last week’s debacle with Manly. We now must improve further coming into the important part of the season and find some consistency in our performances.
Our next match is next Sunday at Lambert Park against Blacktown Spartans - kickoff 4pm.
The 1st half began with both teams understandably showing nerves, a by-product of the poor recent form both teams have been experiencing. After the slow start, Olympic had the better of possession and had the upper hand in proceedings. Our inter-play and passing was quite good but we were having trouble with the final pass and carving out clear cut opportunities. We did have a couple of chances during the 1st half but the scoreboard was not troubled by either side and the score remained 0-0 at the half-time break.
As with most teams who are sitting at the bottom of the ladder, if you don’t finish them off early they seem to grow another leg, and Marconi certainly did that as they came out for the 2nd half with great enthusiasm and endeavour in their bid to open the scoring. The first 15 minutes of the 2nd half saw Marconi have a couple of really good chances and I’m sure if you ask them they would say that they should have buried at least one of those chances. As it was, we weathered that storm and found our rhythm again midway through the 2nd half. We played some good football had a couple of chances to once again open the scoring, all to no avail. With about 20 minutes to go Michael Gaitatzis who worked hard up front was replaced by Dimi Hatzimouratis in a bid to find a goal. 5 minutes from the end, the goal would come thanks to a great run from Will Angel into the box where he was fouled by a Marconi defender. Harris Gaitatzis stepped and put his penalty into the top corner to give us a deserved lead. A couple minutes later the 3 points were sealed, a good cross from Troy Danaskos found Dimi Hatzimouratis whose first-time volley flew into the back of the net to seal the valuable 3 points.
It was Marconi v Olympic, so it was never going to be easy no matter where the clubs sat on the ladder. The performance was an improvement on last week’s debacle with Manly. We now must improve further coming into the important part of the season and find some consistency in our performances.
Our next match is next Sunday at Lambert Park against Blacktown Spartans - kickoff 4pm.
What's the go with Marconi? Are they definitely going to get relegated? Is the soccer club doomed in the long/medium term?
ReplyDeleteHard to tell. Relegation in the NSWPL is based on the Club Championship which includes results from the 18s, 20s and first grade.
Deletehttp://www.footballnsw.com.au/fileadmin/user_upload/Club_Championship/Mens_1/PS4_NPL_NSW_MENS_1_CLUB_CHAMPIONSHIP.pdf
From what i've seen of them they really are not that bad, and it is hard to figure out why they are so far off the pace. They're just having one of those off years, but if they're not careful they could be finished if they're relegated as there are plenty of rumours coming out of Marconi regarding next year.
Will be sad if they're lost to the league.