Craig Lairds weekly write up 7-6-15

[pecker]

MATCH OF THE DAY
INGLE FARM (3) vs SALISBURY INTER (1)
INGLE Farm has moved four points clear at the top of the Sunday Premier division after a 3-1 victory over Salisbury Inter at Walkleys Park.
Farm came into the game with an undefeated record which stretches back to July last season while Inter sought an improved effort after their worst performance of the season in a round six loss to Gardens.
Farm settled the better and a Sonny Murrell cross found Musti Ipekdal whose effort went just wide.
The deadlock was broken on 22 minutes when Farms Alex Baxter played in a firm corner which was brilliantly met with a bullet header by Sulli Turson to the delight of the home support.
Just as it appeared Inter would go to the break with a one goal deficit Farm struck with a fine goal on 45 minutes.
Some good lead up play saw the ball played to Turson on the left who turned provider with a wicked cross that was met at the back post by the deadly Ipekdal who made no mistake to send Farm 2-0 up at the break.
Inter started the 2nd half with more purpose and an Alban Martini shot on 46 minute’s whistled just over the bar while Andrew Butler and Matthew Centrone had shots well blocked.
Farm could have ended the contest on 50 minutes when Turson was one on one with Inter keeper Nick Sincock only to be denied by the diving Sincock’s feet.
On 57 minutes the skilful Martini crafted a chance for Butler but his goal bound effort was parried clear by Farms Chris Nicholls.
It was end to end stuff and Farms Jarrod Noel picked up an errant Inter defensive pass but his shot was brilliantly beaten away by Sincock.
The game came to life on 83 minutes when the Butler brothers Steven and Andrew linked well before Andrew fired home to make it 2-1 and give the visitors a life line.
Farm steadied and in injury time sealed the win when Ipekdal was put through on the break before finishing coolly to ensure a valuable three points for the Farmers.
Farm’s Chris Ennis was pleased with the win “Inter threw everything at us in the 2nd half and Chris Nicholls needed to make some good saves. Our boys took their chances which was probably the difference in the end”.
Farm increased their lead to four points at the top “We have been consistent so far this season and we will need to continue to perform at that level week in and week out.”

PARAFIELD GARDENS (0) vs ELIZABETH VALE (1)
ELIZABETH Vale has pulled off the shock of the season with a 1-0 win over Parafield Gardens at Bradman Oval.
Gardens came into the game on the back of three straight wins while the Vale were hoping to build on three wins from their opening six rounds.
The game opened with both sides having their moments and on the 30 minute mark the visiting Vale took the lead when a Dave Westall long ball over the top found Oathman ‘Ozzie’ Fazilahmed who chipped the out coming Anthony Stam to the delight of the Vale support.
Gardens pushed hard for an equalizer throughout the 2nd half as the Vale looked to soak up the pressure and hit Gardens on the counter.
Steve Doolan pulled off some fine saves in the Vale goal as the visitors rounded off a superb win in a typically hard fought Gardens vs Vale game.
The Vale, who were tipped to struggle, have now won four of their opening seven rounds to sit 5th on the table. Team manager Sean Westall “Earl has got the boys playing really well. The boys are a really committed group and getting the rewards at the moment.”
Gardens Vice President Stephen Roadley “Both sides fought it out to the end. We didn’t have the same fluency of last week and credit to the Vale who battled hard until the end.”

ELIZABETH DOWNS (3) vs PARA HILLS WEST (3)
ELIZABETH Downs and Para Hills West have shared the points in a six goal thriller at Argana Park.
Both sides came into the game in good form with the Downs having won their last four while Westies had won their last two.
The first half was a keenly fought contest which saw Westies keeper Dave Brook at his best as he denied the Maroons with a handful of fine saves.
The deadlock was broken in the fourth minute of 1st half stoppage time when Westies Chris Hadland got on the end of a long ball before heading over the out coming Ben Aldridge and when his header came back off the bar Joe Draper was on hand to tap the ball into the net.
Incredibly the Maroons were back on level terms 13 seconds into the 2nd half when a speculative shot from Braiden Gundlach deflected into the net to make it 1-1.
On the hour the visitors regained the lead when after a goal mouth scramble Michael Simpson turned and hit a shot which took a slight deflection before hitting the net.
The Downs hit back three minutes later through a Nathan Day header only to fall behind on 73 minutes when a John Archer back post header deflected into the goal.
A Scott Lindsay cracker from 25 yards made it 3-3 and despite both sides going all out for the win in the dying stages both had to settle for a point.
Downs coach Alan Mottram “I thought we had some good chances early and didn’t put them away. Credit to Westies they came here to win today and either side could have snatched it in the end.”
Para Hills West coach Chris Groom “Last year we lost 8-0 here. The guys have a different mentality now and while we are disappointed we didn’t hold out for the win there won’t be too many teams who get a result here this year.”

FULHAM (2) vs ELIZABETH GROVE (3)
ELIZABETH Grove have come from two goals down to secure a thrilling 3-2 win over Fulham at Collins Reserve.
The Peckers travelled to Fulham looking to snap a two game losing run in the league while Fulham were looking to build on a courageous win over Southern Knights in round 6.
The Grove started the better but fell behind on 15 minutes when Paul Bearzotti hit an 18 yard volley that deflected through the defensive traffic into the net.
Once again Fulham had to soak up the pressure as the Peckers looked for an equalizer but once again Fulham struck on the break with Anthony Fedele cutting in to the box before slotted his chance.
The travelling Pecker support had something to cheer on 43 minutes when the returning Sean Brennan took the ball down on 18 yards before tucking away the goal to reduce the Fulham lead to 2-1 at the break.
Some good build up from the Grove on the hour resulted in a through ball from Brad Docherty which Ryan Dingle got on the end of to make it 2-2.
With 12 minutes remaining Docherty turned goal scorer when he fired home the winner to the delight of Pecker coach Shane Golder “It was a really good fighting effort, we knew we couldn’t afford to drop points today so we are really pleased with the win.”
Fulham’s John Christopoulos “I thought we soaked up the pressure well in the 1st half but we didn’t really turn up in the 2nd half for whatever reason which was disappointing.”

SOUTHERN KNIGHTS (6) vs WEST BEACH (0)
A Tom Foglia hat trick has helped Southern Knights collect their first win of the season with an emphatic 6-0 win over fellow strugglers West Beach at Southern Knights Oval.
Both sides entered the game in the relegation zone knowing a loss would put a huge dent in their survival hopes and it was Knights who got off to the perfect start when on two minutes Rob Marsden pounced on an errant West Beach back pass to slot home the opener.
The lead was doubled on 20 minutes when Foglia got on the end of a cross before finishing coolly and when Jamie Faulkner was brought down on 35 minutes and a penalty awarded Faulkner made no mistake as the Knights took a three goal lead to the break.
Any hopes of a 2nd half Beach revival were dashed on 55 minutes when Foglia cut in from the left hand side before firing home his 2nd and moments later Marsden scored his 2nd goal of the game to make it 5-0.
In stoppage time Foglia collected his hat trick to wrap up a fine display by the Knights who jump above West Beach on the table to the delight of Chairman Nick Swann “It was a really good performance we had some boys under injury clouds throughout the week but they got through today well”.

[swannsong]

Well done once again Craig....

[Big G]

Craig for saasl webmaster

[pecker]

Craig for saasl webmaster

He has offered many times to do the SAASL website, including doing write ups for other
divisions.