St George City stun Stallions to knock them off their perch
St George City have toppled NPL Men’s NSW league leaders Marconi Stallions to keep their dream of a finals place alive following a come from behind 2-1 victory at Penshurst Park on Saturday.
After Marconi re-took the lead in the Premiership race last week, they couldn’t back it up in this difficult fixture away from home against St George City who came into this match fired up after winning the St George derby last time out.
The action commenced in the 13th minute when a free-kick from the left by Paolo Mitry narrowly evaded everyone, including his teammate at the back post, and finished just wide for a goal-kick.
Marconi then received a penalty in the 22nd minute in what was their first real foray into the opposition box. It was Dakota Askew who brought down Damian Tsekenis leaving Franco Maya to step up to the spot and, with a clinical left foot finish, he put the ball past a diving Jack Kenny.
St George City had two great chances in the space of a minute. It was the 27th minute when Dominic Cox pounced on a loose ball from just outside the box and luckily for Marconi it took a slight deflection and ended up wide for a corner.
A minute later a delightful ball worked in from the left by McNulty, last week’s hat-trick hero, found Mitry unmarked in the middle but he couldn’t keep his attempt down and it sailed over the crossbar in what was definitely St George City’s best chance of the game up until that point.
In the 37th minute Marconi’s Damian Tsekenis was given a great through ball and went sprinting towards goal, but in what was a precise masterclass-type tackle Nathan Grimaldi managed to dislodge the ball at the crucial moment.
A minute later St George City replied when Mitry found Jesse Photi on the right hand side but his powerful, on-target shot was blocked beautifully by goalkeeper James Hilton.
The opening chance of the second half belonged to St George City in the 51st minute when a Photi cross the right reached Mitry, but his touch took a slight deflection and ended up over the crossbar for a corner.
In the 55th minute Damian Tsekenis pounced on a loose ball for Marconi before firing just wide of the goal.
St George then scored a deserved equaliser in the 57th minute. It was a wonderful long ball from Brodie Clarkson in the middle to Lewis Miccio out on the left who then thumped the ball into the top corner of the net with a great finish.
In the 65th minute a defensive error from Marconi was almost punished but Mitry who was the beneficiary couldn’t centre the ball on target in what was a real let off for the visitors.
In the 88th minute St George City scored their winner. Levi Sciuriaga had shot along the carpet that was parried by ‘keeper Hilton but only as far as McNulty who was there from close range to slot the ball home.
After the game St George City coach Manny Spanoudakis was very happy with the win, but not looking too far ahead beyond next week’s encounter with Sydney Olympic.
“I am very happy for the boys and very happy for the club,” he said.
“We played a really top team tonight in Marconi who are last year’s champions, but I think we really deserved to win tonight.
“I am very happy that we are trying to play some nice football and I am happy with our recent signings, and that’s now four weeks in a row undefeated.
“The new players have brought an even higher belief of what we can do, but as for the finals we don’t talk about that because we are just looking at it one week at a time.
“For now we can celebrate this great win against Marconi but then we will re-group for another tough encounter next week against Sydney Olympic.”
In the other dressing room Marconi Stallions coach Peter Tsekenis was disappointed with the outcome but still had a lot of belief in his side.
“I am just disappointed that tonight we were second best to some things,” he told Football NSW.
“We were up against a very hungry St George team here at home and it’s always difficult to play on this field.
“I thought that maybe their winning goal may have been offside but I am not using that as an excuse. Our performance tonight didn’t match the intensity of St George’s and in terms of the table, it’s still in our hands.
“Next week we have a big game, a top-of-the-table clash against NWS Spirit at home and the plan is that we will be up for that one definitely.”
Match Stats
St GEORGE CITY: 2 (Miccio 58’, McNulty 88’)
MARCONI STALLIONS: 1 (Maya 22’ pen.)
Saturday 19th July
Penshurst Park
Referee: Eric Saba
Assistant referees: Matthew Harris, Anastasia
Fourth Official: Jackson Tippett
St GEORGE CITY FA: 1. Jack Kenny, 4. Solomon Monahan-Vaiika, 5. Lewis Miccio, 8. Dominic Cox, 9. Marc McNulty (16. William Kounnas 94’), 10. Paolo Mitry (7. Levi Sciuriaga 71’), 15. Nathan Grimaldi, 18. Goncalo Agrelos (17. Noah Ovens 90’), 19. Jesse Photi (99. Peter Kekeris 71’), 23. Dakota Askew, 25. Brodie Clarkson.
Substitutes not used: 2. Matthew Wahby, 3. Cameron Kemp.
Yellow Card: Askew 88’
Red Cards: Nil
MARCONI STALLIONS: 1. James Hiltoin, 2. Tyren Burnie, 6. Dominic Costanzo (24. Matej Busek 71’), 7, Franco Maya (99. Jordan Swibel 90’), 8. James Bayliss, 10. Marko Jesic (9. Kyle Cimenti 89’), 12. Julian Monge, 13. Tass Mourdoukoutas, 16. Liam Youlley, 17. Damian Tsekenis (14. Jake Trew 74’), 18. George Daniel.
Substitutes not used: 20. Patrick Williams, 35. Sebastian Kiceec.
Yellow Cards: Bayliss 12’, Daniel 55’, Youlley 70’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Nathan Grimaldi (StG)
2 – Lewis Miccio (StG)
1 – Liam Youlley (MS)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
