Category Archives: SPORTS

Top of the table Edgeworth hosts bottom placed South Cardiff to kick off Round 16. The Gunners yet again need to take something from this game and with a couple of good results against teams much higher up the ladder in recent weeks, the lads from Southy will be confident against the Eagles.

Edgeworth can maintain their 3 point lead at the top with a win. The Eagles have played three night games at home this season with two wins and a loss. The last time Edgeworth played South Cardiff, was a 3-1 win for the Eagles.

Adamstown are at home to Lambton on Sunday. The Jaffas simply just need to win to keep their 5 point margin from fifth placed Broadmeadow. The Jaffas lost last week whilst the Rosebuds have won two in a row. In Round 7 they played out a 1 all draw.

Weston travel to Darling Street to take on Hamilton with the aim of taking second spot from the home team. The task of being the first team to defeat Hamilton at home will not be easy though, as the home side has won 5 and drawn 3 this season. Hamilton also defeated Weston 3-1 earlier this season.

Broadmeadow can keep their slim chances of making the finals alive with a a win over the Jets Youth. If recent form is anything to go by, the Magic should just get the job done. The only problem is how they back up fitness wise from their FFA Cup disappointment. Magic scored a 5-2 win over the Jets Youth in Round 7.

If Southy upset Edgeworth, a lot of interest will turn to Lisle Carr Oval for the Charlestown City and Maitland match. Both sides are still close to the dreaded relegation zone and a win would almost guarantee safety for either side. Maitland belted the Blues 3 nil the last time they met so they will be wanting to return the favour on Sunday. Two things in favour for Charlestown City though is that they are 3 points clear of last spot and have a game in hand. Maitland are just 2 points from the bottom. So this match could decide their fait.

NPL ROUND 16

Friday

EDGEWORTH v SOUTH CARDIFF @ McLaughlan Field, 7pm

Sunday

ADAMSTOWN v LAMBTON @ Adamstown Oval, 2:30pm

HAMILTON v WESTON @ Darling Street, 2:30pm

CHARLESTOWN CITY v MAITLAND @ Lisle Carr Oval, 2:30pm

BROADMEADOW v JETS YOUTH @ Magic Park, 2:30pm

source:sportshunter.com

Three first half goals put an end to Broadmeadows FFA Cup campaign as Heidelberg United progress to the round of 16 with a 3-1 win.

It was bin night in Broadmeadow, which made it hard to find a car park. Thankfully for myself one of the locals nearby forgot to put his bin out which allowed me to get a car park right next to the ground.

Just over a thousand local football fans braved the cool conditions to watch Broadmeadow host Victorian Premier League and former NSL side Heidelberg United in the round of 32 FFA Cup tie.

Magic came out of the gates early but any opportunity was quickly put to bed by the Warriors defence. I got the feeling from the opening ten minutes that Heidelberg wanted to see what their opposition had. For the locals it looked promising but once the visitors settled into the game, they quickly took control and had the opening goal after 24 minutes thanks to Jack Petrie. Two minutes later the Warriors had their second from a nice strike by Kaine Sheppard and it didn’t look good for even the most patriotic Broadmeadow fan.

The Warriors landed the killer blow 5 minutes from half time with Daniel Heffernan scoring Heidelberg United’s third to take a comfortable 3 nil lead into the break.

The Magic men tried hard to get back into the game and eventually got on the score sheet in the 74th minute thanks to Scott Petit. Broadmeadow had a couple more chance late in the game but to be honest the Warriors never looked troubled.

3-1, the finals score to Heidelberg United. Although it was not the result the locals were after it was still a good night, and for the oldies that can remember the NSL days… seeing Heidelberg United in action would have brought back a few memories.

HEIDELBERG UNITED 3 (Jack Petrie 24, Kaine Sheppard 26 & Daniel Heffernan 40) defeated BROADMEADOW 1 (Scott Pettit 74).

source:sportshunter.com.au

Ten-man Panathinaikos turned bad luck into a rather good result as it beat visiting Club Bruges 2-1 in the first leg of the Champions League third qualifying round on Tuesday.

The Greens braved the loss of a penalty kick and the red card to one of its central defenders from the 43rd minute to score a precious victory in an action-packed game at the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium in Athens.

The Belgians opened the score before the completion of the 10th minute as Bobo capitalized of a storm in the Greek defense to slot the ball home.

Playing with three at the back the Belgians were able to weather the Panathinaikos attacks in the first half-hour, while the center of the Greek defense had major problems in containing the visitors, partly due to the inability of Giorgos Koutroumbis as the lone holding midfielder to lift a barrier to the Belgian strikers.

When Sotiris Ninis fed Nikos Karelis in the box he was fouled and the penalty was given, but Marcus Berg saw his spot kick parried by Bruges keeper Sebastien Bruzzese on the 34th minute.

Yet the Swedish striker was not to be denied again three minutes later when he made it 1-1 from a close range after a cross by Ninis, as the Belgian back line started wavering.

Things turned more difficult for Panathinaikos just before half-time with the red card shown to central defender Sergio Sanchez for shirt-pulling.

Bruges was dominant in the second half, enjoying a man’s advantage and trying to beat the error-prone Greek defense.

However in a rare attack for the Greens in the 65th minute they earned another penalty after a Bobo handball, and this time Karelis converted it for 2-1.

As the time went on the intense heat (31 degrees centigrade) took its toll mainly on the visitors, with Panathinaikos gaining some ground in its effort to hold on to the result.

The return leg is scheduled for August 4 in Belgium.

source:ekathimerini.com

The Warriors will play their first game in a nationwide competition since 1995 when they take on Broadmeadow Magic in Wednesday night’s round of 32 clash in Newcastle.

Heidelberg competed in the National Soccer League from 1977 to 1995 and won the 1980 grand final, defeating Sydney City 4-0.

Former Melbourne Victory football manager Gary Cole, a 40-times capped Socceroo, scored a hat-trick, but the Heidelberg side that day contained seven other Australian internationals — Jimmy Rooney (99 caps), Jeff Olver (51), Jim Tansey (42), John Yzendoorn (18), Theo Selemidis (17), Jim Campbell (7) and Jamie Paton (4).

Katsakis, one of the first juniors to sign for Heidelberg back in 1971, remembers fondly the fanfare that followed.

“I remember being in Canberra, where the final was played, travelling back with the team and I remember getting out at Tullamarine Airport and there were hundreds of supporters waiting,” Katsakis said.

“I remember the chanting and walking through with people looking at the way everyone was carrying on.

“It was a great time. I will never forget it.”

Heidelberg is a club steeped in history.

Its home ground, Olympic Village, was the site of the athletes’ village for the 1956 Olympic Games.

Before it moved there, it shared facilities with the Fitzroy VFL club at Edinburgh Gardens.

Katsakis said Heidelberg’s history made its FFA Cup qualification even more significant.

“Because of the FFA Cup, we’re going to get the chance to promote our club and let people know about our history, how this club has come to be, and that’s very important,” he said.

“Knowing that when Heidelberg came out of the NSL and South Melbourne continued on, they won a lot of the Greek community, and I think it’s been forgotten that Heidelberg was once an absolute force of this league.

“Prior to the FFA Cup we were just another little club running around in the NPL (National Premier League) — so was South and so was everyone else.

“However, with this competition, it does bring you back to those glory days.

“It’s going to be very hard for any team at this level to challenge the A-League clubs, but it certainly puts you back in the picture and for us to be able to do what Bentleigh did (last season), for example, and make the semi-finals, it would be massive.”

source:www.foxsports.com.au

Dimitri Petratos celebrates his goal against Liverpool. Photo: Twitter/@brisbaneroar

The football carnival that has been bestowed on Australia continued last night, with Real Madrid and Manchester City closing out the International Champions Cup at the MCG – and the quality of football has not disappointed.

Across six matches Liverpool, AS Roma, Real Madrid and Manchester City have been welcomed by local fans in their droves.

Liverpool tasted success on both of its outings against A-League clubs Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United throughout the week. Brisbane opened its encounter against the Reds last Friday courtesy of Dimitri Petratos in the 17th minute, but it didn’t take long for Liverpool to strike back, with Adam Lallana finding the back of the net in the 18th minute, before a sealer thanks to James Milner in the 75th.

The Reds then travelled to Adelaide on Monday to take on the local side and were greeted to a spine tingling rendition of the infamous You’ll Never Walk Alone across Adelaide Oval, before slotting home two to take the game two-nil.

Liverpool’s Premier League rival Manchester City opened its Australian account with a win against sister club Melbourne City on the Gold Coast. It wasn’t easy for the 2015 Premier League runner-up, which left it late and took the win thanks to an 86th minute Samir Nasri goal in front of just under 22,000 fans.
The Sky Blues then opened their International Champions Cup efforts with a win against AS Roma – but not before Roma defeated Real Madrid in front of 80,000 fans at the MCG a few days earlier. On that occasion the Italian and Spanish giants kept each other goalless, taking the game into penalties, with Roma triumphing 7-6.

Roma’s return match against Manchester City also went to penalties, but it wasn’t before some sublime goals. By the 20th minute mark the sides stood at 1-1, thanks to Raheem Sterling’s goal on debut for his new club. Roma’s Miralem Pjanic scored a pearling equaliser from outside the box moments later, but their efforts at full time saw the sides locked at 2-2 with penalties ensuing, where the Citizens’ ever reliant goalkeeper Joe Hart stood up and helped guide his side to a 5-4 win in the end.

In other international results involving Greek clubs throughout the week, current champion Olympiakos suffered a 3-2 defeat to Fenerbahce, Asteras Tripolis lost 3-2 to Dutch outfit Vitesse, and Panathinaikos suffered a 2-1 loss to Udinese.

Panathinaikos has been drawn to play Club Brugge in the Champions League third qualifying round next week.

source:Neos Kosmos

But as the new season edges closer, England manager Roy Hodgson is convinced Manchester City’s new £44m signing will reveal in the abuse he is likely to receive this season.

Sterling is likely to play a major part on England’s road to Russia, which pairs them with the two qualifying clashes with Scotland.

But the 20-year-old has seen his standing hit rock bottom for the antics he used to engineer his move from Liverpool.

He was targeted for abuse when England played Ireland in Dublin last month and has continued to be slated on social media.

But Hodgson insisted he will come out of the experience as an even better player.

“The fact is he was playing for a club with a very strong fan base, not only in England but in other parts of the world,” said Hodgson. “The fans locally at Liverpool took unkindly to the fact that he made it clear he wanted to move.

“That is part and part of football. If anything that will help him to mature and improve even more. He is a remarkably strong and robust person, not just physically on the field but mentally.

“And these things, if anything, will make him stronger. He has got a big price tag to carry around, but I think he is a good enough player to do so.

GETTYRaheem Sterling upset Liverpool fans with his antics

 “You are going to be competing against world stars, people who have achieved great things in the game. But I think that could be an advantage in the long run.

Hamilton Olympic recorded its biggest win of the season in Round 15 of the NPL competition with a 7-0 drubbing of Newcastle Jets Youth on a windy afternoon at Darling Street Oval.

Simon Mooney opened proceedings for Olympic in the first minute of play when he floated a perfect free kick from the left, onto the head of Ben Koina, who had no problem planting the ball into the Jet’s net with a great header.

Before fifteen minutes were up, Olympic made it 2-0 when Jacob Bailey buried a rebound after a well taken shot by Pat Brown and a partial save by the Jets goalie.

Olympic are in complete control of the game and look very comfortable on the ball throughout.

By the 17th minute Pat Brown floats a great ball from the left onto the head of Kane Goodchild who narrowly misses putting it in the back of the net.

A minute later, the same player intercepts a poor clearance by the goalkeeper but his shot is deflected for a corner by the body of a Jets defender. From the ensuing corner Kane Goodchild volleys a shot over the post!

Olympic are in total control of the match and are threatening the Jets goal with every attack.

By the 26th minute Mathew Swan fires a wonderful volley from outside the box forcing a difficult save by the keeper who finger tips the ball over the bar for a corner. Kane Goodchild does the same a minute later, only to see his shot deflected by the body of a defender.

Ten minutes later Mathew Swan weaves past two defenders and passes out wide to Simon Mooney who curls a shot past the keeper and into the far post to record a 3-0 score-line.

Kane Goodchild adds a fourth in the 41st minute and Olympic go into half time with an emphatic 4-0 score-line and a vintage performance to go with it.

The Newcastle Jets Youth came out firing in the second half and in the first fifteen minutes took control of the game but were unable to create any goal scoring opportunities.

Olympic began to show their intentions in the 56th minute when Kane Goodchild played a through ball to Reece Cooper, who intern beat two defenders and whose shot was bent around the post by a desperate Jets goalkeeper.

In the 69th minute the Jets keeper was caught in possession of the ball from a back pass and an attempted clearance was intercepted by Kane Goodchild who had no difficulty making it 5-0!

A minute later Simon Mooney made it 6-0 with a simple tap-in from a Ben Koina shot a rebound from the keeper who was unable to clear the ball.

Two minutes later Simon Mooney is tripped inside the box and the referee awards Olympic a penalty. Kane Goodchild attempts to score a hat-trick but his shot is saved by the keeper, only for Jason Korotkich to get at the end of the rebound and make the score 7-0!

The opportunities continued to fall Olympics way, until the very end but the score remained at 7-0. After this result Olympic finds itself in second spot on 30 points, 3 less than league leaders, Edgeworth Eagles.

NPL ROUND 15 RESULTS:

Lambton Jaffas – Edgeworth 1-2
Maitland FC – Adamstown Rosebud 0-2
Hamilton Olympic – Newcastle Jets Youth 7-0
Weston Workers – Charlestown City 1-0
South Cardiff – Broadmeadow magic 3-1

TABLE:
1 Edgeworth 33                                                                                                                                      2 Hamilton Olympic 30                                                                                                                    3 Weston Workers 29                                                                                                                         4 Lambton Jaffas 28

5 Broadmeadow Magic 23
6 Adamstown Rosebud 22
7 Newcastle Jets Youth 13
8 Charlestown City 12
9 Maitland 11
10 South Cardiff 9

NPL ROUND 16
Edgeworth – South Cardiff
Adamstown Rosebud – Lambton Jaffas
Hamilton Olympic – Weston Workers
Charlestown – Maitland
Broadmeadow Magic – Newcastle Jets Youth

NPL RESULTS:
U22s Hamilton Olympic – Newcastle Youth Jets 2-1
U19s Hamilton Olympic – Newcastle Youth Jets 1-3
U17s Hamilton Olympic – Adamstown Rosebud 3-1
U15s Hamilton Olympic – Adamstown Rosebud 5-0
U14s Hamilton Olympic – Adamstown Rosebud 3-8
U13s Hamilton Olympic – Adamstown Rosebud 3-5

JUNIOR RESULTS FOR SATURDAY 25/07/2015:
U13s Olympic – Charlestown 2-1
U12s Olympic – Valentine 2-2
U11s Olympic – Nelson Bay 0-1
U10s Olympic – Kotara South 2-1
U9s Olympic Blue – Raymond Terrace 8-2
U9s Olympic White – Merwether 6-1
U8s Olympic – Plattsburg 14-1
U8s Olympic – result not supplied
U7s Olympic – Cooks Hill 9-1
U7s Olympic – Merewether 3-9
U6s Olympic – Merewether 1-7
U6s Olympic – Wallsend 12-1

source: Tom Tsamouras

Greece will have a tricky task to complete if it is to make its third FIFA World Cup finals in a row, as the draw that took place in Russia on Saturday has placed it in the same pool as fellow 2014 World Cup finalists Belgium and Bosnia, although it could have been far more difficult given Greece was in the third pot.

The draw in St Petersburg decided that Greece will face Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Estonia and Cyprus, all tricky opponents for a Greek national team that has lost twice to the Faroe Islands in the last eight months.

The poor results of the national team over the last 12 months meant Greece dropped to the third pot of the draw.

The top team of the group advances to the 2018 finals, while the runner-up will have to negotiate a home-and-away play-off. The qualifying round begins in September 2016.

Greece was represented in Russia by the head of the Hellenic Football Federation, Giorgos Girtzikis and two more officials, but neither manager Sergio Markarian nor national team director Giorgos Karagounis were present.

Markarian had tendered his resignation last Tuesday, Girtzikis asked him to stay on and Markarian made certain statements that pointed to Karagounis for creating problems to his work. It now seems that neither will form part of the national team set-up in the World Cup qualifiers.

source:ekathimerini.com

Από τον 8ο όμιλο των προκριματικών θα διεκδικήσει την πρόκριση της στην τελική φάση του Μουντιάλ του 2018 που θα διεξαχθεί στη Ρωσία η Εθνική μας ομάδα απέναντι σε Βέλγιο, Βοσνία, Εσθονία και Κύπρο.

Από τις ομάδες η Βοσνία είναι… γνωστή αφού η «γαλανόλευκη» την βρήκε στο δρόμο της και για το Μουντιάλ της Βραζιλίας, με το αντιπροσωπευτικό μας συγκρότημα να τερματίζει στη δεύτερη θέση πίσω από τους Βόσνιους αφού στην ισοβαθμία (25 βαθμοί) είχαν περισσότερα γκολ. Αυτή τη στιγμή βρίσκεται σε μία περίοδο ανασυγκρότησης, καθώς οι χαρισματικοί παίκτες φεύγουν σταδιακά απ΄την ομάδα λόγω ηλικίας και η «νέα φουρνιά» δεν δείχνει ικανή για σπουδαία πράγματα

Από την άλλη πλευρά το Βέλγιο αποτελεί μια πολύ επικίνδυνη ομάδα με συνεχή ανοδική πορεία τα τελευταία χρόνια. Με «μαέστρο» τον Εντέν Αζάρ και μια πλειάδα εξαιρετικών παικτών, το Βέλγιο διαθέτει ένα σύνολο ικανό να δυσκολέψει κάθε αντίπαλο, όμως ταυτόχρονα, η απειρία κατά κύριο λόγο και η έλλειψη διαχείρισης δευτερευόντως, καθιστούν τους Βέλγους αρκετά ευάλωτους. Σε μεγάλο βαθμό το αποτέλεσμα που θα φέρει η εθνική ομάδα του Βελγίου, εξαρτάται απ΄τον ρυθμό του αγώνα, καθώς όταν καταφέρνει να ελέγχει το ματς, συνήθως παίρνει το επιθυμητό, ενώ σε αντίθετη περίπτωση, χάνει μεγάλο μέρος απ την δυναμική της.

Ενώ η Κύπρος και η Εσθονία βρίσκονται στα «μέτρα» της εθνικής Ελλάδας, που σε κάθε περίπτωση θα πρέπει να ξεπεράσει τα εσωτερικά προβλήματα που υπάρχουν για να διεκδικήσει την πρόκριση.

Δείτε την προϊστορία της Εθνικής με τις ομάδες του ομίλου
Δείτε τι είπε ο πρόεδρος της ΕΠΟ, Γιώργος Γκιρτζίκης

Θυμίζουμε ότι την απευθείας πρόκριση παίρνουν οι 1οι του κάθε ομίλου ενώ οι οκτώ καλύτεροι 2οι παίρνουν το εισιτήριο για τα μπαράζ. Αξίζει να σημειωθεί πως στη συνολική συγκομιδή βαθμών για τα μπαράζ δεν θα υπολογίζονται οι βαθμοί που έχουν πάρει οι ομάδες των ομίλων που έχουν έξι ομάδες με τις τελευταίες ομάδες.

Οι αγώνες θα αρχίσουν στις 4 Σεπτεμβρίου του 2016 και θα ολοκληρωθούν στις 10 Οκτωβρίου του 2017. Οι αγώνες μπαράζ θα γίνουν το Νοέμβριο του 2017.

1ος όμιλος: Ολλανδία, Γαλλία, Σουηδία, Βουλγαρία, Λευκορωσία, Λουξεμβούργο
2ος όμιλος: Πορτογαλία, Ελβετία, Ουγγαρία, Νήσοι Φαρόε, Λετονία, Ανδόρα
3ος όμιλος: Γερμανία, Τσεχία, Β.Ιρλανδία, Νορβηγία, Αζερμπαϊτζάν, Σαν Μαρίνο
4ος όμιλος: Ουαλία, Αυστρία, Σερβία, Ιρλανδία, Μολδαβία, Γεωργία
5ος όμιλος: Ρουμανία, Δανία, Πολωνία, Μαυροβούνιο, Αρμενία, Καζακστάν
6ος όμιλος: Αγγλία, Σλοβακία, Σκοτία, Σλοβενία, Λιθουανία, Μάλτα
7ος όμιλος: Ισπανία, Ιταλία, Αλβανία, Ισραήλ, ΠΓΔΜ, Λιχτενστάιν
8ος όμιλος: Βέλγιο, Βοσνία Ερζεγοβίνη, ΕΛΛΑΔΑ, Εσθονία, Κύπρος
9ος όμιλος: Κροατία, Ισλανδία, Ουκρανία, Τουρκία, Φινλανδία

Πηγή:in.gr