Round 1 of the District League kicked off for both University FC and Helensburgh Thistle on Friday, with both sides creating plenty of chances to finish off passing moves, but it took a while for the scoreboard to be troubled. Opening exchanges between the sides were heavily based in midfield, with both defences willing to step out of the line to intercept and clear dangerous passing lanes. But the spacious play of Helensburgh, drawing University out to the very sidelines and using every available meter, helped them unlock their defence.

The bulk of chances were down the University end, with University keeper Liam Stevenson having a particularly constant flow of shots to collect. Inside the first 20 minutes, Nathan Mucci had consecutive curled efforts from the left wing, the first tipped over and the second curve just wide of the far post. The best chance came for Luke Wyatt, taking a heavy touch through the backline and charging onto it, only for Chris Russell to latch on from an offside position with Wyatt in his footsteps. The Helensburgh onslaught continued with a scuffed shot from Jason Wellings, Nathan Mucci curling wide again, and a penalty shout from Andrew Paine turned down.

Twice in three minutes University defence kept them in the game, with Reggae Rowley sliding a shot under the onrushing Liam Stevenson and Michael Pitt clearing off the line, followed by Grant Newman heading a shot off Paine away as the last defender, with Liam Stevenson beaten again in similar fashion.

Moments after, University broke down the right wing, Dane Hamilton crossing deep into the head of Tom Brown drifting wide. An injury to Russell saw the point of attack for Helensburgh blunted, and University continued the aerial route with Dane Hamilton again providing for Brown to loop another header over the diving Massimo Iopollo in goal to open the scoring very much against the run of play.

Short periods saw University gain ascendency, but Helensburgh were well and truly on top and Stevenson's afternoon was only getting busier. Damien Warwick was directing the run of play from deep, dropping to receive the ball, and Nathan Mucci and Andrew Paine constant threats up top. Wyatt saw a powerful shot parried from Stevenson, and Luke McCann shot across goal for a fingertip save from Stevenson. A cross into the Helensburgh area nearly doubled the lead for University just before the interval, with a wicked deflection off Gary Cassidy requiring a reflex save against the dive from Iopollo.

1-0 at the half, University took control of the game after scoring & looked a lot more comfortable in possession. Helensburgh created a lot of space down the wings drawing Uni out, but the direct approach of Uni was working out for them.

The second half was packed with more chances than the first, with the equaliser taking only 3 minutes. Van Zyl cut inside from the right wing and shoots for the far post, before a huge deflection off Matthew Dunstan dribbles the ball into the middle of the goal with Stevenson out of position covering the initial shot.

A moment of contention for Helensburgh followed shortly after, with Stevenson deemed to hold back a Helensburgh player off the ball, for which a penalty was given, only to be overturned by the assistant's prior offside flag. Minutes later though, Helensburgh hit the lead in style, with McCann playing a one-two through the backline, for a cut-back to be spooned wide and a defensive header directly into McCann's path for a bicycled finish.

Helensburgh received a penalty, with Nathan Mucci beating Scott Mawbey for pace and a lunging challenge missed the ball. Andrew Paine took the penalty and beat the diving Stevenson for pace to the right of the goal for 3-1.

Three goals in a crazy five minutes brought the game to life again. The lead was extended to 4-1 with Paine running uncontested from halfway off a lovely through ball to coolly round the keeper and knock in his second. Abdul Lawal managed to lob Iopollo from 20 yards with a volley from a seemingly unthreatening build-up to bring scores to 4-2, and Joel Mucci slid a toe onto a cross to poke into the side netting for 5-2. Scoring was concluded with the last kick of the game, as Van Zyl played McCann through on goal and he neatly slid his shot into the bottom right corner for 6-2.

Helensburgh never looked in doubt for long, with the opener for University much against the run of play and a late consolation. The quality of play from Helensburgh deserved the emphatic result.

 

Friday 25th March, Kooloobong Oval

Referee - Ryan O'Sullivan

Assistants - Luke Rawson, Stuart Bell

 

University FC 2 - Brown 30', Lawal 79'

Helensburgh Thistle 6 - Dunstan OG 48', McCann 57' 90', Paine 60' 74', J. Mucci 81'

 

University FC - Stevenson, Hamilton, Newman, Dunstan (Djukic), Mawbey, Shannon, Lawal, Christie, Brown, Foscarini, Pitt

Subs - Van Den Borg, Hill, McGoldrick, Djukic

 

Helensburgh Thistle - Iopollo, Rowley (J. Mucci), Buchan, Cassidy, Wellings (Charman), Paine, Wyatt, Warwick, McCann, Russell (Van Zyl), N. Mucci

Subs - Van Zyl, J. Mucci, Charman, Kendrigan, Groom

 

Report and photo by David Atherton