'Hercules nipped by the Scorpions!'
In a cracker of a cup tie at the CSI Ground amidst the cowpastures and creeks of rural Schofields, it was the home side which ran out eventual winners in a pulsating tussle with the winner coming 3 minutes from the end of extra time. However, 1st Division Schofields were made to work hard for their victory by a resurgent Belmore Hercules team, competing once again in the Federation 2nd Division after a 2 year absence.
Schofields were fast out of the blocks and went ahead in the 11th minute when a low corner from the left wasn’t cleared by the Belmore defence and Luke Boyd struck home from close range. Belmore then took the initiative and in the 23rd minute the skillful George Illiopoulos shot over the bar and a minute later he had another crack at the Schofields goal which Shane Johnson did well to dive to his left and save.
However, Belmore were finally rewarded in the 29th minute when Billy Dimitropoulos played a great cross over from the right side and Illiopoulos was there to head home. Belmore were unlucky not to take the lead 7 minutes later after Paul Paras did some great work along the by-line and put in a cross to Johnny Skufris who turned on a sixpence but unluckily shot straight at Johnson.
After the break every loose ball was tenaciously contested and tempers started to fray but the referee was always there on the spot to control the situation.
In the 62nd minute Schofields regained the lead with a goal that you would pay good money to see. Troy Sullivan, who had been making some timely tackles in defence all game, played a cross from the right to Zac Walters who headed down to the feet of Chris Theodosiou for him to tap the ball in.
Yet again Belmore fought back and in the 73rd minute they were awarded a penalty coolly converted by Illiopoulos after Paras had been brought down in the box. For the next 17 minutes it was almost all Belmore and Paras had a great chance to win it for Belmore in the 82nd minute but sprayed his shot wide with only the keeper to beat.
The game hence went into extra time and this time Belmore’s Darryl Fernandez failed to convert a glorious chance from only a few metres out after receiving a cross from Illiopoulos 2 minutes into the second stanza of extra time.
Finally, in the 117th minute, Schofield’s Zac Walters was brought down on the edge of the box with only the keeper to beat and from the resultant free-kick, Luke Boyd hit a screamer into the top right corner of the back of the net to give Schofields a 3-2 victory.
Beaten but not disgraced, Belmore should be applauded for their herculean effort in taking Schofields all the way to the wire in a thriller however it will be the Schofields Scorpions, whose name now goes into the hat for the 3rd Round draw and perhaps a crack at Premier League opposition!
MATCH STATS:
Schofields Scorpions
:
Player listing:
1. Shane Johnson (gk), 2. Paul Tonner, 3. Ben Charles, 4. Brendan Rieley, 5. Luke Boyd, 6. Troy Sullivan,
7. Samuel Belensiro, 14. Prachel Sharma, 30. John McCrea, 10. Zac Walters, 11. Chris Theodosiou
Substitutes: 17. D. Webster, 18. Ethan Simone, 12. T. Childs, 15. A. Walker, Ian Johnson (rgk)
46min - RGK. Ian Johnson replaced 1. Shane Johnson (gk); 111min - 18. Ethan Simone replaced 30. John McCrea ; 114min - 17. D. Webster replaced 14. Prachel Sharma.
Coach: nk
Yellow Cards:
100min - 14. Prachel Sharma
Red Cards: Nil
Belmore Hercules
:
Player listing:
1. Nicolo Colombo, 3. Michael Maropoulos, 4. Alessandro Petracia, 5. Johnny Skufris, 88. Billy Dimitropoulos,
7. Darryl Fernandez, 8. Leon Sansone, 9. Paul Paras, 10. George Illiopoulos, 15. John Tsakaridis, 17. Adrian Cacciotti
Substitutes: Not recorded
Coach: nk
Yellow Cards:
79min - 9. Paul Paras, 80min - 8. Leon Sansone, 89min - 4. Alessandro Petracia
Red Cards: 95min - 4. Alessandro Petracia , 126min. 5. Johnny Skufris
Referee: Adele Soliman /10
Assistants: Greg McLoughlin and Mario Tedone
Pitch rating: tba/10
Game rating: tba/10
Players to note: Schofields - Luke Boyd, Zac Walters, Troy Sullivan; Belmore - George Illiopoulos
Match Report & Photos by Mark Taylor