Another round is in the history books as we examine all the action that took place across a jampacked Saturday in the BBC competition.
We congratulate Cooks River Titans who claimed their maiden BBC victory while elsewhere Marrickville stringed together a fine performance to knock off Balmain while Enfield put Strathfield to the sword in a convincing triumph.
Hurlstone Park – Inter Lions 3-1
It turned out to be a disappointing week for Inter Lions after they suffered two defeats in the space of four days.
Hurlstone Park broke the deadlock early on via Sebastian Coello before Inter replied through Stefan De Jesus in the 33rd minute.
However, the visitors were unable to hold on with the home side once again regaining their lead courtesy of Frank Calcagno’s strike a minute prior to the break.
Photo: Hurlstone Park and an Enfield Rovers player contest for a header. Credit: MMS Sports Photography
A raft of injuries made for a difficult second half for Inter as they played with nine men. To their credit they fought until the very end but they were unable to prevent Coello from securing a brace and wrapping up the victory for the hosts on the 79th minute mark.
Hurlstone Park will be playing out of Ewen Park again next Saturday when they welcome Strathfield while Inter will be aiming to break out of a two game losing streak when they take on Marrickville.
Cooks River Titans – Abbotsford Juniors 3-2
Saturday afternoon saw a piece of history made as Cooks River Titans won their first BBC match against Abbotsford at Gough Whitlam Park.
A fast start from Abbotsford saw them draw first blood via Dario Espejel on 24 minutes but a quick fire response from Luke Speranza saw the hosts draw level nine minutes later.
That was it for the first half action before the visitors regained their lead just after the hour mark through Tyson Kaye.
Photo: Abbotsford in possession against Inter Lions. Credit: MMS Sports Photography
It appeared destined for an Abbotsford triumph until the Titans gate crashed the party with goals to Chris Shelston and a Speranza brace in the 74th and 81st minute, respectively.
Up next on the horizon for Cooks River is a ‘home’ game against Enfield at Henley Park on Tuesday night while Abbotsford return to Campbell to meet Leichhardt Tigers.
Strathfield – Enfield Rovers 2-7
Enfield passed with flying colours in their latest test as they cruised past Strathfield with 7-2 the full-time score.
The first goal out of the nine goal contest came via a superb Ryan Henderson free kick in the 11th minute. Their advantage did not last for long with Jeff Brennan equalising for the hosts just before the half hour mark.
However, from then on in, Enfield were in the driver’s seat with Ronaldo Almeida and Joey Ferrone making it 3-1 in favour to the league leaders as they entered the break.
Photo: Enfield Rovers goalkeeper in action. Credit: MMS Sports Photography
The second half saw three Rovers players secure braces with Ferrone first off the rank with his effort in the 70th minute.
Strathfield’s determination was once again on display as they clawed back a second through Simon Burke before an Anthony Foti double and Henderson’s second in the final 10 minutes of the clash saw the away side run away with the three points.
The Titans await Enfield in their rescheduled fixture at Henley Park while Strathfield will be in desperate need to kickstart their campaign as they make the short trip to Ewen Park.
Marrickville – Balmain DFC 3-0
A clinical performance from Marrickville saw them secure a straightforward 3-0 victory over Balmain at Mackey Park on Saturday afternoon.
An unfortunate start to the encounter saw Balmain go behind early through a Nick Jackson own goal just four minutes in.
Rohan Sriram soon pounced on Marrickville’s quick start to make it two to the good before the match had even reached the 10 minute mark.
Photo: Marrickville in possession against LFC Sports. Credit: MMS Sports Photography
Fast forward to the second half and it was an Alejandro Bonutto penalty which sealed Balmain’s fate.
The Red Devils will be targeting two wins on the bounce when they travel to an out of form Inter Lions while Balmain have a date with Cooks River at home.
Leichhardt Tigers – LFC Sports 1-4
LFC Sports made it four consecutive wins after they dispatched of Leichhardt Tigers 4-1 at Ashfield Park.
Aman Hadid was first to strike for the away side with his effort on 19 minutes which was followed up by Haady Hisham’s goal which gave LFC a 2-0 lead at halftime.
The second half saw Leichhardt reduce the deficit via Dwayne Vaz but LFC’s class saw them break away as the half wore on with Nathan Paull and Abbas Saleh making sure of the points for the men from Parry Park.
All eyes will be on LFC next weekend to see if they could become the first side to topple Enfield in the top of the table showdown under lights at Parry Park.
Meanwhile, eighth placed Tigers head to Campbell Park to go head to head against Abbotsford who are situated in fourth.
By CDSFA Communications Officer – Samuel Greco Schwartz
