A cold and wet Saturday at Polonia Reserve last week greeted both sides and a decent crowd. Costanzo’s Kings were coming off a cup win against Playford, knew they would be up against some tough competition… a solid Campbelltown City outfit.
Captain Klimek was back into the starting 11 and Vice Captain James Skeffington returned from injury from the bench. Youngster Zade Heinicke was given another start after impressing last week. The rain came down early- making the ball skid across the green Polonia Reserve surface.
After a couple early chances for the visitors, they broke the deadlock in the 11th min with some quality play down the right, cross and finish. However, just 4 minutes later the home side were back on level terms! Kerrin Stokes was un marked in the 6 yard box and headed home after a corner! His first goal for the season & one that got the home fans cheering in the rain! The wet weather was causing havoc for both teams and tackles were flying in all over the place!
32mins in, left back John Panagaris gave in form Marc Marion too much room down the left. The Midfielder’s “miscued cross” was hit perfectly and caught keeper John Hall off guard. The cross come shot rocketed into the top corner, leaving the home fans speechless. 2-1 Campbelltown with 10mins to go before the break. Young gun Heinicke came close to leveling again just minutes later- only to be denied by the crossbar. A late free kick caused problems for Costanzo, as DiTroia’s cross hammered into the head of Adam Martinello who hit the deck and was looking groggy. Trainer Josh Avery made the decision to sub the midfielder as he assisted Adam off the park. Guy Miller came on to replace him. Both teams hit the rooms for a dry shirt and a drink with the scores at 2-1 Campbelltown.
First minute of the second half… the referee gets sucked in to the diving Matsumoto and awarded the most ridiculous penalty. Even the Campbelltown players were surprised it was given. Ian Fyfe stepped up and slotted the penalty to make the scores 3-1. The Kings were up against it now. However, we kept fighting- the 11 Campbelltown boys and the referee (who was horrible all day for both sides). Hard running Trimboli was taken off for VC Skeffington, looking for some better options down the wing. A much better 2nd half performance from the home side with much more forward press and drive. Something we have been lacking from the start of the game since round 1… something we need to get back from the start ASAP!
62mins on the clock and Heinicke’s driving run in the box, caused a Campbelltown defender to bring him down and the ref once again awarded a dodgy penalty (taking a good 5 seconds to make the call!) Either way, the Kings fans were happy the ledger was evened up… unlike the visitors who realised the ref was having a shocker! VC Skeffington stepped up and buried the spot kick and brought the scores to 3-2. We were in with a sniff! More chances came and went for both sides. Keeper Hall was excellent in goals- his experience came thru. Unfortunately we couldnt make the break thru and level the game. A gallant 2nd half from the Kings who deserved a point at least. Hopefully the 2nd half performance will continue to the first whistle of this weeks game at rivals, Raiders.
Earlier in the day, the high flying U18′s continued their climb up the ladder with a 2-0 win! An impressive year so far from Steve Pepper and his boys! The Reserves were held to a 2-2 draw to their lowly opposition. A disappointing result for Adam Vizzari and his lads as they dominated the 2nd half and switched off after taking the lead.
This week we head down to the Croatian Sports Centre to take on old rivals Raiders (including 3 ex Kings players)… so its sure to be a fiery contest! Action kicks off with the 18′s at 2:45, reserves at 4:45 and league under lights at 7pm! If you’re going to go to an away game this year, this is the one!
See you all there!!
Photo credit: Ken Carter Photography
ROUND 8 RESULTS
U18′s: 2-1 win
Reserves: 2-2 draw
Seniors: 3-2 loss