Slick Saints Score Sunday Six
St George Willawong 6 (Perkic 2’, 60’, 61’, Krkeljas 8’, 31’, Grecl 52’) Bethania 0
HT 3-0
Played at: St George’s Park
St George Willawong faced up to their most important game of the season so far and came away convincing 6-0 winners over Bethania Rams at St George’s Park on Sunday evening. Mario Perkic opened the scoring only two minutes after kick off which was the catalyst for Aleksa Krkeljas to score twice more in the first half, one from the penalty spot after a good decision from referee Robert Brose. Seven minutes after halftime, David Grecl put the result beyond doubt with a smart finish before Perkic completed his hat trick with a quick fire double in the 60th and 61st minutes. With St George’s Day celebrations at the Serbian Cultural Centre underway, a vocal crowd of around 500 followed the contest with music blaring and the smell of spit roast in the air. So-called ethnic clubs suffered from a lot of bad publicity in the 1990s but this was a brilliant event which harked back to when football clubs were community hubs. And the knowledgeable crowd were treated to a fine display of attacking football on a tiny pitch with an excellent and true surface. The home side play a style which suits the confines of the ground, limiting crosses and pushing forward quickly. Their three man forward line are most effective when taking possession and heading for goal, sometimes from as far out as the halfway line. With one of the tallest teams running around they could easily be mistaken for a basketball team but lack nothing in nimbleness and touch on the ball. Bethania were heavily beaten but actually played quite well. They have a good tight passing game often revolving around Marcelo Calderon which has proven effective with eight wins under their belt already. They can’t be completely written off but need to be stouter in defence. But they were pressed out of the contest by their relentless opponents and, when opportunities to access the first third arrived, lacked the pace to get in behind the back four. They will be much better with a bit of width to play with. Capital League 4 has been something of a four horse race and that looks likely to be whittled down to three, St George, Samford Rangers and Caboolture, on the strength of this result. With only two promotion positions available, the race to the finish line is hotting up already and we could be in for an exhilarating run home. St George Willawong have arrived on the scene and look certain to provide plenty of entertainment in the future. A rise through the divisions similar to Acacia Ridge’s recent revival looks inevitable. It doesn’t get any easier next weekend for Bethania as they try to keep their season on track with a long journey to Samford Rangers who are top of the table with an incredible goal difference of +61. The Saints also have a long trip to Deception Bay but on the strength of today’s performance, should easily take a win from the Mudcrabs. FB Media Player Of The Match: Bogdan ZONJIC (St George Willawong) Every successful team needs a dominating defender who looks to have more time on the ball than everyone else and wins the ball comfortably. Today, that was Zonjic.
Referee: Robert Brose
St George: Music, Roberts-Steven, Duligal, Jankovic, Popovic, Radmilovic, Zonjic, Skavo, Grecl, Krkeljas, Perkic. Subs: Beaman, Kataric, Opacic, Stojicic, Yanik. Bethania: Dawson, Kennedy, Brennan, Russell, Fisher, Hartz, J.Robinson, Alexander, Paul, Calderon, C.Robinson. Subs: Shepherd, Vasquez, Worku.
