Star Hit For Six At Ridge
Acacia Ridge 6 (Jaimes 3’ pen, 49’, 85’; Perez-Vargas 30’, 69’; M Simunovic 40’)
North Star 1 (Gibbens 81’)
HT: 3-0 Played at Ron Proud Field
Acacia Ridge burst out of the blocks scoring in the third minute from the spot before dominating the rest of the half to go in with a three goal cushion at the break. Three more goals coming in the second half completed a convincing win, with Juan Jaimes securing a hat-trick as North Star could only manage a consolation goal nine minutes from the end. Forty seconds into the match and we had a Penalty. Ridge attacked and Juan Navarro-Falcon crossed the ball from the left where it was knocked back across goal towards the left of the six-yard box. An attempted clearance from a North Star defender collected Navarro-Falcon rather than the ball and Referee Daniel Olson had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Jaimes stepped up and sent Jack Fuller the wrong way to open his account. North Star struggled to get into the game and were relying on counter-attacks to pierce the opposition defence. One such chance came after the quarter hour when Caleb Embrey controlled a long ball well and was through on the right but shot straight at Roki Samardzija in the Ridge goal. Ridge doubled their lead on 30 minutes. Jaimes twisted and turned in the penalty area but had his shot blocked. Fuller was out quickly to try and smother the ball but it was crossed before he could get to it with Perez-Vargas nodding home into an unguarded net. Five minutes before the interval, a Ridge free kick from the left was swung in. Fuller failed to gather and the ball which fell to the feet of Marko Simunovic who drove it high into the net. Star’s last chance of the half came two minutes into added time when Embrey was nearly through but Ridge recovered to clear. The visitors started the second half brightly but were struck a blow on 49 minutes when a great through ball from Frank Phiri reached Jaimes who calmly rounded Fuller and slotted home, effectively ending the contest. The best goal of the night came after 69 minutes when a half-cleared ball reached Perez-Vargas who volleyed home from 20 yards out. North Star grabbed a goal back on 81 minutes when a cross was poorly dealt with by Ridge; the ball squared back across the six yard box for Thomas Gribbens to slide the ball in. Ridge completed the scoring five minutes from time as Jaimes completed his hat-trick with a free kick from 30 yards out that gave Fuller no chance. North Star looked dangerous from set pieces with Nathan Knox an aerial threat but they were unable to create any meaningful opportunities otherwise. After two narrow losses, Ridge have hit their straps while North Star’s 100% record has gone. On this display, Acacia Ridge will certainly trouble the top end of the table, while North Star need to regroup.
Coaches Reactions:
Zoran Simunovic (Acacia Ridge) “Even though it was 6-1 it was not an easy game. North Star are a good team and they kept pushing us until the last minute. After our first two losses, the players were a lot calmer tonight and they gave 100% for 90 minutes.” Nathan Knox (North Star) “A very disappointing result. The last couple of weeks have been very promising but we came back down to earth tonight. We need to learn from our mistakes and put things right next weekend.”
Match Stats:
Overall Possession: 51% - 49%
Shots on target: 9 - 8
Shots off target: 4 - 7
Corners: 3 - 7
Free kicks: 14 - 23
Offsides: 3 - 2
Yellow cards: 1 - 3
Red cards: 0 - 0
Team line-ups
Acacia Ridge: Samardzija (GK), Carrillo-Monroy, Jaimes, Martinez-Gomez (86’), Moncada-Palacios (81’), Navarro-Falcon, Perez-Vargas (89’), Phiri, Simunovic. I, Simunovic. M, Zirojevic Subs: Alvarez (81’), Bohorquez (86’), Castano Osorio (89’)
North Star: Fuller (GK), Chan (Keith), Chan (Kevin 60’), Crawford, Embrey, Gaffel, Knox, McKimmie (87’), Myers, O’Brian, Yule (67’) Subs: Doyle (60’), Gibbens (67’), Sparks (87’)
Referee: Daniel Olson
