Szekely Land 4-0 Western Armenia - Szekely Land punish ten-man Western Armenia to book Semi-Final place

Szekely Land 4 – 0 Western Armenia
Location	Hayes Lane, Bromley, Kent BR2 9EF
Kickoff	05/06/2018 18:00

SZEKELY LAND  4-0  WESTERN ARMENIA
Paddy Power CONIFA 2018 World Football Cup Quarter-Final
Tuesday 5 June 2018
Stephen McCartney reports from Hayes Lane

ROMANIAN outfit Szekely Land comfortably booked their place in Thursday’s CONIFA World Football Cup Semi-Finals after thrashing ten-man Western Armenia at Hayes Lane.

Western Armenia lost their left-back Raffi Kaya to a red-card inside the opening 10 minutes for a professional foul and one of their more vocal of coaches was sent to the stands after 27 as they lost their discipline and their hopes of tasting success in Saturday’s Final in Enfield.

Western Armenia had finished top of Group D after drawing United Koreans in Japan (0-0) and beating Panjab (1-0) and Kabylia (4-0), while Szekely Land beat Tuvala (4-0) and Matabeleland (5-0) before losing 3-1 to Padania to finish Group C runners-up.

But Robert Iles side will lock horns with Karpatalya in Thursday’s Semi-Final at Carshalton Athletic’s Colston Avenue after they beat Cascadia 3-1. 

Hosts Barawa were thrashed 8-0 by Northern Cyprus, while Padania beat Panjab 2-0 in today’s other last eight encounters.

Kick-off was delayed for 13 minutes as referee Givi Todua waited for both sides to finish their warm-ups, which started on the stadium pitch at 17:40.

Western Armenia were beaten thanks to goals from central defender Zsolt Tanko, central midfielder Attila Csuros, striker Lorand Fulop and substitute striker Barna Barna Bajko was gifted his fourth goal of the tournament.

Szekely Land set the tone and created a couple of early chances when both sides were eleven-a-side.

Szocs played the ball up to the edge of the Western Armenia penalty area and a poor clearance from Arthur Danielyan went straight to winger Arthur Gyorgyi, who hit a right-footed half-volley screaming across the keeper and past the far post from 22-yards on the right-hand side.

Western Armenia’s other centre half Fabrice Guzel was then pressed by Lorand Fulop, who drove into the penalty area and his shot was pushed towards safety by the diving keeper Gevorg Kasparov.

A long ball out of defence was chased by Szocs and Kaya brought him down outside the penalty area and a red card came out of the referee’s pocket.

Kaya reluctantly left the field and when he did he walked towards the dug-outs before being guided around the pitch by a member of his coaching staff, taking nearly three minutes to disappear down the players tunnel.

Gyorgyi’s driven free-kick smashed into the wall and the ball came out to Szilard Mitra, who lofted a hopeful ball from 35-yards into the keeper’s hands for a routine catch.

Western Armenia had to rejig their shape as right-back Rafael Safaryan switched over to left-back, while right-winger Hiratch Yagan slotted in at right-back.

Western Armenia striker Vicken Valenza Berbervan rolled around in agony after being challenged by Szekely Land’s right-back Szabolcs Kilyen, which brought a yellow card and his coach (I asked two of the four match officials and a CONIFA official and no-one knew his name) remonstrated with the fourth official, the opposing bench, before being asked to leave the field of play after the referee showed him a green card.

He stormed off and around the stadium to take a standing position in front of the main stand and argued for 10 minutes with Bromley’s safety officer and officials (and an interpreter) that asked him to go down the players tunnel but he disobeyed orders and issued instructions to his players while standing up in front of the main stand or from a seat in the front row.

Western Armenia’s defending at times was poor and a mix-up involving Hiratch Yagan and centre half Arthur Danielyan let in Lorand Fulop and his low shot was blocked by the keeper and Gyorgyi’s follow-up shot on the turn from 22-yards flashed past the post in the 30^th minute.

Szekely Land finally made the breakthrough with 33 minutes and 35 seconds on the clock after Western Armenia dealt with a short corner routine from the left, the ball was cleared out to Csaba Csismadia, who clipped the ball back into the box from the right and Zsolt Tanko controlled the ball with his feet before driving a right-footed shot across the keeper and nestling nicely into the bottom far corner from 15-yards.

The goal gave beleaguered Western Armenia a temporary shot in the arm and their best player, striker Vahagan Militosyan raced to the by-line before cutting the ball back for Hiratch Yagan, who drilled his first time shot harmlessly high and wide from 18-yards out.

Holding midfielder Artur Yedigaryan, who also impressed, floated in a free-kick into the Szekely Land penalty area and centre half Fabrice Guzel rose the highest to loop his header agonisingly just over the crossbar from 10-yards.

At the other end, holding midfielder Szilard Mitra played a long ball over the top of the Western Armenia defence but Szilard Magyari cut the ball onto his right foot and from the corner of the penalty area his shot was easily gathered at the near post by Western Armenia’s keeper Kasparov after 50 minutes.

Szekely Land killed the game off with a second goal, timed at 15 minutes and 34 seconds on the clock when the Western Armenian’s defence went missing.

Gyorgyi was given time to whip in an inch-perfect cross from the right towards the far post where an unmarked Csuros buried his header into the top left-hand corner from 10-yards.

The same thing happened when Szekely Land rattled in a third goal, timed at 20 minutes and 47 seconds.

Striker Szocs was released in space down the right and their opposing defence were exposed and he slipped the ball over to an unmarked Fulop, who stroked his first time right-footed shot across the keeper to find the far corner from 12-yards.

Western Armenia’s substitute David Housepyan cut in from the left wing but his shot lacked any quality and rolled into Bela Barna Nagy’s hands for a comfortable save.

Another substitute, Axel Tashedijan went to pieces inside the penalty area and didn’t have the skill to shoot first time and chose the second best option of bringing the ball down and cutting the ball back to left-back Safaryan, who unleashed a stunning dipping drive towards goal from 40-yards, which was blocked by Nagy, who swiftly got back up on his feet to prevent substitute Jules Tepelian scoring from the follow-up with 19 minutes remaining.

Artur Yedigaryan then fed Safaryan down the line but he produced a defender’s shot, his attempt rolling into the keeper’s hands.

Militosyan brought Guzel’s cross under control and tried to slip the ball underneath the keeper’s legs but Nagy ensured that didn’t happen and gathered the ball at the second attempt.

A cross from Szekely Land’s left-back Balazs Csiszer was met by Barna Bajjo’s first touch of the game, which he put over the crossbar when left unmarked inside the box at the far post.

Western Armenia, meanwhile, gifted their opponents a fourth-goal with 40 minutes and 6 seconds on the clock.

Right-back Safaryan’s suicidal back-pass from close to the touchline was completely missed by his advancing goalkeeper who tried to hit a first time clearance and completely missed connecting with the ball, which trickled onto the base of the near post and Bajko couldn’t really miss from six-inches, slamming the ball over the line with passion.

Militosyan neatly capped off an impressive night’s work when his shot from just inside the penalty area was saved by Nagy.

Szekely Land should have rattled a fifth goal for their vocal fans when Csuros had time and space to put over a cross from the right and Bajko teed up Szabolcs Kis, who stroked his first time shot past the post when he really should have scored.

The victorious team went over to their small but noisy band of travelling fans to accept their plaudits.

After attracting an opening night crowd of 750, which saw Barawa thrash Tamil Eelam 4-0 last Thursday night, the CONIFA World Football Cup hasn’t really captured the imagination of the Bromley footballing public, as only 220 were in attendance to watch a game that kicked-off at the bad time of 18:13.

Vanarama National League Bromley have now started work to demolish the iconic Benches End of the ground by closing the entire end, with the South Stand expected to open in January 2019.

Székely Land: Bela Barna Nagy, Arthur Gyorgyi, Balazs Csiszer, Zsolt Tanko, Kilyen Szabolcs (Norbert Benko-Biro 46), Csaba Csizmadia, Szilard Mitra, Attila Csuros, Laszlo Szocs (Barna Bajko 83), Lorand Fulop (Arpad Rozsa 81), Szilaro Magyari (Szabolcs Kis 59).
Subs: Dens Csiki, Laszlo Hodgyai, Robert Ilyes, Pal Somogyi, Lorand Szocs, Jozsef Gazda, Istvan Sandor Fulop

Goals: Zsolt Tanko 34, Attila Csuros 61, Lorand Fulop 66, Barna Bajko 86

Booked: Kilyen Szabolcs 24, Norbert Benko-Biro 90

Western Armenia:  Gevorg Kasparov, Rafael Safaryan, Raffi Kaya, Artur Yediogaryan (Arman Mosoyan 84), Arthur Danielyan, Fabrice Guzel, Herant Yagan (David Housepyan 46), David Azin, Vahagn Militosyan, Vicken Valenza Berberian (Axel Tashedijan 70), Hiratch Yagan (Jules Tepelian 60).
Subs: Massis Kaya, Antoni Kasparov, Zaven Varjabetyan, Norik Hovsepyan

Booked: Artur Yedigaryan 40, Vahagn Militosyan 57, Jules Tepelian 72, David Housepyan 90, David Azin 90

Sent Off:  Raffi Kaya 10,  unnamed coach 27

Attendance: 220
Referee: Mr Givi Todua (England)
Assistants: Mr Andrew Mario Parody & Mr Denis Perez
Fourth Official: Mr David Murphy

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