Sydney United silence the roar of the Bankstown City Lions

Along with the three competition points, the Zarko Odzakov Cup was also up for grabs.
Four free-kicks in the opening two minutes laid the foundation for a fiery encounter which saw a total of 37 free-kicks throughout the match.
United were impressive in the early stages, stringing their passes together and were dangerous with the ball at their feet.
Bankstown young gun Ibrahim Haydar had his side?s first opportunity but his shot was punched away by Vedran Janjetovic between the posts for United.
Matthew Pressello?s night came to a premature end, pulling up with a hamstring injury that provided Ante Milicic with a clear passage down field.
The first yellow card of the Round two fixture followed seconds later when the Reds? captain/coach was brought down on the edge of the 18-yard box by Stefanos Liavas.
It was Milicic whose header set up David Zdrillic in the 18? minute, but unfortunately for the veteran, his shot trickled straight to the Bankstown goalkeeper.
Tallan Martin and Phillip Makrys both played their part in gaining the ascendency for the Lions, but it was George Nohra who looked most likely to threaten the United goal.
The number eight showed off his fancy footwork to get around Trifiro and into the goal mouth before superior numbers in defence drew an end to the passage of play.
Sam Munro was solid in the midfield for the Reds and a goal was beckoning when his long ball found Milicic in open space, but the Lions were quick to pounce and shut down the attacking raid.
The first real threat on goal came when Iain King launched a driving shot only to be denied by the diving Janjetovic, who again proved his worth on the stroke of half-time when a dive low to his left deprived George Nohra and the Lions of a 1-0 half-time lead.
Both Bankstown and Nohra continued where they left off in the first-half, when a clever back heel found Tallan Martin, only for a deflection to see the ball over the line for a corner.
Stefanos Liavas joined the party and was almost celebrating when his shot across goal came within centimetres of the incoming foot of James Monie.
United then turned defence into attack when Luka Glavas found Roger Galayini in space down the right-flank.
The Bankstown goalkeeper had eyes for the ball when he chased Galayini?s cross outside the box to leave his goal wide open with the ball at the feet of Milicic.
The former Socceroo was hoping his cross would find the head of a teammate but instead he found Peter Tsekenis who managed to clear the ball off his own line.
Nohra was the best on the field for the Lions and was the victim of a Joe Vrkic tackle that saw him limp off the field for further treatment before eventually taking his place on the sideline 15 minutes later.
Man of the match Sam Munro stood up and was counted for when a ball was cleared to him waiting on the half-way line from a corner in the 63? minute.
His long ball into the box found Luka Glavas who made no mistake heading his shot over the goalkeeper for a 1-0 advantage, despite claims from the Lions that Glavas was in an offside position.
The Reds had a chance to double their lead five minutes later when Galayini?s cross fell in the direction of Glavas who had an air-swing, allowing substitute Elsid Barkhousir a chance to seal the win, but his shot sailed off target.
James Monie looked destined to find the back of the net in the 70? minute when he capitalised on a United defensive error, but it was Janjetovic who again saved the day for his side.
Sydney United were unable to capitalise on a three-on-two situation and allowed the Lions a chance to level late in proceedings, but a shot from Makrys went flying out of the stadium and into a neighbouring backyard, taking any chance of a late equaliser with it.
Milicic was relieved to come away with three points, especially against such quality opposition:
?I thought that last week we played better football, and no disrespect to any opposition but that was a very good Bankstown side that have been together for a long time and haven?t changed its personnel,? he said.
?They were probably unlucky to go home with nothing but I have to give my boys credit, they battled away and had good belief and I think team spirit showed in the end and that?s what probably got us over the line.
?We knew if we were going to get a result today we had to be as physical as they were and I think we asserted ourselves quite well in that department.?
After the match Bankstown?s Stefanos Liavas was left to rue what could have been for his side:
?I thought we dominated the game in both halves, we had good possession and probably had more opportunities to get the ball in the net but it just didn?t happen today,? Liavas said.
?We need more desperation in the box; we?re creating enough chances but just not putting them away at this stage.
?Their keeper pulled off three our four good saves but we were punished by a rare attack from United today.?
Match Stats
Sunday, 8^th March, 2009
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Crowd: 2000 Approx.
Sydney United 1 (Luka Glavas 64?)
Bankstown City Lions 0
Sydney United: 1.Vedran Janjetovic; 5.Damon Collina, 4.Milan Bosnar, 6.Joe Vrkic, 3.Roger Galayini (21.Dominic Rossi 73?), 45.Sam Munro, 9.David Zdrillic, 18.Glen Trifiro (12.Davor Bajsic 45?), 19.Mitchell Thompson, 10.Ante Milicic (16.Elsid Barkhousir 66?), 11.Luka Glavas.
Substitutes Not Used: 2.Ricky Perinich, 40.Aaron Rigato
Yellow Cards: David Zdrillic 19?, Vedran Janjetovic 37?, Sam Munro 81? Davor Bajsic 90?
Red Cards: Nil
Bankstown City Lions: 20.Andrew Bazi; 2.Ibrahim Haydar, 13.Matthew Pressello (3.Shane Webb 10?), 23.Tallan Martin 5.Richard Luksic (C), 6.Peter Tsekenis, 7.Stefanos Liavas, 8.George Nohra (15.Hussein Salameh 77?), 9.James Monie 10.Robert Mileski (18.Iain King 33?), 11.Phillip Makrys
Substitutes Not Used: 29.Hussein Akil (gk), 14.Suad Ameti
Yellow Cards: 7. Stefanos Liavas 7?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Sam Munro (SU)
2 – George Nohra (BCL)
1 ? Vedran Janjetovic (SU)
-By Michael Chammas