Penrith Nepean United defeat Wollongong to keep pace on front runners
A goal on the stroke of half-time to ?man of the match? Sean Mitchell was enough to separate the sides and award Penrith-Nepean a share of second-spot on the ladder.
Penrith-Nepean settled first into the match and in only the 8? minute Nic McInerney had the first clear chance of the match. Some fine lead-up work from Tayfun Buyukkopru provided McInerney with a shot at goal, his effort though was off target.
Two minutes later and a free-kick from Wollongong?s Chris Nathaniel was headed towards his own net by Ante Juric, but the ball just scraped over the crossbar.
These early opportunities would reflect the opening thirty minutes of end-to-end football.
In the 14? minute Evangelos Petratos was left free in the area after a good run off the ball by Mitchell Long. Petratos met a cross from Ben Gough with a strong header but the ball hit the base of the post and finished wide.
Two minutes later and Ilija Prenzoski was also denied by the woodwork, this time the crossbar, after a strong counter-attack by Wollongong.
Moments later and Long broke free and chased down a through pass from Ben Gough. The Penrith striker played a great ball into Petratos but Dave Abel and Alex Augusto combined well to deny the veteran the chance to have a clean shot on goal.
On 22? minutes Steve Hayes saw his dangerous free-kick deflect off Daniel Schwarzer in the Penrith-Nepean goalmouth, but Schwarzer was able to recover in time and punch the ball clear of the approaching traffic.
Mitchell Long then quickly broke free on the counter-attack but Dave Abel slid in with a great tackle to diffuse the situation for the side from Wollongong.
Again the defiance of the visitors was demonstrated on the half hour mark when Mitchell Long drew the goalkeeper out and played the ball into Ben Gough in the penalty-area, only for him to turn on the ball straight into the defence and have the chance amount to nothing.
The two sides competed well in the first-half and despite the chances, it looked to be going into the break with the score locked at 0-0 when Penrith-Nepean sent out a warning shot with five minutes to remaining.
In the 39? minute a cross from McInerney on the left saw an unmarked Petratos head the ball goalwards only to be denied by the same post once more. Then a minute later Mitchell Long set up Ben Gough on the left but Gough fired over the crossbar.
Into first-half time added on and Gough turned provider as he set up Sean Mitchell on his left, and Mitchell fired home across Augusto and into the far side of the net. Despite Wollongong?s valiant efforts, Tony Pace?s side would enter the break a goal down.
Wollongong Community FC tried to respond early in the second-half, especially through the lead up work of Steve Hayes. In the 50? minute there were cries for a penalty made by the visitors though referee Kurt Ams, who had a very good match with the whistle, correctly waved off the claims. For Wollongong it would mark the point where the match would be reduced to few and fewer opportunities on goal.
In the 54? minute Evangelos Petratos smashed a ball the wrong side of the near post having done all the hard work of shaking off his marker and running onto a ball from his son Dimitrios, who had come on as substitute a minute before. 2? minutes later, Wollongong almost did score, but at the wrong end. Buyukkopru saw the ball fall for him in traffic just a couple of metres from goal as he hit a shot on target. Augusto?s initial save deflected off a Wollongong defender and somehow the ball finished over the crossbar.
On 62? minutes Ante Juric snuck forward and saw his long distance effort just curl the wrong side of the far post.
Dave Abel almost did even better when he snuck forward for Wollongong and saw his near post effort deflect away for a corner.
The match then fell into a slow period where the likes of Steve Hayes (Wollongong), Sean Mitchell and Steve Baveas (Penrith-Nepean) dominated the midfield but there were few penetrative advances on goal.
Ten minutes from time and Prenzoski was on the ground in the penalty-area but again any calls for a penalty were quickly dismissed by referee Ams.
Penrith-Nepean had the better of the closing stages with Mitchell Long setting up good opportunities on three occasions; Petratos was anticipated by the Wollongong defence on the first, Long denied by Abel on the second, and Sean Mitchell unable to score when free in the penalty-area on the third.
Just on full-time Wollongong lost Daniel Cortez as he had both feet in the air in a tackle and was sent off by referee Ams.
For Penrith-Nepean coach Ian Gillan, the result was another encouraging win along the way of redemption for football in Penrith:
?We had the chances today but only converted one. We head into the break with confidence and look forward to our match with Manly.?
Wollongong Community FC coach Tony Pace was disappointing with the result:
?We have conceded this match with our mistakes, but that is the way football goes sometimes.?
In the Under 20 match a goal inside the opening five minutes, and one in the closing five minutes of the match, was enough to see Wollongong Community FC defeat Penrith-Nepean United 2-1.
Match Stats
Penrith Nepean United 1 (Sean Mitchell 45?)
Wollongong Community FC 0
Sunday 5th of April, 2009
CUA Stadium, Penrith
Referee: Kurt Ams
Crowd: 250 Approx.
Penrith-Nepean United: 1.Daniel SCHWARZER; 2.Mark BARIAMIS, 4.Evangelos PETRATOS, 5.David GARDINER, 6.Steven BAVEAS, 9.Mitchell LONG, 10.Ben GOUGH, (11.Dimitrios PETRATOS 53?), 15.Sean MITCHELL, 17.Ante JURIC (8.Paul CRISP 82?), 12.Nic MCINERNEY, 26. Tayfun BUYUKKOPRU (14.Greg KONDEK 70?)
Yellow Cards: Nil
Wollongong Community FC: 1.Alex AUGUSTO; 2.Dave ABEL, 6.Ilija PRENZOSKI, 9.Steve HAYES, 10.Balla CONDE (7.Josh PRICE 70?), 13.Ben BRONNEBERG, 15.James LAWRENCE, 16.Corey GAMEIRO, 17.Chris NATHANIEL, 18.Steve DIMITRIEVSKI (2.Kieran DEANE 79?), 19.Corey HORNER (14.Daniel CORTEZ 63?)
Yellow Cards: Balla CONDE 44? Steve HAYES ?80
Red Card: Daniel CORTEZ 89?
Player Ratings:
3 – Sean Mitchell (PNU)
2 – Steve Hayes (WCFC)
1 – Mitchell Long (PNU)
-By Stuart Jones
