Sydney Tigers heartbroken after last ditch goal by Penrith Nepean United
Greg Kondek?s goal in the 6? minute of injury time was the only goal of the game as both sides aimed to steady their season from this fixture.
The visitors had the clearest chance early on when in the 6? minute Angelo Petratos headed the ball off a Nic McInerney corner just over the crossbar. A minute later at the other end Michael Hawrysiuk fired a great throw-in right across the face of the Penrith goal but the Tigers were unable to pounce on the loose ball.
After yet another dangerous throw-in from Hawrysiuk was flicked on by Robert Younis, the ball was cleared by Penrith and the visitors broke quickly via the dangerous feet of Mitchell Long. Long played Ben Gough down the left in the attacking third and he put in a dangerous cross but Phil Zabaks, in a sign of things to come, confidently intercepted the ball away from Greg Kondek, who was very close to heading home the ball.
7? minutes later and Long again made a dangerous run but his cross-turn-shot from the left was well diffused by Zabaks at the near post. In the 28? minute Gough played Long through with a ball over the defence but once more Zabaks beat his opponent to the ball and saw off the danger.
Penrith had much of the possession to this point but were unable to convert, and as Robbie Younis pounced on the ball in the 34? minute it looked as though the visitors would live to regret it. Younis headed the ball over the defence but as the ball came back to him, former team-mate, and newly signed Penrith goalkeeper Matthew Nash, pounced to grab the ball away from danger. Then 4? minutes later it was Younis who turned provider as he played it to Jamie McMaster who chipped the ball over Nash but, to the disappointment of the local fans, also just over the crossbar.
In the 40? minute Nic McInerney, who was creating many of Penrith?s attacking opportunities throughout the match, put a great ball through to Ben Gough, but he was unable to put his shot on target. Then a minute later McInerney was denied by an outstanding save from Zabaks. For the final 5? minutes of the half it was all Sydney Tigers and the half was almost capped off by a goal from Michael West though his header from a corner saw the ball fly inches over the crossbar.
Half-time was not good for the locals as it was Penrith who came back out the stronger. Firstly, Greg Kondek played a great ball to Ben Gough who was only denied by another fine Zabaks save. Then in the 50? minute, McInerney danced through the Tigers defence only for Zabaks to deny both him and the follow up from Mitchell Long. For Long it was his last play of the match as he limped off to be replaced by Michael Dowling. It was Dowling who could have scored the first goal 5? minutes later as he pounced on a great pass from Gough, but again, Zabaks made another fine save from Dowling?s early shot.
Moments after the hour mark, Robbie Younis finally beat Matthew Nash but he saw his effort cleared off the line by Daniel Gardiner, who was outstanding in defence, along with his defensive colleagues.
4? minutes later it was his defensive partner Angelo Petratos who denied the Tigers an attacking opportunity with a strong piece of defensive play. Penrith had seen off a period of play that had been dominated by Tigers possession, but a lack of efforts on target had let them down. This was evidenced in the 66? minute when Hawrysiuk put in a dangerous cross but no-one was there for the Tigers to convert.
A minute later the ball was in the back of the Penrith net but it was denied by referee Khodr Yaghi after it was correctly adjudged hand ball.
On 75? minutes Nash pulled off a save at full-stretch after Mark Byrnes laid the ball back to half-time substitute Shane Lyons who struck a powerful effort towards the target. On the counter-attack, substitute Dimitrios Petratos played McInerney in on goal but he was well shepherded away from the target by the Tigers defence.
The game fell into a small lull before the final few minutes of the match and the time added on period. In the 88th minute a shot from David Comito saw the ball deflect off Greg Kondek goalwards but with Kondek through onto his own rebound Zabaks closed him down to save the situation.
Marino Musumeci?s introduction to the game almost had an immediate impact with him flying through on goal in the closing minute of normal time. Comito, who had played Musumeci onside, scrambled back magnificently to put in a last ditch tackle when it looked like the Tigers would finally take the lead.
Then, in injury time, McInerney miss-hit a shot only for it to land at the feet of the unmarked Dimitrios Petratos at the far post. The awkward bounce though saw Petratos having to adjust his shot and in the end it went straight to Zabaks.
Back up the field the Tigers broke quickly once more but this time they were denied by young gun defender Matthew Liddall – who had replaced the injured Gardiner only 5? minutes earlier – who tracked back and denied Musumeci once more.
It looked all over as Zabaks once more intercepted a cross from Greg Kondek but as he fell he was injured and the three minutes of time added on blew out to six.
In the final seconds of the match, a Paul Crisp cross was missed by the defence and at the far post Greg Kondek was standing there waiting for the ball and fired home the winner. Despite the protests from the Tigers defence expecting an offside call, the goal stood.
In the end, the Tigers had the majority of the possession in the second-half though were unable to convert their chances in the attacking third of the field and this was what let them down most.
Sydney Tigers coach Luke Maguire reflected on this fact after the match:
?I am furious. We did not take the chances presented to us and that is why we find ourselves where we are on the table.?
Penrith Nepean United coach Ian Gillan reflected on the never say die attitude of his team and also took time out to compliment a player on the opposition:
?We had enough chances to win the game today. We never gave up and after we created a lot of chances one finally went our way, I am very proud and pleased for our boys, they did a tremendous job.
?Phil Zabaks was magnificent in keeping the Tigers in the game today and credit must go to him for his fine performance as well.?
In the Grade 20?s match, one goal also separated the two sides with debutant Damir Prodanovic scoring the only goal early in the second-half as Penrith-Nepean United, under the coaching of newly appointed gaffer Ross Anton, also won 1-0.
Match Stats
Sydney Tigers 0
Penrith Nepean United 1 (Greg Kondek 96?)
Sunday 7th June 2009 3pm
Leichhardt Oval, Leichhardt.
Referee: Khodr Yaghi
Assistant Referees: Sarah Ho and Adam Koombes
Fourth Official: Nick Tragoustis
Crowd : 450 Approx.
Sydney Tigers: 1.Phil Zabaks; 2.Mark Byrnes, 3.John Kelso, 9.Robert Younis, 12.Michael West, 13.David D?Apuzzo (7.Stephen Kayes 91?), 15.Danial Cummins, 16.Michael Hawrysiuk, 18.Bishara Stephen (6.Shane Lyons 45?), 19.Jamie McMaster, 24.Jason Trifiro, (8.Marino Musumeci 85?)
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Giancarlo Papaianni
Yellow Cards: David Comito 70?, David Gardiner 82?
Red Cards: Nil
Penrith-Nepean United: 1.Matthew Nash; 2.Mark Bariamis, 3.David Comito, 4.Evangelos Petratos, 5.David Gardiner (17.Matthew Liddall 84?), 8.Paul Crisp, 9.Mitchell Long (19.Michael Dowling 51?), 10.Ben Gough, 12.Nic McInerney, 14.Greg Kondek, 23.Devrim Huseyin (11.Dimitrios Petratos 69?)
Substitutes Not Used: 21.Nik Jelic, 20.Robert Morrison
Yellow Cards: Michael West 24?, David D?Apuzzo 80?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Stuart Jones
