Tiger Turf Cup Round 4 sizzles as Quarter Final spots announced
At Jensen Park, the Bankstown City Lions continued its recent good form as they defeated TeleChoice Premier League leaders Sydney United 2-1 in what was an action packed match.
The game was brought to life as early as the first minute when the home side missed a golden opportunity in taking the lead with new recruit Fadi Ghosson failing to hit United keeper Michael Frost?s net.
Ante Milicic?s men hit the lead mid-way through the first half through a counter-attack when pint-sized striker Elsid Barkhousir was on target in giving the Reds the lead.
Just before half-time the home side smashed an equalizer via the boot of tough tackling midfielder Phil Makrys. The 23-year-old hit a superb shot that rocked the back of the Sydney United net after a neat layoff from Hussein Akil.
Peter Tsekenis? squad then took the lead and ultimately won the match mid-way through the second half when striker Tallan Martin scored a well taken goal which sent the few fans that braved the chilly conditions into raptures.
There was a bit of tension towards the end of the game as young midfielder Daniel Rezo was shown a straight red card after he was shown to be the last man bringing down Greg Owens.
Makrys was delighted with the end result as the midfielder felt as though he rediscovered the form he had before he tore his hamstring that ruled him out for 8 weeks.
?The hamstring pulled up well and I was happy with the way I played as well as the team.
?It was great to get a goal but the victory was very important as it goes to show the depth we have as a squad as we rested a couple of key players and still dominated.?
Makrys was very vocal about Bankstown?s chances of winning the Tiger Turf Cup for the second year in a row.
?We?re in this Cup to win it and I know the club is expecting us to be in the Final so we will do all that we can in realizing that goal.?
Bonnyrigg White Eagles took care of their former Super League foes PCYC Parramatta Eagles at Melita Stadium when an Almir Dizdaric double sent them through to the Quarter-Finals of the Tiger Turf Cup.
The White Eagles took the lead midway through the first half when young attacker Domenic Cutri was brought down inside the box. Dizdaric stepped up and calmly slotted the ball from the penalty spot beyond the reach of Eagles keeper Stacy Alogdellis which gave the away side the lead.
Bonnyrigg all but secured the match in the second half when great lead-up work in the midfield by Milorad Simonovic saw his ball go through to Scottish import Ryan Baldacchino. The 28-year-old whipped in a delightful cross which fell nicely to Dizdaric who volleyed home superbly.
TeleChoice Premier League cellar dwellers Wollongong Community FC lifted its spirits when they gunned down fellow rivals Sydney Tigers at Lambert Park 2-0.
The South Coast side have had a tough 2009 season but were all smiles at the end of the match when two first half goals all but sealed a coveted spot into the Quarter Finals of the Tiger Turf Cup.
The club?s top scorer Ilija Prenzoski opened the scoring for the away side with a well taken goal while defender David Abel sealed the match before half-time with a nice header which gave coach Glenn Fontana something to finally smile about.
The job was made all too hard for the struggling Tigers who had their striker Robbie Younis sent off for a late challenge late in the first half.
Wollongong Community FC First Grade Manager Bob Stallard was overjoyed at the side?s victory after making the trek from the South Coast.
?The boys gave out a fantastic effort and battled from the start of the whistle till the end to have gotten this positive result.
?Glenn was delighted with the boys as well as we finally felt how good it was to win again.
?Hopefully this can spark up more wins for the remainder of the season in the TeleChoice Premier League as well as hopefully going further in the Tiger Turf Cup.?
TeleChoice Premier League side Manly United overcame a spirited Spirit FC side 1-0 at Christie Park courtesy of a Michael Lloyd-Green goal in the 50th minute.
Lloyd-Green played a wonderful one-two with Robbie Cattanach and rounded the Spirit keeper after a fifty metre run and slotted into an empty net.
Spirit FC had an ideal chance of taking the match into extra-time after the home side were awarded a 90th minute penalty. Skipper Ross Kethel however missed his penalty which ended their run in the Tiger Turf Cup.
Manly United coach Phil Moss was philosophical after the match but was happy that the side overcame a gritty Spirit FC outfit.
?We got what we expected from Spirit ? a very committed, high tempo game.
?It was a typical Cup game and they made us work hard for the result but I thought we controlled the second half in particular and had a few good chances to increase our lead. Robbie Cattanach looked dangerous all night and Joey Gibbs was unlucky not to score.
?I was disappointed we gave them a sniff with the penalty ? we need to be smarter and a bit more disciplined.
Moss sent a message though to all remaining Tiger Turf Cup participants that they meant business.
?The Cup is important to us and we are looking forward to the Quarter Finals.?
Super League outfit Fraser Park booked its ticket into the Quarter Final of the Tiger Turf Cup after a hard fought 1-0 victory over courageous State League 2 side Camden Tigers at Fraser Park.
In what was a scrappy affair the only goal of the match came in the first half of extra-time courtesy of an unfortunate own goal from the Tigers which put Ramsin Shamon?s side into the next stages of the Cup.
Finally at a chilly Garside Park on the only match played on Wednesday, TeleChoice Premier League side Blacktown City Demons thumped Super League outfit Granville Rage 7-3.
In an entertaining match, the Rage took an early lead when Luciano Berbis hit the back of the net however the Demons struck two before half-time via Joel Chianese and Chris Bedzo.
The second half saw a flurry of goals as the Demons extended the lead thanks to Gavin Forbes who made it 3-1 before Matt Lewis and Chianese added his second making it 5-1.
The Rage pegged two goals back before Forbes added his second and Ray Miller made it 7-3 to finish off the match.
Demons coach Ken Schembri was pleased with his side’s showing.
“We started off slowly but once we kicked into gear it was hard stopping us. After we led the game 5-1 both teams adopted a cautious approach to the game as both were looking forward to their respective matches on the weekend.”
Schembri signalled out Ray Miller, Gavin Forbes and Luka Dukic as stand-outs.
“I thought Luka did very well in the back, Ray Miller was busy and industrious while Gavin Forbes did very good when he came on in the second half.”
-Reporting by Mark Stavroulakis
Tiger Turf Round 4 Match of the Round
Sutherland Sharks 4
Marconi Stallions 1
Sharks freeze Stallions at Seymour Shaw
A spirited exchange in this Tiger Turf Cup match between Sutherland Sharks and Marconi Stallions was always on the cards and so it proved when the visitors took an early lead after 4? minutes with their first attack of the game.
Ousmane Toure pulled the ball back for Vamara Diarra to fire home from distance, beating the Sharks Jordan Nikolovski, even though the shot-stopper should have saved.
The match exploded into life when opposite number Cem Akilli was quite rightly shown a straight red card by referee Kris Griffiths-Jones for pulling back Panni Nikas inside the penalty-area.
Tim McGowan had to make way for James Chronopoulos to go between the sticks but his first touch of the ball was picking it out of the net from the resultant penalty taken by Nikas, and with Marconi now down to ten-men with almost 80? minutes remaining it was always going to be an uphill struggle for the visitors.
Ben Vidaic was soon into the book when found guilty of a high foot challenge on Ben Spruce for the ball as the Sharks slowly but surely began to niggle away at Marconi?s shape and pull them around the park. Credit to the Stallions for their efforts but with such a high work rate it looked more and more likely fatigue would factor in the latter stages.
Nikas played the ball out to Michael Katz on the right who fired in a cross for Brad Boardman to head toward goal that Chronopoulos spilt but managed to gather at the second attempt.
The Sharks started exploiting Marconi with marauding runs down both flanks but still the Stallions managed to hold out with stoic defending and last gasp tackles, although they still managed the odd threat on goal themselves albeit on the break and with tame efforts.
Tough tackling midfielder Nick Stavroulakis was the first Shark to be cautioned for feet raised in the tackle on Ali Abbas Al-Hilfi and if anyone thought this was going to be a nothing game they soon had reason to think again as the atmosphere on the pitch began to simmer.
As the half drew to a close there was a very neat move between Neil Jablonski and Katz on the right, which the latter crossed, but Nikas couldn?t reach by the width of a stud although he was again on the score-sheet 30?? seconds later.
Some luck did shine on the Sharks, it must be said, when finishing off another move on the right to give the home-side the lead and then extend it 5? minutes later when collecting the ball from Aram Tayebi, growing into the game on a rare appearance for the first team, on the left and slipping a left-footed effort under Chronopoulos.
The Stallions shot-stopper managed to get a hand to it but was unable to stop it crossing the line, giving the Sharks a 3-1 lead at the break.
Boardman continued to lead the line well in the second period pulling defenders every which way on set pieces and creating space for teammates following in, and much credit must be paid for his unselfish work up front as Sutherland again took the game to Marconi who still attempted to play their way, even with the numerical disadvantage.
It was Boardman who teed up Nikas only to see the opportunity of a fourth goal in the game slip past the post as the Sharks continued to run rampant, particularly down the right, and you could sense it was only a matter of time before something had to give.
In the 67? minute, the Sharks added a fourth when Boardman headed home from a good cross on the left as the Sharks now got over the hoodoo of the 3-1 curse ? following the recent 4-3 loss against Bankstown City at the same venue after holding a 3-1 lead.
Vuko Tomasevic joined the yellow brigade for a rash looking tackle on Ben Spruce as tired legs and fatigue took its toll on Marconi, to be quickly followed by Adel El Jamal as the visitors finished with a flourish and not much else on a night not destined to be theirs.
Lee Sterrey was not pleased when stating after the match:
?The send-off was justified but not what I expect especially when a senior defender and senior goalkeeper don?t communicate with each other.
?We have worked hard this season to set high standards and this is something I will not accept particularly when we go one goal up and then spend 80? minutes down to 10-men.
?We kept our shape and I?ve seen 10-men draw and even win games but this was not our night.?
Sharks boss Robbie Stanton said:
?I?m happy with the result and it shows that we can go 3-1 up and win games.
?We learnt from our mistakes and played for the full 90? minutes tonight so we have responded well to the loss at the weekend.
?We gifted them a goal; the ?keeper should have saved but we still found our composure and came back strongly and it looks as though we are starting to show that we can win games and what it takes to do so,? he concluded.
Both Diarra and Toure showed well for Marconi and any number of Sharks players could hold their heads high, but in the end, the record books will show a comfortable win for the Sharks but the final analysis of this game is both sides had to work very hard on an extremely cold evening.
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 4 (Nikas 11? (pen), 38?, 43?, Boardman 67?)
Marconi Stallions 1 (Diarra 4?)
Tuesday, 9th of June, 2009
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Assistant Referees: Murray Wilson and Daniel Dewhurst
Fourth Official: Peter Parker
Sutherland Sharks: 17.Jordan Nikolovski; 2.George Souris, 15.Michael Katz, 11.Ben Spuce, 6.Chris Price (18.Kyle Stuart 69?), 14.Nick Stavroulakis (3.Ryan Emerton 78?), 8.Nathan Ralph, 12.Neil Jablonski, 9.Brad Boardman, 5.Aram Tayebi (19.Matt Villazon 89?), 23.Panni Nikas
Substitutes Not Used: 21.Yanni Fragogiannis, 1.Nathan Denham
Yellow Cards: Stavroulakis 33?
Red Cards: Nil
Marconi Stallions: 20.Cem Akilli; 4.Umut Tokdogan, 5.Adel El Jamal, 6.Vuko Tomasevic, 7.Ousmane Toure, 10.Ali Abbas Al-Hilfi (28.George Khoury 69?), 13.Ben Vidaic, 15.Tim McGowan (22.James Chronopoulos 11?), 17.Vamara Diarra, 23.Chris Nunes, 36.Brenton Rhodes (14.Daniel Ott 62?)
Substitutes Not Used: 8.Alex Canak, 26.Nahuel Arrarte
Yellow Cards: Vidaic 24?, Tomasevic 83?, El Jamal 84?
Red Cards: Akilli 8?
-By Micky Brock
Round 4 Tiger Turf Cup Results
2 Bankstown City v Sydney United 1
0 PCYC Parramatta v Bonnyrigg White Eagles 2
0 Spirit FC v Manly United 1
1 Fraser Park v Camden Tigers 0*
4 Sutherland Sharks v Marconi Stallions 1
0 Sydney Tigers v Wollongong CFC 2
3 Granville Rage v Blacktown City Demons 7
Tuesday 16 June – Penrith Nepean United v Rockdale City Suns – 7.30pm – Cook Park, St Mary’s
*Indicates Extra-Time
