Sydney Tigers fail to put away determined Stallions
In many ways the Tigers versus the Stallions is the TeleChoice Premier League equivalent, on a smaller scale of course, of the classic Rome derby between Roma and Lazio.
The statistics make for interesting reading: in the last three seasons the Tigers have won five and there have been three draws between these two sides in eight encounters.
Despite the two sending offs in the second-half, and the long-standing rivalry, there was absolutely no malice between these two sides in this very good and entertaining match.
In the end, both sides shared the spoils but the Sydney Tigers will be livid that they were unable to finish off their determined adversaries.
The first half was a lively encounter with both sides providing goal-mouth opportunities.
As early as the 5? minute a free-kick from the right by Franco Parisi reached Mark Byrnes in the penalty area, but the tall defender could only manage to deflect the ball just wide of the mark.
2? minutes later Marconi replied and almost took the lead after some poor defending by the normally reliable Danial Cummins gifted the ball to Ali Abbas Al-Hilfi, but the talented striker couldn?t beat Phillip Zabaks who, from close range, saved with his feet.
In the 9? minute a free-kick from Ali Abbas took everyone by surprise when it ended up against the woodwork and it could easily have been the opening goal of the game.
Ousmane Toure thought that he would try his luck after playing a nice one-two with a team-mate, but thanks to a deflection from a Tigers defender his shot ended up just wide of the goal.
In the 17? minute Parisi won the ball in a challenge from Abel El Jamal and with a precise cross was able to find Younis lurking with intent in the penalty box, but unfortunately from close range he couldn?t beat James Chronopoulos between the sticks.
The opening goal arrived in the 37? minute when an excellent free kick from Younis beat all and sundry and ended up in the bottom right hand corner of the net.
A similar attempt about ten minutes earlier from the same player had forced Chronopoulos into a very good diving save.
Obviously Younis had learnt from that failed earlier attempt and both coaches acknowledged afterwards that he did well to find the back of the net.
?To go in at halftime 1-0 down was disappointing ? it was a good free-kick ? but we shouldn?t have been in that position,? Lee Sterrey of Marconi said.
?Robert (Younis) scoring was a real positive for us,? said Luke McGuire, the Tigers mentor.
In the second-half both sides had their share of chances but the game was really influenced by the numeric discrepancy between the sides.
Younis had an early chance from an accurate Nick Rizzo free-kick, but was too slow to react when the ball reached him.
A lovely diagonal shot by Erick Anabalon in the 56? minute forced Zabaks into a nice diving save before an Ali Abbas free-kick three minutes later didn?t really trouble the Tigers custodian.
In the 62? minute Toure scored a brilliant goal for the Stallions and it was no more than the quality player deserved.
Given far too much time on the ball, he was able to create room and fire off a rocket from the right that gave Zabaks absolutely no chance in goal.
However, after such a great goal the game degenerated because of the two red cards.
El Jamal lost the ball to Younis in the 65? minute and somehow then tried to piggy back him into the goal area. Referee Peter Vrtkovski correctly gave him an early shower.
In the 78? minute Toure reacted to some close marking and appeared to strike a Sydney Tigers opponent. Once again Vrtkovski was left with little option but to also point to the sheds.
?Our defender [El Jamal] did something stupid and left us down a man, and then Toure reacted after a bloke went for him with intent. It will cost us now,? is how Sterrey saw both incidents.
Late in the game the Sydney Tigers tried to press forward, but full credit must go to the Marconi Stallions who not only held on but actually even pushed forward with nine players.
A late glancing header in the 93? minute by Younis shaved the crossbar but it was too little, too late for the Tigers who should have really finished off their opponent.
?I think in the first-half we were excellent but, to be honest, we had two extra men in the second half and we should have put them away,? McGuire said after the game acknowledging the shortcoming of his side.
?We knocked the ball around well, but in the end we really lacked the killer blow.?
His counterpart Sterrey was delighted with his side?s character against the Tigers with nine men.
?In the first-half I thought we did enough and outnumbered them five on four in the midfield,? he said.
?Our patience wasn?t good, but we had the best chances in the first 20 minutes and didn?t do enough with them.
?Credit to my blokes; they showed some really good character but with 11 against 9 they still couldn?t beat us.?
Meanwhile, in the Grade-20 division, the Tigers and Marconi played out a 2-2 draw.
Match Stats
Sydney Tigers 1 (Robert Younis 37?)
Marconi Stallions 1 (Ousmane Toure 62?)
Sunday, 26th July, 2009
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Peter Vrtkovski
Assistant Referees: Wayne Lenardon and Chris Wells
Fourth Official: Chris Young
Sydney Tigers: 99.Phillip Zabaks; 2.Mark Byrnes (7.Stephen Kayes 76?), 3.John Kelso (11.Carlo Musumeci 77?), 24.Jason Trifiro, 6.Shane Lyons, 15.Danial Cummins, 16.Michael Hawrysiuk, 18.Bishara Stephan (12.Michael West 61?), 22.Nick Rizzo, 9.Robert Younis, 10.Franco Parisi.
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Giancarlo Papaianni, 8.Marino Musumeci
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Marconi Stallions: 22.James Chronopoulos; 4.Umut Tokdogan, 5.Abel El Jamal, 7.Ousmane Toure, 8.Alexander Canak, 9.Erick Anabalon (6.Vuko Tomasevic 68?), 10.Ali Abbas Al Hilfi (15.Tim McGowan 77?), 11.Matt Gordon (14.Lenox Tweneboa 90?), 12.Vamara Diarra, 23.Christopher Nunes, 26.Nahuel Arrarte
Substitutes Not Used: 13.Ben Vidaic, 20.Cem Akili
Yellow Cards: Diarra 36?
Red Cards: El Jamal 65?, Toure 78?
-By Joe Russo
