Sydney United snatch the points at Belmore against Sydney Olympic
With much anticipation surrounding the encounter between the two former NSL sides, Luka Glavas? 41? minute penalty was enough to seal the points for the Edensor Park side in a match dominated, in terms of possession, by the home-side.
Sydney Olympic created the opening chance of the night via a set-piece down the right-flank. Chris Triantis? pin-point cross picked out the head of Josh Lawson who failed to put the ball past the ever ready Vedran Janjetovic in the Sydney United goal.
The Sydney United shot-stopper was called upon again moments later as he left his line to anticipate James Monie?s lunging effort, again via a cross from the right.
The Reds responded via Elsid Barkhousir down the left-flank on 5? minutes, though the Reds? hat-trick hero from round 1 failed to pick out the head of Luka Glavas inside the penalty-area.
At the other end, James Monie nearly caught the Reds rearguard unawares on 12? minutes as he snuck in behind the defence to send a looping header over Janjetovic; the Reds? travelling supporters behind Janjetovic?s goal were relieved to see the ball finish wide of the mark.
Sydney United?s response was swift, and assisted by a loose Tayfun Devrimol pass out of the Blues defence, though Sean Mitchell?s quick through ball into the path of Glavas carried too much weight as the chance amounted to nothing.
On 19? minutes, Monie climbed highest at the back post to meet Peter McPherson?s cross from the right-flank, though the striker?s header flashed across the face of goal.
The visitor?s best chance of the half arrived after 24? minutes when Mitchell Thompson picked up a loose ball on the edge of the penalty-area. The midfielder?s long-range attempt though lacked precision as the ball finished well over Zaim Zanelli?s crossbar.
Sydney Olympic nearly took the lead on 29? minute as James Monie had his first time effort from close-range thwarted by the scrambling Sydney United defence. Monie received a clever pass cut back from the byline, though his powerful effort from the penalty-area failed to find the back of the net.
A near perfect solo effort by Chris Triantis had the crowd on their feet as the talented midfielder weaved his way past three defenders before curling a vicious effort inches wide of Janjetovic?s left-hand post.
Against the run of play, Elsid Barkhousir beat his marker inside the penalty-area before being fouled by the Blues defence. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty-spot as Luka Glavas remained composed to beat Zanelli from the spot.
Todd Brodie nearly doubled the Reds? lead prior to the break as his lunging effort at the back post finished over the crossbar, following a fine cut-back pass by Barkhousir from the left-flank.
Sydney Olympic closed the half strongly with a monopoly on possession, though Andre Gumprecht?s effort from distance, following a promising forward foray, failed to force the Reds? goalkeeper Janjetovic into a save.
Following the break, Barkhousir had the Blues defence on the back foot with another mazy run down the left-flank. Barkhousir?s cut-back from the byline fell into the path of Todd Brodie on the edge of the penalty-area, though the midfielder?s driven effort finished well wide of the target.
The Blues continued to pressure the Reds in midfield, in search of the equaliser, though the well-organised Sydney United defence continued to keep the home-side at bay.
The Reds? Steve Hayes cleverly picked out Damon Collina in the penalty-area via a set-piece; the defender?s attempted header, with his back to goal, was easy pickings for Zanelli.
Sydney Olympic?s response arrived via another Triantis set-piece, though once more Mayora failed to find the mark with his glancing header.
Triantis attempted to spur his teammates on following a fine slalom effort out of midfield. The Blues midfielder cleverly created a yard of space to unleash an effort on goal, though failed to beat the ever ready Janjetovic.
The Blues pressure continued as Nik Tsattalios got forward down the right-flank. The former Sydney FC defender unleashed a powerful effort across the face of goal, failing to find a teammate to tap the ball home from close-range.
Peter McPherson then tried his luck from distance with a low-driven effort finishing inches wide of Janjetovic?s right-hand post.
Triantis? best efforts on 84? minutes failed to carve out an opening for James Monie. The midfielder held the ball up well for his teammate, though the final pass was cleaned up by Joe Vrkic in the Sydney United backline.
The home-side?s last chance of salvaging a point from the match went begging in the 1? minute of injury-time as Triantis? long-range drive sailed over the crossbar, ensuring Sydney United a return to Edensor Park with maximum points for the second weekend in succession.
Concerns for the Blues faithful surround the condition of striker Matthew Mayora who was stretchered from the field due to injury. X-rays showed that the striker twisted his foot and will be out from four to six weeks which is a damaging blow for the Blues especially up-front.
Sydney United player/coach David Zdrilic was pleased with the result:
?We are very happy with the result, though it wasn?t our best performance,? said Zdrilic.
?Sydney Olympic played really well today, dominating possession and putting us under a lot of pressure.
?We knew that we would be under the pump before the match, and coming here to take points is something that not many teams will do.
?In the end, we did limit them to few clear-cut chances, despite the possession they had, and we are really happy to take the points, even though, we do have a lot to work on still,? Zdrilic ended.
Sydney Olympic boss Pat Marando was visibly disappointed with the result:
?They (Sydney United) are the benchmark for the rest of the teams to work towards.
?In saying this, I thought we dominated the match tonight, and we didn?t deserve to come out of the match with nothing.
?In midfield we were superior, though lacked the consistency in the final third.
?Defensively, we made a silly mistake and were punished. In saying this, Sydney United is a great side ? we can?t take anything away from them ? though we will need to improve on this performance, and bounce back next weekend.?
In the Grade 20 division, Sydney United maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a nail-biting 4-3 win against Sydney Olympic.
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 0
Sydney United 1 (Luka Glavas 41?)
Saturday, 6th March, 2010
Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Assistant Referees: Daniel Dewhurst and Nick Backe
Fourth Official: Tom Klein
Crowd: 1,822
Sydney Olympic: 1.Zaim Zanelli (GK), 4.Josh Lawson, 5.Tayfun Devrimol, 6.Andre Gumprecht (18.Luke Gearin 62?), 7.Peter McPherson (19.Steven Biason 89?), 8.Chris Triantis, 9.James Monie, 10.Anthony Doumanis (C) (12.Cedric Ramirez 70?), 11.Phillip Makrys, 15.Matthew Mayora, 33.Nik Tsattalios
Substitutes Not Used: 24.M. Stamatelis, 1.N. Lowe
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United: 1.Vedran Janjetovic; 5.Damon Collina, 6.Joe Vrkic (C), 7.Todd Brodie, 8.Shane Lyons, 23.Ivo Bosnar, 21.Sean Mitchell, 10.Steve Hayes (34.Tomislav Cirjak 68?), 19.Mitchell Thompson (32.Ante Tomic 64?), 16.Elsid Barkhousir, 11.Luka Glavas (9.David Zdrilic 81?)
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Roy Bell, 4.Michael Cindric
Yellow Cards: Damon Collina 17?, Vedran Janjetovic 71?, David Zdrilic 83?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Chris Triantis (SO)
2 ? Phillip Makrys (SO)
1 ? Elsid Barkhousir (SU)
-By Joseph Carlucci
