Akin rescues point for Suns against Manly
Adam Foti?s late first-half effort was cancelled out by Rockdale City?s ?super sub? Baturay Akin who scored his second goal in as many weeks within 3? minutes of entering the field of play as a second-half substitute.
The visitors held a strong hold of possession in the opening exchanges, though a slip up in the defensive third on 4? minutes nearly presented Rockdale City Suns? striker Sam Awad with a look-in on goal. The Manly United defence quickly lifted its line to thwart the danger.
Manly United?s first look-in on goal arrived via a swift counter-attack from their own half. A fine through ball was delivered into the path of Adam Foti, to send the striker clean through on goal, though from a slightly decentralised position, Foti?s first-time effort was easy pickings for Ben McNamara in the Suns? goal.
The visitors had a golden chance to open the scoring on 20? minutes after Mitch Macedo was fouled on the edge of the penalty-area. Bradley Groves stepped up to take aim from the set-piece and sent his effort inches wide of the top right-hand corner, with goalkeeper McNamara routed to the spot.
Rockdale City responded moments later with a fine interchange of passes between Pece Apolovski, Robert Di Meglio and Sam Awad on the edge of the penalty-area. The latter sent his effort well-wide of the mark from a very promising position.
Manly United proved dangerous again via a set-piece on 27? minutes as Groves? curled in effort from the left was deflected behind for a corner by the Suns defence. After momentarily clearing the resulting corner, the Suns were again under the pump as Andrew Mailer made a positive run to the right byline before cutting back a neat cross onto the head of Foti ? the striker?s effort finished inches wide of the target.
The Suns responded with a swift move up-field via the feet of Apolevski. The Rockdale City captain beat his marker down the right-flank before playing a short ball into the path of Daniel Pejovski. The striker?s first-time effort packed a real punch though the scrambling Manly United defence cleared the ball away to safety.
Groves was again in the thick of the action for the visitors when he cleverly won possession in the Suns? half of the field. Groves cut in from the left-flank and lined the ball onto his favoured right peg before unleashing a venomous drive on goal, parried at the second attempt by McNamara.
Marino Musumeci produced a touch of class on the edge of the Manly United FC penalty-area when he effortlessly brought down a Steven Bosinovski cross from the left. Musumeci?s touch was class, though his effort on goal lacked precision as the ball finished well-wide of the intended target.
The home-side closed the half strongly with Steven Bozinovski sneaking his way behind the Manly United defence to go one-on-one with Brad Swancott. The Suns midfielder rounded the goalkeeper with a heavy touch that took him too wide to slot the all home. With the Manly United defence retreating quickly, the chance went begging as Bozinovski played a hopeful ball into the middle of the penalty-area, all to no avail as Pascal Julliard & Co. in the Manly defensive line thwarted any danger.
Despite the Suns best efforts in the attacking third, Manly United found the opener on 45? minutes courtesy of Adam Foti. A fine cross from the left-flank via the boot of Keith Shevlin was partially dealt with by the Rockdale City defence, with Foti picking up the loose ball and firing into the top left-hand corner for a one-goal lead at the break.
Rockdale City started the second-half in the right frame of mind with successive attempts down the left and right flanks in the opening 2? minutes forcing Manly United onto the back foot. Despite the early running though, neither Adem Kir, down the left, nor Sam Awad down the right, managed to deliver the final pass for a clear-cut goalscoring opportunity.
The Suns were on the attack again on 55? minutes following Kir?s silky touch down the left touchline into the path of Pejovski. The young striker expertly cut inside his marker to start his incursion on goal, though some fine defending by Pascal Julliard brought an end to the promising forward foray.
Manly United remained content to sit back and hit the Suns on the break with Mitch Macedo and Keith Shevlin the main ?go to? men for the Cromer Park side. Both players combined well on the hour down the left-flank for the latter to get in behind the defence. The Suns defence was quick to react and forced Shevlin into error when crossing from the byline.
Macedo did get a look-in on goal moments later when he picked up a loose ball on the edge of the penalty-area. The midfielder?s powerful drive on goal had McNamara scrambling, though the effort finished inches over the crossbar.
McNamara was forced into a routine save a minute later as Jimmy Oates tried his luck from distance. The low-driven effort was well dealt with by the Rockdale City shot-stopper.
Rockdale City Suns supporters were on their feet on 66? minutes as Adem Kir sent a rifling effort inches wide of the up-right with Swancott seemingly beaten.
The Suns dominance of possession in the attacking third paid off on 69? minutes as Baturay Akin ? who had been on the field for only 3? minutes ? latched onto Pece Apolevski?s cross from the right to head home at the near post past Swancott. The attacking midfielder scored for the second consecutive week within 3? minutes of entering the fray.
Adem Kir nearly had the Suns ahead with his ?Beckhamesque? free-kick floated perfectly over the Manly United wall, though finishing inches wide of the mark with Swancott scrambling to his right.
Manly United?s response arrived 10? minutes from time via the feet of Shevlin. The midfielder played a tantalising switch into the path of Andrew Mailer. The right-sided midfielder cut the ball onto his left peg, though a lunging effort by the Suns Mark Bariamis saw the ball deflect wide for a corner.
Following the match, Rockdale City Suns coach Mile Todoroski expressed his view on the Suns? performance:
?A point against a strong team like Manly United is a good result for us,? Todoroski said.
?I repeat that our team has come up from the Super League so we are still a little behind all of the other teams with more experience in the Premier League.
?Today, both teams had good moments, and maybe both teams could even have won the match. I am very happy with the way we played, especially in the second-half, though we still have to improve,? continued the Rockdale City boss.?
The Suns boss also had only praise to speak of Baturay Akin:
?He was fantastic, that is two weeks in a row he has scored coming off the bench, so we are very happy with what he has done.
?The goal we conceded was very disappointing because we slipped up in defence, a drop in concentration, and we conceded a goal. We need to improve our concentration for the entire match,? ended Todoroski.
Over in the Manly United FC dressing room, Phil Moss picked out the positives from the match:
?We would have liked to come away with maximum points, absolutely, though in the end the result I guess was a fair one,? explained Moss.
?I saw a very well organised Rockdale City Suns team and I honestly believe all teams will find it tough to come here and win matches
?We scored a fantastic goal through Foti (Adam Foti) and we also have a number of proven goalscorers out at the moment, so within the coming weeks we will certainly lift a step with these boys coming back in (Craig Midgley, Robbie Cattanach, Justin Hayward).
?All in all, our objective is to go out and win each match, so with the return of these goalscorers, I am confident we can get going and pick up some important results.?
In the Grade 20 division, Manly United FC collected their first win of the season with a convincing 2-0 defeat of the Suns.
Match Stats
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Baturay Akin 69?)
Manly United FC 1 (Adam Foti 45?)
Sunday, 21st March, 2010
Bicentennial Park, Rockdale
Referee: Khodr Yaghi
Assistant Referees: Stephen Lucas and Sarah Ho
Fourth Official: Paul Faithfull
Crowd: 850 Approx.
Rockdale City Suns: 1.Ben McNamara; 7.Pece Apolevski (C), 11.Adem Kir (17.George Lagoudakis 79?), 18.Robert Di Meglio (8.Dominic Hudap 80?), 19.Marino Musumeci, 21.Sam Awad, 23.Askin Oygur, 2.Paul Dee, 16.Steven Bozinovski, 3.Mark Bariamis, 15.Daniel Pejovski (13.Baturay Akin 66?)
Substitutes Not Used: 12.Stefan Doneski, 22.Chad Taylor
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United FC: 1.Brad Swancott (C); 2.Sean Bowden, 5.Pascal Julliard, 7.Andrew Mailer, 8.Keith Shevlin, 11.Adam Foti (36.Jed Prater 87?), 13.Mitchell Macedo (3.Roberto Hamad 68?), 17.Jimmy Oates, 18.Alex Hunt, 19.Bradley Groves (9.Robbie Cattanach 80?), 21.Chris Gallo
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Rhyss Keane, 15.Luke Walker
Yellow Cards: Roberto Hamad 84?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Adam Foti (MUFC)
2 ? Pece Apolevski (RCS)
1 ? Bradley Groves (MUFC)
-By Joseph Carlucci
