South Coast Wolves frustrate dominant Sydney United

The late goal left Sydney United frustrated in front of their vocal home supporters as their second consecutive dominant display resulted in nothing more than a share of the spoils.
United had taken an early two goal lead through Mitchell Thompson and Elsid Barkhousir, and could have extended their advantage on numerous occasions throughout the 90? minutes if it were not for the heroics of Wolves? shotstopper Brody Crane.
They were made to pay in the second-half as long-range goals from Tynan Diaz and Buyokkopru undid their early work.
The Wolves were slow off the mark, rarely threatening during the first-half as United retained the ball and controlled the match from the outset.
Sydney United?s positive approach during the opening stages was rewarded on 6? minutes as Mitchell Thompson scored with the first shot of the match after Wolves had failed to clear the ball from their 18-yard box.
The South Coast side had their sole opportunity of the first-half 5? minutes later as Andrew Keep?s cross to the far post found the unmarked Andrew Paine, who pulled his volley across the face of goal and harmlessly wide.
A 13? minute Sydney United counterattack saw Shaun Mitchell release former Wolves? player Steve Hayes. The winger?s shot was clinically saved by Crane, who tipped the shot onto the crossbar.
Elsid Barkhousir doubled United?s lead on 18? minutes as he finished off a well structured goal. Ivo Bosnar?s deep cross into the 18-yard box was cleverly looped over the Wolves? defence by the head of Thompson, providing Barkhousir with the simplest of headed goals from 1 yard.
United should have gone 3 goals up after 21? minutes following the in-form Thompson?s lobbed through ball that put Hayes one-on-one with Crane. Despite the time and space available, Hayes? rushed shot found nothing more than the side netting.
The third goal continued to prove elusive for the home-side as Thompson?s audacious 30-yard free-kick bounced back off the crossbar on 40? minutes.
The half-time whistle could not have come sooner for Wolves, who had struggled to find their rhythm and failed to show ambition in the final third of the pitch.
They emerged from the dressing room for the second half with a noticeably adventurous approach, which in turn saw the game open up at both ends of the pitch.
After a quiet first-half, Buyokkopru began to find his feet in the match with a number of long range efforts that failed to trouble Vedran Janjetovic in the Sydney United goal.
The Wolves? soon found themselves back in the match, with Tynan Diaz?s stunning 30-yard free-kick finding the back of the net after 58? minutes.
Crane played an integral role in keeping the Wolves in the game on several occasions, making brave saves in one-on-one situations to deny Luka Galvas, Barkhousir, and Tomislav Cirjak.
The Wolves? resilience was rewarded with a dramatic equaliser on 92? minutes.
Buyokkopru charged into United?s half after winning the ball on halfway, shrugging off the attention of substitute Peter Zorbas, and rocketing a spectacular strike into the top corner to send the Wolves? players into raptures as they secured their first point of their 2010 campaign.
Wolves? coach Trevor Morgan was notably delighted with his squad:
?It happened exactly as the script went,? said Morgan.
?I said to the boys that more than likely they were going to try to dominate us early. They executed when they had chances and got 2 goals in the first 20 minutes.
?I spoke to the boys at half-time and told them we can?t just sit on the back foot and let them run riot,? Morgan added.
?They could have scored a couple; Brody (Crane) made some good saves and Tayfun (Buyokkopru) had two or three chances and he?s finally taken one and it was a nice way to finish it from our point of view and get our first point.?
Sydney United assistance coach Richard Plesa was understandably disappointed by the result after seeing his side fail to secure a win despite a dominant display for the second week running:
?We were dominant last week,? said Plesa.
?We had more a dozen chances and could have easily put 7 or 8 of them away.
?If you don?t put them away you invite the opposition to come and attack you and that?s what happened today,? Plesa added.
In the Grade-20 division Sydney United and South Coast Wolves shared the points with a final score of 1-1.
Match Stats
Sydney United 2 (Mitchell Thompson 6?, Elsir Barkousir 18?)
South Coast Wolves 2 (Tynan Diaz 58?, Tayfun Buyokkopru 92?)
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Referee: Andrew Best
Assistant Referees: Daniel Dewhurst, Adam Coombes
Fourth Official: Alex Long
Crowd: 500 Approx.
Sydney United: 1.Vedran Janjetovic; 8.Shane Lyons, 19.Mitchell Thompson, 5.Damon Collina, 6.Joe Vrkic, 21.Sean Mitchell, 23.Ivo Bosnar, 7.Todd Brodie (34.Tomislav Cirjak 26?), 10.Steve Hayes (32. Ante Tomic 64?), 16.Elsid Barkhousir (22.Peter Zorbas 84?), 11.Luka Glavas
Substitutes Not Used: 4.Michael Cindric, 20.Roy Bell.
Yellow Cards: Sean Mitchell 20?, Damon Collina 46?, Mitchell Thompson 51?, Ivo Bosnar 57?.
Red Cards: Nil
South Coast Wolves: 1.Brody Crane; 17.Tynan Diaz, 2.Alex Mansueto, 4.Dave Abel, 5.Nick McInerney, 6.Lisandro Berbis (19. Ken Chun 65?), 7.Andy Keep, 8.Tayfun Buyukkopru, 9.Mark Picciolini, 10.Jason Trifiro, 11.Andrew Paine (16.Kieran Deane 65?)
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Greg Valic, 14. Andreas Gomez, 40. Nikodin Matic.
Yellow Cards: Nick McInerney 40?, Tynan Diaz 56?.
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Mitchell Thompson (SU)
2 ? Brody Crane (SCW)
1 ? Ivo Bosnar (SU)

-By Michael Shoolman