Bankstown City stay alive with two goal win

Bankstown scored a goal in each half to upset the Reds at Sydney United Sports Centre in the round 20 clash.
The first real opportunity of the match came after 15? minutes when United?s Elsid Barkhousir dissected the Lions defence with an accurate through ball. Mirjan Pavlovic was on the end of pass and did well to beat the two Lions defenders, but an advancing Zlatko Josevski thwarted the shot.
It didn?t take the Lions long to make the home-side pay for their squandered opportunity, taking the lead courtesy of Robert Mileski.
The number 10 capitalised on a rare blunder from Jacob Timpano at the back, and made no mistake beating the keeper from close-range, slotting the ball into the top right hand corner for a 1-0 lead.
Bankstown were looking dangerous on the counter-attack but failed to test Reds keeper Ryan Norval with their long range efforts.
The Lions looked to have gained a two goal advantage from a free-kick, but Norval was equal to the task and denied the Bankstown header with a brilliant save from close range.
Norval was again called into action when United turned over possession in their own half.
The Lions pushed down the left flank and Mileski looked certain to grab his second of the night, but Norval was quick to react and saved his side yet again.
Mitchell Thompson had the chance to equalise on the stroke of half-time, but his effort from outside the box was deflected away at the near post for a corner. Damon Collina made his way up front and almost snared a rare goal, but his header went narrowly wide of the far post, leaving the score at 1-0 at the break.
Despite going into the sheds with the better of the late opportunities, the Reds failed to continue their dominance when they returned from the break.
Another defending error, this time from Sean Mitchell, allowed the Lions to regain the ascendancy.
When Mitchell tried to pass back to Collina, a charging Burgin was alert to the ball and intercepted, eventually drilling a powerful drive past the outstretched arms of Norval to give the Lions a 2-0 lead after 48? minutes.
The second-half was a physical battle, as United tinkered with their formation and line up to try and reduce the lead.
Collina was even called into the forward line, but was unable to make his presence felt as United fell into the trap of trying to play over the top.
Bankstown were solid in defence and had set up camp in their own half, restricting the home-side?s attacking potency.
Steve Hayes and Tommy Cirjak tried their best but their long-range efforts were in vain, failing to hit the target.
From a free-kick United looked to have found their first of the night, but only some desperate defence on the line prevented the goal, salvaging an impressive 2-0 win for the Lions.
Bankstown coach Peter Tsekenis was thrilled with the effort from his young side:
?We put enough pressure on them to force the errors and we took our chances,? he said.
?We had a lot of young boys out there and they did great for us.?
The Lions, who have played one more game then any other team, still sit four points outside the top five, but Tsekenis hasn?t given up hope of featuring in finals football:
?It?s not easy to come to Sydney United and win convincingly,? he said.
?The other teams will be looking over their shoulders and if they fall over we?re ready to take the pieces.?
Sydney United assistant coach Richard Plesa was understandably disappointed after the match, especially with the way his side conceded the two goals:
?We gave them a gift and we were behind the eight ball straight away,? he said.
?It?s hard when you give away goals like that to pick yourself up.?
While Plesa said the alarm bells weren?t ringing yet, he admitted the performance came at a bad time in United?s premiership campaign:
?It?s worrying coming into the semis,? he said.
?We haven?t put in a performance like that all year so hopefully it was a one off and we can get over it soon.?
Match Stats
Sydney United 0
Bankstown City Lions 2 (Robert Mileski 15?, Shannon Burgin 48?)
Friday, July 9, 2010
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Crowd: Approx 300
Sydney United: 1.Ryan Norval; 7.Todd Brodie (8.Shane Lyons 72?), 5.Damon Collina, 12.Jake Timpano, 19.Mitchell Thompson, 21.Sean Mitchell, 14.Petar Markovic (34.Tommy Cirjak 56?), 10.Steve Hayes, 11.Luka Glavas, 25.Mirjan Pavlovic (4.Mitchell Cindric 68?), 16.Elsid Barkhousir.
Substitutes Not Used: 22.Steven Veleski, 30.Stefan Giglio.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Bankstown City:  1.Zlatko Joseski; 18.William Angel, 3.Shannon Burgin, 12.Bill Tsanidis, 16.Damien Brosque (9.Hassan Akil 82?) 92.S.Tibbetts, 2.Scott Thomas, 23.Tallin Martin (87.Ali Hussien 88?), 10.Robert Mileski (99.Chris Godoy-Bascur 58?), 7.Steve Liavas, 5.Richard Luksic
Substitutes Not Used: 91.Andrew Mercuri, 94.Trent Barton
Yellow Cards: Tibbetts 40?, Thomas 63?, Luksic 74?, Liavas 87?
Red Cards: Nil

– Michael Chammas