Waratah Cup Round 4: Brumbies stun Sydney United to reach Quarters
Struggling in the Super League competition, the Brumbies played a patient game against their more fancied opponent, hitting on the counterattack and finding the match winner via Russell Farrell midway through the second-half despite seeing little possession for most of the opening half.
Farrell certainly takes the plaudits for his well-taken goal, though the performances of captain Paul Down and goalkeeper Harrick Sinpraseuth were phenomenal ? the former leading his young teammates throughout the battle, meanwhile the latter produced a number of world class saves to keep his side in the contest.
Sydney United, as expected, took control of the match from the opening whistle as Ben Vidaic was sent through on goal by Ufuk Talay. Vidaic, with the goalkeeper moving towards the striker, was denied by a good save down low by Sinpraseuth.
In the 3? minute, Reds playmaker Steve Hayes released captain Ivo Bosnar into some space though the Sydney United number 23 drove his effort wide of goal.
At the other end, the Brumbies got their first look in on 5? minutes as Sydney United goalkeeper Ryan Norval ? deputising for Vedran Janjetovic ? made a nervy start. A ball played back to the shot-stopper from his defensive line allowed Lord Darkoh a look in as Norval?s scrambling clearance ricocheted off the Brumbies striker before the Sydney United defensive line cleared the ball away to safety.
Hills Brumbies carved out an opening via Lucas Rossi who played a square ball into a promising position for Eros Bergamin. The latter, with time to position himself to shoot, failed to connect cleanly with the ball as the effort finished well wide of the intended target.
The home side had another look at goal in the 13? minute as Dragan Savic held onto the ball nicely before laying off to Darkoh, though the striker failed to hit his effort cleanly and the chance went begging.
Sydney United?s Talay showed his class on the ball as he swerved his way past two defenders before playing a delightful ball to Elsid Barkhousir. The Reds striker, returning from injury, collected the ball on the edge of the penalty-area though failed to curl his effort enough as the ball skimmed the up-right.
Brumbies captain picked up the reigns in midfield for his side and tried his luck from distance on 20? minutes, though Norval was not troubled as the ball finished wide.
Hills Brumbies carved out their best chance of the opening half in the 27? minute as Savic snuck his way into the penalty-area with an exquisite first touch. The striker?s subsequent diagonal effort across goal had Norval beaten, though the ball finished inches wide of the far post despite Farrell?s lunging effort at the back post.
In the 30? minute, in what was the only error in an infallible performance by the Brumbies goalkeeper Sinpraseuth, the shot-stopper dropped an Ufuk Talay cross from the right-flank. With a sea of legs inside the penalty-area, the Brumbies defenders managed to re-act quickly and scramble the ball away to safety.
Sinpraseuth redeemed himself immediately 3? minutes later as he got down well to his left to deny Barkhousir what seemed a certain goal.
Barkhousir then combined with Luka Glavas, playing a delicate one-two, before delivering his shot wide of goal. The buildup was tremendous, though had Barkhousir converted, the linesman?s flag was raised.
Following the half-time interval, Barkhousir squandered a tremendous chance for Sydney United. A loose ball following Ben Vidaic?s header on goal fell to the Reds goal poacher, though from point-blank range, Barkhousir blasted his effort over the crossbar.
On 55? minutes, Steve Hayes tried his luck with a venomous drive from distance, though again the Reds failed to find an opening with the ball finishing over the crossbar.
The missed chances for the NSW Premier League outfit did come back to bite Jean-Paul DeMarigny?s side as Russell Farrell snuck in behind the Sydney United defence to go one-on-one with Norval. With the oncoming goalkeeper closing the angle, Farrell coolly slotted the ball to the goalkeeper?s left to send the small, but vocal, Brumbies supporters into frenzy.
Despite Sydney United?s efforts to claw back into the match and avoid a shock exit, it was the NSW Super League outfit that should have killed off the match in the 87? minute. Farrell?s cutback from the right byline picked out Savic though the striker, from a very promising position, blasted his effort over the crossbar.
The win secures the Hills Brumbies side a spot in the Waratah Cup quarterfinals, very much going against the expected script for this encounter against their much more fancied opponent.
Match Stats
Hills Brumbies 1 (Russell Farrell 69?)
Sydney United 0
Wednesday 8th June, 2011
Second Ponds Oval
Hills Brumbies: 21.Harrick Sinpraseuth; 14.Josh Karpes, 3.Marc Gane (16.Chad Cowley 75?), 13.Greg Giovenale, 18.Lucas Rossi, 10.Anthony Abi-Arrage (15.R. Cobson 90?+1?), 7.Paul Down (C), 19.Eros Bergamin, 5.Russell Farrell, 9.Dragan Savic (4.Jovan Miladinovic 88?), 11.Lord Darkoh (8.Keunike Maralit 68?)
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Chris Rizzo
Yellow Cards: Anthony Abi-Arrage 46?
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United: 20.Ryan Norval; 38.Tomislav Mijic, 21.Milan Bosnar, 3.Mitchell Speers, 37.Logan Zeschke (34.Mitchell Osman 74?), 23.Ivo Bosnar (C), 10.Steve Hayes, 15.Ufuk Talay (12.Matthew Bilic 54?), 16.Elsid Barkhousir (18.Daniel Rezo 54?), 11.Luka Glavas (33.M Stojak 74?), 31.Ben Vidaic
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Vedran Janjetovic
Yellow Cards: Luka Glavas 59?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Joseph Carlucci
