Parramatta deny Reds victory with last-ditch effort
In a match that had not hit many heights all night, goals to Ben Vidaic and Fabian Iacovelli in the closing stages of the match got the fans out of their seats.
The first-half saw Parramatta with the majority of the possession but unable to turn that into goal scoring opportunities. Sydney United were forced to attack on the break and when they did they were a threat to the home team, although the Parramatta defence was able to scramble leaving United without a shot on target by half-time.
Early on it was from the flanks that Parramatta threatened but after good runs on each wing, neither Bryan Soane nor Peter Crevani were able to put in quality crosses to take full advantage of their efforts.
In the 10? minute a Kareem Reda throw saw Soane turn on the near post and shoot the ball goalwards, but he could not keep his shot down and the chance came to nothing.
Still Parramatta could not turn their domination of possession into quality shots and in the 20? minute the away team looked to make them pay. Mitchell Spear danced around his marker but as with his opponents on the night, his cross also went to no one.
In the 22? minute Parramatta played a great passage of football, belying their lowly position on the table. Almir Dizdaric, Luke Grima and Crevani interchanged several passes on the edge of the area to set up a chance but Crevani?s shot was shut down and the ball deflected off the United defence for Vedran Janjetovic to comfortably kill just to his right.
Just before the half hour Steve Hayes reminded all of his huge talent with a great ball to Luka Glavas. The striker though mishit his shot and the ball went well wide of the target.
A few minutes later a great ball over the top of the defence from Ivo Bosnar played Vidaic in on goal but the defence marshalled him away from the target.
Once more the match struggled to break out from a tight battle in the middle of the park and runs from the likes of Nick McInerney as well as strong free-kicks from Hayes came to nothing for either side.
In the 43? minute youngster Reda demonstrated his potential as a top class fullback by sweeping back to deny Vidaic on yet another raid towards the goal.
Right before the break, Grima went down in the area but claims of a penalty by home fans were quickly dismissed by the referee.
In the opening minutes of the second-half Reda was called in to play once more and showed off his defensive skills to deny another United attack.
Peter Crevani had a free-kick headed over the crossbar by a desperate United defence as Parramatta tried to regain the momentum the visitors had gained after the break.
Sydney United had come out in the second-half the more dangerous side and in the 53? minute Glavas cut the ball back into the area after a great run only for no teammate to be there to take full advantage.
In the following minutes both Hayes and Elsid Barkhousir were dangerous but neither were able to put a shot on target.
Just before the hour Dizdaric played the ball to Soane but as he came into the area and shot Michael Cindric came across and turned it away for a corner. For Parramatta it was yet another demonstration their desire to play good football could be rewarded if only their execution in the final third was better.
Tom Wilson then continued his fine form in the middle of the park by stopping a quick counter from United with a brilliant tackle.
To give both teams credit they continued to try and play football and in the 66? minute Hayes and Glavas continued to break quickly but once more the defence – this time Angelo Petratos and George Strogylos – scrambled well to deny United a shot on target.
2? minutes later Reda denied Barkhousir with another fantastic tackle. United almost regretted not taking their chances when in the 73? minute the home side came close to taking the lead. Substitute Daniel Fogarty shot powerfully and swerved the ball from the right to Janjetovic who could only parry the ball. Dizdaric tried to get to the scraps but the United defence worked well to deny him a shot when only a metre from the target.
A few minutes later Hayes and Glavas combined once more but the United striker?s overhead kick went straight into his marker and away from danger.
With 10? minutes remaining Vidaic shot from distance and the ball was headed goalwards only for Petratos to deflect the ball over the crossbar.
It was Sydney United?s best chance of the match to this point and it looked like they had missed their final chance.
With a few minutes left Daniel Fogarty put in a great cross from the right and Grima hit the ball just off target, with Parramatta now seemingly having spurned their last chance too. However for both teams this was not to be.
Firstly, in the 88? minute, a quick break and transition saw the ball flicked on by Glavas to Vidaic who smashed the ball home. Parramatta fans could not believe they had lost the game but perhaps United started celebrating too early. This is because next time Parramatta took the ball up to Sydney United they were back on level terms.
A minute into added time Grima ran through and shot strongly only to be denied by Janjetovic. However the ball was only parried by the keeper due to the power of the shot and the ball ended up in front of substitute Fabian Iacovelli on the far side.
Despite the attention of a desperate defence he was able to chip the ball home to send the home fans into raptures.
As if that drama was not enough Jonathon Costaro Acero then had a shot turned away by United a minute later, a shot that went very close to being the winning goal.
Sydney United coach Jean Paul De Marigny was disappointed to have conceded so late, especially having taken the lead:
?We were not up for the fight today. It is disappointing to concede so late especially when it took so long to take the lead tonight.?
Parramatta FC coach Manny Spanoudakis had been upset that his side could have lost after the effort they put in and having demonstrated the good football his side can play so he was delighted with a point.
?We are trying to play good football here and deserved a point tonight. I am very pleased with the effort the players put in against such a good side.?
In the earlier Grade-20 game Parramatta FC defeated Sydney United 2-0.
Match Stats
Parramatta FC 1 (Fabian Iacovelli 90+1?)
Sydney United 1 (Ben Vidaic 88?)
Saturday 13th August, 2011
Melita Stadium, South Granville
Referee: Kevin Peddie
Assistant Referees: Adam Coombes and Bachar Allam
Fourth Official: Chris Peck
Parramatta FC: 21.Anthony Costa; 2.Nicholas McInerney, 5.George Strogylos, 6.Tom Wilson, 8.Bryan Soane (4.Daniel Fogarty 62?), 11.Peter Crevani (14.Fabian Iacovelli 74?), 26.Jonathon Castano Acero, 19.Kareem Reda, 20.Evangelos Petratos, 33.Luke Grima, 18.Almir Dizdaric (10.Chris Camilleri 87?)
Substitutes Not Used: 15.Ben Delicata, 1.Lachlan Tibbles
Yellow Cards: Daniel Fogarty 66?
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United: 1.Vedran Janjetovic; 3 Mitchell Spear, 4.Michael Cindric, 5.Anthony Golec, 38.Tom Mijic, 23.Ivo Bosnar, 9.Elsid Barkhousir (25.Aaron Peterson 74?), 10.Steve Hayes, 11.Luka Glavas, 13.Ben Vidaic, 14 Petar Markovic (18.Daniel Rezo 63?)
Substitutes Not Used: 31.Chaddle, 6.Milan Bosnar, 20.Ryan Norval
Yellow Cards: Ben Vidaic 88?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Stuart Jones
