Dramatic shootout sees Sydney United past ten-man Sutherland
A Luka Glavas penalty late in the first half cancelled out Lachlan Cahill?s opener before Jim Bakis received his marching orders on the hour mark.
With nothing separating the sides at the end of normal and extra time, Hayden Morton?s crucial miss in the shootout proved to be the decider and was the only scar on the young defender?s otherwise stellar performance.
The result means United have earned their shot at Premiers Sydney Olympic next weekend who defeated Sydney FC 1-0, while Sutherland move into an elimination battle with the winner of tomorrow?s clash between Bankstown City FC and Bonnyrigg White Eagles.
United began the match in adventurous fashion, pushing forward early to test George Souris? well organised defence.
United went close to taking an early lead as Steve Hayes? solo run unlocked the Sutherland defence and put Luka Glavas through on goal; the 2011 Golden Boot winner?s original effort was bravely blocked by Nathan Denham before 17-year old Morton put his body on the line to block the follow up at the expense of a corner.
Morton was well positioned once again shortly after as his intervention denied Elsid Barkhousir a promising scoring opportunity on the break.
Hayes came within inches of breaking the deadlock as his first-time shot from the edge of the box had Denham well beaten, however the effort struck the far post and bounced clear as Sutherland made a lucky escape under increasing pressure.
Sutherland began to find their feet on the quarter hour mark as Matt Bailey?s throughball handed Bakis a fine chance, however the winger slipped at the vital moment to let United off the hook.
Bailey pounced on Panni Nikas? parried shot to tuck the ball into the back of the net soon after only to have his effort rightly disallowed for offside, however Sutherland didn?t have to wait long to grab the opening goal on 22? minutes.
Brilliant lead-up play on the left flank provided Chris Price the time and space to deliver an inch perfect cross to Cahill, who knocked the ball into the back of the net via the post to open the scoring and punish United for failing to capitalise on their early opportunities.
The midfield battle intensified after the opener as both sides searched for the next goal; United appeared the more likely to score with Ivo Bosnar and Anthony Golec missing the target before another Morton intervention denied Bosnar amid havoc in the Sutherland box.
Just as Sutherland looked likely to hold their lead at the interval United earned the chance to equalise from the spot as a clash of bodies in the box gave Kurt Ams no choice but to award a penalty late in the half.
Despite Sutherland?s protests Glavas stepped up and sent Denham the wrong way to level the scores and extend his season tally to fourteen goals.
Both sides had late chances to grab a goal before the interval as Glavas? solo effort was blocked by the Sutherland defence before Cahill?s header was cleared off the line.
The teams began second period in cagey fashion, with chances were few and far between as side appeared willing to expose themselves at the back in pushing forward.
Elsid Barkousir threatened with an aerial throughball that appeared to put Glavas through on goal; however Denham was quick of his line to intervene with a timely header.
Glavas had yet another effort blocked on the edge of the Sutherland box by Morton before Hayes dragged his 25-yard strike wide seconds later.
Sutherland?s chances took a substantial blow on the hour mark as Jim Bakis? blatant elbow on Golec in front of United?s vocal fans saw the side reduced to ten men.
The dismissal was handled appropriately by Robbie Stanton?s men as they opted to defend with nine men behind the ball and push forward only on the counterattack.
Sutherland?s tactical shift kept United?s attack at bay as Jean-Paul DeMarigny?s men could not find a way through their opposition?s defence.
A couple of chances narrowly missed Hayes before Ben Vidaic?s late penalty appeals were waved away as he went down lightly under Souris? experienced last ditch challenge.
With nothing to separate the sides at full time the match headed into extra time with both sides searching for a winning goal to avoid the dreaded penalty shootout.
Despite United?s man advantage, Sutherland matched their opposition throughout extra time; even forging a few chances of their own as Paul Kohler?s curled effort drew a confident save from Vedran Janjetovic.
Hayes went close with a trademark strike at the other end as his 20-yard effort curled wide of goal before both sides changed ends with no change to the scoreline.
Vidaic provided Glavas with the best chance of extra time on 113? minutes as his perfectly weighted cross picked out the striker on the 6-yard box, however Glavas glanced his header wide as a good chance went begging.
Without any addition to the scoreline the match went down to the wire with the lottery of the penalty shootout.
With George Souris and Michael Cindric the only takers to have missed from the spot as United narrowly led the shootout 7-6, Morton?s penalty struck the crossbar and painfully bounced inches clear to hand United the win and ensure Sutherland will need to win next week to remain in the hunt for silverware this season.
Sydney United coach Jean-Paul Demarigny was relieved to have prevailed in the shootout, yet also disappointed they couldn?t put their ten-man opposition away in normal time:
?I thought we had a couple of good chances there but didn?t handle them that well,? said DeMarigny.
?With the advantage we should have tried going around them and not through them.
?When we did go around we looked dangerous, but we didn?t do that enough unfortunately.
?It?s not in Sutherland?s nature to give up.
?They did well and dropped really deep and could have had us on the counterattack.?
With a clash against Sydney Olympic booked in for next weekend, DeMarigny is looking forward to their big match after prevailing last time they travelled to Belmore Stadium:
?We?re looking forward to that match,? said DeMarigny.
?It?s a good pitch and a nice stadium and we have a good history with the club.
?I?m sure they?ll be ready for us,? DeMarigny added.
Sutherland Sharks coach Robbie Stanton played down the impact of the second half red card and was happy with his side?s response to the setback even with the loss of two players prior to the match through injury (Nick Stavroulakis and Sam Awad).
?When we went to ten men it didn?t make too much difference for us,? said Stanton.
?It was an easy thing to adjust to so I didn?t see a problem.
?We were just patient, it took us a bit of time to settle down.
?Once we scored we were on top, and in the second half once we went down to ten we couldn?t be on top but we were patient and waited for our opportunities.
?In the end we showed we are a strong team with lots of character, and penalties are always a lottery so I?m not worried by the loss.?
Now charged with the task of overcoming either Blacktown or Bonnyrigg in next week?s elimination clash, Stanton stated he has no preference as to who they face as his side look to bounce back from tonight?s loss with a win:
?It doesn?t matter who we have to play to be honest,? said Stanton.
?We have to beat everyone if we want to win it.
?All we need to do know is focus on next week?s game and we?ll want to progress.
?The players are down but not beaten, just disappointed,? Stanton concluded.
Match Stats
Sydney United 1 (Luka Glavas pen 43?)
Sutherland Sharks 1 (Lachlan Cahill 22?)
Sydney United progress 7-6 on penalties
Saturday, September 10th, 2011
Jensen Park, Sefton
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referees: Nick Backo, Sarah Ho
Fourth Official: Nathan Roberts
Sydney United: 1.Vedran Janjetovic; 3.Mitchell Spear, 4.Michael Cindric, 5.Anthony Golec, 19.Mitchell Thompson (38.Tom Mijic 91?), 15.Ufuk Talay, 23.Ivo Bosnar, 10.Steve Hayes (18.Daniel Rezo 109?), 9.Elsid Barkousir (14.Peter Markovic 80?), 11.Luka Glavas, 13.Ben Vidaic
Substitutes Not Used: 12.Mathew Bilic, 20.Ryan Norval
Yellow Cards: Ufuk Talay 45?
Red Cards: nil
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan Denham; 2.George Souris, 5.Lachlan Cahill, 7.Jimmy Bakis, 8.Chris Price, 10.Matt Bailey, 12.Hayden Morton, 15.Michael Katz, 20.Paul Kohler, 23.Panni Nikas, 24.Pat Savor (11.Todd Halloran 72?)
Substitutes Not Used: 9.Michael Svircevic, 30.James McKenzie, 37.Etisan Popal, 22.Alex Augusto
Yellow Cards: Chris Price 19?
Red Cards: Jim Bakis 60?
-By Michael Shoolman
