Suns shine against lacklustre Sydney United
Steven Hayes took a corner in the 2? minute that Michael Cindric headed over as Sydney United attempted to pile on the early pressure against their hosts, in what they hoped would be a sign of things to come.
Tom Cirjak fired in corner at the other end from the left for the Suns to be met with a glancing header from just inside the box by 18-year old Alec Urosevski to give the home side the lead with just 9? minutes on the clock.
Sydney United responded with Hayes who fired wildly over the crossbar as United fought their way back into the match after having found themselves under the pump prior to, and after, the opening goal.
The visitors were forced into an early change when Kyle Ewart limped off to be replaced by Daniel Barac in the 22? minute and United had to shuffle the pack slightly as Rockdale looked especially useful down the left flank with Cirjak, Giorgio Speranza and Urosevski looking dangerous, meanwhile Huseyin Jasli made himself busy up front.
Urosevski had a tame effort straight at United goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic in the 28? minute – the custodian dealt with the shot comfortably after good build up work from Pece Cvetanovski through the middle as the Suns managed to create plenty of half-chances
Sydney United were unable to find their usual flowing rhythm and struggled to make inroads against a resolute Suns defence in the opening 45? minutes. The visitors however did restore parity when Jared Lum centred for Ben Vidaic to find the net in the 42? minute.
Despite the equaliser, any thoughts that the Reds players may have had about going into the break all-square were dashed when Urosevski netted his second for the home side 3? minutes later in a helter skelter finish to the half.
Following the break, the effects were immediate for Sydney United as Todd Brodie replaced Wilkinson at the start of the half as coach Jean-Paul de Marigny looked to get his side back on track.
Hayes had a shot deflected onto the post in the 50? minute as United sought to regain parity but it simply wasn?t happening for them in front of goal through no lack of effort.
Rockdale were forced to clear off the line twice in the same attack from another Hayes free-kick and ensuing goal mouth scramble, as the visitors virtually camped in the home side?s penalty-area, yet the goal remained elusive.
Ivo Bosnar, the Reds? captain, received a caution for bringing down Peter Apolevski, his opposite number, as the tackles became fiercer and the frustration mounted as tempers began to fray.
Paul Kohler struck a shot from 25-yards out that Janjetovic had to tip over, and from the resulting corner the ball found its way for Peter Apolevski to head home the Suns third of the afternoon.
As the visitors were pushing forward to get back into the contest, gaps were left at the back for the Suns to exploit.
Sydney United continued to be a threat in the air but with time slipping away the chances were becoming sporadic and increasingly rare.
Urosevski wasn?t able to complete his hat-trick when again firing tamely from the edge of the box for Rockdale as the game finally scaled down and the result was certain.
Sydney United coach Jean-Paul de Marigny was disappointed afterwards when stating:
?We had too many players who didn?t turn up today and we were never really in the game to be honest.
?Our passing and tempo was pretty average and we didn?t look as if we wanted it and to cop two set plays like we did is very unusual for us and that hurts us a lot.
?In saying that, the lad (Urosevic) took the first one well and we were on the back foot from then onwards.
?I thought we fought back well but just after scoring we allowed them in again and we simply were not up for it tonight.?
Mark Rudan was professional in coaching the winning team against his former club and said:
?We started brightly and it looked as though we wanted to three points more today and in the first-half we created a couple of good opportunities against a very tough side.
?Sydney United, I believe, deserve to be favourites for the title because they are a good team with good footballers and good disposal and we needed to design a game plan to diminish the threat of their players and we followed it to a tee.
?We started as I hoped we would and the result takes us a little nearer the Top Five and that is where we want to be as we have high ambitions for this club,? Rudan concluded.
Match Stats
Rockdale City Suns FC 3 (Alec Urosevski 9?, 45?, Peter Apolevski 65?)
Sydney United 58 FC 1 (Ben Vidaic 42?)
Sunday 20th May, 2012
Ilinden Sports Centre, Rockdale
Referee: Kevin Peddie
Assistant Referees: Craig Fisher and Steven Nguyen
Fourth Official: Scott Edeling
Rockdale City Suns: 1.Ryan Norval; 2.Takuya Muruyama, 3.Giorgio Speranza, 5.Pece Cvetanovski, 7.Peter Apolevski (C), 8.Paul Kohler, 18.Alec Urosevski (10.Jason Naidovski 92?), 11.Tom Cirjak (14.Daniel Slaveski 84?), 12.Huseyin Jasli, 21.Ricky Perinich, 23.Askin Oygur
Substitutes Not Used: 6.Josh Lawson, 16.Anthony Perri, 22.Aaron Liddell
Yellow Cards: Oygur 42?, Cvetanovski 62?
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58 FC: 1.Vedran Janjetovic; 2.Mitchell Speer (5.Mitchell Osmond 67?), 3.D. Wilkinson (7.Todd Brodie 46?), 4.Michael Cindric, 6.Mitchell Stamatellis, 8.Jared Lum, 9.Elsid Barkhousir, 10.Stephen Hayes, 12.Kyle Ewart (22.Daniel Barac 22?), 13.Ben Vidaic, 23.Ivo Bosnar (C)
Substitutes Not Used: 16.Stjepen Paric, 20.Ian Johnson
Yellow Cards: Barkhousir 58?, Bosnar 60?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Alec Urosevski (RCS)
2 ? Tom Cirjak (RCS)
1 ? Paul Kohler (RCS)
-By Micky Brock
