Sydney United 58 dismantled by ruthless Spartans
Greg Kondek?s early goal put the Spartans on their way before a second-half double from Chris Gomez, combined with goalkeeping heroics from Carlos Saliadarre, completed a resounding victory for the NSW Premier League newcomers over last season?s runners-up.
From the kickoff the hosts were first to take initiative in front of goal; Luke Boyd?s defence splitting 30-yard through ball put Kondek one-on-one with Vedran Janjetovic.
The midfielder made no mistake, firing the ball inside the far post to give Spartans the early advantage.
United pressed forward in search of an instant equaliser only for the ball to be bogged down in an intense midfield battle as both sides fought to control the centre of the park.
The visitors carved out their first chance of the match soon after the quarter hour mark as Mirjan Pavlovic squirmed his way into the Spartans box only to place his finish into Saliadarre?s safe hands.
A simple pass may have been the better option with an unmarked Ben Vidaic left frustrated at the far post.
Janjetovic produced a brave save of his own at the other end soon after, racing off his line to make a point-blank block to deny Gomez?s header after a fine cross by debutant Hiroaki Kawasaki.
The skies soon opened up over Blacktown Football Park, yet the synthetic pitch held firm to ensure that the quality of football didn?t decline with the conditions.
United came within inches of equalising midway through the first-half as debutant Mirko Simic produced a fine cross of his own to pick out Pavlovic who grazed the crossbar with his powerful header.
Sean Mitchell ? always a threat from range ? twice came close to doubling Spartans advantage with 30-yard strikers that fizzed past goal by a matter of inches.
Simic continued to impress on debut as he cut inside from the left flank and fired a shot toward goal, however Saliadarre was equal to the task, holding the shot to maintain his side?s lead going into the interval.
Jean-Paul DeMarigny injected Elsid Barkhousir into his attack for the start of the second period in search of an equaliser, and visitors pushed straight forward from the restart with Stjepan Paric firing wide from the edge of the box.
The tactical adjustment proved to be in vain minutes later as the hosts took full advantage of an uncharacteristic goalkeeping error from Janjetovic.
The goalkeeper spilt Michael Cindric?s defensive header to Kondek and almost made up for the error with a block, however Gomez was on hand to tuck home the rebound to double Spartans? lead.
Kondek went close to scoring his second of the night on the hour mark with a shot from the edge of the box; Janjetovic tipped the shot over the crossbar to keep his side in the hunt.
United put together a string of opportunities in an attempt to get themselves back in the match, however were denied on each occasion by wayward finishing and fine goalkeeping.
Saliadarre first denied Pavlovic?s snap shot after a goalmouth scramble; the rebound fell to Barkhousir who volleyed high and wide from a tight angle.
Pavlovic broke free down the left flank soon after, centring low for Barkhousir whose first time effort was blocked by Saliadarre before Kawasaki hacked the ball off the line.
The Spartans? custodian then produced yet another brilliant save minutes later to deny Barkhousir in a one-on-one situation, diving toward his near post yet blocking the striker?s finish with his trailing foot at the expense of a corner.
Saliadarre?s heroics were rewarded at the other end late on as Gomez earned his second and struck the final nail into United?s coffin.
Steven Veleski was allowed space to shoot on the edge of the visitor?s box; Janjetovic managed to parry the substitute?s effort only to see Gomez in the right place at the right time to wrap up the 3-0 score line on a magical night for the home side.
After such a remarkable victory Blacktown Spartans coach Ben DeHaan was elated with the performance of his side and was glad to see they were rewarded for their efforts with a hard-earned win:
?We?re very happy with the result,? said DeHaan.
?Everything we?ve worked on came off today.
?We were very tight at the back to not concede and we just had to work forward from there and take our chances.
?We prepared the same for this match as usual and looked at what we had to do.
?We were poor last week against Rockdale (City Suns) and had to look inside ourselves and focus on our own game rather than the oppositions, and that got us there tonight.
?We?ve never gone back to back (with wins) and that?s got to be our next goal ? to turn up and play like this next week.?
DeHaan also took time out to praise the performance of Carlos Saliadarre, whose performance between the sticks proved to be a key factor in the match:
?Carlos had a few good saves today,? remarked DeHaan.
?He made one brilliant save with the right glove and another down low so I thought he was extremely good today.
?He had his best game of the year by far.?
Sydney United 58 FC coach Jean-Paul DeMarigny was not too pleased with the final outcome:
?I thought they played extremely well today to be honest and we gave them too much room,? said DeMarigny.
?It took us a while to readjust and we left too much space between our back four and our midfield.
?I thought our reaction was poor ? our anticipation and so on.
?We had enough chances and we weren?t putting them away.
?When you come here you have to compete and deny them space, but I don?t think we did that tonight.?
DeMarigny played down the absence of injured target man Luka Glavas, stating that his side have enough quality to cover injuries to key players as he looks to bounce back with a positive result in their next fixture:
?Luka is a quality player of course,? explained DeMarigny.
?We?ve had a few issues that way but for me I don?t see that as a problem.
?We have enough players here to do the job and if we are mentally ready for each game then we are good enough.
?We?ll look to bounce back, that?s the beauty of the game.
?It?s a week to week proposition and we will respond and are looking forward to the next game,? concluded DeMarigny.
Match Stats
Blacktown Spartans 2 (Greg Kondek 4?, Christopher Gomez 50?, 81?)
Sydney United 58 FC 0
Saturday June 2nd, 2012
Blacktown Football Park, Rooty Hill
Referee: Ryan Shepherd
Assistant Referees: Michael Robertson and Grant South
Fourth Official: Danny Horstead
Blacktown Spartans: 1.Carlos Saliadarre; 2.Michael Khoury (17.Peter Hubbard 24?), 3.Nathan Millgate, 5.Luke Boyd, 6.Greg Kondek (11.Steven Veleski 70?), 8.Djordie Degenek, 9.Christopher Bedzo, 10.Christopher Gomez (4.Daniel Wells 90?+2?), 13.Hiroaki Kawasaki, 20.Sean Mitchell, 23.Chris Bush
Substitutes Not Used: 19.Simon Zahra, 40.Jesse Shewan
Yellow Cards: Hiroaki Kawasaki 64?
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58: 1.Vedran Janjetovic; 2.Mitchell Speer, 4.Michael Cindric, 8.Jarrod Lum, 10.Steven Hayes (22.Daniel Barac 78?), 13.Ben Vidaic (9.Elsid Barkhousir 46?), 16.Stjepan Paric (14.Petar Markovic 60?), 18.Mirjan Pavlovic, 21.Ante Tomic, 23.Ivo Bosnar, 24.Marko Simic
Substitutes Not Used: 12.Kyle Ehart, 20.Ian Johnson
Yellow Cards: Michael Cindric 35?, Elsid Barkhousir 64?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Carlos Saliadarre (BS)
2 ? Luke Boyd (BS)
1 ? Mirjan Pavlovic (SU)
-By Michael Shoolman
