Suns and Stallions earn first points for 2013

Rockdale Suns V Marconi Stallions Saturday 30th March 2013


On a cool evening in Rockdale, two heavy weights in the footballing landscape went head-to-head with Rockdale City Suns playing host to the Marconi Stallions.
Unlike previous games this season, the aura upon walking through the gates at the Ilinden Sports Centre was palpable.  The mood suggesting that an upset was always a possibility but with head coaches with the quality of Branko Culina (Rockdale City Suns) and Jean-Paul de Marigny (Marconi Stallions), losing was not an option.
Rockdale took the kick off an for just under 2′ minutes, held the ball perfectly completing 19 passes in a row and forcing Marconi Stallions into sitting back and just watching the ball move effortlessly around the field. It didn’t take long before the great passage of play lead to Rockdale’s first chance of the evening; Alec Urosevski getting into a good position and forcing Marconi’s goalkeeper James Chronopoulos into making a great save.
Marconi’s fans had to wait until the 15′ minute before their side got a shot on goal. A free kick awarded to the Stallions after a clumsy foul from Rockdale defender Paul Kohler on the corner of the 18-yard box gave Shane Webb the opportunity to put the ball in the mixer. Rockdale’s Diego Barcena producing a fine save reaching high over the attackers heads to clear the ball away.
In the first-half, if Rockdale were going to get a goal it would come from the combination play between box-to-box midfielder Brendan Gan and the utility man Richard Cardozo. Their link up play and ability to maintain a high intensity was the heart of the Rockdale side and every person in the grandstand knew it as they were mesmerised every time the two Rockdale players got the ball.
An injury to Stallions import Tadhg Purcell in the 36′ minute saw him replaced with Anthony Proia. The substitute making his presence instantly known linking up with Nahuel Arrarte in the midfield to play some lovely through balls in and behind the Rockdale defence feeding in Damien Travis and Shane Webb for a number of chances on goal in the first 45′.
Just when things looked to be going in favour of Rockdale City Suns, a careless late challenge from behind meant that Rockdale’s Alec Urosevski was sent for an early shower. It was Urosevski’s first red card in his career and a tackle on Shane Webb which he instantly regretted.
The score line at the break was locked at 0-0 despite some half chances from both sides.
Adam Casey was introduced at the break for the home side in a hope of sparking some life into a game which had started off so strongly. For Marconi, the match had now become a mind game of 11 verses 10 and a matter of who would make the first mistake.
It wasn’t until the 64′ minute that Marconi came the closest they had all game to breaking the deadlock. It was the main of the moment, Shane Webb who was terrorising Rockdale’s defenders. A powerful shot coming from outside the box and heading towards goal meant Diego Barcena was again called into action knocking the ball over the goal for a corner.
Although both sides had plenty of opportunities to find a goal from somewhere, it was Rockdale’s Adam Casey who had the last real shot coming from the edge of the six-yard box. His unbalanced shot beating not only the keeper but also the post.
A scoreless draw probably a fair result but both sides were disappointed to not get the win that they not only desperately want, but also need.
Match Stats

Rockdale City Suns 0
Marconi Stallions 0
Saturday 30th March, 2013
Ilinden Sports Centre
Referee: Matthew Corner
Assistant Referees: Nick Backo and Michelle Allen
Rockdale City Suns: 1. Diego Barcena; 15. Max Burgress (17. Adam Casey 45’), 10. Richard Cardozo, 4. Michael Cindric, 5. Brendan Gan, 8. Paul Kohler, 13. Sam Munro (11. David Talevski 82’), 6. Takuya Murayama, 23. Askin Oygur, 16. Anthony Perri (19. Kiefer Dotti 70’), 18. Alec Urosevski
Yellow Cards: R.Cardozo 85’
Red Cards: A.Urosevski 44’
Marconi Stallions: 22. James Chronopoulos; 26. Nahuel Arrarte, 8. Jared Lum, 7. Sean O’Connell, 17. Tadhg Purcell, 10. Milorad Simonovic, 4. Umut Tokdogan, 19. Damien Travis, 14. Shane Webb, 2. Mitchell Thompson, 3. Ali Haydar
Yellow Cards: S.O’Connell 72’, A.Haydar 84’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:

3 – Brendan Gan (RCS)
2 – James Chronopoulos (MS)
1 – Shane Webb (MS)
-By Pete Nowakowski