Saliadarre the hero for Spartans against Reds
Glorious sunshine bathed Sydney United Sports Centre as it played host to Sydney United 58 FC’s opening home game of the 2013 IGA National Premier League NSW Mens 1 competition, and despite the home side creating a plethora of chances, neither side was able to break the deadlock after 90’ minutes.
In what could only be described as a somewhat controversial game given the three red cards, six yellows and the fact that United 58 coach Mark Rudan was ejected from the coach’s box ensured that the on (and off) field entertainment remained at a premium.
From the onset the game appeared as though it would be a defensive orientated encounter with neither side giving an inch throughout the opening stanza, and it took more than ten minutes into the game before either goal keeper was tested.
In the 13’ minute the Spartans, courtesy of the same run on side that played out an entertaining 3-3 draw a week earlier against neighbouring Blacktown City, provided some nice lead up work down the left side where a cross found an unmarked Andre Carle whose neat shot was only denied by the quick reflexes down low of an outstretched Liam Reddy arm.
The Reds replied quickly with a chance of their own in the 16’ minute when a corner taken by Glen Trifiro found the head of Robert Mileski whose angled shot was on target, and looked in for all money, but for the leaping tip over the bar by Spartans goal keeper Carlos Saliadarre who was called on for the first of many outstanding saves in his Man-of-the Match performance.
Daniel Barac was creating havoc for the Spartans defence out on the right side, and when he neatly danced around the Spartans centre-back Luka Dukic, who was caught flat-footed, and delivered a textbook cut back pass to Trifiro, the Reds attacking midfielder should have found the back of the net but instead mistimed his kick and the ball innocuously spilled out to a Spartans defender.
Opportunities within the first-half were few and far between – especially for the Spartans – but set plays from free kicks appeared to be the boys from Blacktown’s best hope. A nicely weighted lofted ball in the 38’ minute by Luke Austin after a United 58 indiscretion was pounced upon by Carle whose header over the bar signaled danger signs for the Reds defence.
However, it was the Reds who created the best chance of the half when a brilliant cross-field run by the pacey Matthew Bilic linked up with an unmarked Trifiro. The Reds crafty attacking midfielder’s shot again looked to be headed for the back of the net, and in all likelihood looked the goods, but the skill and prowess of the talented Saliadarre, who was equal to the challenge in refuting the blast, ensured that both sides headed to the sheds at half-time with a clean sheet.
The second-half commenced in stark contrast to the first with one side completely dominating the other. Whatever Sydney United 58 FC coach Mark Rudan said to his team at half-time seemed to do the trick as they came out firing on all cylinders, whereas the Spartans looked like they had simply clocked off at the break.
In a 5’ minute spate from the 51’ to the 56’ minute could have easily seen the Reds five goals up if it were not for the heroics of the Spartans magnificent custodian. Saliadarre’s brilliance firstly denied a one-on-one rocket from Bilic whose powerful shot at the keeper was lucky not to put Spartans captain through the back of the net.
2’ minutes later in the 53’ minute, United 58 striker Mileski – playing more like a #10 – mesmerised the Spartans defence to deliver a nice ‘through ball’ for a fast-finishing Barac. Like two Brahman bulls going head-to-head, Saliadarre showed no self-preservation for his wellbeing and threw himself at the feet of Barac to deny the Reds right striker another realistic chance.
Saliadarre barely had time to clear his head when he was again called upon a minute later to prevent yet another chance by his new-found nemesis in Barac, who is likely to spend the whole of next week waking up with nightmares of the goal-defying Saliadarre.
The 56’ minute saw Saliadarre ward off the final barrage in the seemingly unrelenting onslaught of shots when Balac’s partner in crime Bilic on the opposite left flank was also denied a one-on-one with the Spartans goalkeeper.
Despite Bilic’s miss his pace and turn of speed up the left side and through the middle continued to create turmoil for the Spartans defensive line, and was something that was likely to not have gone unnoticed by an inconspicuous Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic who was perched high up in the stand eagerly watching the epic encounter unfold.
Action inside the Spartans’ penalty box continued to be at the forefront of the game, and none more so when in the 58’ minute Trifiro was controversially brought down inside the area.
The referee immediately blew his whistle and raced to the fallen Trifiro who was awarded a yellow card for diving – much to the disgust of the Reds’ faithful who had become increasingly frustrated with the officialdom coupled with their side’s inability to find the back of the net.
Frustration boiled over on the field too when just a few minutes later a clash near the halfway line signaled further controversy. The Spartans Gregory Kondek appeared to block the path run by the Reds Mitchell Stamatellis and resulted in the two tangling and tumbling to the ground. The referee continued to allow play to continue, but the Fourth Official noticed a deliberate kick by Stamatellis to the head of Kondek who was writhing in pain. After calling play back and consulting with his sideline official the referee subsequently dismissed Stamatellis with a straight red.
The dismissal had little effect on the game as the Reds continued to dominate, and one could be forgiven for suggesting that the Spartans were the team with a player down given their lackluster performance in the second-half.
A quick breakaway from their own goal line in the 70’ minute saw the Reds Bilic again show his running skills with the ball as he delivered another brilliant pass to the equally speedy Barac racing down the right side. But in yet another case of déjà vu Barac’s shot was again on target only to be denied once again by the reflexes of Saliadarre.
The remaining 20’ minutes of the encounter was low on opportunities, but high on dismissals with firstly the Spartans Luke Austin dismissed for a second yellow after showing dissent to the referee and the Reds Stepjan Paric given an early shower for a similar offence.
The sideline also bore the wrath of the referee when an irate United 58 coach Mark Rudan was given his marching orders from the coach’s box and was forced to watch the dying minutes of the game from the grandstand.
Despite the game ending in a scoreless draw, the Reds will be scathing at their missed opportunities while the Spartans can consider themselves extremely fortunate to have walked out of the Sydney United Sports Centre with a valuable point.
“To have three players sent off during the game was a bit over the top in my mind, but obviously that’s how the referee saw it,” remarked Spartans coach Ben DeHaan.
“I thought that we went to sleep in that second-half and lost our way a bit, but thankfully our keeper Carlos [Saliadarre] was alert and kept us in the game – he was by far our best out there.
“We just didn’t turn up today and it’s by far the worst we’ve played all year … it was our front third that just didn’t click today so it’s something that we’ll have to work on this week.
“To walk out of here with a point is very good for us, but I’m really not sure what happened out there with our energy – who knows, maybe it was the afternoon Sunday game that just didn’t have us in our right headspace.”
Opposing coach Mark Rudan was obviously disappointed with not walking away with the three points, but was very pleased with his team’s overall performance:
“Everyone played their part out there today so I’m happy with the collective effort from the team,” Rudan told Football NSW shortly after the game.
“We’ve got a very young side this year and I really couldn’t be happier with the performance of those boys. Everyone appears to lift an extra peg or two against us and their keeper was without doubt the Man-of-the Match.
“Admittedly Liam Reddy was barely called upon to make a save in that game and we had at least five or six realistic chances with shots on goal, but that’s how the game goes.”
Sydney United 58 are again at home next Sunday afternoon as they host Manly United while Blacktown Spartans will be looking for a more improved performance in their Round 12 clash when they travel to Marconi Stadium next Sunday to take on the Stallions.
Match Stats
Sydney United 58 FC 0
Blacktown Spartans 0
Sunday May 26th, 2013
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Referee: Adam Gehrig
Assistant Referees: Ryan Gallagher and Tanya De-Boer
Fourth Official: Samuel Grasso
Sydney United 58 FC: 29.Liam Reddy (C); 2.Mitchell Speer, 3. Ben Jurman, 4.Nathan Sherlock, 6.Mitchel Stamatellis, 9.Robert Mileski, 16.Stepjan Paric, 18.Glen Trifiro, 19.Mathew Bilic, 22.Daniel Barac (8.Yuichi Yamauchi 82’), 23.Ante Tomic (10.Chris Triantis 85’)
Substitutes Not Used: 12.Thomas Herceg, 15.Anthony Tomelic, 41.Jordan Jennings
Yellow Cards: Stepjan Paric 13’, Nathan Sherlock 16’, Glen Trifiro 56’, Mitchell Speer 74’, Daniel Barac 75’
Red Cards: Mitchel Stamatellis 63’, Stepjan Paric 90’+2’
Blacktown Spartans: 1.Carlos Saliadarre (C); 2.Luke Austin, 3.Nathan Millgate, 4.Luka Dukic, 6.Gregory Kondek, 7.Andre Carle, 8.Brenton Rhodes (11.Tyson Rhodes 84’), 9.Jun Kato (14.Luke Jenner 82’), 10.Bryan Soane, 25.Corey Biczo, 38.Zachary Freeburn (5.Daniel Wilkinson 56’)
Substitutes Not Used: 19.Simon Zahra, 20.Luke Turnbull
Yellow Cards: Luke Austin 28’
Red Cards: Luke Austin 83’
Players Ratings:
3 – Carlos Saliadarre (BS)
2 – Mathew Bilic (SU)
1 – Robert Mileski (SU)
-By Gary McDonald
