Trifiro late show seals the deal for Sydney United over Suns
Glen Trifiro’s dramatic stoppage time winner spared Sydney United 58’s blushes and gave them a win that will live long in the memory.
93’ minutes had been played when Trifiro latched on to a knock down from the excellent Matthew Bilic, before swivelling and firing a shot past Diego Barcena into the far corner.
It could have been so different, though. Sydney United 58 FC had squandered a 2-0 lead and when the scores were level it was Rockdale City who looked far likelier, with the creativity of Brendan Gan and Richard Cardozo complemented by the metronomic Paul Reid in midfield.
Thanks to Trifiro’s late goal though, it was the Edensor Park side that came away victorious and somehow Rockdale City ended up with nothing, despite Cardozo and Askin Oygur pulling them level in the second-half.
A pedestrian first period gave way to an open, attacking second-half and the nearest the opening exchanges came to a goal was when Paul Kohler headed straight at Liam Reddy, before the counter attack sparked by Reddy’s throw saw Yuichi Yamauchi direct a header narrowly wide.
A slip from Ben Jurman in the 29′ minute was picked up by Cardozo who beat Nathan Sherlock, but his cross was a stretch too far for the fast arriving Brendan Gan.
Rockdale City had been able to control large parts of the game but they were hit by an intricate move in the 29′ minute that saw Matthew Bilic arrive in time to finish.
Trifiro sent in a beautiful cross from the right hand side and Bilic applied the finish it deserved, heading past Barcena at the back post.
Rockdale City were indebted to their centre half pairing for keeping the score line at only 0-1 going into the break, as first Oygur and then Paul Kohler made timely interventions as Bilic and then Chris Triantis bore down on goal.
It took only 4’ minutes of the second-half for Sydney United 58 to double their lead and it came from the unlikely source of Mitchell Speer.
A corner was punched away unconvincingly by Barcena and when Bilic rifled a left footed volley at goal it was blocked by a Rockdale City defender. Speer was in the right place at the right time to slide in the second goal.
Speer nearly doubled his money just 2’ minutes later but his shot was deflected over the bar.
The second-half had become a rollicking affair and Rockdale City found a goal in the 53′ minute and it was the in-form Cardozo that scored it after great work by the equally in-form Gan.
Gan’s cross from the left found the onrushing Cardozo, who had no trouble bundling the ball over the line.
The momentum was with Rockdale City. Sydney United 58 FC resorted to sitting deep and playing on the counterattack, but they were inviting pressure that Rockdale City was happy to apply.
Gan and Cardozo were combining readily in attack and with Reid pulling the strings in midfield, Rockdale City were looking threatening.
The pressure eventually tolled in the 68′ minute when a Reid free kick found Oygur at the near post, who equalised with a rare goal.
It was now on for young and old.
Anthony Perri came off the bench and had a decent opportunity that he put wide, whilst debutant Nick Taneski, on at half-time, looked dangerous up front.
With 10’ minutes to go, a rasping drive from Triantis brought out the best in Barcena, who made a point-blank save to keep the scores level. It was an outstanding reflex save from the Rockdale City number 1, but that moment aside, it was the home team making all the running.
The crowd was riding the wave of momentum generated by Rockdale’s relentless pressure and they sensed a late winner.
They got one, but it was Trifiro who struck, spoiling the party.
With Mark Rudan playing out his touchline ban, his assistant Jerry Bilokapic took charge for the day and he was very pleased to take the three points:
"The boys have been pretty close each week," Bilokapic said.
"They deserve credit for their urgency and commitment.
"It’s never good to be leading 2-0 and then get pegged back to 2-2, but like I said, the boys dug deep and sometimes you have to grind those wins out.
"We’ve been building and we’ve been close. I think we’ve turned the corner. We’ve got boys coming back from injuries and suspensions and I think we’ll be right," he said.
Rockdale City coach Branko Culina was terribly frustrated at full time, but saw reason to believe that his team can take that extra step towards the top:
"I’m very disappointed with the result," Culina said.
"We adjusted in the second-half and the players responded to that. But to concede goals as soft as the ones we conceded, is very disappointing.
"If you want to be a top team, you really can’t do that.
"The first goal, our closing down was poor and the third goal was a bit of a joke, really. They were under the pump and we let ourselves down.
"Sydney United 58 FC look like they were treading water for the last 25’ minutes. But not only did they end up surviving, but they ended up winning the game.
"I’m sure they would have been very happy with a draw.
"We need to be honest with each other. Honest enough to see that we need to eliminate those mistakes.
"But the positives were also good. You’re a top side if you can come back from 2-0 down to be 2-2 and controlling the game.
"We’ve had a tremendous run. Confidence was sky high and we go into every game believing we can win.
"We showed we’re a good side, but we need to sort out these lapses and be a bit more accountable and responsible to make sure we don’t make these mistakes on a regular basis," Culina said.
Match Stats
Rockdale City Suns 2 (Richard Cardozo 53′, Askin Oygur 68′)
Sydney United 58 FC 3 (Matthew Bilic 29′, Mitchell Speer 49′, Glen Trifiro 90’+4′)
Sunday 9th of June, 2013
Ilinden Sports Centre, Rockdale
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Assistant Referees: Valerio Bertuccioli and Lance Greenshields
Fourth Official: Daniel Stack
Rockdale City Suns: 1.Diego Barcena; 15.Max Burgess (14.Nikola Taneski 46′), 10.Richard Cardozo, 7.Brendan Gan, 8.Paul Kohler, 13.Sam Munro, 6.Takuya Murayama, 5.Paul Reid, 3.Giorgio Speranza (16.Anthony Perri 60′), 9.Alec Urosevski, 23.Askin Oygur (C)
Substitutes Not Used: 24.Aaron Liddell (GK), 21.Themba Muata-Marlow, 11.David Talevski
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58 FC: 29.Liam Reddy (C), 19.Matthew Bilic, 12.Tomislav Herceg (15.Anthony Tomelic 85′), 3.Ben Jurman, 4.Nathan Sherlock, 2.Mitchell Speer, 23.Ante Tomic (5.Calum O’Connell 73′), 10.Chris Triantis, 18.Glen Trifiro, 8.Yuichi Yamauchi (36.David Semialjac 90+4′), 16.Stjepan Paric
Substitutes Not Used: 41.Jordan Jennings, 21.Chris Zuvela
Yellow Cards: Brendan Gan 42′, Giorgio Speranza 47′, Ante Tomic 50′, Ben Jurman 90′
Red Cards: Nil
-By Matthew Connellan
