Rockdale Stumble In Chase For Finals

South Coast Wolves scored the upset of the Round with a 1-0 win away at Rockdale City Suns on Sunday afternoon at Ilinden Sports Centre.
Peter Simonoski’s strike was enough to secure the points, much needed points in the Wolves’ bid to avoid relegation this season.
Inside 10’’ seconds, Alec Urosevski, when put through one-on-one, had Wolves’ goalkeeper Daniel Collison down sharply to save at the feet before the ball was finally put out for a goal-kick.
Peter Simonoski replied in the 4’ minute when using the breeze in attempting a chip over Diego Barcena however the stopper was quick to adjust and gathered comfortably.
Both sides started smartly enough in the conditions however for all the attacking intentions the game inevitably produced the usual midfield battle for control with neither goalkeeper truly called into action for long periods.
What ensued was a finely balanced battle of attrition that Rockdale led slightly with all the defensive nous of the visiting Wolves being tested to its limits.
Steve Hayes, skipper of South Coast, had Barcena down at the feet to thwart an attempt when put clean through, although the shot-stopper was always favourite to be first to the ball in the 15’ minute in a sporadic foray forward.
It was proving a tight tussle for the Suns as they played not just against South Coast but the strong blustery breeze during the opening half and, perhaps, the ball along the ground may have been the better option on occasion and when it was they looked a far more potent threat.
In the 23’ minute the Wolves were forced to clear off the line from a corner that many Suns fans thought had crossed the line in a goalmouth scramble in the nearest to the opening goal in the opening exchanges.
The crowd were up again when James Baldacchino certainly hit the ball with a hand under pressure from Richard Cardozo that was quite rightly adjudged to have been accidental and play was waved on. It would have been harsh had it been given under the circumstances.
South Coast were playing to their strengths and came with a game plan to frustrate the high flying Suns and had to soak up plenty of pressure without creating too much of their own, though they looked well drilled in their efforts and continued to play their passing brand of football. It paid off when Hayes sent over a looping centre that found Simonoski free at the back stick to rifle home on the near post to give the Wolves an unexpected lead.
It was scant justice for Rockdale who toiled hard to push the Wolves back in the windy conditions and had created by far the better of play, none more evident than when Cardozo put through David Talevski with a defence splitting pass the diminutive midfielder took in full stride to beat Collison but not the post.
Urosevski brought about a fingertip save from Collison in the 41’ minute from a rasping shot as Rockdale pressed home their attacks with greater urgency.
Cardozo finished the half with a weaving run and shot that Chris Nathaniel needed to clear running toward goal however for Rockdale they would enter the break a goal down and 45’ minutes to redress the balance.
Rockdale made two changes at the start of the second-half when Nikola Tanevski and Anthony Perri replaced Talevski and El Hafiane respectively as they went in search of the equaliser with the wind at their backs.
However, apart from a golden half-chance in the opening seconds again it was South Coast who adapted quickest after the restart until Cardozo tested Collison, again with a sweetly stuck shot, with the ‘keeper forced into another tremendous save just before the hour mark.
Once more Rockdale mounted plenty of pressure to force a succession of corners that had defenders and ‘keeper flying everywhere to prevent crossing the line, and perhaps the thinking was this wasn’t to be their day.
In a last throw of the dice, Suns’ coach Branko Culina introduced Seiya Kawamura in the 66’ minute to replace the young Urosevski who had given everything in the game to that point.
The crisp passing deserted Rockdale as they rolled up their sleeves and battled it out with South Coast who, it has to be said, may have come as underdogs and for much of the match been under the pump, deserved their lead.
Although the second-half created little in the way of highlights it was certainly a classic encounter resulting in Themba Mutua-Marlow having to clear at full stretch under the crossbar in the 82’ minute when the Wolves caught the home side short at the back.
Indeed, Rockdale’s game tactics went AWOL and they looked bereft of ideas for much of the second period with the difference being South Coast had taken one of their few chances whilst the finishing of the home side was certainly lacking to say the least.
The Wolves sat deeper and hit on the break by forcing Rockdale to come at them in numbers but they couldn’t break the defensive shackle of their visitors regardless of what they tried with the final wash-up being they lost a game they had dominated for long periods and by virtue of not taking any of the many chances they conjured up.
A dejected Branko Culina said of his Rockdale side:
“Oh well, if you don’t take your chances you don’t win games and it really is as simple as that.
“I have to say that the longer the game went the less we looked likely to get anything from it because we started playing pretty much off the cuff and didn’t do the things we practiced in training and that is not what we are about, and certainly not what I am about either.
“That was disappointing and as I said before the match, these are danger games for us and those around us.
“Between now and the end of the season, if you are not fully focussed and dig in deep in these game you won’t get anything out of them and today we didn’t.
“We missed an open goal in the 1’ minute and another not long afterwards, hit the post, had one cleared off the line and the difference is they took one of their two or three opportunities.
“Sometimes, you are not always capable of playing great football but again today we created enough chances to win the game but full credit to South Coast because they were desperate and rode their luck and after we missed those early chances they worked hard and it gave them the belief to go on and win the game.
Richard Lloyd was obviously far happier with the outcome when adding:
“It wasn’t always pretty today but it was effective but we had a couple of key players out today, Ricky Zucco (Flu) and Jacob Timpano was missing so we had to come with a plan to try and frustrate them a bit and get their supporters on their back a little bit and in the first-half we did that really well.
“We stuck to that really well and then brought (John) Martinoski on to try and hold the ball a bit more and in the end we’ve got three points and probably deserved it with the game plan working well.
“It certainly wasn’t our prettiest game but I thought the goal was sensational, well-worked and a good day’s work by all.”
On riding their luck during the opening 45’ minutes Lloyd states:
“We had a lad making his debut again today and Jack Keating got caught early in the piece but Daniel Collison earned his money today and made a terrific save.
“Rockdale hit the post and we did ride our luck a little bit but we also played some good stuff in a very even contest to be honest with just the one goal separating the sides.
“We are happy to have won the match and our performance deserved it with the game plan we had so we will try to pick up the points in our remaining fixtures.”
In truth it was a very even game but Rockdale will be kicking themselves again when looking at the chances created and the lack of any taken particularly in their fight for Top Five football at end of the season.
Match Stats
Rockdale City Suns 0

South Coast Wolves 1 (Peter Simonoski 31’)
Ilinden Sports Centre, Rockdale
Sunday 21st of July, 2013
Referee: Jason Blackwood
Assistant Referees: Nicholas Backo and Leigh Pigram
Fourth Official: Nathan Roberts
Rockdale City Suns: 1.Diego Barcena; 5.Paul Reid, 6.Takayu Muruyama, 7.Brendan Gan, 8.Paul Kohler (C), 10.Richard Cardozo, 11.David Talevski (14.Nikola Tanevski 46’), 13.Sam Munro, 12.Idriss El Hafiane (16.Anthony Perri 46’), 19.Alec Urosevski (18.Seiya Kawamura 66’), 21.Themba Muata-Malow
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Roberto Speranza, 24.Aaron Liddell
Yellow Cards: Cardozo 56’
Red Cards: Nil
South Coast Wolves: 1.Daniel Collison; 2.Jack Keating, 4.Dusan Kolonja, 5.James Baldacchino, 6.Chris Nathaniel, 8.Steve Hayes (C), 9.Peter Simonoski, 12.Joseph Lavalle (11.John Martinoski 77’), 14.Mitchell Del Turco, 17.Zac Mackenzie, 21.Sam Matthews
Substitutes Not Used: 7.Josh Bingham, 10.Ricky Zucco, 13.Sam Chapple, 20.Thomas Hamilton
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
-By Micky Brock