Shootout sees Rockdale past ten-man Marconi
Rockdale City Suns have defeated Marconi Stallions 4-2 on penalties after the two sides fought out a tightly contested 1-1 draw in Sunday afternoon’s elimination final at Sydney United Sports Centre.
Paul Kohler’s header put Rockdale into the lead late in the first-half only for Tadgh Purcell to pop up late in the second-half to force the match into extra time.
With legs tiring across the park the task was made all the more difficult for Marconi who were reduced to ten men when Damien Travis saw his second yellow card of the afternoon in the first half of extra time.
Despite numerous chances at either end two hours of football couldn’t separate the sides, leaving the tie to be settled by the dreaded penalty shootout which saw Purcell and Kojiro Hori’s opening attempts saved and missed respectively before Seiya Kawamura sealed the win with Rockdale’s fourth consecutive successful penalty.
The result sees Rockdale progress to take on Sutherland Sharks next Saturday night while Marconi’s 2013 campaign comes to an end with the side falling short of defending their 2012 title.
Marconi took to the field without the inspirational presence of captain Nahuel Arrarte who had announced his retirement following the aggravation of a recurring knee injury in Round 21 of the regular season just a fortnight ago; custodian James Chronopoulos led the side out in his place.
Both sides showed ambitions for an early opener as Takuya Murayama and Shane Webb tried their luck in the opening minutes for their respective sides; the latter firing well over the crossbar after Murayama saw his 30-yard volley well held by Chronopoulos.
Marconi began to gather the early momentum and create chances in the final third with Kohler needed to block Purcell’s strike before Milorad Simonovic fired rebound wide of goal.
A poor pass out of defence by Chronopoulos gifted possession to Alec Uroseski in attack for Rockdale; the young striker darted into the box only to run into Ali Haydar who had covered a lot of ground to make up for his goalkeeper’s error.
Webb’s crossing caused headaches from Rockdale’s backline throughout the match; his first of the afternoon forced Uruguayan goalkeeper Diego Barcena into an unconvincing punch which fell to Elsid Barkhousir who could only drag his finish wide.
Minutes later Webb produced his second brilliant cross of the afternoon which narrowly missed the head of Purcell at the far post.
While Webb’s distribution was spot on Chronopoulos’ left a lot to be desired as his opponents charged down the goalkeeper’s attempted clearance to create their next chance;
Nikola Taneski then provided a smart cross for Cardozo who somehow failed to bury what looked like a routine chance, failing to connect with the ball which was eventually cleared to safety.
While the chance slipped by it did allow Rockdale to grow in confidence and they piled the pressure onto Marconi midway through the opening half with Uroseski firing wide from the edge of the box.
Uroseski went much closer to breaking the deadlock on the half hour mark with Chronopoulos blocking the striker’s header before Umit Tokdogan miraculously headed his follow up off the line; the ball fell for Brendan Gan who saw his finish bravely blocked away for a corner by Haydar.
Marconi looked to have settled down across the park and created their next chance which saw Barkhousir’s header deflect awkwardly for Barcena who did well to tip the ball over the crossbar.
Rockdale kept up the pressure as Murayama’s cross was misjudged in the air by Haydar, gifting another golden opportunity for Cardozo who appeared to have left his goal scoring boots at home as he volleyed wide of goal.
With chance after chance slipping by Rockdale kept their heads up and was soon rewarded as they broke the deadlock late in the half.
Gan’s deep corner was met by Uroseski who headed centrally for Kohler who made the most of his chance to powerfully head the ball into the back of the net via the underside of the crossbar to spark wild celebrations on the pitch and in the stands.
Tempers flared late in half with a couple of rash challenges and confrontations ensuing as Rockdale held their slender advantage going into the interval.
Marconi looked to have regained their composure after the interval as they began to stroke the ball around with conviction yet failed to trouble the Rockdale goal while their opponents continued to create chances.
Cardozo curled a marvellous free-kick agonisingly wide of the near post before Taneski utilised his blinding pace to create a couple of opportunities for himself only to place his finish wide on both occasions.
The match opened up as the second-half progressed with both sides streaming forward in numbers in search of the next goal of the match.
With time slipping by Marconi didn’t drop their heads and continued to press forward for an equaliser which they were duly rewarded with late in the half as they punished Rockdale for their continual missed chances.
Patient build up play allowed Jared Lum the time and space to get a shot away from the edge of the box; Purcell found himself in the way of the strike but did well to control the ball with his first touch before firing the ball inside the bottom corner with his second to pull his side back onto level terms.
Neither side could find a decisive goal in the remaining minutes so the match rolled into extra time, giving both sides an extra half an hour to settle the intense contest.
Barcena was the first keeper called into action in extra-time, pulling out a sharp save to touch substitute Jake McGing powerful first-time shot wide of his near post.
Cardozo charged through at the other end soon after yet again failed to hit the target, scooping his shot over the crossbar to let Marconi’s defence off the hook.
Substitute David Talesvki’s strike was equally as wayward minutes later as Rockdale began to gain a stranglehold on proceedings; their task was given a boost soon after as Damien Travis saw his second yellow of the afternoon to leave Marconi with a numerical disadvantage on the pitch.
With a tough task ahead of them Marconi had Chronopoulos to thank for still being in the tie as a brave double save kept his side on level terms going into half time in extra time; the shot-stopper was now brimming with confidence after shrugging off a shaky first half to lead his side from between the sticks.
The final quarter hour continued to produce drama as Askin Oygur saw his header cleared off the line only for the effort to be ruled out anyway as he was correctly adjudged to have overused his arms in contesting for the ball in the air.
Neither side could find a winner before the final whistle, meaning penalties would be needed to separate the sides.
The shootout couldn’t have started worse for Marconi as Purcell saw his attempt blocked by Barcena before Hori skied his effort well over the crossbar, allowing Cardozo and Kohler to give Rockdale an early 2-0 lead.
Webb and Tokdogan kept Marconi’s hopes alive as they netted their respective penalties yet the Japanese pair of Murayama and Kawamura held their nerve to sink their attempts and secure a 4-2 win in the shootout.
Kawamura’s final penalty brought joy for Rockdale and despair for Marconi as the latter crashes out of the finals series while Rockdale can celebrate their dramatic win before turning their attention to their clash with Sutherland next weekend.
Rockdale’s experienced defender, and goal scorer, Paul Kohler was happy to see his side progress through the shootout after working hard throughout today’s two hours of football:
“I think overall we started slightly slowly but as the game progressed I think we started to dominate more, win those second balls, and start to play and build momentum,” said Kohler.
“We had a few chances in the second-half – I guess so did they – but you could feel there was something coming.
“We worked hard in extra time and had a couple of chances that we couldn’t convert and in the end we’ll take the penalties.
“You make your own luck so they say and we’re happy to move on from that performance.”
Rockdale coach Branko Culina now turns his focus to next weekend’s clash against Sutherland, a game his side will be fired up for after their opponent’s big loss to Bonnyrigg White Eagles last night:
“They’re all big games here,” said Culina.
“From now on if you lose you’re out so it is a big game.
“We’ve got a few injury problems but again we’ve shown throughout the year that we can match it with anyone so on our day we’ll be up against anyone and we’ll be confident and comfortable that we can beat anyone.
“Sutherland are a good side and I’m sure that they’ll be looking forward to this game after losing quite heavily last night against Bonnryigg.”
While disappointed to be eliminated Marconi goalkeeper James Chronopoulos was proud of the effort his side put in today:
“I’m definitely proud of the boys,” said Chronopoulos.
“We had a bit of a setback with our captain not playing so we made a few changes and in 120’ minutes of football I think we’ve done very well.
“We went down a man in extra time there but I thought to myself it’s a feasible job.
“In the end we lost but I’m still proud of the boys.”
Marconi coach Jean Paul De Marigny echoed Chronopoulos’ pride after seeing his side pull together for the second half of the season to come as far as they did:
“It’s been like that all year to be fair,” said De Marigny.
“I really felt that the team had a lot of spirit and desire to achieve things, particularly in the second part of the season when we got the whole squad together.
“I can’t give enough credit to the players and their desire not to lose.”
Match Stats
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Paul Kohler 42’)
Marconi Stallions 1 (Tadgh Purcell 82’)
Penalty shootout:
Rockdale City Suns 4 (Richie Cardozo scored, Paul Kohler scored, Takuya Murayama scored, Seiya Kawamura scored)
Marconi Stallions 2 (Tadgh Purcell saved, Kojiro Hori missed, Shane Webb scored, Umit Tokdogan scored)
Sunday August 25th, 2013
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referees: Leigh Pigram and Lance Greenshields
Fourth Official: Khodr Yaghi
Rockdale City Suns: 1.Diego Barcena; 3.Giorgio Speranza, 5.Paul Reid, 6.Takuya Murayama, 7.Brendan Gan, 8.Paul Kohler, 9.Alec Urosevski (18.Seiya Kawamura 67’), 10.Richie Cardozo, 12.Idriss El-Hafiane (13.Sam Munro 56’), 14.Nikola Taneski (11.David Talevski 73’), 23.Askin Oygur
Substitutes Not Used: 24.Aaron Liddell; 20.Roberto Speranza
Yellow Cards: David Talevski 98’, Takuya Murayama 120’
Red Cards: Nil
Marconi Stallions: 22.James Chronopoulos; 2.Mitchell Thompson (18.Jake McGing 81’), 3.Ali Haydar, 4.Umut Tokdogan, 6.Shane Webb, 7.Sean O’Connell (25.Kojiro Hori 72’), 8.Jared Lum, 10.Milorad Simonovic, 17.Tadhg Purcell, 19.Damian Travis, 45.Elsid Barkhousir (9.Aman Hadid 77’)
Substitutes Not Used: 23.Chris Nunes, 22.Stefan Giglio
Yellow Cards: Damien Travis 45’
Red Cards: Damien Travis 110’
-By Michael Shoolman
