Spartans clinch Grade 18s Championship
A late goal in the dying seconds proved decisive in the Under 18s Grand Final as Blacktown Spartans downed Sydney United 58 FC by a 2-1 score line at Centrebet Stadium on Sunday morning.
Jake Douglas was the hero on the day as the confident young striker’s brace saw Spartans past United who bravely battled out much of the second-half with ten men following Matthew Adjapawn’s dismissal on the hour mark.
Douglas opened the scoring midway through the first-half only for Chris Zuvela to equalise soon after in a tightly contested opening period.
With the temperature quickly increasing after the interval United’s hopes took a massive blow with Adjapawn’s dismissal; while tiring legs across the park saw chances few and far between Douglas remained sharp as he took full advantage of his only chance of the half to fire in a dramatic winner with seconds remaining on the clock.
Both sides looked hungry for goals from the outset with their wingers finding joy on the right flanks in the opening stages as they pressed for an early opener.
Zuvela cut inside the box on the right wing in the opening minutes before centring for Lawrence Hanna who saw his first-time strike bravely blocked by a wall of Spartans defenders.
Conor Evans – a bright young prospect who earned himself a run with Spartans’ first grade squad last month – found acres of space for himself on the right wing soon after before centring for Douglas who was denied by John Dimitrakas’ reflex save.
The rebound fell to Cedric Adinkwuye who did well to turn inside the onrushing defenders only for Dimitrakis to recover to complete a miraculous double save to keep his side on level terms.
Jacob Rose tested Dimitrakis from range on the quarter hour mark; the keeper was again up to the task as he got down to comfortably gather the strike.
United threatened at the other end soon after as Hanna skipped past Jacob Carluccio on the left flank before sliding the ball into the box for Juan Zapata; Alex Frost was quick off his line to block Zapata’s route to goal and pressure the winger into cutting the ball back into a barrage of defenders who crowded out United’s attack before clearing to safety.
As the temperature and tempo progressively increased the match appeared destined for an opening goal and Spartans duly delivered as they broke the deadlock midway through the first -half.
Douglas found a yard of space on the edge of United’s box to get a shot away only for Zuvela to block the strike; Douglas showed great composure to control the rebound before calmly stroking the ball into the back of the net.
Their lead was short lived as United immediately pressed forward for an equaliser. They were soon rewarded for their response just after the half hour mark as Zuvela’s perfectly timed run met Zapata’s ball; the 15-year old midfielder burst into the box with his first touch before tucking the ball inside his far post with his second.
Zuvela came close to completely turning the match on its head minutes later when he skipped past Rose and Alec Goodwin before firing just over the crossbar from the edge of the box.
Douglas too came close to grabbing his second of the afternoon as he darted inside from the right wing before firing toward the near post from 20-yards; Dimitrakas was not to be beaten by the striker again as he touched the ball wide at the expense of a corner.
United had the ball in the back of the net once again on the strike of halftime only for Adam Voloder’s attempt to be correctly ruled out for offside as the sides went into the interval with the scores locked at one a piece.
The second-half saw fewer chances at either end yet there was an added element of drama as the ensuing quarter hour saw a forced keeper substitution and a red card to make things interesting for both sides.
An injury to Frost saw the keeper hobble of the park to receive treatment from Spartans’ physio team within minutes of the restart as substitute custodian James Stojcevski took his place between the sticks for the remainder of the match.
United’s hopes took a sizable blow around the hour mark as right-back Matthew Adjapawn saw two yellow cards in the space on a minute to earn himself an early shower and leave the remaining ten men in red with a tough task on their hands as they were left to battle out the final half hour with a numerical disadvantage.
Despite the setback United came close to taking the lead soon after via the dead ball as Martin Lo curled a marvellous free kick inches over the crossbar from 25-yards.
Spartans perhaps should have hit the lead late on when Evans picked out Benjamin Tosi unmarked with a brilliantly weighted cross however the finish lacked conviction as Tosi volleyed the ball straight into the keepers hands.
With the clock running down and extra time looming Spartans kept their heads up to earn themselves one final chance of which they took full advantage.
Their final attack started with orange jerseys streaming forward in numbers and concluded with substitute Joshua Currie slipping the ball into the box for Douglas to bury the ball into the top corner and win his side the title in dramatic fashion.
Match Stats
Sydney United 58 FC 1 (Chris Zuvela 33’)
Blacktown Spartans FC 2 (Jake Douglas 23’, 90’)
Sunday 15th of September, 2013
Centrebet Stadium, Penrith
Referee: Adam Vainauskas
Assistant Referees: Jonathon Kreining and Alec Mouawad
Fourth Official: Blake Herbert
Sydney United 58 FC: 1.John Dimitrakas; 2.Matthew Adjapawn, 3.Mato Lucic, 5.Nathan Bertolossio, 6.Shaun Borthwick, 7.Adam Voloder (24.Isaac Savor 61’), 10.Martin Lo, 11.Juan Zapata (14.Nathan Duval 71’), 17.Chris Zuvela, 21.Tony Lo, 30.Lawrence Hanna
Substitutes Not Used: 4.Tomislav Banic, 9.Paul Gacic, 71.Luke Babic
Yellow Cards: Matthew Adjapawn 59’
Red Cards: Matthew Adjapawn 60’
Blacktown Spartans FC: 1.Alex Frost (111.James Stojcevski 51’); 2.James Letta, 3.Vincent Mercuri, 5.Jacob Rose (15.Joshua Currie 77’), 6.Benjamin Tosi, 8.Conor Evans, 9.Jake Douglas (13.Ogun Dullak 90+1’), 10.Tiano Boutoubia, 11.Cedric Adinkwuye (7.Patrick Griffiths 70’), 12.Alec Goodwin, 14.Jacob Carluccio
Substitutes Not Used: 4.Trent Sierra
Yellow Cards: Jacob Carluccio 30’, Jacob Rose 69’, Benjamin Tosi 79’, Tiano Boutoubia 88’
Red Cards: Nil
-By Michael Shoolman
