Goals galore in Glavas farewell

THE final round match between Sydney United 58 FC and Sutherland Sharks at Edensor Sports Centre ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw, in what was a special day for Luka Glavas as well as referee Katie-Louise Patterson.

The game was an emotional one for a stalwart of the Sydney United club: Luka Glavas. The tall, 29-year-old striker was calling it a day on an illustrious playing career and heading towards retirement after rounding out his playing days at the Edensor Park based club. He rose to national prominence when he featured regularly for A-League side Perth Glory a few seasons back.

Another note to the game was the debut of referee Katie-Louise Patterson who took charge of her first senior game at this level. It was great to see the young 24-year-old whistle blower finally break through the glass ceiling of refereeing in Australia. And what a competent performance she had out in the middle.

The game itself produced a rather cautious first half and perhaps it was expected given the deluge that drenched Sydney in the last 24 hours. The artificial surface, immaculate as ever, was probably slippery under foot for the players out on the field.

A shot by Matthew Gordon of the Sutherland Sharks in third minute into side netting was the opening chance of the game.

In the 18’ minute Sutherland Sharks took the lead through an own goal by Anthony Tomelic who simply knocked the ball into the far left hand side of his own net past goalkeeper Anthony Costa. The error was caused by Sutherland playing the ball square into the middle of the penalty area.

In the 27’ minute Sydney United 58 FC did equalise through Alec Urosevski. He was presented with an open goal after a powerful shot by Ante Tomic was blocked by goalkeeper Nathan Denham with an outstretched foot and Urosevski put the ball in the back of the net for Sydney United 58 FC from very close range.

In the 43’ minute a shot by Matthew Gordon was well saved in two attempts by goalkeeper Anthony Costa as the first half of play was rapidly heading towards the finish.

Early in the second, precisely in the 49’ minute, captain Luka Glavas had his moment when he gave Sydney United 58 FC the lead. Glavas headed home the ball after a cross from the right by Stjepan Paric was played into his path.

In the 55’ minute a powerful drive by Robert Mileski from outside the box narrowly sailed over the crossbar and then a free-kick by Glavas a few minutes later went around the wall and just wide of the target as the home side pressed to extend their lead.

However, it wasn’t to be because in the 59’ minute the narrative changed course when Panagiotis Nikas scored from close range after an accurate cross from the left by Jamie McMaster. The sides were now locked at 2-2 and the tight contest resumed.

In the 67’ minute referee Patterson awarded a penalty to the home side when Glavas went down in the slippery box under pressure from James McKenzie. The captain stepped up himself to make no mistake from the spot and send goalkeeper Nathan Denham the wrong way.

In the 71’ minute goalkeeper Anthony Costa raced out and brought down Jordan Figon in the opposite box. Referee Patterson jogging on the spot had no hesitation and awarded another spot kick which was taken by Nikas who scored despite Costa diving the correct way. It was now 3-3 and the second half was proving to be a real action-packed thriller.

In the 82’ minute Glavas played a nice ball to an unmarked Jack Stewart but the substitute hesitated and, in the end, his shot from a good position was well blocked by goalkeeper Denham. A few minutes later Glavas left the field to be replaced and received a very warm round of applause from all those present in his last senior game before retirement.

After the game a very pleasant Glavas stated how he felt upon retirement: “It actually feels a bit weird” he said.

“I have spent a lot of my time here and pretty much my life has evolved around the club in the last 15 years or so.

“I am staying around for the Westfield FFA Cup, so I’ll be around at least for that. As for the game, it would have been nice to go out with a win but we’ll take a draw.

“It sort of sums up our season with close games but at least it was an entertaining game."

From one captain to another, and Sutherland Sharks stalwart Nick Stavroulakis spoke about the game and his friend and counterpart Glavas who is retiring.

“At the end of the day we lost a lot of players in the last five or six games,” he said.

“Players were going overseas to trial, players were going overseas for contracts and we had a lot of injuries as well. Our squad depth got tested.

“It was a good game because it was the last one of the season and both team had no pressure and we saw some good football out there.

“It was a great day for Luka, he was a really good competitor, a fantastic goalscorer and one player that will be missed in our competition.

“I am very happy for him that he scored two goals – I think we teed it up for him so that he could get his goal,” he said wryly.

Match Stats

Sydney United 58 FC 3  (Alec Urosevski 27’, Luka Glavas 49’ & 67’ penlaty)

Sutherland Sharks 3  (Anthony Tomelic o.g. 18’, Panagiotis Nikas 59’ & 72’ penalty)

Sunday 17th August, 2014

Edensor Sports Centre, Edensor Park

Referee: Katie-Louise Patterson

Assistant Referees: Leigh Pigrim and Danny Horstead

Fourth Official: James Tesoriero

SYDNEY UNITED 58 FC: 1.Anthony Costa, 2.Anthony Tomelic, 3.Domenico Tripodi, 6.Mitchell Stamatellis, 8.Ante Tomic, 9.Robert Mileski (4.Jack Stewart 76’), 11.Luka Glavas(C) (7.Mirjan Pavlovic 88’), 15.Daniel Bragg (14.Ante Vrlic 86’), 16.Stjepan Paric, 18.Alec Urosevski, 19.Matthew Bilic

Substitutes not used: 12.Jacob Esposito, 20.Jayden Diacono

Yellow Cards: Alec Urosevski 45’

Red Cards: Nil

SUTHERLAND SHARKS: 1.Nathan Denham, 2.Jacob Tratt, 4.James McKenzie, 6.Matthew Gordon, 9.Nathan Elasi, 10.Jamie McMaster, 14.Nick Stavroulakis (C), 16.Damir Prodanovic (12.Jordan Figon 61’), 19.Nicholas Olsen, 23.Panagiotis Nikas, 29.Mitchell Farmer

Substitutes not used: 17.Jordan Roberts, 18.T.Koulizakis, 22.Andrew Depta, 38.J. Cox

Yellow Cards: Nick Stavroulakis 57’

Red Cards: Nil

– By Joe Russo, National Premier Leagues NSW Mens 1 Reporter, at Sydney United Sports Centre