Stallions put Saints to the sword
MARCONI Stallions have broken a seven game winless streak by posting a 2-0 win over St. George FC in their final round match at Lilys Football Centre.
Heading into the final round of the regular season, and once again with the unavailability of St. George’s regular home ground of WIN Jubilee Stadium, their loyal fans braved the adverse weather conditions and headed out west to Lilys Football Centre in the heart of Seven Hills.
Switching the venue to the vacant Blacktown City FC’s artificially-surfaced home ground was a blessing in disguise given the heavy downpour that had engulfed most of Sydney in the 24 hours prior to the kick-off, as had the location not been transferred from the originally designated Kogarah-based naturally-grassed playing surface then the viability of starting the match might have been placed in jeopardy due to the state of the pitch.
It was the visitors who took an early advantage in the change of venue when they opened up the scoring in the 9’ minute through some clever work by Marco Sama, linking up with Milorad Simonovic.
Only moments early Marconi blew a golden opportunity when Sean O’Connell failed to see an unmarked Sama in the middle of the box. O’Connell only needed to pass to Sama and the livewire forward would have had a relatively easy shot on goal. Instead O’Connell shot from an acute angle out on the left and the ball was deflected by the St. George defence and out of play.
The resultant corner saw a set piece play by Marconi where Sama cut the ball back nicely to Simonovic who made no mistake as his shot on target slipped past Saints keeper Dion Shaw and into the back of the net.
Marconi’s early-game form, where they controlled the midfield that allowed their classy forwards to play havoc with the St. George defence, was a marked improvement from just seven days earlier where they lost 4-1 against a resurgent Wolves outfit despite leading by an early goal.
Determined not to fall into the same trap as last week, Marconi dominated much of the first half, although St. George’s best chance came through inspirational captain Juan Chavez in the 20’ minute when he drifted across field showing a turn of speed and skill as he outmanoeuvred the Marconi defence. Chavez’s powerful low driving shot from the centre of the pitch and just outside the box was well directed, but rival captain and Marconi keeper James Chronopoulos was equally well positioned and got down low to snuff out the chance with a textbook save.
Marconi looked certain to double their lead in the 40’ minute when a turnover deep inside St. George’s own half saw keeper Shaw up high in his box. The Marconi attackers pounced and an ensuing scramble saw the ball spear out to the right where a fast-finishing Jared Lum’s shot on goal was in for all money – if it were not for the desperate lunge by a quick-thinking Marton Vass who somehow managed to get a left foot volley onto the ball and deflect it off the line to ensure that his side headed to the break with just the one goal deficit.
St. George’s intensity lifted in the opening stanza of the second-half as they muscled up to their more fancied opponents who had controlled much of the first 45 minutes of play, but it was the visitors who had the first realistic chance of the closing half when a counterattack by Marconi opened up from deep inside their own half down the left side. O’Connell outpaced his defenders and sent a well-weighted cross to an unmarked Jake McGing whose shot on goal was well hit, but brilliantly saved by Shaw on the near post.
A spate of chances around the 60 minute mark for the home side by firstly Dascal – whose left footed shot on goal was tipped over the bar by Chronopoulos – was then followed up by a right foot curler by Vass from the ensuing corner that sailed painstakingly wide of the near post.
However the equaliser for St. George should have come in the 63’ minute when forward Alex Jovovic found himself one-on-one with the Marconi keeper. Jovovic simply had to slip it either side of Chronopoulos to lock the game up at one-a-piece, but instead drove it straight at the keeper who made a brilliant reflex save between the legs.
Chances to Marconi in the 81’ and 83’ minutes could have sealed the game for the visitors. Firstly the brilliance of Sama came to the forefront when he showed sublime skills in a small space to leave the St. George defence in his wake to eventually get a shot off after creating something from absolutely nothing. Then secondly, when a superb cross from out on the right by O’Connell found the left foot of a charging Tomislav Mijic at the far post that was splendidly saved by Shaw down low to his left to keep his side in the contest.
Marconi finally sealed the game in the 90+2’ minute when replacement forward Shu Sasaki launched high into the air to connect well with a ball sent in from the right as he angled a header into the back of the net to ensure that his team finished a somewhat disappointing season on a high.
“I didn’t think that people have given us some of the credit that these boys deserve,” declared Marconi coach Paul Carter shortly after his side’s win.
“We’ve had six or seven players missing from our last ten matches, last week I didn’t even have a regular defender on the park and I’ve played some games where I’ve had to replace injured players with other injured players and I’ve kept it quiet and haven’t whinged about it.
“I certainly believe in these boys and we thoroughly deserved our win out there today.
“We knew that St. George would give it their all out there today and they came back at us in the second-half, but that’s what you would expect from a Manny Spanoudakis-coached side. They’re a bit like us in some ways as they can struggle too in trying to find that goal-scorer.
“We really should have put the game to bed, but we didn’t and they nearly punished us for it.”
St. George coach Manny Spanoudakis, despite the loss, was heavy in his praise for his young side.
“It’s been a difficult situation for us all year with not really having a regular home ground and playing many of our games on the road this season,” claimed Spanoudakis.
“So to come to Blacktown [Lilys Football Centre] for such a crucial game was a big challenge in the first place, but that’s the story of our year as we’ve been in a lot of our matches but have just lacked that experience or final touch in being able to kill a game off.
“You have to give full credit to Marconi out there today, but it’s the end of a long frustrating year for us for many reasons. We weren’t able to build a fortress through a home ground, but we’re last on the competition ladder and the ladder doesn’t lie – we just weren’t good enough this year to compete at the elite level.
“Our second-half performance was much better and I spoke with the boys at the break as to how they would like the footballing public to perceive them in their final half of football, so I was pleased with the effort shown there.
“They’re a really great bunch of lads and unfortunately we didn’t have the resources to bolster these young boys with a number of experienced players. They trained really hard all year long, but we just didn’t have that experience that you need in this grade. In saying that, there are no excuses and unfortunately we just weren’t good enough – it’s a simple as that.”
Match Stats
St. George 0
Marconi Stallions 2 (Milorad Simonovic 9’, Shu Sasaki 90+2’)
Sunday August 17, 2014
Lilys Football Centre, Seven Hills
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: Thomas Lee & Sebastian Brennan
Fourth Official: Adam Vainauskas
St. George: 1.Dion Shaw; 3.David Dascal, 4.Marton Vass, 5.Bill Tsanidis, 6.Daniel Mitwali, 7.Chris Gomez (10.Bruno Pivato 33’), 8.Nick Napoli, 11.Juan Chavez (C), 12.Alex Jovovic (31.Andreas Vais 65’), 15.Tayfun Buyukkopru, 16.Jon Castano-Acero (13.Lenox Tweneboa 69’)
Substitutes Not Used: 2.Costa Andricopoulos, 21.Lucas North
Yellow Cards: Nick Napoli 35’, David Dascal 44’, Marton Vass 50’, Jon Castano-Acero 68’, Daniel Mitwali 85’
Red Cards: Nil
Marconi Stallions: 22.James Chronopoulos (C); 2.Mitchell Thompson (20.Shu Sasaki 62’), 5.Brenton Rhodes, 6.Jared Lum, 7.Sean O’Connell, 9.Marco Sama (3.Ali Haydar 84’), 10.Milorad Simonovic, 15.Tomislav Mijic, 17.Steven Drewery, 18.Jake McGing (11.Harrison Brown 87’), 23.Christopher Nunes
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Nathan Campbell, 16.Zac Sfiligoi
Yellow Cards: Brenton Rhodes 30’
Red Cards: Nil
-By Gary McDonald, National Premier Leagues NSW Mens 1 Reporter, at Lilys Football Centre
