Blockbuster at Edensor this Sunday
A Grand Final spot is up for grabs in the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Finals Series this Sunday when Sydney United 58 host the Brisbane Strikers at Sydney United Sports Centre in another former NSL battle between two historic sides.
One such momentous game that stood out between the pair was the 1997 NSL Grand Final when the Strikers took out the Championship with a 2-0 victory over United in front of a forty-plus thousand crowd at Suncorp Stadium thanks to goals scored by Frank Farina and Rod Brown.
It was a match that has lived long in the memory of the Strikers faithful especially but a game that featured a number of legends of our game as the likes of Kalac, Culina, Kupresak, Marusic, Milicic, Bilokapic, Bolton, Hunter, Farina, Wehrman, Cranney, Brown, Gwynne and the list goes on all took part in.
A then fresh faced teenager Mark Rudan came on as a late substitute that day replacing Paul Bilokapic, so there will no doubt be revenge on the mind of the former tough tackling defender.
Fast forward to the 2016 season and the two will have a chance to reignite their duel in Sydney.
Rudan’s men played out an epic 5-4 victory over Adelaide City last weekend while the Strikers coached by Kevin A’Herne-Evans, came away with a 3-2 victory over Canberra Olympic setting up an intriguing battle in Sydney’s West.
The star of the United 58 show was undoubtedly one man in particular, the mercurial Panny Nikas.
He stole all the headlines after hitting home a memorable hat-trick as well as being the talk of the tournament thus far with his bicycle that stunned the Adelaide City defence.
Nikas was hoping for more of the same against a resilient Strikers outfit who took out this year’s Football Queensland Premiership.
“We are really looking forward to what will be an exciting game against the Strikers. They showed that they can mix it with the best, not just with last weekend’s performance but with their Westfield FFA Cup showing against Melbourne City this year.
“I feel as though both teams will play free flowing and attacking football and it will once again showcase two teams steeped in history going toe to toe.”
Nikas and co have been busily preparing for this clash and have analysed the Strikers’ style of play hoping to hit the Queenslanders on their weaknesses.
“We’ve done our analysis on them but we have also gone through our match last week and saw what we did well and what we needed to work in preparations for this must win game.
“I know they aren’t coming here for a holiday so we are well aware of the dangers this team can throw at us come Sunday, but we will be ready.”
Goals will be on the menu again and Nikas once again pushed the message that Sunday’s clash will be a spectacle not to be missed.
“I feel like we will see goals on Sunday – if they score five, we will score six, if they score six we will score seven, that’s my take on it all.
“I believe last weekend you could tell that everyone really enjoyed the match even though we got pushed right till the full time whistle – everyone was happy playing alongside each other and it’s that attitude that we will want to take coming into this game.”
The dynamic attacker stressed that this was one game not to be missed by any football fan and urged the public to turn out in their numbers to witness a good game of football.
“The goals that were scored in last weekend’s match and the attacking football that was on display is a message to the fans that this is a game not to be missed – there will be a lot of pride at stake and we are hoping that we can bring home the result for the club, for our fans and for the state of NSW in bringing home another NPL title.”
One player that will stand in the way of Nikas will be that of a very formidable presence in big Scottish defender Greig Henslee.
The 33-year-old, who was voted the Players’ Player and Brisbane Strikers Supporters’ Player of the Season, will certainly be up for the challenge.
Arriving in Sydney on Saturday, Henslee was looking forward to Sunday and knew that the Queenslanders were coming in as the ‘Underdogs’, much like how Adelaide City were last weekend.
“It’s a massive game for us.
“t’s been a long season, with the Westfield FFA Cup, the league and now this knockout tournament – but I think with the automatic spot into next year’s FFA Cup been given to the winning team, its given the players and club that extra incentive to go all out for victory.”
Asked whether the players witnessed the nine-goal bonanza at Edensor Park, Henslee said he did.
“I did see the match. I thought the first half was a bit boring to be honest as it looked like it was almost too easy for United 58 but the second half was a different story both teams showed their class and the match opened up which is why we saw all those goals fly through but I felt the better team won on the day.
“We are under no illusions this is going to be a very tough game.”
The Strikers were pushed to the limit by Canberra Olympic in the Elimination Final but Henslee felt that his side were underdone.
“We were in a little bit of a tricky spot with that match as we went on with three weeks without an official match so that performance was a real rusty one.
“It certainly wasn’t one of our better games defensively as we uncharacteristically gave away two of the worst goals we have conceded the whole season – but the boys at the top managed to dig us out of the hole and at the end of the day it was all about getting into the next round and was good for all of us to get 90 minutes in our legs.”
One factor that may swing the home team’s way will be the artificial surface at Edensor Park as Henslee stated that the Strikers weren’t used to playing on such surfaces back home.
“Playing on artificial surfaces is a step in the unknown for us but we have been fortunate enough that there is a club in Brisbane, the University of Queensland, who have a similar pitch and we’ve trained there so hopefully that can prepare us for Sunday’s clash.”
The winner of this tie will go on to play the winner of Perth SC and Edgeworth Eagles who face off at Dorrien Gardens in Western Australia on Saturday.
The winners of the two PlayStation 4 NPL Semi Finals will progress to the Grand Final, with the host club to be determined by the total accumulation of points using the points system.
Perth SC sit in the box seat to host the decider if they can win, as they currently hold a nine point lead over Sydney United 58 FC and ten point advantage over Brisbane Strikers.
Unless Sydney United 58 FC or Brisbane Strikers can win by a considerable margin, a Perth SC victory would see the PlayStation 4 NPL Final Series Grand Final held in WA for a second straight year after Bayswater City took on Blacktown City in 2015.
Edgeworth are also not without a chance of hosting the Grand Final if they can beat Perth SC and hope for a low scoring affair between Sydney United 58 FC and Brisbane Strikers.
Both Semi Finals will be LIVE streamed via PlayStation 4 consoles and on www.nationalpremierleagues.com.au
Tickets for both matches will be available at the venues on match day.
Sydney United 58 FC v Brisbane Strikers
Sunday 25 September 2016
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park NSW
Kick-off: 2:30pm AEST
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Assistant Referee 1: Scott Edeling
Assistant Referee 2: Andrej Giev
Fourth Official: Samuel Grasso
Ticketing information: Tickets will be available at the venue
Coverage details:
Click here to go to the official match centre
LIVE stream: Watch the LIVE stream at www.nationalpremierleagues.com.au
Twitter handles to follow: @SydUtd58FC @BneStrikers @NPLNSW @nplqld
Join in the conversation using the hashtag #SUNvSTR
Sydney United 58 FC squad: 2.Kristopher Vlismas, 3.Masato Mochizuki, 4.Eddy Bosnar, 5.Nathan Bertolissio, 6.Chris Payne, 7.Yutaro Shin, 8.Peter Triantis, 10.Robert Mileski, 11.Nikola Taneski, 12.Anthony Vrlic, 13.Daniel Dias, 14.Nicholas Stavroulakis, 15.Jack Stewart, 17.Theo Kofinas, 18.Glen Trifiro, 19.Matthew Bilic, 20.Tomislav Uskok, 21.Thomas Manos (gk), 22.Yianni Fragogiannis, 23.Panagiotis Nikas, 24.Jacob Tratt, 30.Luke Babic (gk)
Brisbane Strikers squad: 1.Sebastian Usai (gk), 2.Chris Maher, 3.Tomas Ross, 4.Jake Marshall, 5.Greig Henslee, 6.Fraser Hills, 7.Felli Sheriff, 8.Michael Angus, 10.Fraser Stevens, 12.Shaun Carlos, 13.Sam Knight, 14.Jake McLean, 15.Ryan Palmer, 16.Lachlan Weier, 17.Hiroki Omori, 18.Trent Clulow, 19.Luke Marsh, 20.Michael Weier (gk), 21.Sam Johnson, 22.Jayden Hewitt, 23.Samuel Ball
-By Mark Stavroulakis
