Rockdale secure win against battling Parramatta
With the match still level after 90? minutes, experienced striker Dylan Macallister secured the win for the home side with an injury-time penalty to keep the Suns? hopes of finals football alive.
Bryan Soane had to be replaced after picking up an injury from a tackle by Giorgio Speranza early on, as the visitors changed the captain with Wandi Jajaw in the 9? minute.
Paul Kohler did well to control the ball on the edge of the box in the 11? minute and sent in a curling shot that had Eagles goalkeeper Matthew Nash on his toes to gather.
Rockdale gathered pace,and when Joshua Lawson went down the left flank to cross for Dylan Macallister, the ball fell to Ricky Perinich whose volley flashed narrowly wide in the 15? minute.
Parramatta hit back when Akiyoshi Saito played a series of intricate one-twos and found himself inside the Suns box. His shot however thudded against the crossbar in the 19? minute in the closest action yet to scoring on the break.
On 26? minutes, acting Suns captain Pece Cvetanovski took a direct free-kick that curled toward the near post, but with the Suns players closing in it left Eagles goalkeeper Nash unsighted as the ball bounced up to hit his chest and go out for a corner.
The visitors were making life very difficult for the Suns but showed neat inter-play to link their attacks, however Akin Oygur was strong at the back with Lawson and they diffused almost everything coming their way.
A succession of crosses needed to be cleared by the Eagles defence as Rockdale laid siege to the visiting goal before the ball finally fell to Cvetanovski in the 38? minute, only to skew his shot wide of the left-hand upright as the Suns upped the tempo and wanted to go into the break ahead.
The half ended scoreless, although Rockdale had the better of the possession they couldn?t turn it into scoring chances with Parramatta able to open up the Suns defence on a couple of occasions.
The home side mounted plenty of early pressure and came close in the opening minutes of the second period but the final ball option was lacking in a game of few chances.
The Suns were almost caught out in the 52? minute, saved only by a last ditch tackle by Ricky Perinich to defuse the situation.
The tackling left nothing to be desired as the frustration began to show for both sides as the drizzling rain made the surface a little more slippery the 50/50 balls were even more of a lottery.
With 61? minutes on the clock, Macallister knocked the ball down for Kohler who unleashed a thunderbolt that flew past the post as another chance went begging for Rockdale as they continued to take the game to Parramatta.
Substitute Wandi Jajaw was replaced by Ishmail Hadife in the 65? minute for the Eagles after suffering a knock.
Giorgio Speranza was next to fire one wide for Rockdale from the edge of the box in the 69? minute as they pressed the Eagles further, though still no breakthrough.
Cvetanovski tried his luck from 35-yards out in the 77? minute that Nash did well to get behind and hang on to with Macallister following up.
Nash had to punch clear from under the bar as an in-swinging corner curled toward the net that led to a goalmouth scramble shortly after, before the goalkeeper was able to fall on the ball and deny the home side.
On 83? minutes the rain finally began to tumble down from the skies as the Eagles were forced to fight a rearguard action allowing them to hit on the break only sporadically as the Suns dominated much of the game.
Nash was called into action again 3? minutes later to bravely save at the feet of Lawson as the home side went for broke.
Alec Urosevski probably should have secured the points for Rockdale but under heavy pressure was twice unable to connect with the ball inside the box.
If there was to be a winner it would need to come in the last 3? minutes of stoppage time and it came when Parramatta conceded a penalty that Macallister took in the 91? minute.
The experienced campaigner slotted home to goalkeeper Nash?s left, securing the points for a Rockdale side that was made to work hard for the win by a tough battling Parramatta FC side.
?I thought we were very good in the opening 20? minutes, playing to the conditions,? stated Eagles coach Lee Sterrey before continuing: ?We had the best chance of the match when we hit the crossbar and realistically we haven?t hit the back of the net from those positions all season so if we lead one-nil there we are in with a shout.
?They had some chances in the first-half, three corners in a row and had us under some pressure and I told the players about the set pieces and the danger Rockdale posed from them but I feel we deserved at least a point from the match.
?I feel we had three good shouts for a penalty ourselves and didn?t get them yet they get one and the rest is history. I feel very disappointed for the players as they did enough tonight, stuck to the game plan and came away with nothing after the effort they put in.?
Mark Rudan was honest in his assessment when adding: ?I?m happy we got the three points but I don?t think we deserved them to be honest.
?I was worried about this game and thought Parramatta would be a tough nut to crack, we are used to playing in the afternoon and not 8pm kick-offs and that was another factor to think about but the Eagles certainly don?t deserve to be where they are at the moment when you look at the games they have played and I cannot recall them losing by more than two goals all season.
?They have some really good kids there and I was genuinely worried about this fixture and whether our attitude would be right as well as our work ethic and game plan as well.
?They hit the bar early on with a terrific couple of give and goes and things like that are a cause for concern but we then got into the game a little more and created a couple of chances of our own and like I say, I?m happy with the three points but did we deserve it tonight? Probably not.
?Dylan (Macallister) has been sick all week and only got out of bed yesterday so to play the full 90? minutes is a credit to him and shows how much he cares about this team.?
Match Stats
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Dylan Macallister 90?+1?)
Parramatta FC 0
Friday 6th July, 2012
Ilinden Sports Centre, Rockdale
Referee: Kevin Peddie
Assistant Referees: Christian Nehl & Lee Corey
Fourth Official: Dale Fuda
Rockdale City Suns: 1.Ryan Norval; 2.Takuya Murayama, 6.Joshua Lawson, 5.Pece Cvetanovski (C), 21.Ricky Perinich, 23.Askin Oygur, 8.Paul Kohler (17.Sash Tirovski 70?), 9.Dylan Macallister, 18.Alec Urosevski, 3.Giorgio Speranza, 16.Anthony Perri (11.Tommy Cirjak 68?)
Substitutes Not Used: 10.Jason Naidovski, 19.Marino Musumeci, 22.Aaron Liddell
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Parramatta FC: 1.Matthew Nash; 3.Andy Matloub, 4.Domenic Trimboli, 5.Mark O?Reilly, 18.Nicholas Napoli, 10.Akiyoshi Saito,15.Masaki Nomoto, 7.Patrick Dixon, 17.Luke Grima (6.Graziano Trimboli 82?), 8.Bryan Soane (C) (14.Wandi Jajaw 9?)(16.Ishmail Hadife 65?), 13.Joel Wood
Substitutes Not Used: 19.Daniel Rezo, 40.J Fernandez
Yellow Cards: Dixon 34?, Napoli 58?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Micky Brock
