United 58 deliver Payne-ful late blow to Mt Druitt
Sydney United 58 have completed a sensational late comeback to secure all three points against Mt Druitt Town Rangers at Sydney United Sports Centre on Friday night in round 2 of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition.
The hosts dominated the majority of the first half and deservingly opened the scoring through a world-class goal from Tariq Maia in the 20th minute.
Mt Druitt came back strong in the second half and levelled the game in the early stages through James Demtriou.
Stefan Nikolic made his presence felt off the bench, scoring with the first touch of the ball, shortly before being sent off for a second bookable offence in what proved to be the changing point of the match as the young gun went from hero to villain.
United 58 took advantage of the extra men as Patrick Antelmi tied the game up before Chris Payne ensured the victory in the final minute of the game.
The hosts were in firm control from the kick-off, limiting any chances for their opponents and having the lion’s share of possession
Payne found himself with the first real chance of the game early on for the hosts, after being sent through and given a path through on goal. With his defender beat his shot went past the keeper but narrowly went sailed away the back stick
After a dominant opening period, United 58 found a breakthrough in the 20th minute through Tariq Maia.
With plenty of space in the middle of the park, Anthony Tomelic played it to an open Maia and with a lofted touch he buried his chance in the top corner to give United 58 a well-deserved lead.
The visitors turned up the intensity after conceding the first goal, evening out the possession and chances, whilst putting a stop to numerous United 58 counterattacks in the process.
Mt Druitt was a changed side in the final period of the first half and was unlucky to not have found the back of the net but also came close to conceding a second.
Just moments before the halftime break, Maia was gifted the chance to secure a brace after being sent through on goal and with just an oncoming Dylan Nsiki to beat, his chipped shot skimmed past the open net.
Niski ensured Mt Druitt would only go into the break down by one goal after making a spectacular save off a Leroy Jennings shot from point-blank range and denying him the chance of a follow-up into an open net.
Somehow the score was only 1-0, in United 58’s favour, as the first half concluded, with both sides squandering a handful of chances to find the back of the net.
Mt Druitt started the second half on the front foot and put United 58’s defence to the test in the opening stages.
The visitors dramatically levelled the score in the 49th minute after two deflected shots from a corner saw the bounce perfectly sit up for Demetriou as he powered his shot home from close range.
Just moments after the score was levelled, Patrick Antelmi, with seemingly his first touch of the ball, skilfully spun past his defender and somehow picked out the roof of the net, however, the flag was raised and ruled out the spectacular goal
Mt Druitt continued to find more success in the attacking third as the game progressed and after a few chances went to waste, the visitors finally found a second goal.
Anthony Frangie used his pace to get himself free down the right flank before sending a perfectly placed ball to Nikolic as he neatly volleyed the cross in with his first touch of the ball after coming off the bench – Nikolic was shown a yellow for taking his shirt off in the celebrations
United 58 looked to bounce back shortly after but were narrowly denied of an equaliser after Niski once again denied a shot from close range from Jennings to keep his side in the lead.
Right when the game seemed to be slipping away from the hosts, Nikolic was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away after a free kick was awarded, putting Mt Druitt down to ten men for the final period of the game.
With the home crowd firmly behind their team, the momentum began to shift into United 58’s favour as the seconds began to tick away.
After being denied once by the flag, Antelmi couldn’t be denied a second time after he neatly dribbled his way through a packed Mt Druitt defence and riffled a shot into the back of the net.
With the scores level and the momentum firmly in its corner, United 58 continued to push in its pursuit of all three points in the dying embers of the game.
With just two minutes left of regulation, United 58’s presence paid off when the referee awarded the host’s a penalty after Payne was taken down in the box.
Payne stepped up and calmly slotted the penalty home and sent the Edensor Park faithful wild as they celebrated a sensational win.
United 58 Miro Vlastelica stated his pride in the team’s efforts to come from behind and praised the loyal fans.
“I’ve got no words, that’s a team in a nutshell, they never say die they just keep fighting and they got the result,” he said.
“I’ve always said it and I’ll keep saying it, we’ve got the best supporter base, probably in the country, it’s a twelfth man when you come here.”
Mt Druitt coach Stuart Montgomery noted his disappointment in the result and his side not being able to finish the game off.
“We’re our own worst enemies, we were dominating the second half creating chance on chance,” he said.
“We scored a goal, (then we had a) silly moment from a player backed up by another silly moment from the same player, we’re down to ten men and from there it’s hard.”
Match Stats
Sydney United 58 FC 3 (Maia 20’, Antelmi 82’, Payne 90’)
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 2 (Demetriou 49’, Nikolic 71’)
Friday 10th February, 2023
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: Matt Staples and Matthew Harris
Fourth Official: Charbel Geha
Sydney United 58 FC: 1. Danijel Nizic, 3. Bailey Rule, 4. Adrian Vlastelica, 5. Anthony Tomelic (18. Glen Trifiro), 6. Christopher Payne (16. Ante Bakmaz), 7. Taisei Kaneko (2. Christian Gonzalez), 11. Yianni Perkatis (14. Andreas Agamemnonos), 15. Tariq Maia (9.Patrick Antelmi), 17. Matthew Bilic, 21. Yianni Fragogiannis, 22. Leroy Jennings
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Luke Cukar
Yellow Cards: Dias 17’, Antelmi 60’
Red Cards: Nil
Mt Druitt Town Rangers: 20. Dylan Niski, 3. Nikola Djordjevic, 4. Cooper Coskerie, 5.Jacob Esposito, 6. Jared Macerola 7. Nikola Skataric, 9. James Demetriou (27. Stefan Nikolic), 11. Anthony Frangie, 21. Tarek Elrich, 22. Rhett Desilva 23. Daniel Dias
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Robert Fanella, 10. Kotaro Katutsa, 12. Will Harvey, 15. Anthony Gallo, 19. Ivan Sunjic,
Yellow Cards: Djordjevic 60’, Skataric 62’, Nikolic 72’
Red Cards: Nikolic 76’
Player Ratings
3 – Chris Payne (SU58)
2 – Patrick Antelmi (SU58)
1 – Nikola Skataric (MDTR)
Written By NPL NSW Men’s reporter Dominic Criniti @DominicCriniti
