Late Spirit FC equaliser rescues point against United 58
NWS Spirit FC played out a hard fought 1-1 draw against Sydney United 58 in Round 4 of the National Premier League Men’s NSW fixture at Christie Park on Tuesday evening.
Needing a response after last weekend’s hefty defeat, Sydney United 58 came out to prove a point in the early stages and got their reward with a well taken goal from their Japanese import Shunta Nakamura.
The boys from Edensor Park thought they’d done enough to take home the three points but a goalkeeping error forced the ball to Corey Kavanagh who rescued a point for the hosts in the dying stages of the match.
Stephen De Robillard was the first to try his luck when the United 58 ace fired over the bar in the opening stages.
The visitors opening goal was instigated by a solid high press in the 20th minute of play. Aidan Milicevic released Nakamura who beat the offside trap and applied the finish into the bottom left corner.
At the other end, Spirit did come back into it, but they struggled to get a shot on target in the final third. A Jake Chidiac ball across the six-yard box in the 25th minute was their best chance to equalize.
The hosts’ best chance of the game up until this point came after the resumption.
Some end-to-end action ended with Luiz Lobo driving into the box from the left, beating his man before his left footed strike was saved at the near post by Oliver Kalac in the 47th minute.
Lobo was at it again soon after with another shot on target from the left side of the box drawing a save before the hour. This one from the second phase off a long throw.
Sydney United 58 were proving hard to break down though and Nakamura was continually leading their threat in transition.
Though it was Spirit who almost grabbed the equalizer in the 70th minute. Jesse Michel cut the ball back from the right by-line to substitute Gianni Bouzoukis who couldn’t steer his effort on target from around the penalty spot.
Sydney United 58 had their first chance of the half through Alessandro Lacalandra with ten minutes remaining. His strike from nearly halfway was saved by a retreating Christopher Marques. Matthew Hatch followed that effort soon after with a strike from a narrow angle, again saved by Marques in the 82nd minute.
Spirit would son find their equalizer a couple minutes later through Corey Kavanagh. Kavanagh on the spot to apply a finish from long range after Kalac punched the ball to his feet in the 84th minute.
Kalac made up for his mistake minutes later when he spectacularly denied a Bouzoukis scissor kick at the back post, a crucial save in the end as both sides shared the points.
Their third draw of the season, NWS Spirit turn their attention to Western Sydney Wanderers this Saturday evening, while Sydney United 58 next host Hills United this Sunday afternoon.
Match Stats
NWS Spirit 1 (Kavanagh 84’)
Sydney United 58 1 (Nakamura 20’)
Saturday 5th March, 2024
Christie Park, Macquarie Park
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: Mujtaba Ebrahimi & Amirhossein Hosnani
Fourth Official: James Makris
NWS Spirit: 1. Christopher Marques (GK), 3. Kyle Shaw, 4. Jarred Mckinley (12. Titus Macharia 79’), 5. Bradley Whitworth (6. Corey Kavanagh 45’), 8. Grant Cornwell, 13. Simon Nicholas (21. Luiz Lobo 45’), 16. Ante Bakmaz (9. Gianni Bouzoukis 65’), 17. Jake Chidiac (18. Zachary Cianci 79’), 19. Jesse Michel, 20. Jared Lum, 25. Ollie Wiggin.
Substitutes Not Used: Jack Greenwood (GK)
Yellow Cards: Bakmaz 53’, Mckinley 60’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58: 1. Oliver Kalac (GK), 3. Bailey Rule, 4. Adrian Vlastelica, 5. Anthony Tomelic, 7. Jordan Ivancic, 8. Shunta Nakamura, 10. Carlos De Oliveira (11. Matthew Hatch 69’), 14. Liam McGing, 15. Tariq Maia, 19. Aidan Milicevic, 22. Stephen De Robillard (13. Alesandro Lacalandra 69’)
Substitutes not used: 2. Cristian Gonzalez, 6. Adam Zervas, 17. Matthew Nikolovski, 21. Dejan Bakrdanikoski.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3- Shunta Nakamura (SU)
2- Jared Lum (NWS)
1- Aidan Milicevic (SU)
By Justin Smith
