Late Tilo strike salvages draw for United 58 against Saints
A late equaliser from young gun Gabriel Tilo rescued a point for Sydney United 58 in a fiery 1-1 draw against St George FC on Sunday afternoon at Sydney United Sports Centre.
The hosts managed to avoid defeat in a hard-fought clash that featured numerous scuffles between the players, though it is only slight consolation as the result resigned them to their seventh straight league game without a win although they’re still in with a slight chance in playing finals football.
The draw is a heavy blow for the Saints, whose dreams for finals football are now hanging by a thread.
The first threatening chance of the clash fell to the hosts in the 17th minute after a corner set piece saw Mason Wells deliver an excellent cross to Adrian Vlastelica, with the United 58 captain’s point-blank header forcing a superb reflex save out of goalkeeper Mackenzie Syron.
The Saints nearly made them pay for it in the 22nd minute after a slip from centre half Michael Glassock at the back allowed Chan Yelchan to latch onto the ball and go for goal, though the striker’s effort went straight down the middle in what proved an easy save for goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic.
Vlastelica again came agonisingly close to scoring in the 30th minute after a Wells corner found him at the back post, but the defender’s shot smacked into the left post.
The visitors eventually found the game’s first goal in the 33rd minute after a long shot from Troy Danaskos ricocheted off a United 58 defender into the path of Bai Antoniou, with the Saints winger capitalising by taking the ball into the box and drilling a low effort into the net.
St George almost had a perfect start to the second half with a chance created in the 46th minute courtesy of a good ball towards Yelchan, though the forward was unable to shake off the United 58 defence as he released a strike under pressure that was caught by Janjetovic.
The Saints had a golden opportunity to put the game to bed in the 85th minute when Justin Poon produced a tremendous run from inside his own half towards the box, but his effort went just wide of the left post.
The hosts made them pay dearly as they went down the opposite end in the same minute and found an equaliser, thanks to a sensational curling finish by Gariel Tilo from the right side of the box into the left side of the net.
Sydney United 58 coach Ante Juric admitted his side was a little rusty and that they probably deserved no more than a point.
“We probably deserved a draw but probably not more than that. I am super proud of the second half. They came with a will to win,” Juric told Football NSW.
“We had a 17-year-old and 18-year-old out on the field. From a club perspective it is important to bleed these youngsters and they stepped up and got us the point.”
St George FC coach Fabian Miceli expressed his disappointment with the end result, believing they should have won the game.
“It’s been the same story all season where we cannot hold a lead. Unfortunately, we’ve had so many injuries and it is hard to maintain our levels in the second half of games,” Miceli told Football NSW.
“I thought we dominated this game but Sydney United 58 is a very strong team with dangerous players and they hurt us in the end.”
Match Stats
Sydney United 58 1 (Gabriel Tilo 85’)
St George FC 1 (Bai Antoniou 33’)
Sunday 3 August
Sydney United Sports Centre
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: Cameron Wright and Aaron Bloch
Fourth Official: Benjamin Hutchison
Sydney United 58: 21. Vedran Janjetovic, 3. Bailey Rule, 4. Adrian Vlastelica, 5. Anthony Tomelic, 8. Mario Shabow, 10. Carlos De Oliveira (22. Gabriel Tilo 79’), 14. Liam McGing, 17. Michael Glassock, 19. Aidan Milicevic (43. Michael Pratezina 46), 23. Mason Wells (12. Richard Darko 61’), 30. Marco Arambasic (37. Luke Zuvela 61’)
Substitutes Not Used: 13. Finn Ballard-McBride, 22. Gabriel Tilo, 31. Josip Orlovic
Yellow Cards: Carlos De Oliveira 43’, Mario Shabow 54’, Adrian Vlastelica 65’
Red Cards: Nil
St George FC: 99. Mackenzie Syron, 2. Rocco Smith. 3. Troy Danaskos, 8. Evangelos Souris, 9. Chan Yelchan (14. Justin Poon 68’), 10. Jaden Casella, 15. Bai Antoniou, 16. Kaidyn Wright (7. Aedan O’Shea 79’), 18. Gianni Di Pizio, 27. Jayden Seeto, 28. Jesper Webber (5. Nicholas Kalogerou 58’)
Substitutes Not Used: 7. Aedan O’Shea, 13. Javier Rodriguez, 19. Nikola Skataric, 20. Daniel Axford
Yellow Cards: Chan Yelchan 43’, Jaden Casella 59’, Troy Danaskos 78’, Rocco Smith 87’, Aeda O’Shea 90+1’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3: Bai Antoniou (STG)
2: Troy Danaskos (STG)
1: Gabriel Tilo (SU58)
-By Dimitri Kallos
