³Steve,² the United Boys yelled at me as I drove out of the Marconi precincts, ³write about how the referee shafted us.² No, Iım going to write about how terrible the beer queue is at Marconi stadium. (And not mention the celebratory re-enactment of the penalty shoot out that concluded the 1988 NSL grand final).
Iım not sure what itıs like at wherever Northern Spirit are playing now, but Marconiıs is the worst beer queue of any other NSL stadium in New South Wales. If they have the beer van open. Sure, the beer is quite cheap, but you canıt get to it without missing a large slab of the football youıve come to enjoy your moderate drinking with.
What was that about shafting? It has something to do with the interpretation of the offside law. And the interpretation of the referee and one of his assistants went against Sydney United when they had a chance of at least making the game interesting, if not turning it.
Mark Rudan headed a cross to goal. Michael Turnbull saved magnificently but couldnıt hold and Damon Collina followed up and scored. But the linesmanıs flag went up. Was Collina offside when Rudan headed? I havenıt seen any replays, but it never looked like Turnbull had anything on his mind but saving Rudanıs header. Collina wasnıt in the picture until he arrived at the left post to put the ball away. The referee, of course, knows how the rule should be interpreted, better than all the Sydney United fans who came looking for a (roughly even) contest.
One of those fans was sitting next to me. The brother of Unitedıs Anthony Doumanis. Letıs call him ³Evan². Across on the other side of the pitch were the red-shirted United Boys and Girls and to my left, up behind the goal, were some United supporters in the chequered Croatian shirts. The latter were the most vociferous. But Evan supplied a running commentary and claimed a joint by-line for this report (which I will deny because so much of what he had to say by the end of the game including a number of light-hearted death threats has been censored).
Anyway, Marconi won 3-0. And not all of that was due to the refereeing. Marconi are now a very solid, talented unit. Think of the opposite of those last three words and you have Sydney United. Okay, thatıs not fair several of the players are quite talented. A few are widely respected. And they were pretty frustrated at the final whistle.
Marconi kicked off and Brad Maloney was caught offside. Alex Brosque played down the left and almost put Nick Carle through (this must now be one of the most lethal combinations in the competition) but Damon Collina intervened. United countered quickly but Matthew Langdon let the ball roll out. United came again and Langdon crossed ineffectively.
In the third minute United came strongly up the right. Franco Parisi was set up with a good chance but he continued his current run of horrors and seemed to shoot wide but Turnbull gathered it up anyway. Brendan Santalab was out-muscled by Michael Thwaite.
In the sixth minute Parisi missed to the left of goal after Doumanis did well on the right and fed Parisi who pushed wide to Langdon who returned the ball for Parisi to squander. Marconi had a free kick on the left and Liam Reddy held high as Simon Bell came flying in. Jeremy Harris and Langdon were working (and puffing) hard, each trying to win back possession.
Evan complained that so many balls were being played to Anthony. Didnıt he want the ball? ³Not the high ones.² Which makes sense considering A. Doumanisı stature. The United defence was marking tightly. Brendan Renaud did well winning possession after a hospital ball was sent to Doumanis, but then Renaud gave it away. When Marconi were awarded a free kick Doumanis was awarded a yellow card for kicking the ball in an unhelpful manner.
Santalab had a break but turned over too easily to Thwaite. Rudan set Parisi on a break. Parisi put a good ball to Santalab whose cross from the left was too hard. The ball came back into the Marconi penalty area and caused some problems in front of goal before the defenders made a solid clearance. Thwaite continued to do it easy against Santalab.
In the 19th minute Langdon, injured in a tackle by Harris five minutes earlier, was replaced by Liam Austin. And that was pretty much the end of Unitedıs only decent spell. With Langdon off Labinot Haliti shifted to the left and Austin played on the right. David Huxley cleared a Marconi attack and delivered to Santalab via Parisi. Santalab looked good for a moment but Angelo Costanzo covered him very well.
Marconi had a free kick 25 metres out on the right. Carle took it and it was flicked on just left of goal. A good chance for the home side. Luke Casserly made a good saving tackle on Collina who was desperately looking to line up a shot.
Reddy looked uncomfortable punching clear a cross from the left.
In the 23rd minute Bell ran the ball toward goal and stumbled, recollected and mishit a shot. Fortuitously (for Marconi) it came up for Brosque who had a simple shot, well hammered into the back of the net. Casserly timed a tackle well to beat Haliti after Parisi tied himself in knots trying to take on three defenders.
In the 27th minute Nick ³silly bugger² Carle blasted wide after Harris capitalised on a mistake by Rudan and another United defender slipped over.
Joe Vrkic was caught by Brosque who hit a lovely ball through to Carle who couldnıt return the favour to Brosque in an excellent shooting position. Brosque was not amused. He was even less amused to be caught offside moments later and had a shot out of spite. And collected a yellow card as a memento. Collina played a good ball to Michael Cunico who was robbed by Chad Gibson while looking for support. Rudan was picked up for being rough with the back of Harris. The Marconi fans thought it wasnıt the first time. Huxley had a shot. High. As is his wont.
Sydney United got a free kick on the right near the sideline and I started thinking they were still having the better of possession and territory but Marconi were absorbing it with ease. For example, United went forward quickly on a break launched by Huxley: three United players against six defenders.
Huxley lobbed another ball forward and Santalab just got his head to it. That was unusual. Marconi comfortably fielded most of the high balls. Haliti got the ball in space and ran at goal. ³Cımon Labi!² shouted Evan. Haliti shaped to shoot too soon. ³Are you serious Labi!² And Labi sliced wide.
Marconi built up well, starting with Maloney on the right. Bell called from deep, ran onto the pass and shot for the stars. Evan said the word ³poor² should go into the report at this point.
³An opportunity arises for Sydney United,² said Evan as United approached the Marconi penalty area from the right. ³But was wasted,² he predicted, and the cross came in and I concluded, ³by Parisi as usual.² In the 43rd minute Marconi played down the right and then across to the centre, from Maloney to Carle to Brosque to Gibson to Bell and back to Brosque who shot past the right post. Costanzo fouled Parisi and Huxley took the free kick. Rudan was up beyond the left post but it was an easy catch for Turnbull.
Carle, showing off, humiliated the normally sound Cunico. Carle followed on with the ball and Collina (³packing it² according to fans behind me) rushed the ball over the line for a corner. Reddy came off his line, totally misjudging whatever it was he was trying to do, and the ball fell for Harris who ran onto a point blank gift.
Marconi went away ahead at half time. The United fans still fancied they could get back into the game. Though they would have preferred it was United that scored just before the break.
In the gents, the United Boys were looking forward to the rivalry next week when Perth visited Edensor Park. Back to the game (with no beer): Brosque and Harris did well working toward the United goal then pushing wide to Casserly on the right who shot wide goal.
From behind me someone complained, ³Let the game flow, you bloody stupid referee!² Carle showed off some more and Bell was too strong for Santalab. Thwaite beat Parisi supplied by a neat ball from Huxley.
In a discussion about who of the United players needed replacing Evan pointed out that Haliti was puffing. Haliti lost to Thwaite after a good long run by Rudan. In the 57th minute Joe Spiteri came on for Harris. And, as Evan predicted, Mark Beldham came on for Haliti. Rudan was pushing forward earlier this week. A measure of the importance of this match and Unitedıs dire situation. ³Itıs dangerous,² said Evan, ³but it has to be done.²
Huxley managed to get a poor cross through to Santalab who seemed not at all on his game. Costanzo got away from Huxley but United recovered and came again through Rudan. Carle worked well across the United penalty area before passing to Casserly on the right. Huxley blocked the cross and Marconi had a corner.
In the 64th minute Rudan headed a cross onto goal, Turnbull couldnıt hold and Collina put the ball away. The linesmanıs flag was up and Evan said he was ³infuriated². Straight away, Gibson went down outside the United penalty area and Marconi were awarded a free kick. ³Iım really taking a dislike to this referee,² said the understated Evan. Gibson took the kick and swung it over the wall and inside the left upright. Reddy dived full length but had no chance.
Parisi took on Thwaite and Costanzo by himself and surprise, surprise failed. Letıs face it, no matter how much Parisi fancies himself and tries it on, he is no er Nick Carle. Austin fell in the Marconi box under a slight push in the back when he should have shot. Parisi couldnıt beat Bell, even when he pulled his shirt.
Collina had a shot long and high. In the 74th minute Santalab, with a little more commitment to the ball, hit the post from ten metres with a smashing effort. Somehow he was awarded a corner. Rudan hit a great chip through for Beldham who crossed blind. To a Marconi player. Funnily enough.
In the 78th minute, after Marconi all but put the ball in the net for United ³Here, have a free shot² they seemed to be saying Parisi was replaced by Filipovic. Then Turnbull dropped the ball and Huxley, with a good chance to at least test the Marconi keeper, shot to the right of goal. Spiteri made a good run and shot from the right and Rudan cleared off the line. Austin sent in a bomb and Santalab fought through two defenders and shot ten metres too high.
In the 84th minute Santalab took a free kick for United over the mob in the Marconi penalty area. Again it was Collina forcing his way through to volley left of goal. Rudan, Collina and Huxley were still fighting and perhaps a little angry about what was happening in front of them. Austin looked lost on the right.
Filipovic got in a cross from the left. Two United players were up for it but Marconi conceded the corner. Costanzo headed clear. Santalab crossed from the right and Turnbull held and that was the match for United. And the season. Marconi, meanwhile, are looking like the form team with eyes on the finals.
Marconi coach, Jean-Paul de Marigny, said he thought his team had been doing really well in the last five games. The boys were digging in and playing some really good football. ³They are organising themselves really well and teams are finding it difficult to break us down. And some goals are going in so it is all very positive at the moment.² He said he thought Sydney United opened strongly but Marconi kept at it and ³got the cobwebs out² and were strong themselves.
Unitedıs coach Grant Lee, responding to the comment that Collina was his best striker, said that probably summed up their season. ³We have the players on the park and we have to work with what we have. We do some very good things but we donıt have the quality across the park that is going to make things happen for us. We donıt stick things away early and then get a little bit undisciplined and sloppy and concede sloppy goals and itıs very hard to chase your tail for the rest of the game.² He said he couldnıt see anything wrong with Collinaıs goal. ³At that stage it was two-one and the game was full on. It would have been a great 30 minutes of football after that.²
De Marigny said Brosque was a quality young player who really stretched players and turned defenders around and whose work rate was excellent and who had a good passing game. ³I donıt think weıve lost a game with Brosquey here, to be honest.²
Spiteri was nursing a sore quad, so was being used sparingly, but Harris was doing a great job, he said, his work rate was also excellent and it great to see him score a goal.