Gritty United made to work for three points

When defender Milan Bosnar was forced to leave the pitch due to injury after just eight minutes of play, a hint of uncertainty seemed to creep into the game of a Sydney United team also without Mark Rudan.

The early disruption forced a reshuffle of the backline and an unwanted obstacle in a tricky away game. Almost instantly Rockdale exploited the damaged left-sided area, as James Monie leapt above everyone to connect with what proved to be a rare quality set-piece at Ilinden Sports Center on Saturday night. Unfortunately for the home side, the front man in a 3-3-3-1 formation could only find the side netting.

The visitors composed themselves though and despite being made to work harder than expected, they fought to a gritty 2-1 victory. Ultimately relying on a stoppage time penalty save to ensure the three points.

New coach Wally Savor, promoted from the Under 20’s side – who beat United convincingly 4-0 in the earlier match – would have been pleased with the slow first half which his side undoubtedly had the better of. United struggled to breach the Suns midfield and the hosts looked strong with the few half-chances created. Perhaps Rockdale would have been disappointed not to cash in on their control and they had a chance to do so as the match closed in on half time.

A corner with four minutes before the end of the first term led to some good play from the Suns, though the end product was disappointing with Adem Kir blasting his shot over.

Only a Sydney United counter attack off Hudap’s breakaway nerved the hosts towards the back end of the half, but Ben Vidaic couldn’t provide the finishing touches.

The second half began in similar fashion to the first with Rockdale looking the more likely team to take the lead. Monie had two opportunities but he struck over from a neat lay-off and followed that with a weak snap shot saved by the ‘keeper.

But the Suns maintained the pressure and struck in the 55th minute through Sash Tirovski. He made no mistake of placing the ball elegantly past the ‘keepers right and into the corner of the net after being put in one-on-one.

The goal seemed to spark the visitors into life and the match developed into a back and forth open game of football. A Daniel Rezo volley in the 64th minute from outside the area led to strong claims of handball which were confidently turned down by the referee, much to the frustration of United.

But there was no denying the certainty of Elsid Barkhousir’s volley seven minutes later when he blasted his strike into the bottom corner to equalise the match.

It was followed up ten minutes later with a ball over the defence to Luka Glavis, and the front man was well composed in his finish, his chip over the goalkeeper giving Sydney United the lead for the first time.

Rockdale fought back strongly in the last ten minutes and thought they’d found their path to an equaliser. Rezo was pinned for handball in stoppage time and Jason Naidovski, who’d scored a brace in the Sun’s last home game, stepped up to the spot. But agonizingly for the substitute, United goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic went the right way and blocked the shot.

Rockdale City Suns 1 (Sash Tirovski 55’) Sydney United 2 (Elsid Barkhousir 71’, Luka Glavas 81’)