Marconi has clinched back to back wins after downing Rockdale City Suns at Marconi Stadium on Saturday night.
The result continues Marconi’s great run of form with an impressive showing in the first half setting the platform for a morale boosting win.
An early goal to James Andrew plus a second half strike to Judah Cleur gave the home side a 2-0 lead with a little over 30 minutes left on the clock.
However, The Suns were determined to fight their way back into the match and managed to get one goal back through Alec Urosevski.
Marconi were forced to weather the storm in the dying stages as the Suns pushed for an equaliser, but in the end the home side did enough to secure all three points.
In the 4th minute a quick break from a Rockdale corner led Marconi on the classic counterattack.
The ball quickly rolled to Andrew who slotted in nicely after a wonderful chase with the Rockdale ‘keeper Ante Covic trying his best to prevent the opening goal.
In the 12th minute a cross from the right by Marko Jesic caused all sorts of trouble until Covic stupendously forced the ball over the crossbar. It was a close call indeed from what seemed an innocuous cross.
The game didn’t produce too many more chances in the first stanza of play until the 41st minute when Sean Rooney made a nice darting run creating some space on the left flank, but in the end he fired his shot rather meekly at Covic who made a good low-down save.
Both teams entered the sheds shortly afterwards for a well-deserved half time break.
In the second stanza of play the first real chance was Marconi’s spectacular second goal in the 55th minute.
It was fine work by Cleur who did it all himself: creating the space, beating his marker and then unleashing an almighty rocket that was never destined to miss the top right hand corner of the net.
Rockdale City Suns hit back in the 59th minute when a loose ball fell nicely for Alec Urosevski who, unmarked and with too much time on his hands, fired past a stranded Nenad Vekic.
The Suns should really have equalised in the 65th minute when a corner reached Steven Hesketh but his glancing header from close range only just missed the intended target.
It was a lucky break for Marconi who had simply fallen asleep at the wheel.
Rockdale were now on a roll. In the 68th minute former Sydney FC player Bai Antoniou found himself with the ball on a plate but his powerful drive was well saved by Vekic.
Despite the late Rockdale onslaught, Marconi held on for all three points.
After the game Marconi coach Peter Tsekenis was proud of his team which has been depleted in recent weeks with injuries.
“Both teams tonight really needed the points for different reasons,” he said.
“We needed them to climb the ladder and for confidence. The boys have been working very hard recently and it is well documented that we have a number of injuries.
“We have a lot of young boys in our squad but they put in a big shift today. Rockdale had nothing to lose once we led 2-0 so they threw everything at us tonight, but we were up against it – we lost our captain Chris Nunes early in the game too – so to be honest, I couldn’t be prouder of the boys.”
However, the mood in the Rockdale City Suns dressing room was a lot more sombre. Player-coach Paul Reid was a lot more pragmatic about the result.
“We conceded a sloppy goal early on but, yes, there really was only one team in it over the course of the 90 minutes,” he said.
“They [Marconi] were there to waste time and play their game. It was one of those games where you can’t believe that you can away with nothing. We should really have picked up the three points considering our domination. We knew it was going to be tough coming here and we knew the way they play, but it’s really disappointing to get nothing.”
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions: 2 (Andrew 4’, Cleur 55’)
Rockdale City Suns: 1 (Urosevski 59’)
Saturday, April 28th 2018
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: Nathan Wotton, Emma Kockek
Fourth Official: Chris Hughes
Marconi Stallions: 1. Nenad Vekic, 5. Michael Beauchamp, 8. Sean Rooney, 10. Marko Jesic, 11. Judah Cleur (2. Braden Cheng 81’), 12. James Andrew, 14. Peter Pelekanos, 19. Eros Bergamin, 22. Brandon Vella, 23. Chris Nunes (4. Troy Danaskos 11’), 38. Yianni Nicolaou
Substitutes not used: 21. Kristian Sekutkoski, 25. Emanuel Poncefarias, 40. Dalibor Malesevic
Yellow Cards: Rooney 70’
Red Cards: Nil
Rockdale City Suns: 1. Ante Covic, 2. Daniel Petkovski, 3. Steven Hesketh, 4. McClenahan, 5. Paul Reid, 6. Blake Ricciuto, 7. Alec Urosevski, 9. Bai Antoniou (11. Jonathan Grozdanovski 72’), 14. Brayden Sorge (10. Harris Gaitatzis 73’), 21. Michael Neill (8. Aleksandor Canak 46’), 23. Jordan Figon,
Substitutes not used: 19. Patrick Savor, 22, Nicholas Sorras
Yellow Cards: Neill 25’, Petkovski 70’, Canak 77’
Red Card: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Judah Cleur (MS)
2 – James Andrew (MS)
1 – Daniel Petkovski (RCS)
-By National Premier Leagues NSW reporter Joe Russo
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