Penrith-Nepean United claim vital point against Bankstown City

A cold night at Cook Park saw Penrith-Nepean United take on second-placed Bankstown City Lions in a hotly contested match that saw plenty of action and cautions.

It was the visitors who had the first chance of note when George Nohra fired toward goal from distance, though Matthew Nash comfortably smothered the effort.

Bankstown soon got on top in midfield and started pressing Penrith-Nepean back into their own third, though for the final ball, and stout defending led ably by player/coach Ante Juric, the visitors failed to find a breakthrough.

Trent Barton, who had been having a magnificent game for Penrith was seriously injured going in for a tackle and was carried the field in the 23’ minute with a knee injury which, if confirmed, has ended the season for the 19-year old.

Daniel Severino fired in a Bankstown free-kick on 35’ minutes which curled over the wall that Nash read well before setting up a breakaway attempt for the home-side that amounted to nothing as the final ball was neither a shot nor cross as Bankstown was caught too far up the field in their quest for the opening strike.

Brett Studman was lucky to escape with only a caution for a two-footed tackle on Paul Crisp moments later, keeping referee Khodr Yaghi busy.

Phil Makrys had a shot well saved for the Lions by the impressive Nash in the final moments of the half but the whistle sounded and the deadlock remained.

Bankstown City was straight on the offensive at the start of the second-half and when Hussein Salameh put over a telling cross from the left it took a full stretch David Gardner lunge to defuse the situation.

Penrith-Nepean didn’t sit back but took the game to Bankstown at every opportunity though their chances were few and far between as, again, the visitors applied the pressure and simply couldn’t find the breakthrough their play probably deserved.

As the frustration grew within the Bankstown side they began to snatch at pportunities that were either wide or way over the crossbar and the signs were there they were starting to run out of ideas on how to break down the resolute defending of the Ante Juric led Penrith-Nepean defence.

Another breakaway saw Sean Mitchell power a shot toward goal that substitute Hussein Akil caught fully in the back.

Stefanos Liavas sent in a teasing cross that Salameh met though couldn’t gain enough height to get any power behind - Nash again proved his worth with a good save.

The home-side still managed a few half chances to add to the nerves of Bankstown, and with the ball in their own goalmouth, it would be impossible to score themselves.

Devrim Hussein should have stolen the points for Penrith-Nepean with 2’ minutes remaining as he sweetly struck a right foot effort from the angle of the penalty-area that curled agonisingly wide of the far post, before McInerney had a shot cleared off the goal-line as the home supporters sensed a famous victory was possible. Again, some goalmouth scrambles at both ends ensured the points were shared in what many will see as having a real bearing on the final outcome of the run home towards the end of the regular season.

Penrith-Nepean United player/coach Ante Juric was cock-a-hoop after the game when saying:

“I’m very happy with the result tonight especially after the tough Cup game we had last weekend. 

“We had a game plan to combat Bankstown and stuck to it and it worked very well and we kept up the intensity throughout the 90’ minutes and I cannot ask for more than that and in the end we could have nicked all three points.

“Against a top two team it was a magnificent effort and shows what we can do.”

Peter Tsekenis was rather more phlegmatic when stating:

“If you had offered me a point before the game at this stage of the season I would have taken it but I am disappointed that we didn’t seem to have the right attitude this evening. 

“We didn’t do enough to win the game and the conditions didn’t really suit us plus I had to make same changes as a couple of the players were on yellow cards and I couldn’t be sure how things would turn out, 

“Penrith-Nepean had their plans for us and stuck with them and it proved a good result for them and they deserved at least that and we were lucky not to lose at the end but we did miss some chances we would normally put away so we’ll take the point and go on to the last couple of rounds and then see how we go in the Finals.”

In a spiteful Grade-20 match, with two Bankstown City Lions receiving their marching orders, Penrith-Nepean United claimed the points with a 3-1 win.

Match Stats

Penrith-Nepean United 0

Bankstown City Lions 0

Saturday, 25^th July, 2009

Cook Park, St. Mary’s

Referee: Khodr Yaghi

Assistant Referees: Lance Greenshields and Steven Nguyen

Fourth Official: Lee Pigram

Penrith-Nepean United: 1.Matthew Nash; 3.David Comito, 5.David Gardner, 8.Paul Crisp (6.Steven Baveas 46’), 12.Nick McInerney, 14.Greg Kondek, 15.Sean Mitchell, 17.Ante Juric, 19.Michael Dowling (4.Evangelos Petratos 74’), 23.Devrim Huseyin, 37.Trent Barton (10.Ben Gough 25’)

Substitutes Not Used: 7.James O’Rourke, 21.Nicolas Jelic

Yellow Cards: Kondek 14’, Gardner 30’, Baveas 71’, Petratos 89’

Red Cards: Nil

Bankstown City Lions: 1.Zlatko Joseski; 2.Ibrahim Haydar, 3.Shane Webb, 4.Brett Studman, 5.Richard Luksic, 7.Stefanos Liavas, 8.George Nohra (17.Suad Ameti 81’) , 10.Robbie Mileski (23.Tallan Martin 84’), 11.Philip Makrys (9.Hussein Akil 72’), 29.Hussein Salameh, 82.Daniel Severino

Substitutes Not Used: 13.Matthew Pressello, 19.Sam Emmanuoil

Yellow Cards: Makrys 38’, Studman 40’, Webb 76’

Red Cards: Nil

 -By Micky Brock

Article appeared first on www.footballnsw.com.auFor further information please log onto the official Football NSW website on www.footballnsw.com.au and also look out for registering free the official Football NSW e-newsletter