FOXTEL CUP (VPL) MATCH REPORT

Anastasiou Sinks Suburbs Hopes

The infringement was awarded following a foul on Johnny Sapasovski, as he beared down on goal in a very competitive contest at Ralph Reserve before a very healthy crowd, mostly dominated by visiting Preston Lions fans. Western Suburbs made a contest of the game and were game in their efforts but, Preston were good value overall for their victory.

The game began scrappily but with Preston generally having the upper hand in the contest, Preston seemed to be playing the more direct attacking soccer and early on in the game Michael Bosevski , raiding from the left back, slot was causing Suburbs many problems. He had two early chances, one of which went narrowly wide, and the other which missed by quite a distance. Preston had the early ascendency and John Markovski had sent them out in a very attacking frame of mind.

Gradually Suburbs began to get into the game and one of the finds of last season in the VPL, Dimitri Hatzimouratis, began to put himself about and look very dangerous as he attacked down the right side of the Suburbs formation. He first put in a pile of work to win a ball on the by-line which looked a lost cause and then win a corner, before having the best chance of the opening stanza when Serkan Oskuz played a delightful ball which split the Lions defence in half, and which fell to Hatzimouratis, who bore down on Acevski’s goal. Acevski caught out by the speed of the break was really in no man’s land and Hatzimouratis put the ball beyond him but it crawled agonisingly past the post and away for a goal kick.

Preston played a very hard style of game and one thing, no matter what the situation, you can always be assured of is a committed performance from their players and they were winning many of the hard balls in the middle of the park. This being said, Suburbs were generally giving as good as they got, who were very competitive without any real moments of brilliance other then the chance carved out by Oskuz and Hatzimouratis.

As the half wore to a close Preston were rather playing a dangerous game with a very square back four and a few times it was the referees assistant’s flag which saved them. A few times some of the decisions were a very close run thing with only a step or two in the decision. For the most part the referee and his assistants got most things right and did a very good job on the day. The referee bought the first half to a close and I’d say while both teams would have been reasonably satisfied with a competitive performance Kenny Murphy would have been ruing the miss by Hatzimouratis; the main chance in an otherwise competitive affair which lacked a real spark.

Johnny Markovski is a passionate coach who isn’t afraid to tell his players what he expects of them and how he expects them to execute his game plans. Whatever he said to his charges at the half time interval seemed to work and really sparked them into life as they came out in the second half the hungrier team and the one looking most likely to cause a chance to the score line. The Lions had two early chances which were spurned.

The game turned and was ultimately decided when a long ball from the Preston defence made its way through to Johnny Sapasovski. The diminutive Lions striker honed down on goals and was at the by line looking to cross the ball when a Suburbs defender came across and felled him in a tackle. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot much to the utter disgust of some of the Western Suburbs players who ran and protested loudly that the foul had occurred outside the penalty box. While it was close to the edge of the box I felt the referee got the decision spot on as the foul was just inside the box.

Once Suburbs had had their complaints fall on deaf ears Les Anastasiou stepped up and drilled a low powerful shot to the right of suburbs custodian Marijo Bosnjak which nestled into the corner of the net and much to the delight of John Markovski, the Preston players and the hundreds of travelling Lions fans. The Lions held the lead which they would ultimately hold onto until the conclusion of the game. Preston took over the game for a while after the goal and were looking likely to score another but Suburbs were defending stoutly. Suburbs had their chances but as the case has been this year lacked that final pass which put them in a dangerous position and the game eventually petered out into a single goal victory for the delighted Preston Lions.

Photo: Nome Risteski

Western Suburbs 0
Preston Lions FC 1
Crowd: 500 (unofficial) at Ralph Reserve