09/11/02 PARRAMATTA POWER |
Eight people from Brisbane met
at Parramatta on Saturday night to watch the Strikers play away from home.
We got to the ground early and found a position.
Soon we were joined by 2 Queensland exiles who go to every Sydney
away game. Strikers were
warming up, music was blasting out of the grandstand and the cheergirls
looked as if they might freeze to death later.
Strikers changed tactics and
formation for this game. Starting
on the park was
Kearton
McLaren
Stefanutto
Heath
Laybutt
Pilic
McKay
Fernando
Alagich
Trajanovski
Grierson
On the bench was Webber,
Scuderi, Roche and Baldock.
Fernando was siting in behind
the two forwards, and it appeared that much of the wide work was being
done by the two wing backs. The
game was tight with Strikers dominating large sections of play, but not
taking their chances. As
usual the first 10 minutes looked to be an arm wrestle.
Parramatta making some incisive runs and the Strikers countering
with play out wide. Our
defence seemed to be on top of any attempt to run us down (as the
opposition has done all season so far).
On the 16th minute Con Diomis pointed to the penalty
spot for what seems the softest dogiest penalty I have ever seen.
Pilic had been right on
Langdon as he ran toward the edge of the 18 yard line.
He got a foot to the ball and knocked it away, towards the corner.
Langdon ran in and fell over the ball near Pilic’s leg.
Mike Cockerill in the Sun Herald, who was in a better position to
see the incident, agreed with us the next day, but Diomis had pointed and
the penalty was taken by Cardozo. Jason
went one way, ball went other. This
game of chicken was won by Cardozo and Strikers were down 1-0.
Cardozo was substituted for
Brownlie and Strikers fans breathed a sigh of relieve that we at least
wouldn’t be facing the two of them at the same time
Strikers countered almost
immediately. Stefanutto
running to the goal line, crossed from deep into the middle.
Trajanovski appeared to be home free and struck the ball straight
at the keeper.
Almost the same move 5 minutes
later resulted in Grierson mis-hitting the ball straight in front of the
goalkeeper. Jason at the
other end was making some impressive saves off the line and our defence
was working well clearing the ball up field.
Pilic found himself on the right in some space after one quick
move, and attempted to chip the keeper who had come off his line.
Not the best hit shot and it went wide of the mark.
Fernando was being heavily
marked, in what has become the usual opposition style.
He managed to get free enough a couple of times, to serve the ball
in for someone else, but never free enough to take the shot himself.
Parramatta would tie him up, giving him no space to get the ball
away to another Striker. He
made some good runs that just got smothered.
Three free kicks were given to
the Strikers in the first half, just outside the D.
Alagich took all three and all went straight into the wall.
First half summation:
The defence seemed to be getting itself together.
Stefanutto and Pilic ,as wing backs, worked hard getting forward
yet being able to cover Parra’s wide men in Elrich and Langdon.
Strikers still aren’t out of this game.
It is 1-0 down and no goal yet conceded through open play.
Second half started in the
same vein as the first ended. Fast
breaks and quick turnovers. The
Strikers passed the ball around, trying to open up play.
Webber had been substituted at half time for Pilic and was running
the right hand side. A couple
of good plays between McKay and Stefanutto could have seen the game tied
up, but poor positioning and tough marking made it hard for the
Strikers’ front men to finish.
Steve Laybutt got into the action and pushed forward, searching for
the elusive equaliser.
Another free kick was awarded
to the Strikers this time taken by McKay from just outside the 18.
The ball was knocked to the side by Alagich for McKay to run on to.
He curved it towards the top right corner of the goal, only to see
it tipped over by Reddy.
Grierson was substituted in
the 62 minute with Roche taking the field in his place.
At about the 65th minute Laybutt got collected by Orlic
and was off the park the longest 3 minutes, while the Strikers defence and
midfield battled to repel the Power.
Fernando made a couple of good defensive headers at this time,
which was what was needed from the big man.
Once back on the park, Laybutt
took on Orlic in the box as Power took their 9th corner for the
night. Orlic appeared to have
hold of Laybutt’s shirt stopping him rising to the challenge.
The ball was cleared out the backline and some pushing and shoving
started between the two. Diomis was on hand to settle it quickly, with Captain McLaren
stepping in to calm things as well. The
corner was taken and the game continued.
The 77th minute saw Scuderi brought on for his first
game for the Strikers in place of Alagich.
A fast break down the left,
saw Stefanutto and McKay battling with 3 attackers as they attempted to
smother and clear the ball. No
such luck. A cross from
Sullivan for Parramatta found Brownlie for a header that beat the defence
and went into the net. Brownlie’s
50th NSL game, and his first goal for his new club. Strikers
2-0 down at the 78th.
Strikers continued to search
for the elusive goal only to get dispossessed in midfield or find no one
to get the ball to up front.
Game finished with a 2-0
scoreline in front of a paltry 2084 crowd.
Highlights for the Strikers was the defence had improved, with only
one goal scored from open play. Stefanutto,
Laybutt and McKay were the best on the park in my opinion, but the entire
team kept fighting the entire game. All
players fought hard to get an equaliser and to keep Parramatta controlled.
It was starting to look like “our” team again.
Next week sees Strikers with
the bye, so it’s two weeks to get tactics and performances sorted out
for both players and coach. Let
us hope this is the start of the improvement.
.
