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ROUND 21 MATCH REPORT PDF Print E-mail
Tuesday, 07 August 2007

The Sunshine Georgies have arrested a two game losing run by securing a scoreless draw, and with it a crucial point, away to top six placed Altona Magic, and on the surface this appears to be an important result as the season is quickly reaching its climax.

ALTONA MAGIC 0

SUNSHINE GEORGE CROSS 0

Line Up: JOHN, AZZOPARDI, NAPOLI, TSOUMERKAS, GILMOUR, CINI, MAGNACCA, TRPCEVSKI , DELIC (ESPOSITO 85'), KALMAR, OPAZO. SUBS NOT USED: FIORENZA, DIMOVSKI, BARIGOS, MARKOVSKI

The last two visits to Paisley Park have seen the Georgies leave heart broken and empty handed, however this time the John Markovski led team showed the discipline and endeavour, which had deserted them in the past two weeks, to claim the draw.

The match was not without several dramatic moments including a strong penalty appeal mid way through the second half from the Cross which was turned down by the referee after a Magic defender handled the ball in the box following a thuderous strike from Alfonso Opazo, and a spectacular match saving point blank save from keeper Martin John off the head of Magic's Michael Curcija deep in stoppage time. Ex Georgie Fidell Richards seemed destined to score in a one on one situation but a heroic effort by Matt Cini saw him make ground to block Richards' shot.

The drama surrounding this fixture began well before kick off as the gifted Goran Talevski, technically still a player on the Altona Magic books on loan to Sunshine George Cross, was prevented from playing for the Georgies by the Football Federation late on Friday afternoon. This forced Markovski to shuffle the line up of the starting eleven as Matthew Cini claimed his position on the right of midfield and Brett Gilmour returned from suspension to add both defensive and creative strength in the centre of midfield.

The distribution of both Gilmour and Nicholas Kalmar allowed the likes of Anthony Magnacca, Dusko Delic and Alfonso Opazo to threaten the Altona Magic net early in the game.

However the home side was not without its own chances throughout the match and gradually began to dominate possession and forced the Georgies to repeatedly defend and rebound off the edge of the penalty area.

The torrential and wet conditions also favoured neither team, especially the Georgies, who at times attempted to play fluent passing football but were undone by the slippery and less than ideal pitch.

Ultimately this forced the match to deteriorate into a slog for the Cross, where desperate defending and grinding down the clock were the order of the day.

Fortunately, the normally efficient Magic were unable to capitalise on their chances as a desperate Georgies held on to claim the prized point.

The Georgies now face an unpredictable yet dangerous young AIS team at home at Chaplin Reserve.

STATISTICS

CORNERS: 8 4
FOULS: 9 15
SHOTS ON TARGET: 4 3
SHOTS OFF TARGET: 3 1
OFFSIDES: 1 0
YELLOW CARDS: 2 1
RED CARDS:

0

CAUTIONS: GILMOUR 47'

 

 
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