Souths Edge Out Bayside In Promotion Race
Souths United 1 (Anderson 49’ pen) Bayside United 0
HT 0-0
Played at Wakerley Park
Souths United came away with the victory, and a huge advantage heading into the finals series, when they beat Bayside United 1-0 in the Capital League 1 game of the round at Wakerley Park on Saturday evening. The defining moment of the game, and possibly even the season for Bayside, arrived in the 48th minute. A rare set-piece was slung into the box by the home side and Elmedin Hodzic powered in a goal-bound header which was instinctively parried off the line with the elbow of Marc Brocklehurst. It was a simple decision for referee Nathan MacDonald who awarded the penalty, which Josh Anderson smashed high into the left hand corner, and reduced Bayside to ten players with a straight red card for the offender. Genuine opportunities were hard to come by in a cagey encounter which the Eagles will be disappointed to lose. Patrick Theodore, who looked dangerous all night, had the best chance to score for the visitors but crashed his shot into the near side upright after being put through one on one into the right channel midway through the first half. Souths went into the game sporting two new signings in goalkeeper Marko Radovanovic and, intriguingly, former 2. Bundesliga and Wolves FC star Sasa Radulovic, who played well and fits the style and structure of football at Wakerley Park. Bayside held their own without the full complement of players and have every reason to feel hard done by. When they squeezed out a rare forward entry they looked the more likely team to score despite being outnumbered. The surface wasn’t great, particularly in the midfield areas, which inevitably caused both teams to be under pressure when controlling the bouncing ball. A high turnover rate also gave the contest a fractured feel. The closeness of the contest reflected the importance of the game with two places in the Flight Centre Premier League on offer and five teams in the hunt, all of them swapping places on a weekly basis. Both teams were excellent in defense, borne out by an unusually low count on all the major statistics. It’s a good sign at this time of the year. Aside from Theodore, Jacob Fripp was involved in plenty of creative moments which ultimately bore no fruit for the Baysiders. They may look back on this result in the weeks ahead as the one which cost them promotion. They should have taken at least a point. Radulovic looked good in midfield, immediately striking up an obvious partnership with top scorer Harun Omerovic. Souths had plenty of impressive performances including the noteworthy return to the field after long term injury of winger Michael Andrews. It only takes one moment to win or lose a game. They’ll be happy to have come out on the right side of the ledger at such an important moment. Next weekend, Souths play on Friday against lowly Centenary Stormers and should take another victory, not withstanding any resilient derby effect left over from 2016. Bayside have no let-up and must beat Grange Thistle on Saturday or face an impossible task to recoup a six point gap with only five games to play. The suspension of Brocklehurst certainly won’t help their cause. But they will have home advantage which is important having lost only twice at Don Randall Oval all season. FB Media Player Of The Match: CB Jacob ALEXANDER - Souths United
On an evening when the deep men dominated, none had more of an impact than Alexander at centre-back. He didn’t miss a single tackle and regularly got in front of his attacking opponents in the air. Team line-ups Souths Utd: Radovanovic, Rodgers, Alexander, Edwards, Hodzic, Skehan, Andrews, Radulovic, Stojakovic, Omerovic, Anderson. Subs: Catanzaro, Gjura, Smith, Vargas, Marshall.
Bayside Utd: Dutton, B.Warden, Thompson, Gibson, Crilly, Hasegawa, Fripp, Mansfield-Taylor, G.Warden, Theodore, Brocklehurst. Subs: Kedda, Parker, Arboleon, Cocks, Da Costa. FB Media Match Stats. Possession: 1st Half 47% - 53% / 2nd Half 58% - 42%
Overall Possession: 53% - 47%
Shots on target: 3 - 3
Shots off target: 3 - 3
Penalties 1 - 0
Free kicks: 13 - 8
Offside: 4 - 0
Corners: 4 - 3
Yellow Cards: 1 - 0
Red Cards: 0 - 1 Referee: Nathan MacDonald
