Annerley Edge Out Spirit In Nervy Ending
- Allan Eedy
- May 6, 2017
- 4 min read
Annerley 2 (Singhateh 2’, 28’) Western Spirit 1 (Arena 86’) HT: 2-0
Played at Elder Oval.
A sunny afternoon at Elder Oval saw the proverbial match of two halves with Annerley taking a comfortable lead into break over a lacklustre Spirit team. However, Spirit came out fighting in the second stanza only to fall short. The match started evenly with neither side stringing many passes together until, after two minutes, a through ball found Ismaila Singhateh alone in the box with only the keeper to beat. From 10 yards out, he slotted the ball home under Chris Morrall to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. Things then settled into a midfield battle with neither side creating any significant opportunities. Spirit’s best chance came from a corner kick delivered from the right which reached Lukas Kljajic at the back post, but he misjudged the ball and his glancing header went for a goal kick. 28 minutes in and a good pass from Cameron Carney found Singhateh again in the box. He controlled the ball and rounded Morrall and, when all he needed to do was slot the ball home, he took an extra touch allowing a Spirit defender to slide across in front of him. He maintained his composure to pull the ball back and send it into the opposite corner of the goal for a 2-0 Annerley lead. The only other significant chance of the half came in the 41st minute when an Annerley corner from the left was met at the front post by Anthony MacNamara, but he steered his header wide. Spirit reacted to a half-time tongue lashing from Coach Matthew Raub as they went on the offensive from the kick off. A long ball reached Jacob Watson on the right and, when it looked like he may be through on goal, the Annerley defence was across to close him down and clear the ball. Five minutes later it could have been over as a contest as Carney met a corner from the right with a header that was cleared off the line by Joel Fernandez. Western Spirit were a much improved side in the second half and Annerley seemed content to sit on their lead as the half wore on. Spirit were creating more opportunities and the best of these was in the 69th minute when a cross by Fernandez was headed against the near post by Kljajic. In the 86th minute, Spirit were awarded a free kick just outside the box on the right hand side. The ball was played past the wall on the right to be crossed into the box which was initially blocked but was sent back in, reaching Mauricio Arena who slid the ball home to make a game of it. As happens in tight games, there was a scramble for the ball by a Spirit player trying to get the ball back for the kick-off which resulted in a melee in the six yard area. Annerley keeper Benjamin Smith received a caution for his involvement and may consider himself fortunate not to have received harsher sanction. Spirit then peppered the Annerley penalty area with long balls to try and force the equaliser but, after five minutes of added time, the final whistle went. Annerley’s Singhateh was the standout player. As well as scoring two goals, he moved between midfield and attack and was on offer to receive balls at all times as well as providing deft touches with his ball control and some excellent passes to team mates. The win for Annerley moves them into second place on the table. Although they will not be happy with the second half effort which allowed Spirit back into the match. For Spirit, it was a disappointing result that reflected their first half performance. Their second half was much better but they need to perform like that for 90 minutes.
Coaches Reactions:
Nev O’Sullivan (Annerley): “It was good to go in at half-time with a 2-0 lead, but 2-0 is a dangerous lead. We did take our foot off the pedal in the second half which is something we need to work on so that we don’t let teams back into the game. If we had got that 3rd goal we would have put them away. We ended up having to bunker down at the end but we are quite happy with the three points.” Matthew Raub (Western Spirit): “Our first half was ordinary. We probably should have won it on our second half performance. We had our chances but these things happen. We had five players under 20 out there today so we are moving forward. My half-time talk wasn’t pretty but had the desired effect.”
Team line-ups
Annerley: Smith (GK), Bailey, Carney, Launchbury (52’), MacNamara, Mollenhauer, Otigbah, Savage, Singhateh, Surrentino (70’), Wiles (76’) Subs: Bidoiley (76’), Jimenez (70’), Winters (52’) Western Spirit: Morrall (GK), Arena, Muir, Fernandez, Ryu, Wybranowski, Dunne, K Walters (69’), Watson (50), Kljajic, T Walters, Subs: Ashcroft (69’), Livingstone (50’) REFEREE: Ricardo Vico De La Rosa
