The Marconi Stallions took all the derby spoils following their 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Sydney United 58 at Marconi Stadium on Saturday evening.
Goals to Marconi’s Jordan Swibel and Domenic Costanzo cancelled out one from United 58 substitute & National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s stalwart Glen Trifiro, to give the hosts a valuable three points as they passed the halfway mark of their 2023 campaign.
Marconi were the first to get on the scoreboard in the 20th minute as some stellar combination play resulted in the opening goal.
Brandon Vella pounced on an opportunity as Sydney United 58’s Danijel Nizic rolled the ball to defender Adrian Vlastelica, intercepting the ball just outside the 18-yard box.
Vella played the ball on to Kyle Cimenti in a central position, who passed to a waiting Swibel who fired into the back of the net.
Marconi’s young ‘keeper James Hilton made an impressive save to stop a great opportunity for the visitors in the 22nd minute as Yianni Fragogiannis curled a ball into Patrick Antelmi in front of the goal.
Antelmi then guided a brilliant header towards the target but Gibson reacted well to deny.
An unfortunate challenge saw Roberto Speranza leave the field with a knee injury in the 34th minute, with Aleksandar Duricic taking his place.
Hirokai Aoyama came close to extending the lead in the 39th minute as he fired a shot towards the goal, but it was an easy collection for Nizic.
Costanzo hit the crossbar in the 40th minute, closely followed by a shot from Swibel moments later, but neither were able to finish their chance.
The consistent attacking pressure paid off as the hosts managed to extend their lead to two in the 45th minute.
A falling Cimenti was able to save the ball around the halfway mark and play Daniel Bouman, who passed to a forward-running Costanzo.
Costanzo made a speedy run towards the goal and sent the ball past United 58 defender Ante Bakmaz and a diving Nizic and into the bottom corner to take the Stallions’ tally to two just before the half-time whistle.
United 58 Substitute Trifiro had an opportunity to get his side on the scoreboard in the 63rd minute, but Marconi substitute Duricic made a clinical clearance to keep the experienced Trifiro at bay.
An unfortunate head clash in the 72nd minute saw United 58’s Matthew Bilic leave the field, with Cristian Gonzalez taking his place.
Nizic pulled off an impressive save in the 84th minute as Martin Fernandez sent a strike towards goal through several players, with Nizic reading it well to parry it out for a corner.
The visitors were able to salvage something from the game in the fourth and final minute of injury time as Trifiro curled a cracking ball in from a free kick at the edge of the 18-yard box, leaving the game to finish 2-1 to the hosts.
After going down to the Central Coast Mariners last weekend, it was a much needed victory as the Stallions stayed in the Premiership hunt alongside APIA Leichhardt and Rockdale Ilinden.
Marconi coach Peter Tsekenis was pleased his side was able to secure the win against the team’s “arch rivals” with a few players returning to the team from injury.
“I thought the first half was very good,” he explained.
“We got our two goals, probably could have scored a couple more and the boys did really well.
“The ones that came in, I wasn’t sure how long they would go for, that was always going to be an issue.
“We’ve got a pretty serious injury to Rob [Speranza], which meant we had to shuffle again, but the boys stuck it out.
“I’m probably disappointed that we didn’t get a clean sheet in the end, probably took the gloss off what was a pretty good performance, getting the win over our arch rivals.
“It’s about three points at the moment, keeping in touch as the season goes, so we’re pretty happy.
“We’ll have a look at the injuries and we’ll assess it and we’ll look forward to next week.
“It happens,” he said of the injuries within his side.
“How you manage that over 30 weeks is going to be very, very important, so we have to manage that.
“To win a Championship you need little things like that to go your way.
“At the moment they’re not going our way, but if we can keep picking up the points and get bodies back as quickly as possible, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions FC 2 (Swibel 20’, Costanzo 45’)
Sydney United 58 FC 1 (Trifiro 94’)
Saturday 20th May, 2023
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Referee: Ivica Čović
Assistant Referees: Hugh Fenton-White and Justin Pantich
Fourth Official: Charbel Geha
Marconi Stallions FC: 24. James Hilton, 2. Nathan Millgate, 3. Giorgio Speranza, 4. Roberto Speranza (13. Aleksandar Duricic 34’), 5. Liam McGing, 6. Domenic Costanzo, 8. Hirokai Aoyama, 9. Jordan Swibel, 11. Daniel Bouman, 19. Kyle Cimenti, 23. Brandon Vella (17. Martin Fernandez 57’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Nathan Foster, 7. Christopher Hatfield, 21. Justin Vidic, 22. Taylor McDonald
Yellow Cards: Costanzo 81’, Swibel 85’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58 FC: 1. Danijel Nizic, 4. Adrian Vlastelica, 6. Christopher Payne (18. Glen Trifiro 45’), 9. Patrick Antelmi, 10. Devante Clut (19. Ante Vojvodic 81’), 11. Yianni Perkatis, 12. Hiyori Kawaguchi, 14. Adreas Agamemnonos (Alessandro Lacalandra), 16. Ante Bakmaz, 17. Matthew Bilic (2. Cristian Gonzalez 72’), 21. Yianni Fragogiannis
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Ryan Warner, 34. Hamza Sweedan
Yellow Cards: Bakmaz 25’, Payne 30’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – James Hilton (MS)
2 – Kyle Cimenti (MS)
1 – Glen Trifiro (SU58)
-By Madeline Riley