A second-half wonder-strike from skipper Chris Triantis inspired Sydney FC’s youth side to a 2-0 win over Newcastle Jets at Cromer Park tonight. The side’s first win in a month helped the Sky Blues youngsters move one step closer to sealing the National Youth League minor premiership.
A second-half wonder-strike from skipper Chris Triantis inspired Sydney FC-s youth side to a 2-0 win over Newcastle Jets at Cromer Park tonight. The side-s first win in a month helped the Sky Blues youngsters move one step closer to sealing the National Youth League minor premiership.
Triantis- vision, catching Jets keeper Justin Pasfield off his line from 35 metres, was the defining moment that lit up a scrappy contest as both sets of youngsters struggled in Sydney-s stifling heat, which forced a 45 minute delay to the start of the match.
The early signs were promising for the home side. Adam Casey should-ve opened the scoring after 3 minutes when lacklustre defending allowed him to stroll into the box, but former Sydney custodian Pasfield got down sharply to his left to make the save.
But that was the last clear chance either side could conjure for the half as the youngsters struggled to find their rhythm in the debilitating conditions.
The closest either side came was through Pasfield-s lax distribution, with the keeper fortunate to escape after Payne pick-pocketed the ball from his feet, only for it to bobble back into his grasp.
Payne, a Manly local, looked the liveliest player on the park and stung Pasfield-s gloves when he launched a curling strike from the edge of the area after 25 minutes.
But Sydney-s young guns lacked the fluency that has made them the dominant youth side this season, and Sam Munro, Robbie Mileski and Casey were all guilty of botching good attacking openings before the half was out.
It seemed as though the half-time break failed to make much of a difference, with Mitchell Prentice carelessly gifting possession away to Jacob Pepper soon after the interval. He played Ben Martin into acres of space but he scuffed his effort with a tame shot straight at Sky Blue custodian, Vedran Janjetovic.
Then, out of nothing, Chris Triantis lit up the match with a sublime moment of quality ten minutes into the second term.
With the ball bobbling in middle of the park, the defensive midfielder caught Pasfield off his line and opened the scoring with a 35 metre snap-shot. The unlikeliest of scorers was as surprised as anyone as he claimed his first goal in Sydney colours.
The home side-s substitutes added some extra zip to the contest and they sealed the deal on 81 minutes when Matthew Hall set-up Steve Lustica to wrap up the three competition points.
Newcastle should-ve cleared the danger after Hall cut the ball back across the face of goal, and Lustica punished them by finishing with aplomb with a low side-footer from just inside the box.
The young Sky Blues might have been missing a host of their stars to first team duty but Newcastle failed to make any meaningful inroads throughout the match. Sydney-s defence made some uncharacteristic errors, but that still wasn-t able to help the Jets into the contest.
With a three game winning drought broken, Sydney FC-s youth side will look to go back-to-back when it returns to Cromer Park for its final home match of the season, against the Melbourne Victory next Sunday at 5pm.
Match Detail
Sydney FC 2 (Chris Triantis 55-, Steve Lustica 81-)
Newcastle Jets 0
Sydney FC: 20. Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk), 3. Adam BIDDLE, 4. Chris TRIANTIS (c), 5. Mitchell PRENTICE (OA), 6.Chris PAYNE, 7.Robbie MILESKI, 8. Anthony GOLEC, 11. Adam CASEY (OA), 12. Ibrahim HAYDAR, 13. Sam MUNRO (14. Steve LUSTICA 58-), 16. Nik TSATTALIOS (15. Matthew HALL 56-).
Substitutes not used: nil.
Yellow Cards: Sam Munro 34-, Adam Casey 82-.
Red Cards: nil.
Goals: Chris Triantis 55-, Steve Lustica 81-.
Newcastle Jets: 1. Justin PASFIELD (gk) (OA) (20. Ben McNAMARA (gk) 58-), 2. Simon MOONEY, 4. Patrick WHEELER, 5. George STROGYLOS, 6. Taylor REGAN (c), 7. Jacob IACOVELLI, 8. Matthew HARPER, 9. Ben MARTIN, 10. Jacob PEPPER, 11. Harry MAGUIRE (14. Dylan MURPHY 55-), 12. Matthew COMERFORD.
Substitutes not used: nil.
Yellow Cards: Dylan Murphy 66-.
Red Cards: nil.
Goals: nil.
Referee: James Lewis.
