Sport
United make it two wins on the trot
Tuesday 25 March, 2008 12:00am
PENRITH-NEPEAN United made it two on the trot when they thumped Bankstown City 3-0 in the fourth round of the TeleChoice Premier League last Sunday.
The game was not without controversy, after Bankstwon was forced to complete the match with only nine players for the second time this season.
In hot conditions Penrith had all the luck in the first half, starting when Bankstown's Richard Luksic was penalised in the 10th minute for a handball in his own area.
Eric Anabalon put his penalty past goalkeeper Zlatko Josevski to give United a 1-0 lead.
Bankstown midfielder Phil Makrys was sent off soon after for a tough tackle on current Sydney FC rising star Nick Tsattalios.
Bankstown lost another player when Steve Liavis was sent from the field after another tackle on Tsattalios.
An all-in brawl quickly developed that fortunately did not lead to any more players being sent from the field.
Down on players and struggling to keep up, Bankstown's trouble continued when Anabolan scored his second goal in the 27th minute to give United a 2-0 lead.
Bankstown City came out strong in the second half, narrowly missing a goal.
United held strong and quickly turned defence into attack. By now the loss of players had begun to take their toll on Bankstown and United shifted to a higher gear.
Right on full-time Eric Anabalon went on another attacking raid and laid the ball back into the path of a rampaging William Stuart who fired the ball home for the final goal of the match.
It was a much needed second win for Penrith-Nepean, whose coach Abbas Saad was more than happy with his side's performance.
"We came out strong today and played well. We were 1-0 up with 11 players each and looked confident in the game," Saad said.
"In the second half we dropped off but we kept possession and played smart. "
Penrith-Nepean will take on the Marconi Stallions in round five of the Premier League on Saturday, March 29 at Marconi Stadium.
