Sun 14th Jan 2007

The stakes ended up being even higher than three points for Sydney in their 1-0 loss to Adelaide at Hindmarsh Stadium. The winning goal four minutes before full-time moved Adelaide into Sydney’s long-held second place on the table and will result in the loss of up to three Sydney players for round 21.

Terry McFlynn and Mark Milligan will miss next week’s all important game against Queensland at Suncorp Stadium due to an automatic one week’s suspension for notching up to four yellow cards. The fate of defender Alvin Ceccoli with an ankle injury will not be know until he receives a full assessment on his return to Sydney.

For two team teams who together amassed 26 goals in their seven previous encounters, a lone goal looked the most likely outcome as the game progressed.

Up until the 17th minute of the first half Sydney had 62% of possession.

Ufuk Talay’s swerving shot 40 yards out in the 19th minute looked positive for Sydney,despite being parried away by the Adelaide keeper.

An Adelaide counter-attack two minutes later saw Richie Alagich’s shot blocked on the six yard box by Terry McFlynn.

But it was a through ball from Captain Mark Ruden to Alex Brosque in the 26th minute that provided the best chance of the first half. Brosque was unable to get the ball onto his left foot and his right foot effort was snuffed out by Daniel Beltrame.

Two minutes later Terry McFlynn received the first of Sydney’s two yellow cards.

For Adelaide, their parting shot of the first half came from Jason Spagnuolo whose run caught Ian Fyfe off balance. His shot ricocheted off Mark Ruden and could have found the back of the net had it not been for Carl Veart’s mistimed run.

Sydney were dealt a cruel blow in the 33rd minute when Alvin Ceccoli succumbed to a twisted ankle and was substituted. The pack was reshuffled as Ruben Zadkovitch moved into the right fullback position and Iain Fyfe took up the left back position.

Sydney fans had their heart in the mouth when Robbie Middleby put one in the back of the net in the 41st minute only to have it disallowed for being offside. The television replay showed it to be a line ball call with Middleby almost in line with the Adelaide defender when the ball was played.

Sydney finished the first half as the team who looked better going forward than Adelaide but the final pass let Sydney down time and time again.

As the shadows moved across Hindmarh Stadium in the second half the likelihood of goals also grew dimmer.

Adelaide made the first substitution in the second half. Travis Dodd came on for an injured Jason Spagnuolo in the 53 rd minute.

Nathan Burns, who had been contained by Sydney in the first half, started to make his presence felt and the pendulum started swinging in favour of the locals.

Sydney’s inability to make the final pass count continued to plague them in the second half as Carney, Corica and Brosque failed at the final hurdle.

In the 68th minute a veteran of the game Carl Veart made way for an A-League debutante in Diego Walsh, Adelaide’s new Brazilian signing. His presence only enhanced the local side who seemed more in control at this point in the game.

In an effort to get Sydney to score the elusive goal, Butcher made a substitution and replaced David Carney with David Zdrilic in the 77th minute.

However only nine minutes later fate dealt its worst hand of the day when Mark Milligan’s foul outside the 18 yard box earned him a fatal fourth yellow card for the season and a set piece for Adelaide which resulted in the winning goal.

The free kick for Adelaide found an unmarked Diego at the far post. His header rebounded off fellow Brazilian Fernando and bounced into the back of the net.

David Dzrilic’s desperately tried to level the score with a header two minutes later but it was all too late for Sydney.

“I was happy with the team’s performance in the first half, I thought we had the edge.” said Terry Butcher.

“But we never got down to it in the second half and as it turned out they got the goal they deserved in the balance of play.”

Sydney are now in third position on the Hyundai A-League table.