Soccer: Defensive hesitancy hurts Kingz

By TERRY MADDAFORD

UNITED 2 KINGZ 1

A week on, and nothing has changed for the Football Kingz who again went down 2-1.

The loss this time was away to Sydney United who ended the round with an impressive two-from-two start to their season.

The Kingz too have a two-from-two record, but one they will not want to think about.

After a scoreless first half - in which the Kingz did well in the opening 15 or so minutes by playing through their midfield - they lost their way and aimlessly gave away possession.

They took the lead early in the second spell, with Michael Cunico giving away an own goal when he steered a strong Aleksander Midtsian cross into his net, leaving goalkeeper Liam Reddy no chance.

But rather than build from that, the Kingz dropped back, got into a defensive tangle and let their opponents in.

Giving away a silly free kick just outside the penalty area was the start. With all 11 Kingz players back in defence, Matthew Langdon stepped forward and slammed his shot into the goal.

It was cruel that goalkeeper Ross Nicholson, called in for his debut with Michael Utting's enforced absence through injury, should concede a goal after pulling off a series of fine saves.

Sensing at 1-1 and with 33 minutes still to play they were in with a chance, United went all out.

And they needed only five minutes to hammer home their advantage.

Jackson turned the ball over in midfield and Anthony Doumanis pounced.

He beat a flat Kingz defence and when the ball reached Antoni Zmire he completed the task by scoring his first NSL goal.

Defensive hesitancy continued to haunt the Kingz.

Minutes later the home side again had a chance when defenders John Tambouras and Espen Schjerven (on debut) almost contrived to give up an own goal.

Only another Nicholson save when he touched the ball away for a corner prevented further embarrassment.

With 22 minutes to play, coach Ken Dugdale went for broke, injecting his three substitutes Mark Beldham, Jason Rowley and Tallan Martin into the game.

Beldham's pace gave some hope as did the dismissal of United's Tolgay Ozbey 10 minutes after he had joined the fray as a substitute.

Ozbey's tackle on Tambouras left the Australian-born defender in pain but he rose to battle on as referee Ben Williams added eight minutes of injury time.

But even one player up the Kingz rarely looked likely.

Harry Ngata dropped back to provide some midfield stability, but too many players around him gave up hard-won ball with weak or misdirected passes.

The winning margin could have been greater if United had made anything of the wealth of corners they won.

For Dugdale it will be another week of hard work before returning to Sydney on Friday to prepare for Saturday night's clash with Parramatta.

Stung by two early losses, the Kingz must turn it around quickly or face a long season playing catch-up.