Santalab and Clisby insist no malice in crunching tackles in Adelaide

Brendon Santalab and Jack Clisby are adamant there was no malice in their crunching tackles in Adelaide last Friday.

Brendon Santalab takes out James Holland at Cooper Stadium last Friday night. Picture: Sarah Reed.

They are unlikely to be welcomed back to Adelaide any time soon, but Brendon Santalab and Jack Clisby are adamant there was no malice in their crunching tackles that left one player sidelined indefinitely and United coach Guillermo Amor and the fans seeing red.

Clisby and substitute Santalab were regarded as fortunate not to be sent off during Western Sydney’s 2-1 win over United at Coopers Stadium last Friday night.

Instead, both were handed yellow cards — Clisby for his run-through tackle on Sergio Cirio in the first 90 seconds of the game and Santalab for a bruising challenge on James Holland in the second half.

The club let their feelings be known in no uncertain terms on Monday when they issued a release revealing Cirio had suffered “a significant knee injury” and had been ruled out indefinitely “after being shockingly fouled by Clisby”.

Holland said he was sick and sore after the match and said that had he had his foot on the ground as Santalab hit him “I think I would have broken my leg”.

What made the situation worse for Adelaide was that the highly competitive Santalab, who had scored to level the game earlier, went on to grab the matchwinner in the last minute.

Never one too far away from controversy, Santalab did not hide behind any excuses for his tackle.

“Yeah, it was definitely late, but there was no intent to hurt James Holland,” he said yesterday. “I feel the referee dealt with the situation properly. He issued a yellow card and we moved on.”

Clisby said he had sent Cirio a message on Monday night after hearing the news of the extent of his injury.

“There was no malice in the tackle — it was never intentional,” said Clisby, who was playing in his first A-League game for the club since joining from Melbourne City. “It was a big game and I was looking to impress.

“I do wish Cirio the best. I messaged him last night and wished him a speedy recovery.”

In the wake of the match the FFA rejected Adelaide United’s request to ban referee Shaun Evans from future A-League games involving the Reds.

Adelaide chairman Greg Griffen wrote to FFA to express his anger at Evans’s officiating in the match..

But an FFA spokesman said the league would not have clubs dictating the choice of referees.

Adelaide made the request after Evans failed to send off Wanderer Clisby for his tackle on Cirio.

Meanwhile, Santalab is unsure if his goalscoring heroics against Adelaide will be enough to convince coach Tony Popovic to give him a rare start against Newcastle at Spotless Stadium on Sunday.

The 34-year-old has become something of a bench specialist in recent seasons with the Wanderers and always seems to rise to the occasion when called into action.

With 20 goals in 55 appearances since joining the club in 2013, he has become something of a cult hero with the Wanderers fans and that status is enhanced by the fact that 12 of those goals have come as a substitute and six were match-winners.

Four times last season he came on to win the game for Western Sydney, scoring winners in the dying minutes of the matches.

As much as he would like to be starting, Santalab accepts the fact he provides most benefit to the team coming on as a replacement.

“It’s not frustrating at all,” he said. “I know every single player is important in the team and it is not about being selfish, it is about what’s best for the team.

“Like last season, coming off the bench was best for the team and this season it has started off like that again. It’s important when I get on the field that I do my job.

“I’d love to start but I can’t complain with Popa’s decision because he has had so much success in the club’s short history and he is the best coach in the A-League.

“I am too scared to question him anyway.”