Blacktown City triumph against Tigers in physical opener

The wet weather and slippery playing surface played havoc for both teams, as the intensity levels and commitment from both sides, in-search of a first-up win, was evident from kick-off.
In the early minutes A.P.I.A.- Leichhardt Tigers were the first to test the defence of their opponents with two shots at goal, only for the first to sail over the crossbar and the other to be saved comfortably by the Blacktown City goalkeeper Michael Herbet.
Both teams wanted to dominate the midfield as this was the key in possession play and counter attacking tactics.
The grueling intensity of these two teams lasted the entire 90 minutes of the match, however Blacktown City seemed to be the team with more fluency and composure when creating play. The home-side were finding space and controlling the ball with ease, and eventually on 27? minutes had a break-through when attacking A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt?s left-hand side. With the Tigers? goalkeeper drawn off his line, Blacktown City?s Luke Roodenburg slotted the ball in the bottom right-hand corner of the goal with ease to send the home crowd into raptures.
The opening goal clearly rattled A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt, though it prompted them to contest and challenge every pass and play made by their opponents in search for the elusive equaliser.
In the 32? minute, Blacktown?s Tyler Simpson was under pressure and produced a foul resulting in the game?s first yellow card offence. The yellow cards would continue throughout the game with a total of five – Simpson would eventually receive his second yellow card later in the game resulting in his removal from the playing field.
A.P.I.A-Leichhardt continued to produce opportunities in their set play with Robert Younis creating space to fire an effort on goal on more than one occasion, though an equalizing goal was not forthcoming.
The fast paced game produced some great plays from both sides as the visitors attack-minded players – Stephen Kayes, Nicola Rizzo, Robert Younis and Franco Parisi – combined well to create goalscoring opportunities, meanwhile Blacktown City?s Jordan Simpson, Lachlan Cahill and Tolgay Ozbey, together with their midfield, continued to play their brand of football with quick passes and continual movement.
The second-half continued at the same pace as the first, and Leichhardt leaped into action by dominating park possession and remaining in Blacktown?s half. It was clear that if Leichhardt were to equalise, possession play would be their tactic, a point reinforced by the substitution of Joel Sanderson for Thomas Taylor that saw their intensity and confidence grow.
The game came alive with both sides attacking continually but in the process making clumsy challenges which led to a number of continual fouls in the game.
Both keepers did their teams proud producing a number of saves throughout the night and following Simpson?s red card, leaving Blacktown City down to 10-men in the second half, the home-side was happy to slow the game down and counter attack when they could, using substitutions late in the game to resist the counter attack of a determined Leichhardt side. 
The match ended with Blacktown City taking home three precious points against a well-organised A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt side.
A very happy Blacktown City coach Aytek Genc commented after the game:
?Round one, we take 3-points, it was a good start and we are happy as we have had a very interrupted pre-season.
?It was a very heated battle and they are a very good side….  we expected a committed and a very physical battle but I was a little surprised that the physicality of the game went on for a full 90? minutes, but we will take the three points.?
Asked about the reaction of Blacktown City being reduced to 10-men Genc said:
?We had to drop a little deeper and move Luke Roodenburg in a stopper position, they had more position in the first 15? to 20? minutes of the second-half but we just had to hang in there and counter attack? If we had executed things a bit better we could have scored again.?
On the A.P.I.A.- Leichhardt Tigers front, coach Luke McGuire commented:
?We played well in the second-half but we let them (Blacktown City) take control. In attack we had a number of chances to score, but on the counter-attack they did better, we let ourselves down in the first-half.?

Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 1 (Luke Roodenburg 25?)
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers 0
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Khodr Yaghi
Assistant Referees: Sarah Ho and Christian Mehl
Fourth Official: Tom Klein
Blacktown City FC: 1.Michael Herbet; 2.Tyler Simpson, 4.Mirko Jurilj, 6.Matt Pressello, 7.Luke Roodenburg (14.Adam Biddle 73?), 9.Kain Rastall, 10.Jordon Simpson (12.Brendan Maroney 88?), 11.Mitch Long (16.Ante Deur 90?), 19.Tolgay Ozbey, 22.Zac Cairncross, 13.Lachlan Cahill.
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Justin Beiga
Yellow Cards: Tyler Simpson 34?, Mitch Long 55?,  Zac Cairncross 70?
Red Cards: Tyler Simpson
A.P.I.A.- Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Mathew Nash; 2.Mark Byrnes, 3.John Kelso, 19.Daniel Cummins, 5.Michael West, 12.Joel Sanderson (18.Thomas Taylor 52?), 7.Stephen Kayes, 8.Anthony Hartshorn, 9. Robert Younis, 10.Franco Parisi, 11. Nicola Rizzo
Substitutes Not Used: 14.Joseph Cartisano, 17.Liam McLonagha, 20.Nathan Millgate, 40.Michael Rutherford
Yellow Cards: Michael West 55?, Stephen Kayes 87?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Tolgay Ozbey (BC)
2 – Jordan Simpson (BC)
1 – Nicola Rizzo (AL)
-By Peter Chiodo