Blacktown City keep Stallions in sight with defeat over Bankstown
Ante Deur?s good form continued as he collected a brace of goals that was the difference between the two teams, although he had plenty of support from his team-mates, especially the likes of Jordan Simpson, Joel Chianese and Luke Austin.
Early on, it was Bankstown that found their feet, and it was somewhat of a surprise when Blacktown found the opener. Jordan Simpson played the ball through to Joel Chianese who took it to the byline before crossing it goalwards. Bernie Ibini left the ball for Ante Deur at the far post, and Deur placed the ball into the back of the net with ease.
The home-side then piled on the pressure as Bankstown looked nervous in defence but the home-side was unable to take the opportunities presented to them. In fact it was Bankstown on the counter attack that nearly scored next as Hussein Akil almost pounced on the ball but Matt Ryan got to it first. He was able to push the ball away only for Tallan Martin to pounce but his hurried shot went wide of the target.
In the 11? minute a corner for Bankstown was headed to the far post by the defence and Bill Tsanidis volleyed it over the crossbar. For the next part of the game Blacktown found it hard to deal with Bankstown?s set-pieces, but somehow they managed to avoid conceding.
All the good work coming from Blacktown was coming from the feet of Joel Chianese but chances seemed to be now going the other way. In the 18? minute Hussein Salameh ran through the heart of the Blacktown team before tripping in the box to stop the movement. The referee quickly dismissed any claims of a penalty.
In the 20? minute Matthew Ryan threw the ball to George Nohra who played the ball to Salameh. He then played Akil into space as the striker and George Nohra interchanged possession before crossing it to Martin who stabbed at the ball into the wrong side of the near post.
Blacktown responded with more pressure and Luka Dukic ran down the right flank and put a great ball across to Ibini who was free on the far post. He headed the ball back goalwards but it spun off the far post and into the hands of Bankstown goalkeeper Zlatko Joseski. A minute later good work from Jordan Simpson saw the ball contested in the area and Joseski had to pull off a one handed save to deny his opponents from doubling their lead.
In the 27? minute Kain Rastall ran right through the centre of the Bankstown team and laid the ball off to Deur, but his first touch was not great and his shot went the wrong side of the near post. Again, despite having the poorer slice of the share of possession, Blacktown had come away with the clearer shot. Attempts from Luke Austin, Joel Chianese and Jordan Simpson in the following six minutes continued to follow this trend as that period had actually seen Bankstown have most of the possession without a clear shot on target themselves.
Blacktown then suffered a loss as Zac Cairncross came off with an injury. Right on half-time they were almost made to pay as Salameh and Akil again combined, setting up Martin once more, but again the shot went just wide of the target. There was time for the ball to go up the other end off the field thanks to a Mirko Jurilj run. He laid the ball off to Ante Deur who poked it goalwards but it went just wide of the target as well.
In the second-half Bankstown came out all guns blazing and had equalised in the opening minute. Damien Brosque ran on to a rebound that left him clear of the defence, and he slotted the ball past Ryan in the Blacktown goal, putting his side back on level terms.
For the next period of the game it looked as though the visitors would gain a second goal. First, in the 51? minute, Salameh ran through on goal but fired over the crossbar. Then Akil hit a long distance shot just over the crossbar. This was causing confusion in the Blacktown defence and they were letting Bankstown through on goal with ease, however Bankstown continued to spurn their chances.
Almir Dizdaric came on for Bankstown and straight away had a good chance presented to him, but he slipped as he shot and the ball fell safely into Ryan?s hands.
Just after the hour a ball was half-cleared by the defence and it fell to Jordan Simpson, his shot stopped thanks to a one-handed save by Joseski. Then a minute later Luke Austin was fouled and most of the players stopped only for the referee to wave play on as Akil ran onto the ball and shot the ball, although once again it did not make its target thanks to another great save from Ryan.
The pressure was building on Blacktown and Chianese and Ibini combined to set up Deur who put the ball the wrong side of the post. The action flowed from end to end and in the 72? minute Dizdaric played a one-two with Martin but just as he got to the ball Ryan denied him and deflected the ball away before getting up and cleaning up the loose possession.
In the 76? minute a great free-kick from Jurilj was volleyed by Simpson down the left, but the ball safely nestled in Joseski?s hands. A few minutes later Simpson played the ball to Rastall on the left; he laid the ball back towards goal, but Chianese could not reach it and it took a deflection off him that put off the two Blacktown players lining up for the ball behind him.
6? minutes from time Luke Roodenberg, who had only just entered the match, found himself with plenty of space in the midfield. He ran towards the defence until he played the ball to Chianese on his right. Chianese?s shot came off the keeper and Ante Deur was right on the spot to tap the ball home, sending the home fans into raptures.
Bankstown did not give up but could not score again. Right at the end there were some farcical scenes as both teams lost self control and the referee had to try and regain order, but in the end Blacktown collected the result they were looking for.
After the match Aytec Genc was pleased that a team so decimated by injury were able to come away with a result:
?We were scraping for bodies tonight but we got a win. It was a great game to watch tonight which was of credit to both teams.
?In the first-half we had quality chances which we did not take. In the second-half they came at us and then we went at them, making the clash an exciting one with end to end football. In the end I was happy we got the three points considering the injury crisis we had at the club this week.?
For Peter Tsekenis it was all about learning how to win once more:
?It is about getting into the habit of winning again. Sometimes it is difficult to get out of a losing habit, you have to believe in yourself.
?The boys put in a great effort tonight, especially the younger lads who were out there for the first time. The fact the boys got nothing out of this match despite putting in such a hard effort disappoints me the most.
?Looking on the positive side we have a good set of young players coming through at this club and we are competing more and more. The good results are coming.?
In the earlier Grade-20 game, Bankstown scored a 2-0 win over Blacktown.
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 2 (Ante Deur 4?, 84?)
Bankstown City (Damien Brosque 46?)
Lily Homes Stadium
Sunday, 9th May 2010 4pm
Referee: Kodhr YOGHI
Assistant Referees: Steve Nguyen and Tom Klein
Fourth Official: Greg McLaughlin
Crowd: 300 Approx.
Blacktown City FC: 20.Matt RYAN; 4.Mirko JURILJ, 5.Luka DUKIC, 9.Kain RASTALL, 10.Jordan SIMPSON (3.Daniel WILKINSON 98?), 17.Joel CHIANESE, 22.Zac CAIRNCROSS (18.Travis MAJOR 35?), 6.Matt PRESSELLO, 16.Ante DEUR, 23.Luke AUSTIN, 14.Bernie IBINI (7.Luke ROODENBURG 81?)
Substitutes Not Used: 21 Nick FITZGERALD 40 Justin BEIGA
Yellow Cards: Jordan SIMPSON 45?, Luke AUSTIN 50?, Luke AUSTIN 90?
Red Cards: Luke AUSTIN 90?
Bankstown City: 1.Zlatko JOSESKI; 8.George NOHRA (11.Almir DIZDARIC 45?), 5.Richard LUKSIC, 2.Scott THOMAS, 16.Damien BROSQUE, 9.Hassein AKIL, (99.Chris GODOY BASCUR 86?), 12.Bill TSANIDIS, 4.Brett STUDMAN, 18.William ANGEL (7.Zac ELRICH 89?), 20.Hussein SALAMEH, 23.Tallan MARTIN
Substitutes Not Used: 80 Ali HAYDAR 21 George ISSA
Yellow Cards: George NOHRA 30?, Damien BROSQUE 53?, Richard LUKSIC 92?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Joel Chianese (BCFC)
2 – Hussein Salameh (BCL)
1 – Jordan Simpson (BCFC)
-By Stuart Jones
