Blacktown City add further problems to Berries

These two sides were determined to win three points for both very different reasons- Blacktown?s purpose was to remain close to the top of the league ladder, while their opponents needed the points to move off the bottom of the table.
The start of the game was entertaining due to the free flow of attacking play produced by both sides. The game plan was to test each other?s defensive line and within the first 10? minutes of the game, the Berries were in control and taking aim with shots from distance at their opponent?s goalmouth.
Both sides were willing to move the ball around and create space by drawing players to the ball, however the Berries came close to scoring with the likes of Sash Tirovski shooting on target just outside of the Blacktown penalty box beating the keeper but sailing the ball over the goal post.
The intensity of the game also brought out many clumsy fouls and challenges from both sides – a theme that continued up until the last minutes of the game.
The West Sydney Berries seemed to be more composed within the opening minutes of the game and were gifted an early goal in the 12? minute when the Blacktown keeper cleared the ball off his defensive line only for it to reach the Berries player Ryo Maekawa whose quick thinking to lobbed the ball long and high over the Blacktown keepers head proved successful and produced the first goal of the game.
Blacktown City eventually began to spread the ball around the park and thus started to dominate the Berries left and right sides of defence. Blacktown City player Tolgay Ozbey began to find and create space, while the Berries players of George Lagoudakis, Ryo Maekawa and Ian King continued to apply pressure by moving the ball forward and trying to draw players to them, thus creating opportunities in attack. In the 25? minute Ryo Maekawa broke down Blacktown?s left side of defence, only having the keeper to beat, however Matthew Ryan pushed the ball out of harm?s way and stopped Maekawa from achieving his second goal of the afternoon.
Blacktown City?s Kain Rastall and Tyler Simpson combined well in attack to find space down the Berries left side of defence as they slowly dominated in the midfield. The West Sydney Berries continued to defend and their attacking style became more sporadic as the half drew to a close. You could sense that Blacktown were edging closer to an equalizers from players such as Tolgay Ozbey.
In the 35? minute the equalizer arrived when Blacktown?s Ozbey broke though the Berries left side of defence having only the keeper to beat and drawing him off his line. Unfortunately for the West Sydney Berries keeper Hamish Mclean over committed himself in the box producing an instant yellow card and a penalty. Ozbey made no mistake scoring the equaliser shooting straight and high as the Berries keeper committed himself to the right side of the goals. Blacktown was back in the game as the game started to produce more yellow cards and clumsy challenges.
The game continued to produced more attacking play from both sides but in the 39? minute Iain King received a red card send off for an unfortunately challenge, leaving the West Sydney Berries with a man down as the first half drew to a close.
The second-half continued to demonstrate both sides attacking abilities however Blacktown City soon took control of the game and utilized the misfortune of the Berries having a player down, to their advantage.  The Berries strike attack came from Ryo Maekawa and George Lagoudakis pushing forward and combining well together on the counter attack, however as the game continued the opportunities became less.
Blacktown players Luke Austin, Joel Chianese, and Tolgay Ozbey continued to move the ball from the midfield and in the 59? minute Ozbey scored his second of the afternoon from an attacking play from teammate Luke Austin who pushed forward passing to Ozbey who only had the keeper to beat.
As the game progressed the Berries defence was wanting as they allowed players such as Ozbey and Chianese to roam freely creating defensive problems for them. The afternoon ended with Blacktown scoring their third goal from Ante Deur in the 75? minute.
After the game a disappointed West Sydney Berries officials about the game who said:
?We were disappointed with the number of yellow cards and the red card given- but it?s part of the game. We should have shown more composure but we didn?t. We were very happy scoring first through Ryo Maekawa, and we started off very well applying pressure on Blacktown, but we needed to produce more opportunities and then we conceded a penalty and they scored, but the game wasn?t over by then and we continued to be in the game. Even though we had 10 players on the park due to the send off, I think we still played well as we pushed the ball around trying to get a goal- but Blacktown played well on the counter attack a few times and that?s what happens when you are down on players and your trying to attack?.
?Well we will start training from Tuesday night and work things out from this point onwards, as we have a lot of injuries and now suspensions to consider, which does not help- but we just have to do with what players we have and we may get some young players to step up to the challenge and take it from there?.
Blacktown City FC Coach Aytek Genc commented:
?I thought that we were flat for most of the game and we played a mid week game against Sutherland in the MacDonald?s Cup, so we were not at our best. I also thought that we were in control in the first half but then against the run of play we made an error at the back which allowed them (West Sydney Berries) to score and it turned into a real battle for our side. We then got back in the game with a 1-1 score line and then they had a man sent off just before first half?.
?When we were dominating the game and we had a lot of opportunities in the front third to kill of the game- we just took some poor options, and we need to be better in this part of our game because it?s a concern for us all year- we need to be a bit smarter and more composed  because we are a top quality side, but today it was about the three points as we fought a very tough opponent, overall it was a good result for us today?.
Match Stats
West Sydney Berries FC 1 (Ryo Maekawa 12?)
Blacktown City FC 3 (Tolgay Ozbey 38?, 59?, Ante Deur 75?)
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Assistant Referee: Miles Allen- Scott and Thomas Lee
Fourth Official: Matt Colgohavn
West Sydney Berries FC: 1. Hamish Mclean; 6.Mark Bariamis (10.John Tsironis 79?), 5.Ryan Walsh, 21.Nathan Sherlock, 4.Daniel Clifford, 26.Ian King, 34.George Lagoudakis (24. Brad Bartels 64?), 8.Jesse Pinto (15. Ryan Jones 71?), 13.Ryo Maekawa, 17.Sash Tirovski, 19.Dimitri  Zakilas.
Substitutes Not Used: 40. Nestor Tsioustas, 18.Shayne Morrisey
Yellow Cards: Jesse Pinto 20?, Iain King 27?,39?, Hamish Mclean 35?, George Lagoudakis 64?
Red Cards: Ian King 39?
Blacktown City FC: 20. Matthew Ryan; 2.Tyler Simpson (16.Ante Deur 46?), 4.Mirko Jurilj, 5.Luka Dukic, 7.Luke Roodenburg, 9.Kain Rastall (13.Lachlan Cahill 68?), 11.Joel Chianese (22.Zac Cairncross 78?), 18.Travis Major, 19.Tolgay Ozbey, 23.Luke Austin.
Substitutes Not Used: 12. Bernie Ibini, 1. Matt Nemes
Yellow Cards:  Kain Rastall 58?, Tolgay Ozbey 68?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Peter Chiodo