Wolves stun Blacktown City at Lily Homes
Blacktown nearly rewarded those who had entered the game early as Mitchell Long broke through straight from kick off and laid it off to Ante Deur on the left in the penalty-area. Deur got poor contact on the ball when the goal lay wide open.
Instead it was the Wolves who took their early chance. Less than a minute later Tynan Diaz hit the byline on the left and laid the ball back for Jason Trifiro who ghosted in from deep to strike the ball home and give the visitors a very early lead.
With such a great start the game settled down until the 14? minute when Tolgay Ozbey headed a short corner (great lead up work from Long and a top quality cross from Lachlan Cahill, both ex-Wolves players) home to bring the two teams back on par.
For the next part of the match, the good opportunities fell to Blacktown whilst the Wolves were restricted to shots from distance. In the 22? minute Ante Deur could have scored but the defence managed to scramble back to prevent him from shooting effectively, and a minute later both Deur and Luke Roodenberg were denied by the defence, especially the efforts of ex Blacktown player Alex Mansueto.
Right before the half hour the away-side were rewarded for their defensive efforts at the other end of the park. Tynan Diaz made a brilliant off the ball run to time his run onto a chip over the top from Nic McInerney – after a great run from the former Penrith Nepean United player – perfectly. One-on-one with Matt Ryan, Diaz was able to play the ball past his opponent and into the back of the net.
5? minutes later and a free-kick from Tayfun Buyukkopru, who was enjoying a solid match for the visitors Wolves, was perfectly placed and Alex Mansueto headed home to give his side a 3-1 lead.
Blacktown tried to gain a goal back right before the break with Mirko Jurilj going through the centre of the park. Ozbey was the beneficiary of this run but he was headed off by the defence and could not get his shot away.
Even early in the second-half, South Coast nearly scored again. Sean Van Rooyen tried to combine with Diaz but the Wolves striker could not reach the cross as he stood unmarked ten metres from goal. Then Diaz was played through by Lisandro Berbis, although the home fans called for an offside flag. Diaz was denied by the outstanding Matt Ryan in the Blacktown goal.
In the 53? and 56? minutes, Tolgay Ozbey was twice denied – first with a shot that went over the cross bar and second by the goalkeeper when the angle was just too tight. Ozbey was playing well and contributing throughout the attacking third.
Just before the hour it was Joel Chianese who was denied. Off the back of a strong Luke Roodenberg run, Chianese half-volleyed the ball from distance but it cannoned off a defender?s head in the area.
By now the Wolves were just trying to counteract wave after wave of Blacktown City attacks.
In the 67th minute a Cahill cross from deep was headed goalwards by Ozbey, and it was looping under the crossbar, though Brody Crane stopped the progress of the ball.
Over the next few minutes Blacktown had three corners, but these set plays came to nothing either.
Finally in the 74? minute, the Wolves broke free through youngster Nick Littler down the right. He played the ball to Diaz who had a free shot on goal. He hit the ball towards the target but the Blacktown defence somehow manage to scramble back and kick it wide of the target.
2? minutes later and the home-side were ready to make their opponents pay. The ball came from deep and Roodenberg turned on it but was half denied by Crane. Ante Deur was the first to react to the loose ball in the area and he was able to slot the ball home to put his side back in the match.
Then, a further 2? minutes later, only a paint of coat denied the home-side the equaliser with Ozbey playing the ball through traffic and firing the ball home, or so it seemed, until it deflected off the inside of the near post and away from the target. Roodenberg tried to pounce on the loose ball but instead only collected an opponent.
In the 85? minute substitute Bernie Ibini held the ball 25-metres out and from nothing turned on it and shot, with the ball beating the defence and goalkeeper Crane but not the other goal post as the effort deflected away out of danger.
1? minute later, the send off of Mitchell Long really indicated to the home-side this night was really not going to be theirs. The last play of the match saw a free-kick and corner contested by all the players, including attacking goalkeeper Ryan, but Blacktown could not score and instead Ryan had to run the full length of the field to deny a quick counterattack by the visitors to close off the match.
South Coast Wolves coach Trevor Morgan was delighted for his players:
?I am ecstatic, this is only the second time this year we have scored three goals.
?Blacktown had to come out and attack us in the second half and they did just that. I asked my players not to overcommit and stay focused on the job at hand and apart from one mistake which led to their second goal, they did just that.?
As for Aytec Genc, the Blacktown coach was reflecting on his team as a whole:
?It was a good game, end-to-end stuff but we conceded three of the most ridiculous goals possible.
We could have been 1-0 up after a minute and we did play some positive football but instead of taking our chances we conceded silly goals and had to chase the game. We threw everything at them but they hung on.
?We are not one of the top few clubs in this league and I have known that for a long time but what makes it worse for us at the moment is the constant disruptions at the club. Injuries, suspensions and training at higher levels means week to week we do not know who will be here.?
In the earlier Grade-20s match, Blacktown City defeated South Coast Wolves 3-0.
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 2 (Ozbey 14? Deur 76?)
South Coast Wolves 3 (Trifiro 2? Diaz 29? Mansueto 34?)
Saturday, June 19th, 2010
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Ryan Shepheard
Assistant Referees: Adam Coombes and Daniel Dewhurst
Fourth Official: Leigh Pigram
Crowd: 550
Blacktown City FC: 20.Matt RYAN; 2.Tyler SIMPSON, 4.Mirko JURILJ, 5.Luka DUKIC (15.Travis MAJOR), 7.Luke ROODENBERG, 17.Joel CHIANESE, 11.Mitchell LONG, 19.Tolgay OZBEY, 16.Ante DEUR, 13.Lachlan CAHILL, 6.Matt PRESSELLO (12 Bernie IBINI)
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Matt NEMES, 22.Zac CAIRNCROSS, 8. Chris BEDZO
Yellow Cards: Jurilj 66? Roodenberg 78?
Red Cards: Long 86?
South Coast Wolves: 1.Brody CRANE; 2.Alex MANSUETO, 3.Greg VALIC, 4.Nick LITTLER, 5.Nick MCINERNEY, 6.Lisandro BERBIS, 8.Tayfun BUYUKKOPRU, 10.Jason TRIFIRO, 13.Sean VAN ROOYEN, 15.Chris NATHANIEL, 17.Tynan DIAZ
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Nikoden MATIC, 11.Andy PAINE, 12.Jack KEATING, 16.Andy GAMBLE, 19.Cam LITTER
Yellow Cards: Berbis 42? Nathaniel 62? McInerney 89?
Red Cards: None
-By Stuart Jones
