Blacktown City fight back to earn NSW Premier League Grade-20 championship

demonss


After being down for the majority of the match, Blacktown skipper George Degenek scored a cracking goal from 30-yards out to send the match into extra-time.
With the wind behind their sails, Blacktown scored two late goals to take the trophy off last year?s champions, Sydney United.
The action started from the first whistle and in the 4? minute Sydney United thought they had the lead. Steven Veleski sent in a floating free-kick as Mitchell Speer headed the ball into the net, only to be called back for offside.
Blacktown showed they weren?t going to sit back and defend as they surged forward the next minute. A great one-two between David Talevski and Denis Jevtic led to the latter cutting the ball back only for Berni Ibini to shoot a weak shot to the chest of Norval.
Blacktown missed another chance in the 6? minute as three men unmarked at the back post could not slot a corner away.
But the team from the west of Sydney finally took the lead in the 12? minute. A long ball from their defence led to Ibini bringing it down and cutting it back to an oncoming Bruno Pivato who struck the ball into the bottom left hand corner for the 1-0 lead.
Sydney United were not going to die wondering and begun sending waves of attacks at the Blacktown defence however could not break them down.
Reds striker Steven Veleski continued to frustrate the Blacktown City defence, and sent two warning shots within 10? minutes as his side tried to get back into the game. 
The defending champions? pressure finally cracked Blacktown in the 37? minute however, as Veleski received the ball in the attacking third only to pass to Jani Bajramovic who attracted the keeper to him and squared the ball for Veleski to tuck home.
Blacktown quickly took back the control of the game, but received a big shock on the stroke of half-time. After Kyle Ewart received an early ball on the right, he got around Jevtic easily and struck the ball into the roof of the net to give his side a shock 2-1 lead at the break.
The goal did not spark Blacktown back to life straight away as United went forward to double their advantage after the break.
In the 53? minute, Veleski could have had his second as he beat two defenders but again sent his shot well over the bar in point-blank range.
It took Blacktown until the 64? minute to work their way back into the game as Talevski headed the ball straight to the waiting Norval in goal in their first chance of the second-half.
The chance however sparked the team back into action as they took majority of possession.
A triple substitution by Blacktown City 10? minutes later worked a treat as fresh legs began working tirelessly in the middle of the park.
After several chances, Blacktown scored their equaliser from its inspirational skipper.
With nothing going in front of him, captain George Degenek struck the ball from 30-yards out into the bottom left corner to put his game well back into the contest with 4? minutes remaining.
As both teams scrambled for possession, the game ended and was sent into extra-time.
Blacktown City entered extra time with the wind behind their sails as they pushed to finish the game before penalties.
Finally, in the 99? minute, Dean Caletti attempted to cross the ball but instead the wind caught Norval off his line as the ball sailed into the top left hand corner to give Blacktown a 3-2 lead.
Sydney United fought hard to find an equaliser, but all their efforts went to waste in the final minute as Blacktown countered for Pivato to put the final nail into his opponent?s coffin for the 4-2 win.
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 4 (Pivato 12?, 109?, Degenek 86?, Caletti 99?)
Sydney United 2 (Veleski 37?, Ewart 45?)
Game ended 2-2 after 90 minutes
Parramatta Stadium, Parramatta
Referee: Steven Lucas
Assistant referees: Lance Greenshield and Adam Coombes
Fourth Official: Leigh Pigram
Blacktown City FC: 20.Justin Biega (gk); (David Bradesevic 121?), 8.Chris Bedzo, 12.Berni Ibini (Luke Jenner 97?), 21.Zac Freeburn, 24.Stepan Paric, 27.Denis Jevtic (26.Daniel Bragg 74?), 28.Andrew Hajjar (31.Louis Bozanic 74?), 30.Keiran Paull, 32.David Talevski(44.Dean Caletti 74?), 33.George Degenek (C), 34. Bruno Pivato
Substitutions Not Used: Nil
Yellow Cards: Louis Bozanic 88?, Daniel Bragg 110?
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United: 1.Ryan Norval (gk); 26.George Strogylos, 18.Mitchell Speer (24.Matthew Bilic 77?), 31.Steven Wright (C), 33.Marko Banic, 27.Tomislav Cirjack (43.Logan Zeschke 58?), 35.Tomisalv Mijic, 36.Jani Bajramovic (44.James Kalic 111?), 37.Aaron Sim (38.Lukas Lebic 77?), 39.Kyle Ewart, 42.Steven Veleski, 45.Adam Jenner
Substitutions Not Used: 30.Kresimir Kardum
Yellow Cards: Aaron Sim 20?, Marko Banic 27?,  Steven Veleski 85?, Lukas Lebic 90?, Steven Wright 103?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Christopher Georges