Dominant Blacktown City denied win by Stallions
A lack of finishing in the final third, and a red card to Zac Cairncross proved to be the side?s undoing as the Stallions very nearly stole the win late on.
Perfect weather greeted the spectators at Marconi Stadium on Mother?s Day Sunday, following the ?big wet? that has hit Sydney over the past month.
Matthew Mayora returned to the Stallions line-up following a two-match suspension and the striker showed his intention to get involved early with a fine effort from long-range that forced Symon Jaeger into an uncomfortable save.
Blacktown City responded with a swift counterattack started by Mitchell Duke in his own half. Duke?s quick switch to Travis Major out on the right flank had the Stallions players stretched, though Major?s delivery was comfortably dealt with by the Marconi rearguard.
On 7? minutes, the visitors conjured up the first real opening of the afternoon. A scramble inside the penalty-area favoured Major with his first effort parried by James Chronopoulos, before the follow up finished over the crossbar.
Milorad Simonovic then used his pace to beat Nahuel Arrarte inside the penalty-area on 14? minutes, though the midfielder blasted his effort across the face of goal without forcing Chronopouos into a save.
Marconi replied immediately with Keith Shevlin rising highest to head a corner from the left flank back across goal. Amidst a sea of legs, no Stallions player managed to get a foot onto the ball and Blacktown City thwarted the danger.
On 22? minutes, Blacktown City FC did find the back of the net though the goal was disallowed for offside. Once more following a scramble inside the penalty-area, the visitors managed to force the ball into the back of the net, though the linesman was quick to raise his flag.
The visitors continued to apply the pressure as Duke had the Stallions on the back foot down the left flank on 23? minutes. Duke?s fine run to the byline had the Stallions scrambling, though his cross to the back post failed to find the head of Major who was in a very promising position.
Marconi continued to press on the counterattack at every given chance, though ?go to? man Mayora was well marshalled at the back by Patrick Gatt and Zac Cairncross.
Mayora did find some space moments shy of the half-hour mark, though his cross-turn-shot was easily claimed by Jaeger on the goal line.
Blacktown City were extremely unlucky not to open the scoring in the 29? minute as Simonovic struck the upright. The midfielder again beat his marker to find space on the right, and his centre into the penalty-area from a very acute angle ricocheted off the back post before Arrarte cleared the ball for the Stallions.
On 32? minutes Marconi created their first real chance of the match. Mitchell Mallia, Shevlin and Mayora combined with an exceptional show of short passing. Shevlin?s final touch for Mayora was precise, though the striker blasted his effort from very close-range over the crossbar.
The Stallions closed the half on the front foot with Daniel Petkovski getting forward. The left-sided defender unleashed a fierce effort inches over the crossbar, from the edge of the penalty-area.
Umut Tokdogan then delivered a tantalising free-kick into the penalty-area, though no Marconi player was on hand to score.
In the final play of the half, Blacktown City nearly found their goal. Luke Roodenburg?s headed cross into the penalty-area picked out Cairncross, though the defender failed to hit his effort on target.
Blacktown City returned from the interval with a spring in their step as Duke first, then Mitchell Long tested Chronopoulos with long-range efforts.
Marconi?s response arrived via the counterattack in the 52? minute, as Shevlin used his strength to shield the ball inside the penalty-area, though his attempted shot on goal was deflected behind for a corner.
A planned set-piece by the visitors almost reaped reward in the 53? minute as Roodenburg played a short pass into the path of Simonovic on the edge of the penalty-area. The Blacktown City midfielder blasted his effort goalwards though was denied by a firm James Chronopoulos fist ? the Stallions? shot-stopper denying what would have been a certain goal.
Adam Jenner then had Chronopoulos stranded in the 57? minute as his driven attempt from distance took a massive deflection off a Stallions defender. With the shot-stopper seemingly beaten, the ball finished inches wide of Chronopoulos? left-hand post.
On the hour, Duke was played through on goal for the visitors. With only Chronopoulos ahead of him, Duke placed the ball past the Stallions? goalkeeper though saw his effort bounce off the post as Marconi scrambled the ball away to safety.
The Blacktown City onslaught continued as Simonovic took matters into his own hands with a slalom effort moments later. Simonovic beat three defenders before toe-poking his effort over James Chronopoulos? crossbar.
Marconi Stallions did get back into the match with some good possession in the middle of the park from the 65? minute mark, and a chance was carved out by Matthew Gordon for Mayora. The latter latched onto Gordon?s cross from deep down the left flank, though Mayora couldn?t get enough direction behind his header as Jaeger watched the ball finish wide.
Mayora then turned provider, playing a neat cross from the right to Arrarte at the back post. The Stallions captain brought the ball down nicely before firing his effort over the crossbar.
In the 70? minute, the second-half onslaught by Blacktown City finally proved too much for the Stallions as Travis Major was fouled inside the penalty-area. The young Blacktown City gun dusted himself off to coolly drive his effort into the bottom left-hand corner, only centimetres out of Chronopoulos? reach.
Following the re-start, Adam Jenner tried his luck for the visitors with a powerful drive from an acute angle following a 30-metre burst. Jenner?s effort was goal bound though Chronopoulos directed the ball wide of goal.
Marconi?s chances of finding a way back into the match took a turn for the better as Zac Cairncross was shown a second yellow card. The Blacktown City defender was adjudged to have impeded Chronopoulos? attempt to release the ball on the edge of the penalty-area, much to the dismay of the visiting supporters.
With 15? minutes remaining, the Stallions looked to up the ante, and Arrarte very nearly found an equaliser with a thunderous low-driven effort finishing wide of a scrambling Jaeger?s post.
Arrarte again went close in the 83? minute as he picked up a loose ball outside the penalty-area before unleashing another thunderous drive on goal ? deflected wide by a defender.
The resulting corner provided the Stallions some reward as Adel El Jamal threw his body into the mix to toe-poke his effort into the back of the net following a goalmouth scramble.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Blacktown City continued to press for a winner and Travis Major went close in the 87? minute, firstly with a free-kick, then with the rebound that finished over the crossbar.
Marconi should have secured a win, despite being outplayed for large spells, in the 93? minute as Mayora rose highest to head a free-kick from the right. With only the goalkeeper in front of him, and with the ball at near perfect height, Mayora delivered his powerful header over the crossbar.
Following the match, Stallions coach Luke Casserly was pleased to have taken a point from the match:
?Mixed feelings today, to be honest. We really looked like a team of part-time footballers, we?ve had to play four games in thirteen days and today for the majority of the match we looked like a team that was feeling the amount of work we have had to do lately.
?Interestingly enough, once they (Blacktown City FC) got the goal we started to play. I thought we were lucky at times, their wide guys had us stretched ? and that is how they got their penalty ? and we did ride our luck a little as we did risk conceding a few goals today.
?Football is a funny game sometimes? we are happy to get the point as I said, considering we struggled throughout, though we perhaps should have taken all three-points with a free header from 6-yards right at the end,? ended Casserly.
Blacktown City FC coach Mark Crittenden was obviously disappointed his side failed to take all three-points from one of their best performances this season:
?I personally felt we totally dominated the match today, apart from the last 10? minutes of the first-half.
?It was a great performance, though as I have said a few times, we are just not clinical enough in front of goal and that has come back to hurt us today.
?The boys all worked hard, our work ethic was great, the shape was perfect throughout the match though we weren?t clinical enough, that?s what it comes down to. We had the chances, two posts and also James Chronopoulos produced two world class saves ? he really did have a great match.
?Unfortunately with the send off, I don?t really know? Did Zac cross Jimmy (Chronopoulos?) line and obstruct him? From our angle we couldn?t really see, though that certainly did change the outcome today,? concluded Crittenden.
In the Grade-20 division, Marconi Stallions twice fought back from a goal before sealing a dramatic late winner (3-2) against Blacktown City FC. Stallions playmaker Marco Sama was the hero for his side, scoring all three goals in an exceptional second-half performance. The win keeps the Stallions at the top of the NSW Grade-20 division League ladder.
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions 1 (Adel El Jamal 85?)
Blacktown City FC 1 (Travis Major (pen) 71?)
Sunday 8th May, 2011
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Referee: Kevin Peddie
Assistant Referees: Steven Nguyen and Nathan Wotton
Fourth Official: Alex Long
Crowd: 300 Approx.
Marconi Stallions: 22.James Chronopoulos; 4.Umut Tokdogan, 5.Adel El Jamal, 6.Brenton Rhodes, 9.Keith Shevlin, 11.Matthew Gordon (12.Daniel Ott 82?), 15.Matthew Mayora, 17.Mitchell Mallia (7.Timothy McGowan 64?), 23.Christopher Nunes (18.Nathan Jagelman 68?), 24.Daniel Petkovski, 26.Nahuel Arrarte (C)
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Giosue Sama, 21.Nikodin Matic
Yellow Cards: Nahuel Arrarte 87?
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City FC: 1.Symon Jaeger; 3.Mitchell Duke (14.Michael Brown 90?), 4.Travis Major, 5.Pat Gatt, 7.Luke Roodenberg (C), 9.Kain Rastall (16.Luke Austin 79?), 10.Mitchell Long (15.Ray Miller 87?), 11.Milorad Simonovic, 13.Matt Lewis, 17.Adam Jenner, 19.Zac Cairncross
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Justin Biega
Yellow Cards: Kain Rastall 42?, Zac Cairncross 60?, 75?
Red Cards: Zac Cairncross 75?
Player Ratings:
3 ? Travis Major (BCFC)
2 ? Mitchell Duke (BCFC)
1 ? James Chronopoulos (MS)
-By Joseph Carlucci
