Rockdale City Suns stun Blacktown in tight encounter
Missing influential players Kosta Lagoudakis, Sash Tirovski, Josh Lawson and Paul Dee, the Suns fought hard with substitute Shay Spitz scoring the winning goal in the 67? minute.
It was Blacktown City however who showed they were eager to get back into the top-five with a flurry of attacks from the first whistle. In the 3? minute a quick free-kick provided their first sight on goal as Matt Lewis half-volleyed the ball straight to the chest of Ben McNamara in goal for Rockdale City.
The Suns had their first opportunity 4? minutes later after Tyler Simpson miss-kicked a Steven Veleski cross leaving Jason Naidovski with a world of time to beat the goalkeeper. Unfortunately for Naidovski, Blacktown City goalkeeper Symon Jaeger came off his line to save what should have been the opening goal.
Blacktown City almost took the lead in bizarre circumstances in the 14? minute as Mirko Jurilj almost put the ball into his own net. Mitchell Duke sent a fierce cross into the box which came off Jurilj?s leg and moved goalwards, only to be saved by a diving McNamara.
Rockdale City fans had their hearts in their mouths in the 22? minute as a counterattack led by captain Peter Apolevski sent Veleski straight through the Blacktown defensive line. After beating three defenders, last year?s under-20s golden boot winner could not put the ball past Jaeger who came out well and saved with his legs.
Unfortunately for Veleski that was the last he saw of the match as he was assisted form the field from what looked to be an ankle injury sustained while missing the chance with Adrian Karakolevski replacing him.
The even contest continued as Blacktown City responded, peppering the Rockdale defence with two dangerous raids in the 31? minute.
Blacktown had a great chance to score on the stroke of half-time as Mitchell Duke broke down the left hand touchline but his cross was intercepted by McNamara with two free Blacktown players coming through.
Both sides came out of the break hungry to break the deadlock as the game moved at a rapid pace.
As the teams settled, Rockdale had another chance go begging in the 52? minute. Askin Oygur won the ball in defence for the visitors before feeding Hasegawa who thread a nice ball through to Naidokski on the right. The former Newcastle Jets striker got a shot off early but hit the ball directly at Jaeger.
3? minutes later Mitch Long won the ball off the Rockdale defence before passing to Major whose imposing shot went inches away from the right hand upright.
In the 60? minute Lee Sterrey turned to his bench and replaced Hasegawa with Shay Spitz who made an immediate impact winning a free-kick out wide. Adem Kir whipped the free-kick into the box with Blacktown clearing the opportunity.
The home side had the best chance of the match in the 64? minute as Major threaded a ball through to Roodenburg whose soft shot beat the goalkeeper but hit the post before Rockdale cleared.
Rockdale City finally broke the deadlock in the 67? minute as a poor clearance by Blacktown let Spitz blast the ball into the back of the net for the lead.
Mark Crittenden turned to his bench straight after the goal and substitute Bruno Pivato almost became an instant hero as a half-volley was tipped onto the crossbar and over for a corner.
The goal seemed to switch on the home side as they took control of possession, pinning the Suns in their own half.
In the 79? minute Tyler Simpson went close with his header going wide of the mark.
With 5? minutes remaining, Rockdale set five players in defence to secure three vital points to take back to the Illinden Sports Centre.
The plan worked a treat as a late chance to Simpson was sprayed, ending the game 1-0 to the visitors.
Following the match Rockdale City Suns coach Lee Sterrey said he was happy luck finally turned towards his team:
?We should?ve scored early with Jason Naidovski and the other chance with Steve Veleski, so considering we had those chances I was disappointed with the 0-0 score line at half-time,?? he said.
?Something finally fell our way seeing that we haven?t had that much luck this year. ?We are still looking to find our feet.??
The mood was quite sombre from the Blacktown sheds with coach Mark Crittenden thoroughly disappointed with his side?s performance:
?We gifted them two chances early and luckily for us our keeper made two great saves to keep us in the match,?? Crittenden said.
?We were just not good enough in the last third again and I am extremely disappointed.??
In the Grade-20 fixture, Blacktown City missed two golden opportunities in the final stages ending the match a 1-1 draw against Rockdale City Suns.
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 0
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Shay Spitz 67?)
Sunday 15th May, 2011
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Jason Blackwood
Assistant Referee: Sarah Ho and Nick Backo
Fourth Official: Matthew Cooper
Crowd: 400 Approx.
Blacktown City FC: 1.Simon Jaeger; 2.Tyler Simpson, 3.Mitchell Duke (8.Chris Bedzo 85?), 4.Travis Major, 5.Patrick Gatt, 7.Luke Roodenburg (C) (18.Bruno Pivato 67?), 9.Kain Rastall, 10.Mitch Long, 11.Milorad Simonovic, 13.Matt Lewis, 17.Adam Jenner (16. Luke Austin 69?)
Substitutes Not Used: 40. Daniel Bradasevic
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Rockdale City Suns: 1.Ben McNamara; 13.Giorgio Speranza, 21.Mirko Jurilj, 23.Askin Oygur, 7.Pece Apolevski (C), 11.Adem Kir, 10.Sash Trajcevski, 14.Hsuki Hasegawa (3.Shay Spitz 60?), 8.Dominic Hudap, 9.Jason Naidovski, 18.Steven Veleski (15.Adrian Karakolevski 26?) (16.James Monie 74?)
Substitutes Not Used: 25.Roberto Speranza, 22.Dion Shaw
Yellow Cards: Hsuki Hasegawa 49?, Adem Kir 63?, Shay Spitz 75?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Askin Oygur (RCS)
2 – Simon Jaeger (BCFC)
1 – Shay Spitz (RCS)
-By Chris Georges
