White Eagles outgunned by Blacktown City
A goal to Luke Roodenburg on the hour and a penalty with virtually the last kick of the game to Travis Major was enough to see the home team heap more pressure on their opponents from last year?s grand final.
Despite having stars such as Webb, Robinson, Spruce, Zabaks, Canak and Zonjic unavailable, White Eagles coach Brian Brown was disappointed with the effort of the team that did play.
?We were out battled, out thought and out classed today. All credit goes to Blacktown City who played well, but we are not going to win if we do not work hard out on the pitch.?
For Mark Crittenden, the result gave his team a strong push in a positive direction: ?We created a lot of chances tonight and after settling into the match we dominated. ?However when chances started to go begging, the save by their goalkeeper from Travis Major?s header was world class, I thought it was going to not go our way yet again. However tonight we took our chances eventually.
?What I am really pleased about is that we won all the loose balls tonight, we kept our shape well and we out battled them in the end.?
The match had a settling in period of around 10? minutes before the first shot of the game. In the 10? minute, Mitchell Duke could not make the most of a great ball over the top from Matt Lewis and could only fire the ball well wide of the target.
A minute later Bonnyrigg got their first chance as a Daniel Severino free-kick from the right could only be deflected back into traffic and not goalwards by David Vrankovic as the ball was only cleared to Brad Boardman at the far post, though a full stretch diving save by Symon Jaeger denied Boardman a goal.
2? minutes later and Blacktown spurned their second chance. After a great ball from Mitchell Long, Duke turned his marker in the area and fired off a shot which was deflected away by Bazi. The two Bonnyrigg defenders then almost crashed into each other but managed to clear the ball wide. When the ball came back into the penalty-area, Major fired a shot off target.
In the 18? minute Mitchell Long almost fell in the area after some interchange with his opponent but despite the local fans claiming a penalty, referee James Lewis waved play on. Lewis handled the game in his usual no-nonsense style without having to revert to his cards all the time.
A minute later only a world class save from Andrew Bazi in the Bonnyrigg goal denied Travis Major who had flicked the ball goal wards from a Matthew Lewis corner.
Many of Blacktown City?s attacks were now emanating from their right hand flank with Luke Austin and Major combining well to set up their team mates. With Mitchell Long also contributing with great runs on and off the ball it looked as though it was a matter of time, but when Boardman was fouled by Zac Cairncross on the edge of the area it looked as though Daniel Severino may put his side in front. However, his free-kick was not of the power fans are used to and it came harmlessly off the wall and was cleared from danger by the home side.
In the 31? minute Major chipped the defence and put a cross into the penalty-area. Bonnyrigg failed to clear effectively and Tynan Diaz could only clear the ball to Mitchell Long – almost as if they were back playing together at Wolves where they were once team mates – but Long?s shot was deflected over the crossbar.
However, a minute later Blacktown had an even better chance. Kain Rastall broke from a Bonnyrigg set play at the other end of the park. He ran through the middle of the park before playing the ball to Long who ran around his defender and put a great ball in from the right byline. Unfortunately, the timing of the ball saw Matt Lewis just over run it, had he got anything substantial on the ball it would have been a goal as he was three-metres out with no one between him and the goal.
Chris Tadrosse was continuing to try and find a way for his team mates and in the 38? minute he made another good run and linked up with Brad Boardman. Boardman was hustled off the ball by Zac Cairncross who was not letting the 2009 Gold Medal winner out of his reach.
For the closing 5? minutes it looked to be all the home team with Lewis, Austin and Milorad Simonovic all combining well to set up half chances, the best of which saw Cairncross head the ball wide of the far post.
Right at the end of the half Bonnyrigg hit back with Jamie McMaster who could not turn quick enough on the ball on this occasion to fire off a shot on goal and Nathan Elasi tried his luck from distance right on the half-time whistle, but Jaeger again comfortably dealt with the situation.
Despite having two goals in the second-half, it was the first stanza that was more entertaining. Again the opening of the second period saw few opportunities. In the 58? minute Tadrosse and Boardman combined once more but Boardman was marshalled to the corner by Blacktown City and the opportunity ended.
On the hour the ball finally fell the way Blacktown was looking for, into the back of the net. Travis Major floated in a free-kick from the right and Luke Roodenburg slipped from his marker to be unmarked at the far post. His header, across the body of Bazi in the Bonnyrigg goal, was all class and the ball nestled into the back of the net.
Jamie McMaster tried to hit back immediately but his shot was a miss-kick that was easily handled by Jaeger.
The great miss was Patrick Gatt?s on 67? minutes when he missed the target from close-range when it seemed harder to miss than score.
However, Blacktown City did not let off the pressure on any part of the park. Cairncross pulled off a great tackle on a rampaging McMaster whilst Austin continued to turn defence into attack with great passing interchanges down the right and great runs both on and off the ball, displaying the talent that got him into the Sydney FC Asian Champions League squad.
Travis Major too was dangerous although his decision making could have been questioned in the 78? minute when he took a shot from a long way out when he had a team mate on either side of him and a three on two situation ahead of him.
Bonnyrigg continued to try and pass the ball and make inroads into the Blacktown defence and nearing the end of the game it seemed Blacktown were clocking off until with 3? minutes from time. Cairncross crashed into Boardman once more. Whilst it was a foul, and a free-kick to Bonnyrigg, it seemed to shake off any apathy the home team had and with the likes of Bruno Pivato now running around in the attack Bonnyrigg could not get anything on target.
With time running out Mitchell Long demonstrated the talent he has had since being noticed at Penrith Nepean United all those years ago, beating three players as he escaped from the corner and honed in on goal. Having his run halted in the penalty-area the referee had no choice but to point to the spot and thus the game came to a conclusion with Travis Major firing the penalty home to give Blacktown City a much deserved win.
In the Grade-20 clash, Blacktown City FC defeated Bonnyrigg 6-0.
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 2 (Luke Roodenburg 60?, Travis Major 90?+3? (pen))
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 0
Sunday 22nd May, 2011
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: James Lewis
Assistant Referees: Adam Coombes and Nathan Wotton
Fourth Official: Nathan Roberts
Crowd: 350
Blacktown City FC: 1.Symon JAEGER; 4.Travis MAJOR, 5.Patrick GATT (18.Bruno PIVATO 76?), 16.Luke AUSTIN, 13.Matt LEWIS, 9.Kain RASTALL, 10.Mitch LONG, 11.Milorad SIMONOVIC, 3.Mitchell DUKE, 7.Luke ROODENBERG (2.Tyler SIMPSON 83?), 19.Zac CAIRNCROSS
Substitutes Not Used: 14.Luka DUKIC, 40.David BRADASEVIC
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Bonnyrigg White Eagles: 1.Andrew BAZI; 16.David VRANKOVIC, 4.Wade OOSTENDORP, 5.Chris TADROSSE, 22.Jared LUM, 7.Nathan ELASI, 23.Tynan DIAZ (2.Nikola STANOJEVIC 75?), 14.Blake POWELL, 10.Daniel SEVERINO (12.Takya MURAYAMA 75?), 19.Jamie MCMASTER, 9.Brad BOARDMAN
Substitutes Not Used: 8.Joseph D?ELIA, 15.Aleksander BAKIVIC, 20.Tom HAMILTON
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Mitchell Long (BCFC)
2 – Luke Austin (BCFC)
1 – Chris Tadrosse (BWE)
-By Stuart Jones
