Blacktown City eliminate Sharks to keep Grand Final dream alive
The hosts produced enough efforts on goal to win any other match quite handsomely though the reigning champions are made of sterner stuff, displaying tremendous character, grit and determination to soak up the pressure and eliminate the Sharks from the finals series.
Sutherland made all the early running with Chris Price on the end of a difficult opportunity in the 7? minute, though the ball wouldn?t drop quickly enough and he was forced to snatch it early as the effort sailed harmlessly over the crossbar.
Blacktown City on the other hand were showing good signs down the flanks, particularly in the first 10? minutes, however they were unable to turn the Sharks defence to create a clear-cut scoring chance as was summed up by Luke Roodenburg who fired tamely at Nathan Denham from distance.
Panni Nikas was playing the lone striker role for Sutherland with Todd Halloran, Lachlan Cahill and Price supporting quickly from the flanks and centre, however the lack of height was telling with Patrick Gatt and Zac Cairncross dealing comfortably with almost everything delivered into the box.
With 15? minutes on the clock Halloran was put through after clever lead-up work and Blacktown City goalkeeper Symon Jaeger needed to sprint off his line to block the shot before his defence could clear the danger.
Paul Kohler brought down Gatt and received a heavy talking to from referee Alex Glasgow who was handling the match well in allowing it to be as free flowing as it was.
A cross from the left almost brought the Sharks undone when met by the head of Roodenburg in the box. Sharks goalkeeper Nathan Denham was called upon and he was at his sprightly best to deny the Blacktown striker as the momentum ebbed and flowed.
Cahill responded by warming the hands of Jaeger as the Sharks responded once more in tit-for-tat fashion and it was surely only a matter of time before the deadlock was broken in a tight but thrilling Minor Semi-Final.
Halloran had a shot-cum-cross sail harmlessly wide of the mark with Matt Bailey working hard to make up ground to get into the box for the cross that never eventuated, but it showed the commitment of each team in this thrilling encounter.
Cahill received the ball from Nikas and weaved his way through the defence down the left-hand side to set up a chance for Bailey but the Blacktown defenders were quick to close down the gaps and alleviate the mounting pressure of the Sharks.
It was the same combination again 2? minutes later though this time Cahill?s cross to the back stick was good, however the Sharks lacked enough tall timber to obtain the advantage as another promising chance went begging.
City made it hard work and didn?t let Sutherland have it all their own way yet still they mounted the pressure and began to gain the ascendency; all to an avail as the back of the net was not found.
A spin and left-footed shot straight at Jaeger from the edge of the area by Nikas 5? minutes before the break was another squandered chance that came back to haunt the home side as Blacktown broke down the right again and Travis Major set up Roodenburg to side-foot the visitors ahead in the 42? minute.
It was a whisker from being two when Roodenburg was put through with a long ball over the top and lobbed Denham. Youngster Hayden Morton scurried back to clear off the line as Blacktown went in at the break with a solitary goal lead.
Sutherland outclassed Blacktown during the opening stanza without a doubt, though it was the latter who went to break one goal to the good.
No changes were made at the break and when Bailey put Nikas through after the re-start, he couldn?t gain enough purchase with a header.
The Sharks did find their equaliser in the 48? minute via the boot of Nikas. The Sharks play maker levelled the match with a long-range shot that crept in at the base of Jaeger?s post.
Mitch Long had the chance to give Blacktown the lead moments later but hit his shot straight at Denham from 10-yards out as Sutherland came close to succumbing to the sucker-punch as they rode their luck somewhat.
Roodenburg then popped up across the forward line before firing a wild attempt hopelessly high and wide.
The visitors were starting to find space in behind the Sharks defence, particularly down the right, yet the final ball wasn?t good enough and was easily cleared in a packed penalty-area.
Sutherland?s response again arrived via Nikas who saw his free-kick from the left finish inches wide of the mark with no Sharks player able to make contact as the tempo increased.
Nikas was again given time and space when set-up by Halloran but again fired straight at Jaeger.
The missed chance proved costly as Blacktown City quickly turned defence into attack. Sean Rooney did enough to outfox the Sharks defence and tuck away an overhead shot in sublime fashion to restore Blacktown?s lead on the hour mark.
Sutherland were finding plenty of room down the City left flank as they took the game to the visitors who were happily sitting back and hitting on the break, most effectively, as the Sharks had to come out and push their luck if they were going to get anything from the match.
Blacktown were put under the pump strongly in the final 15? minutes as Sutherland pushed forward. Even though the visiting side?s defending was not pretty, they coped with the onslaught with desperate defending and by putting their bodies on the line for the cause.
With gaps at the back Roodenburg was able to send substitute Mitchell Duke through the middle that forced Denham into an incredible point-blank save to keep Sutherland in the tie.
With the minutes ticking down, it was an uphill battle that was getting harder to negotiate with Blacktown playing into the corners to expend a little time knowing they were going through to face the loser of the Major Semi-Final next weekend if the score remained the same.
With only Denham and captain George Souris left inside their own half Sutherland threw caution to the wind and nearly came undone in stoppage time when Ray Miller fired tamely toward goal. The missed attempt didn?t matter in the end as Blacktown held out the Sharks, leaving them to look forward to more finals football and the Sutherland players to rue their profligacy in front of the sticks and only ?Mad Monday? for their pains.
Blacktown coach, Mark Crittenden, commented afterwards:
?To be fair I thought we were outplayed in the first-half even though we knew they would come at us hard, they are very quick, very good around the box with their one-two play but we went in 1-0 up at the break and probably didn?t deserve to.
?One thing about this side at the moment mate is there is so much character in this team and I said at half-time that if we want it we will get it and honestly I think that was the difference.
?We showed it last week when a goal down with 8? to go and winning 2-1? one and many wrote us off early in the season when we only had a few points from four or five matches but we had the faith in where we wanted to be and knew even then we had what it takes to give it a real go and here we are getting closer.
?Semi-Finals football isn?t always pretty but the guys were throwing themselves into tackles and were forced to defend strongly for much of the game so we had to resort to hitting on the break and tonight that worked for us.?
Robbie Stanton was reflective and gracious in defeat when adding:
?First of all congratulations to Blacktown because they are a very good side and when people were saying we got the better of the draw when it was them coming to our ground I couldn?t believe what I was hearing.
?They are a very well balanced team, they won it last year and I feel they are a better side this time around and I was impressed by them and knew it wouldn?t be an easy game.
?We played some terrific football out there and were perhaps a little unlucky but you create your own luck in this game and you can take nothing away from Blacktown and the win because they took their chances and we may have had a bit of dominance tonight and plenty of possession but that has to translate into goals for results.
?As disappointed as I am you have to be realistic and at the end of the day they took their chances and were better in the final wash-up but I am proud of my players because we set goals of wanting to play good football and put on a good display and I felt it was an entertaining match.
?It?s no easy chance to come from 4th or fifth on the ladder to win or even make the Grand Final but they are a really tight unit, they understand each other well so don?t be surprised if they win next week?, they are on a roll and I would like to wish all the remaining teams the best for the games ahead.?
Match Stats
Minor Semi-Final
Sutherland Sharks 1 (Nikas 48?)
Blacktown City FC 2 (Roodenburg 42?, Rooney 59?)
Saturday 17th September, 2011
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: Alex Glasgow
Assistant Referees: Mike Robertson and Bachar Allam
Fourth Official: Michael Weiner
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan Denham; 2.George Souris (C), 5.Lachlan Cahill, 8.Chris Price (30.James McKenzie 86?), 10.Matt Bailey, 11.Todd Halloran (24.Patrick Savor 72?), 12.Hayden Morton, 14.Nick Stavroulakis, 15.Mike Katz, 20.Paul Kohler, 23.Panni Nikas
Substitutes Not Used: 6.Sam Awad, 28.Klim Gjoeski, 22.Alex Augusto
Yellow Cards: Nikas 81?
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City FC: 1.Symon Jaeger; 4.Travis Major (15.Ray Miller 68?), 5.Patrick Gatt, 13.Matt Lewis, 16.Luke Austin, 7.Luke Roodenburg (17.Adam Jenner 90?+1?), 9.Kain Rastall, 11.Milorad Simonovic, 10.Mitch Long, 12.Sean Rooney (3.Mitchell Duke 81?), 19.Zac Cairncross
Substitutes Not Used: 8.David Cain, 40.David Bradesvic
Yellow Cards: Gatt 71?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Micky Brock
