Ten man Blacktown City claim derby day spoils
A scrappy goal from Ryuji Miyazawa late in the first-half proved to be the difference between the local rivals in a match played at high intensity throughout the 90? minutes.
Blacktown City had midfielder Daniel Bragg sent off in added time in the first-half, however a disciplined second half performance was enough to hold off their opposition and secure the points.
While the middle of the park was evenly contested in the early stages it was Blacktown City who looked most dangerous in front of goal with Carlos Saliadarre producing routine saves to deny Matt Lewis and Luke Roodenburg in the opening minutes.
Saliadarre was at his best minutes later, diving to block Ray Miller?s rasping 25-yard drive before recovering to bravely block Yuchi Yamauchi?s follow up at the expense of a corner.
The visitors went even closer to opening the scoring soon after as Yamauchi intercepted a wayward pass by the Spartan backline; Ryuji Miyazawa was played through by his Japanese counterpart yet dragged his shot inches wide of the far post.
After a few early scares Spartans soon settled into their rhythm and carved out some clear chances of their own.
Louis Bozanic nearly capitalised on a missed defensive header, running onto a long ball out of defence on to fire his shot into the frame of the onrushing Brody Crane.
Crane was quick to return to his feet to deny Chris Gomez?s follow up shot to keep the scores level.
With momentum swinging their way the hosts appeared increasingly likely to break the deadlock as Sean Mitchell blazed a 25-yard effort over before Crane was called into action once again to deny Chris Bedzo after Zac Cairncross? untimely slip on the edge of the box.
As Spartans pushed forward it was Blacktown City who countered to open the scoring late in the half as Miyazawa emerged from a goalmouth scramble to poke the ball into the back of the net following Yamauchi’s parried shot.
The hosts spurned the chance to immediately equalise as Mitchell failed to control Nathan Millgate?s inch-perfect cross on the edge of City?s 6-yard box.
The match took an interesting turn in added time as Bragg showed Millgate two sets of studs in a needless challenge that gave referee Kris Griffith-Jones little choice but to issue a straight red card on the stroke of half-time.
Blacktown City coach Mark Crittenden accounted for the setback during the interval, withdrawing the goal scorer and bringing in David Cain off the bench to steady his midfield and play with numbers behind the ball throughout the second-half.
Despite their numerical disadvantage the visitors came within inches of doubling their advantage just after the hour mark as Cain beat Saliadarre to Roodenburg?s flick on, heading the ball over the keeper and against the side of the post.
Spartans were denied by the woodwork at the other end soon after as Millgate?s 25-yard strike glanced off the crossbar on its way over.
Millgate was at his best in his defensive third minutes later, getting across from the left side of defence to block Travis Major?s route to goal after the youngster managed to weave his way past Daniel Wells and Peter Hubbard in Spartans? 18-yard box.
Blacktown City should have sealed the three points with a quarter of an hour remaining after Major picked out Cairncross in a promising position, however the dominant defender?s finish was wayward as his first time effort fizz past the near post with the goal at his mercy.
The hosts carved out a few late chances; however substitute Lord Darkoh was unable to get his head onto Mitchell?s cross before Bedzo headed over.
Crane capped off a solid night between the sticks by racing off his line to pluck the ball from Darkoh?s feet before Saliadarre produced a stunning save at the other end to deny Roodenburg a cracking goal as Blacktown City held on for the win.
Blacktown Spartans coach Ben DeHaan was left frustrated by his side?s performance in the final third, mentioning that you don?t win matches if you can?t score goals:
?It was a frustrating evening for us in front of goal again,? said DeHaan.
?Credit must go to Blacktown (City), they held us out, sat behind the ball and did what they had to do to get the victory.
?I thought we could have got back into the game, especially when the end of the first half saw us creating chances.
?But still there was no penetration there and that final instinct to get back over the line was needed.
?We?ve got a new challenge down in Wollongong (against South Coast Wolves) next week and we?re looking to bounce back; that should be a good game.?
Blacktown City FC assistance coach Kain Rastall was happy with the win, making special mention of their performance in defence:
?Definitely happy to hold on after having a man sent off at half-time,? said Rastall.
?After that it was always going to be tough in the second half but the guys stuck to their game plan and did exactly what we wanted them to do and the win was thoroughly deserved.
?Our back four and Brody (Crane) in goals was outstanding ? it?s the best game he?s put in this year.?
Rastall also played down the significance of the derby win, stating that they treated the game like any other match to maintain focus throughout the match:
?This game was talked up a lot during the week in the media so we knew these guys were going to be up for it,? said Rastall.
?For us it was more about taking the emotion out of the game and making it a football match.
?We were always confident if we did that then we?d get the points and that was good for the club, it was a good spectacle all round,? Rastall concluded.
Match Stats
Blacktown Spartans 0
Blacktown City FC 1 (Ryuji Miyazawa 42?)
Saturday April 21st, 2012
Blacktown Football Park, Rooty Hill
Referee: Kris Griffith-Jones
Assistant Referees: James Meechan and Thomas Lee
Fourth Official: Christian Mehl
Blacktown Spartans: 1.Carlos Saliadarre; 3.Nathan Millgate, 4.Daniel Wells, 5.Luke Boyd, 9.Christopher Bedzo, 10.Christopher Gomez, 11.Steven Veleski (27.Jacob Ott 77?), 15.Louis Bozanic (19.Simon Zahra 88?), 17.Peter Hubbard, 20.Sean Mitchell, 36.Tomislav Herceg (33.Lord Darkoh 59?)
Substitutes Not Used: 2.Michael Khoury, 40.Jesse Shewan
Yellow Cards: Tomislav Herceg 12?, Nathan Millgate 20?, Peter Hubbard 67?, Lord Darkoh 78?
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City FC: 1.Brody Crane; 4.Travis Major, 5.Patrick Gatt, 6.Matt Lewis, 7.Luke Roodenburg, 8.Daniel Bragg, 9. Ryuji Miyazawa, 11.Yuchi Yamauchi (12.David Cain 46?), 14.Adam Jenner, 15.Ray Miller (10.James Monie 82?), 19.Zac Cairncross
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Luke Turnbull, 18.Keiran Paull, 38.Daniel Velonio
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Daniel Bragg 45+1?
Player Ratings:
3 ? Brody Crane (BC)
2 ? Nathan Millgate (BS)
1 ? Travis Major (BC)
-By Michael Shoolman
