Marconi succumb to late equaliser at ten man Blacktown
Joey Gibbs initially grabbed the lead for Marconi late in the first-half after Blacktown were reduced to ten men following Luke Roodenburg?s dismissal.
Despite their numerical disadvantage Blacktown took the game to Marconi in the second period and was again rewarded with a late equaliser as substitute Yuchi Yamauchi volleyed his side level via the underside of the crossbar to send the home fans into raptures.
The match began in lively fashion as both sides looked to press forward right from the kick-off.
Brody Crane was on hand to cut out the first opportunity of the game; quick off his line to intercept Nathan Elasi?s through ball to deny Daniel Severino in the opening minutes.
James Monie then miscued a couple of promising opportunities at the other end, the first of which was a scuffed effort from inside 18-yard box that really should have tested Andrew Mercuri in the Marconi goal.
The latter miss came on the quarter hour mark as Monie ran onto Ray Millers? long ball and found himself one-on-one with Mercuri only to mishit his attempt to lob the onrushing keeper and send the ball harmlessly high and wide.
The host?s backline kept Marconi?s attack at bay at the other end on a number of occasions midway through the first-half; most notably Miller and debutant Ryo Watanabe?s timely interventions denied chances carved out by Shane Webb and Nahuel Arrarte respectively.
The match took an ugly turn as tempers flared on 27? minutes during an off the ball scuffle as Christopher Nunes lay bleeding from the face after a heavy challenge.
The ensuing melee resulted in a straight red card for Roodenburg ? Blacktown?s fourth red card in five matches ? leaving the remaining ten men with a tough task ahead with over an hour of football left to play.
Nunes returned to the pitch minutes later, slotting back into the left side of Marconi?s defensive line with his facial wound repaired and a fresh jersey.
The visitors were able to find a lot more space with the man advantage; Gibbs was the main beneficiary as he found himself on the end of a trio of opportunities late in the half.
Gibbs? first effort was a low driven shot from 20-yards that was denied only by a stunning diving save from Crane.
The Blacktown custodian stood no chance shortly after as Gibbs found himself in the right place at the right time to fire his side into the lead with a real poacher?s effort after a miscued defensive clearance provided the attacker with the golden opportunity he was looking for.
Gibbs almost doubled his tally deep into added time after skipping past Crane as the goalkeeper rushed off his line; however Zac Cairncross was on hand to keep his side in the match with a headed clearance to clear Gibbs? goal bound effort off the line.
The interval gave the hosts a much needed chance to reorganise their structure and formulate a plan to find their way back into the match, and they went close just after the restart as only a raised flag denied them an equaliser after Travis Major strayed into an offside position before firing Cairncross? flicked header into the back of the net.
Marconi went close with a couple of chances of their own as Webb?s dangerous cross forced Crane to tip the ball over his crossbar before Ali Haydar volleyed a glorious opportunity over from a Marconi corner.
Despite playing one man short it was Blacktown who were able to control the momentum of the second-half as they pushed forward in search of an equaliser while Marconi looked to defend their lead and create their chances purely on the counterattack.
Luke Austin fired over for the hosts around the hour mark following substitute Yamauchi?s set up, while Adam Jenner drew a brilliant save out of Mercuri after cutting inside Nunes and rifling a powerful effort at the Marconi goal.
Blacktown pressed forward in numbers and were eventually rewarded for their persistence as Yamauchi connected with Ryuji Miyazawa?s hopeful long ball to volley over Mercuri and snatch the late equaliser via the underside of the crossbar.
The home fans were jubilant after their side?s resilient performance while a crestfallen Marconi were left to rue two dropped points.
Following their late salvage effort Blacktown City FC coach Mark Crittenden was pleased with the effort of his side, yet left frustrated after ill-discipline saw his side finish with ten men yet again:
?That?s four games out of five we?ve played with ten men ? three of them in the first-half,? said Crittenden.
?Our discipline has been poor, we spoke about it during the week to try and fix it and our skipper gets himself sent off after 25? minutes or something.
?Then you look at the other side of the coin and the effort of the boys has been unbelievable ? teams just don?t know how to break us down when we go down to ten men.
?If you look at that second-half we created all the best chance, we definitely controlled the tempo.
?I think we took it to them and definitely deserved to take a point out of the game I feel.?
After Yamauchi?s late equaliser Crittenden took time to praise his Japanese imports for their contribution to his squad in their first season:
?They?re great guys,? said Crittenden.
?You take a punt sometimes ? we didn?t know a lot about them ? and technically they?re superb and they fit in fantastically well with the boys.
?It?s just a really tight knit unit we?ve got here.
?We?ll get eleven on the park soon and then might be able to hurt the opposition.
?Even with ten I don?t think they looked like scoring and we did.
?Maybe we should just start with ten each week,? joked Crittenden.
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 1 (Yuchi Yamauchi 90?+2?)
Marconi Stallions 1 (Joey Gibbs 43?)
Sunday April 29th, 2012
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Kevin Peddie
Assistant Referees: Craig Fisher and Nicholas Backo
Fourth Official: Nathan Roberts
Blacktown City FC: 1.Brody Crane; 3.Ryo Watanabe (12.David Cain 85?), 4.Travis Major, 6.Matt Lewis, 7.Luke Roodenburg, 9. Ryuji Miyazawa, 10.James Monie (11.Yuchi Yamauchi 60?), 15.Ray Miller (13.Daniel Vellonio 79?), 16.Luke Austin, 19.Zac Cairncross
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Luke Turnbull, 18.Keiran Paull
Yellow Cards: Luke Austin 70?
Red Cards: Luke Roodenburg 27?
Marconi Stallions: 40.Andrew Mercuri; 2.Andrew Mailer, 3.Ali Haydar, 4.Umut Tokdogan, 6.Shane Webb, 7.Sean O?Connell, 8.Joey Gibbs (15.Alan Da La Cuadra 90?), 11.Nathan Elasi, 16.Daniel Severino (19.Damian Travis 75?), 23.Christopher Nunes, 26.Nahuel Arrarte (9.Keith Shelvin 66?)
Substitutes Not Used: 21.Kresimir Kurdan, 39.Frank Martey
Yellow Cards: Keith Shelvin 85?
Red Cards: nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Ray Miller (BCFC)
2 ? Shane Webb (MS)
1 ? Yuchi Yamauchi (BCFC)
-By Michael Shoolman
