Monie brace sinks Parramatta FC
Despite missing four key men including captain Luke Roodenburg through suspension, Blacktown put in a performance that was good enough on the day.
Lee Sterrey?s Parramatta side went out with a far more positive game plan. They?ve been accused of ?parking the bus? in previous matches, but there was none of that this week.
The ideas were good, but Parramatta lacked the execution and they were made to suffer for any lapse in defence.
A goal in the 6? minute came against the run of play. Blacktown?s Travis Major sent the ball long, it deflected off Parramatta?s Irish defender Mark O?Reilly straight into the path of an unmarked James Monie who smashed the ball in the top corner.
Monie was in the right spot again in the 82? following a cross from substitute Daniel Vollonio. He slotted the ball into the back of the net.
The match provided few talking points, but Lee Sterrey will be on the receiving end of plenty of comments when he heads to his day job on Monday.
He works with his opposite number, Blacktown coach Mark Crittenden, and he knows he?ll have to put up with the banter throughout the week.
?There?ll be good banter in the shed. It?s been on for weeks, we knew what round the match was in and a few of the workers there have been giving me plenty,?? Sterrey said.
While it was a frustrating performance from Parramatta, there were some bright spots.
Kwabena Appiah-Kubi put in another decent performance for the home side and showed class through periods of the match, but his final ball was often lacking and he received little support up front.
The Japanese contingent on both sides proved their worth – with Blacktown?s Yuchi Yamauchi giving Parramatta?s defence several headaches, while Parramatta?s Akiyoshi Saito put in a solid performance.
Parramatta created plenty of chances, but had few clear goal scoring opportunities.
Blacktown City substitute Delor Edosomwan wasted a golden chance to take the game to 3-0 in the 89? when his shot went across the face of goal.
Blacktown coach Mark Crittenden was pleased with the result, but wasn?t blown away by the performance:
?It wasn?t the highest quality game. I give full credit to Parramatta, their tempo was good. We were a bit off the mark to be fair but sometimes you have to grind out results,? he said.
?We had four out ? Roodenburg, Gatt, Austin and Brag. I thought our two central stoppers were excellent tonight.
?It wasn?t a polished performance because Parramatta pressured us.??
Crittenden said he had anticipated that his co-worker would change his game plan for their clash?
?I knew Lee would change. Everyone says they park the bus but I knew he would have something different tonight.?
Crittenden promised he?d go easy on Sterrey at work on Monday.
?It?s been an interesting week at work. We?re pretty good mates. We don?t talk a lot of football between – it?s more between the other workers.?
The Blacktown coach said he?s pleased with his side?s progress after six rounds, and is relishing the challenge of facing champions Sydney Olympic next week:
?We?re going well, considering we?ve had ten men in four of our games. We?re sitting where we?d like to be.
?We?re hoping for three points against Olympic next week.??
Sterrey is disappointed to have missed another chance to grab those elusive three points, but he saw plenty of positives in the game.
?We knew they?d be sharp and they?d move into different areas. We knew the way they?d play, I know them very well. They?re a good side Blacktown, a top side,?? he said.
?We dropped our bundle again after the second goal, but overall I?m happy with some of the new faces and I?m happy that we opened the game up.
?Our execution in the front third is terrible. We?re looking sharp in different areas. We?ve given a lot of young kids a chance at the Premier League level and I think that?s what it?s all about.??
Sterrey said there is quality in his young side that he wants to nurture, including winger Kwabena Appiah-Kubi.
?I can?t fault his effort? it was first class. I thought Gullo was very good in the central midfield.
?Aki (Saito) has been our best player by a long mile. I think he?s an A-League player easily. We?ve got to start doing more in front of goals and in the front third.??
Sterrey said the priority is to stay in the Premier League and continue to develop the club?s core of young players.
?We?re easily the smallest budget in the league- but the quality we?ve got in the youngsters, and the experience they?re going to get playing at this level- it?s a work in progress.
?We?ve got to make sure we stay up this year. The kids we?re giving opportunities to this year will be much better player s next year.??
Match Stats
Parramatta FC 0
Blacktown City FC 2 (James Monie 6?, 82?)
Saturday May 5th, 2012
Melita Stadium, South Granville
Parramatta FC: 1.Matt Nash; 3.Andy Matloub, 4.Domenic Trimboli, 5.Mark O?Reilly, 19.Auos Altaee, 10.Akiyoshi Saito (2.Nicholas McInerney 82?), 16.Daniel Gullo, 11.Bruno Pivato (9.Aaron Peterson 71?), 13.Daniel Rezo (17.Hassan Daramy 60?), 8.Brian Soane, 14.Kwabena Appiah-Kubi
Substitutes Not Used: 18.Nicholas Napoli, 23.M. Sakowicz
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City FC: 1.Brody Crane; 3.Ryo Watanabe, 4.Travis Major (18.Kieren Paull 86?), 6.Matt Lewis, 9.Ryuji Miyazawa, 10.James Monie, 11.Yuchi Yamauchi, 12.David Cain (39.Delor Edosomwan 80?), 14.Adam Jenner, 15.Ray Miller, (13.Daniel Vollonio 67?), 19.Zac Cairncross
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Lucas Turnbull, 17.Tom Taylor;
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – James Monie (BCFC)
2 – Yuchi Yamauchi (BCFC)
1 – Akiyoshi Saito (PFC)
-By Alex Zerafa
