Suns take points in epic battle at Lily Homes Stadium
Blacktown City were hoping to make inroads on local rivals Bonnyrigg White Eagles? lead at the top of the NSW Premier League table after their slip up against Sutherland Sharks the previous evening, though today?s visitors are made of stern stuff under the tutelage of Rudan, and the Suns left the Blacktown City supporters stunned
Luke Roodenburg, Blacktown City?s captain, was presented with a plaque prior to kick-off to celebrate his 200th game, a feat achieved some weeks before.
The day was tinged with sadness for the Schembri household and our sincere condolences to the family on the loss of Ken?s mother this week, a tribute honoured by the players who wore black armbands as a sign of respect. R.I.P.
Visiting Takuya Muruyama attempted an audacious shot from 30-yards out in the 2? minute that whistled wide of the framework yet it showed the intent Rockdale arrived at the ground with.
Anthony Perri followed it up with a shot from outside the box that goalkeeper Brody Crane gratefully gathered for Blacktown City as they weathered the early pressure from the visitors who were the quicker in finding their rhythm.
Blacktown City were never uneasy with the Suns attention but struggled to make headway in the first 15? minutes and didn?t create any worthwhile chances as they bided their time and awaited the storm to blow itself out.
Yuchi Yamauchi played the ball to Luke Roodenburg in the 22? minute, who in turn played in Ray Miller to run into the box and unleash the best effort of the match to that point that Rockdale ?keeper Ryan Norval did well to tip over the bar.
The resultant corner came to nothing however, as both teams showed slick passing and pace going forward and in defence.
Lawson misdirected a header wide as the match finally settled into a more sedate stage with the midfield bogged down into a stalemate affair with neither able to break the stranglehold.
Blacktown City slowly slowed the advances of Rockdale and began to create a few half-chances of their own with Yamauchi regularly being caught offside as the Suns defence stepped up.
A Tommy Cirjak corner in the 36? minute was met by a glancing header by Pece Cvetanovski that took a couple of deflections on its way into the net to give Rockdale the lead.
Yamauchi was making himself busy down the Blacktown City left and weaved his way inside the box, but his cross was put out by Askin Oygur for a corner that again the home side were unable to capitalise on.
The half finished with Rockdale deservedly one goal to the good and the prospect of an equally intriguing second 45? minutes to follow.
Sean Rooney replaced Yamauchi at the start of the second-half as coach Mark Crittenden made changes for Blacktown City, however when Suns captain Peter Apolevski sent over a cross it found the head of Alex Urosevski to head home the second goal of the game catching City cold in the opening minute of the stanza.
The home side responded by going up the other end in the 50? minute and after a goalmouth mix-up the ball fell to Ray Miller to finally beat Norval between the sticks and reduce the lead as City roused from their slumber.
It was the turn of Rockdale to soak up the pressure coming their way as the hosts found another gear and took it forward in search of an equaliser they were looking increasingly likely to find.
Zac Cairncross can count himself unlucky to be cautioned when adjudged to have a high foot against Urosevski in the 56? minute that required the Suns young striker to receive treatment on the pitch, but the resultant free-kick into the box saw the ball bobble around before being cleared but there was no accounting for what happened next.
Urosevski took an inswinging corner in the 58? minute that eluded everyone, including Brody Crane who managed to get a palm on it before it nestled in the back of the net to once again give Rockdale a two goal lead.
Anthony Perri almost increased the lead further in the 61? minute but for an outstanding save by Crane as Blacktown went forward and left gaps at the back to be exploited by the pace of a by now rampant Rockdale City.
Ryuji Miyazawa played in Roodenburg on the right but this time the trusty right foot let the midfielder-cum-striker down as he blasted way over the top as the ball took a bobble just before the strike.
Perri again tested the Blacktown defence with a delicate swerving chip from the edge of the box that beat Crane but not the crossbar in the 71? minute, as the Suns attempted to wrap up the game.
Miyazawa did pull one back in the 79? minute with a deflected shot for Blacktown City as they sensed they might be able to get something from a game perhaps they shouldn?t do but they were finishing the stronger.
Rooney was through on goal but off balance but Norval was able to get down to his right at the feet of the Blacktown striker and deny another opportunity as the home side came home strongly.
In the final seconds Travis Major had a handball request turned down with the ball falling to Roodenburg who played to the whistle and found Norval not lacking in a point-blank save.
Blacktown pressed and won a corner in the final minute that Adam Jenner headed wide and the home side were left to rue missed opportunities.
Kane Rastall, Assistant Coach of Blacktown City commented afterwards:
?We?ve probably come up against Rockdale at the wrong time, they?ve been on a roll obviously for the four to five weeks and to be fair they outplayed us today and deserved the points.
?We were a bit flat and we have no arguments there.
?We thought it might have been a replay of some of our earlier game this season,? he continued.
?Where we snatched something late on but they proved very dangerous on set pieces and we talked about that as they have some tall timber in the ranks and we paid for that here.
?Two of the three goals were from set pieces so no arguments from us today.?
A jubilant Rockdale City Suns coach Mark Rudan was all smiles following the match:
?Blacktown is a tough place to visit and get something from.
?They are a team that has been flying and have the results on the board and deservedly so it was always going to be a tough one for us especially as our away form hasn?t been brilliant this term and was something we needed to address.
?I really thought we deserved the victory more today as we hit the bar and went one on one with the ?keeper and perhaps should have scored more but they had chances too so it all tends to even out over a match or a season.
?We stuck to the game plan and look at tinkering with formation and tactics depending on who we are playing each week and everyone is switched on at training, eyes are open, ears are listening and this is a terrific bunch of guys to be working with.
?I couldn?t be prouder of what they are achieving at the moment, particularly as we needed to back up the good work of last weekend,? Rudan ended.
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 2 (Miller 50?, Miyazawa 79?)
Rockdale City Suns 3 (Cvetanovski 36?, Urosevski 46?, 58?)
Sunday 24th June, 2012
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Chris Young
Assistant Referees: Craig Fisher and Matthew Cropper
Fourth Official: Sebastien Brennan
Blacktown City FC: 1.Brody Crane; 3.Ryo Watanabe, 6.Matt Lewis, 7.Luke Roodenburg (C), 8.Daniel Bragg, 9.Ryuji Miyazawa, 11.Yuchi Yamauchi (17.Sean Rooney 46?), 15.Ray Miller, 16.Luke Austin (4.Travis Major 72?), 18.Kieren Paull (14.Adam Jenner 59?), 19.Zach Cairncross
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Luke Turnbull
Yellow Cards: Cairncross 56?
Red Cards: Nil
Rockdale City Suns: 1.Ryan Norval; 2.Takuya Muruyama, 6.Joshua Lawson, 5.Pece Cvetanovski, 7.Peter Apolevski (C), 8.Paul Kohler, 9.Dylan Macallister, 18.Alec Urosevski (11.David Talevski 87?), 15.Tom Cirjak, 16.Anthony Perri (17.Sash Tirovski 80?), 23.Askin Oygur
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Giorgio Speranza, 10.Jason Naidovski, 22.Aaron Liddell
Yellow Cards: Perri 54?, Macallister 66?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Micky Brock
