Blacktown City claim derby bragging rights against Spartans
The narrow margin could have been wider had the hosts produced more clinical finishing after taking an early lead through Sean Rooney.
Chance after chance went begging for City until substitute Yuchi Yamauchi doubled the host?s advantage late in the second-half before Greg Kondek?s consolation goal in the closing minutes made for a tight finish as City held on for the win.
Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic was spotted in the stands before kick off; keeping a watchful eye over local talent as he progressively recruits for the region?s exciting new A-League club.
Chris Gaitatzis was first to be handed a goal scoring opportunity following Ryuji Miyazawa?s foul on the edge of his box in the opening minutes ? the Spartans? midfielder drilled a powerful effort into a cluster of players which was deflected clear by Travis Major.
City were more clinical at the other end with their first chance of the match minutes later; Ray Miller?s brilliant solo effort saw him charge past consecutive challenges and into the Spartans box before crossing low for Rooney to sneak the ball past Carlos Saliadarre for the opening goal.
Shortly after taking the lead City?s chances took a blow with a groin injury to first-choice keeper Brody Crane, with Luke Turnbull coming off the bench to take his place between the sticks having just finished playing in Grade-20 Division only half an hour earlier.
Turnbull?s first taste of action saw the substitute custodian forced to punch clear Peter Hubbard?s dangerous cross; the ball fell to Gaitatzis who volleyed wide from 25-yards.
City pressed forward in search of a second yet failed to find the target as Daniel Bragg and Major fired efforts wide from outside the box.
Major managed to divert a header goalward after great lead up player from Miller and Miyazawa; however his header lacked conviction and allowed Saliadarre to make the simplest of saves to keep his side in contention.
Steven Veleski got in on the action at the other end, making full use of the advantage given by referee Alex Glasgow after Zac Cairncross? foul on Gaitatzis to find space to shoot.
The powerful effort stung the palms of Turnbull and was hacked clear by the City backline before Cairncross saw yellow for his unruly challenge and Sean Mitchell entered the fray to replace the injured Gaitatzis.
The hosts began to create chance after chance for themselves yet lacked the lethal touch that saw them take the early lead.
Miyazawa picked out Rooney unmarked in the box however the goal scorer failed to replicate his early feat as he dallied on the ball and was quickly shut down by the Spartans defence.
Miller came close soon after as his shot was deflected narrowly wide before Rooney dragged a powerful low drive just wide from 30-yards minutes later.
Cairncross let the best chance of the half slip late soon after as Spartans failed to deal with a well-weighted corner; the defender received the ball unmarked at the far post only to fire over with the goal at his mercy.
City continued to press forward in search of a two-goal margin before the break yet Saliadarre held firm as Spartans trailed by the single goal going into the interval.
The hosts looked for more of the same after emerging from the sheds yet continued to let themselves down with wayward finishing as Saliadarre spilt Rooney?s cross into Miller?s path; the winger knocked his finish over the crossbar.
Spartans could and probably should have punished City minutes later as Miller?s slip in defence allowed Chris Gomez to charge through on goal.
Turnbull was quick off his line to assert pressure on the Spartans attacker whose panicked finish bobbled wide of the far post, much to the relief of the home fans.
Rooney put Luke Roodenburg into space at the other end soon after; the City captain looked to return the favour with an assist yet a crucial sliding intervention from Hubbard cut out any present danger to the Spartans goal.
Another mazy run from Miller brought the crowd to its feet just before the hour mark, yet the winger?s finish let him down once again as he curled his finish well wide.
The visitors responded with a well constructed attacking move which put Greg Kondek into a yard of space on the edge of the box; Kondek drew a fine low save from Turnbull to maintain his side?s lead.
Rooney should have put the result to rest midway through the half as Miyazawa handed him a golden opportunity on the counter, however Saliadarre was quick off his line to narrow Rooney?s angle and produce a brilliant save.
City finally found their second on 80? minutes as Miller charged down the left flank and picked out Yuchi Yamauchi on the edge of the 6-yard box.
The substitute made no mistake with his first chance of the match, firing a crisp finish into the roof off the net to give his side some breathing space and more than justify Mark Crittenden?s decision to inject him into his attack.
Spartans came alive late in the half as Gomez placed his finish wide from Kondek?s cross, however Kondek did manage to pull a goal back soon after.
The City backline appeared to momentarily switch off and Kondek duly punished their lack of concentration, sending a rocket past Turnbull and into the back of the net to get his side back in the match and set the stage for a tense finish.
While Spartans pressed forward in search of a dramatic late equaliser, City could well have wrapped up the win late in the match as Major charged through the visitor?s exposed backline and rattled the crossbar with his powerful finish.
The rebound fell to Yamauchi who saw his finish bravely cleared off the line by Djordie Degenek.
The trademark late drama of Lily Homes Stadium ended there as City held on to secure all three points, and bragging rights, after an entertaining derby Sunday.
Blacktown City FC coach Mark Crittenden was happy with the result, yet thought his side could have wrapped up the win in more convincing fashion with the amount of chances they had throughout the 90-minutes:
?I?m happy,? said Crittenden.
?I thought we did enough to win the game comfortably to be honest.
?We probably should have put them away in the first-half with the amount of chances we created.
?We didn?t take those chances and left them in the game which is always dangerous because they?ll keep coming ? the Spartans ? and they?ll keep trying against us, especially in the derby.
?It?s been a good weekend for the club; seven games and seven results (wins across all divisions).
?Obviously loosing Brody (Crane) and having the young boy (Luke Turnbull) come in can be unsettling but he did well.
?Overall I?m happy; the three points keep us in amongst the crowd at the top.?
With his side well poised to hold onto a place in the NSW Premier League finals, Crittenden urged his players to keep focus as a poor run of results would be detrimental to their cause:
?This league?s very close,? said Crittenden.
?Every week results are all over the place at the moment.
?So you?ve got to turn up each week and prepare for the team you?re playing against and see what happens.
?We?ll do our best.?
Blacktown Spartans coach Ben De Haan was proud of his team?s effort today and thought they were unlucky not to salvage a point with their late flurry:
?It was good effort,? said De Haan.
?They boys tried hard today.
?We just had to press a little higher and not let the chances come through.
?I thought we may have done enough to squeeze a result.
?Gomez was unlucky in the one-on-one.
?We had a lot of juice left at the back end of the game and we started to get some momentum.
?Even though we?d worked hard we still had a bit left in the tank.
?The boys are very fit and up for it but we can?t just leave it until the last twenty.?
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 2 (Sean Rooney 6?, Yuchi Yamauchi 80?)
Blacktown Spartans 1 (Greg Kondek 87?)
Sunday, July 15th, 2012
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Alex Glasgow
Assistant Referees: Nick Backo and Steven Ngyuen
Fourth Official: Adrian Hindt
Blacktown City FC: 1.Brody Crane (20.Luke Turnbull 9?); 4.Travis Major, 6.Matt Lewis, 3.Ryo Watanabe, 19.Zac Cairncross, 7.Luke Roodenburg (11.Yuchi Yamauchi 68?), 8.Daniel Bragg, 9. Ryuji Miyazawa, 15.Ray Miller, 17.Sean Rooney (10.James Monie 85?), 18.Keiran Paull
Substitutes Not Used: 16.Dylan Vorster, 12.David Cain
Yellow Cards: Zac Cairncross 25?, Ray Miller 86?
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown Spartans: 1.Carlos Saliadarre; 3.Nathan Millgate, 5.Luke Boyd, 6.Greg Kondek, 7.Chris Gaitatzis (20.Sean Mitchell 27?), 8.Djordie Degenek, 10.Christopher Gomez, 11.Steven Veleski (22.Andre Carle 73?), 14.Jonathan Castano-Acero, 17.Peter Hubbard (27.Jacob Ott 81?), 29.Chris Bush
Substitutes Not Used: 13.Hiroaki Kawasaki, 40.Jesse Shewan
Yellow Cards: Nathan Millgate 63?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Michael Shoolman
