Marconi secure maximum points against Blacktown City
At stake was a vital three points given the closeness of both teams on the ladder and Marconi managed to take all three on offer. However, that?s not to say that Blacktown City FC didn?t play some good football and, arguably with a bit of luck, may have even taken the points themselves.
After the game both coaches, Luke Casserly of Marconi and Mark Crittenden of Blacktown, acknowledged how the first-half ? where Blacktown City FC failed to capitalise on their chances ? was perhaps the key half of the game.
Up high in the grandstand watching the game was the new coaching duo of Western Sydney Wanderers, Tony Popovic and Ante Milicic, in one of their many scouting missions for the new A-League franchise.
Inevitably the Wanderers will draw on players from the NSW Premier League and these two teams in particular on display at Marconi Stadium fall right into the catchment area of the Wanderers.
Luke Casserly was definitely pleased with his side?s performance, but as always very sportingly pointed out how things may have been different had Blacktown City FC converted some clear chances.
?When you look at the context of the table it?s a very, very big three points,? he said. ?We said at the start of the year that we wanted to get ourselves into a position to play finals football, but the top five is very, very tight.
?Blacktown is a good team, one of the best in the league, and therefore to get the three points pleases me immensely.
?I think we have some good footballers and a group of players who are working really, really hard for each other. They did that again tonight.
?We rode our luck a little bit though. Blacktown had some good chances in the first half and they missed a penalty, so it was far from easy going for us. However, we worked hard and took our chances. To win 3-1, I couldn?t be happier.?
The run home for Marconi in the next six rounds is rather difficult and things will start to heat up even more so next week as the team makes its way down to Wollongong to face the in-form South Coast Wolves on Saturday night.
?We don?t have an easy game from here on in,? Casserly stated. ?We have almost all teams who are in contention for the finals and we have seen, week in and week out, that anyone can beat anyone this year.
?We just have to maintain the discipline and the work ethic that we have and hopefully that will carry us through.?
The early chance fell to Blacktown City FC after some nice lead up play saw the ball reach Luke Roodenburg but his hastily taken shot on the run ended up just wide.
In the 17? minute Blacktown City should really have taken the lead but somehow young Lachlan Tibbles between the sticks turned a certain goal away for a corner.
Roodenburg split the Marconi defence with an outstanding ball to Ryuji Miyazawa who found himself charging towards Tibbles. His attempted chip seemed certain to finish in the back of the net until the young shot stopper dived beautifully to his left and turned it away.
In the 27? minute Marconi took the lead when a pinpoint accurate cross from the right by Christopher Nunes reached Joey Gibbs who, unmarked, simply headed the ball home. It was all too easy.
A few minutes later Blacktown City FC tried to hit back to no avail: a free-kick from the right by Matt Lewis beat all and sundry except Tibbles who, at full stretch, turned the ball away.
In the 34? minute Blacktown were at it again: a delightful ball from Miyazawa made its way to Sean Rooney who on the run volleyed just over the crossbar. It was a close call indeed.
At this stage Blacktown were on the rampage and another chance soon followed. Ray Miller, who was creating havoc down the left flank, cut a swathe through the defence and found Rooney at close range; however, the latter?s attempt was once again met by a courageous Tibbles off his line.
Marconi had a late chance in the first stanza of play when Gibbs risked losing the ball in the box, but then fought hard to keep possession and got a shot in which rebounded off the base of the post and away for a goal kick.
Early in the second-half Marconi scored again. A rather ordinary cross was met by some poor defending and Gibbs, with far too much time on his hands, simply lined up his shot and fired into the bottom right hand corner of the net despite Luke Turnbull?s best efforts to get to the ball.
Mark Crittenden said afterwards that this goal was practically the dagger through his team?s heart.
?It was poor defence,? he said. ?Slipping over on the surface and then the ball basically goes underneath the ?keeper?s arms.
?We spoke at half-time that we needed to be the first team to score a goal in the second half, but then to cop a soft goal like that puts you on the back foot.
?We then missed a penalty, so it was probably one those nights where we were not meant to win.?
In the 53? minute a free-kick by Lewis met the hand of a Marconi defender in the box and referee Kris Griffith Jones, who is one of the best in the business, simply didn?t hesitate to award the penalty.
Travis Major though fired in his powerful spot kick straight into the base of the upright despite Tibbles guessing the direction of the shot. Whether the goalkeeper would have reached it, had it been a few centimetres inside the post, is really a moot point because luck wasn?t on Blacktown?s side.
In the 62? minute Marconi had their third. A partially cleared cross found its way to Daniel Severino who with a powerful drive steered the ball into the back of the net. Once again it appeared that nothing could go right for the visitors.
Blacktown nevertheless hit back almost immediately. Yuchi Yamauchi, not long on the field, raced down the left flank and from near the six yard box drove home his shot for Blacktown?s only goal.
In the 66? minute a powerful blast by Nunes from outside the box was beautifully tipped over the crossbar by Turnbull for a corner. And, despite a substantial period of time left on the clock, neither side failed to register anything of significance.
?The first-half cost us to be fair,? Crittenden said. ?We probably had the better of the first-half and we created three or four really genuine chances.
?However, on paper they [Marconi] are probably the best side in the league. They were at full strength tonight and thoroughly deserved their win. They are a very experienced side.
?I was very disappointed to go in down at halftime. Each week we create so many chances but we are not clinical enough in the last third. We are matching the best teams but we don?t find the net and that?s the difference.?
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions 3 (Gibbs 27?, 47?, Severino 62?)
Blacktown City FC 1(Yamauchi 64?)
Saturday 21st July, 2012
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Referee: Kris Griffith Jones
Assistant Referees: N. Wotton and T. Lee
Fourth Official: L. Pigram
Marconi Stallions: 40.Lachlan Tibbles; 4.Umut Tokdogan, 6.Shane Webb, 9.Keith Shevlin, 10.Joey Gibbs, 11.Nathan Elasi, 15.Wade Oostendorp, 16.Daniel Severino (42.Brendan Cholakian 73?), 18.Jamie McMaster, 23.Christopher Nunes, 26.Nahuel Arrarte
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Ali Haydar, 8.Trent Barton, 19.Damien Travis
Yellow Cards: Shevlin 45?+1, Nunes 74?
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City FC: 20.Luke Turnbull; 3.Ryo Watanabe (12.David Cain 81?), 4.Travis Major, 6.Matt Lewis, 7.Luke Roodenburg (10.James Monie 68?), 8.Daniel Bragg, 9.Ryuji Miyazawa (11.Yuchi Yamauchi 59?), 15.Ray Miller, 17.Sean Rooney, 18.Kieren Paull, 19.Zac Cairncross
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Blake Luxford, 16.Dillon Vorster
Yellow Cards: Cairncross 32?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Joe Russo
