Blacktown hold off resurgent Parramatta FC for impressive victory
David Cain?s early opener appeared to put the hosts on their way before Parramatta?s luckless second-half surge was halted by late goals to Ryuji Miyazawa and Sean Rooney.
With the likes of Daniel Pivato and Aaron Pederson backing up from Parramatta?s Under 20s match, the afternoon?s fixture was always going to be tough on tired legs against experienced opposition.
The match opened up right from the outset as both sides were able to forge early chances.
Graziano Trimboli volleyed an early chance wide for the visitors before Luke Roodenburg darted onto James Monie?s flicked header only to produce an unconvincing finish which easily held.
Yuchi Yamauchi, who proved to be a nightmare for the Parramatta backline throughout the match with his mazy dribbling skills, drew a foul on the wing to provide the hosts with their first chance from the set piece.
Matt Lewis produced an inch perfect cross, finding the Zac Cairncross at the far post; the dominant defender?s goal-bound header was tipped wide by Matthew Nash with a brilliant diving save.
The hosts did not have to wait long to find their opener as Parramatta failed to clear their defensive lines soon after, allowing Cain to pounce onto the loose ball to volley past Nash from the edge of the box to grab the early advantage.
Parramatta FC looked to respond immediately through Pivato, however Luke Turnbull was equal to the task; well positioned to hold Pivato?s header.
The early flurry of chances soon slowed as both defensive lines settled into the tempo of the match.
Wandi Jajaw found himself in a promising position with the Blacktown backline exposed by a long ball around the quarter hour mark; however the striker?s run was halted by a brave Ryo Watanabe challenge at last man.
Nash provided his side with a scare on the half hour as he spilt a long ball at the expense of a corner; Cain then headed Lewis? ensuing ball wide of goal.
Blacktown continued to press forward in search of a second goal with Luke Roodenburg seeing his effort saved before Cairncross headed wide from yet another Lewis free kick ? this time from deep.
The visitors came close to stealing an equaliser late in the half as Jajaw?s attacking movement opened up the Blacktown defence once again; however Jajaw was forced wide and saw his shot well saved by Turnbull as Blacktown held their lead going into the break.
The hosts came incredibly close to doubling their advantage soon after the restart when Daniel Bragg put Roodenburg one-on-one with Nash; the custodian produced a brave double save before seeing the Blacktown captain?s third attempt cannon back off the near post and cleared for a corner.
Jajaw came close to levelling the scores soon after as he turned his marker on the edge of the box and unleashed powerful low effort only to be denied once again by Turnbull who got his fingertips to the shot to tip the ball away for a corner.
In their search for an equaliser, Parramatta left themselves exposed at the back just before the hour mark, forcing Graziano Trimboli to produce a much needed foul on Monie at the expense of a yellow card to halt Blacktown?s dangerous counterattacking move.
Daniel Rezo looked to get himself in on the action with a few attempts from long-range, with Turnbull producing confident saves either side of one wayward effort from 25-yards.
Despite the visitors controlling the tempo and looking increasingly likely to level the scores, Blacktown earned themselves some breathing space as they found their second of the afternoon via a swift counterattack.
It was Blacktown?s Japanese imports that did the damage as Yamauchi played Miyazawa through on goal; the latter made no mistake, drilling the ball inside the near post to bring the home supporters to their feet.
Parramatta should have pulled a goal back late in the match, yet their failure to find the back of the net summed up their unfortunate afternoon in front of goal.
With next to no angle to work with, Jajaw miraculously squeezed a shot over Turnbull only to see Watanabe slide to clear the ball off the line.
Rezo hit the rebound, which although travelling wide did find Pivato unmarked at the far post; however the former Blacktown player inexplicably touched the ball wide with the goal at his mercy.
Both sides then squandered golden opportunities as substitute Sean Rooney rounded Nash only to fire well wide before Jajaw lobbed over with only Turnbull to beat at the other end.
Rooney did however find his goal in the last minute of normal time, rising to head a Lewis cross past Nash to wrap up the scoring as Blacktown remained on course for finals football.
Blacktown City FC assistant coach Kain Rastall was happy with the result, admitting that his side may have rode their luck yet believing they deserved the three points today:
?I?ll always take a 3-0 result ? especially after how our results have been of late,? said Rastall.
?At 1-0 midway through the second-half we took our foot off the pedal and the game overall became a bit scrappy.
?Luckily for us they missed their chances, but over the ninety minutes I think we were comfortably the better team.?
The win sees Blacktown regather their place in the top five, and Rastall is confident that his side can see out the remaining matches to ensure they will be competing for silverware at the season?s end:
?The win puts us back in the five,? said Rastall.
?We?ve got a massive game next week against Sydney Olympic who are running equal or just above us.
?It?s backs to the wall now for the next few weeks, but we?re confident we can get a couple of results and will be there at the end of the year.?
Having watched his side squander several opportunities to find a route back into the match, Parramatta FC coach Lee Sterrey was thoroughly disappointed with the result:
?I?m disappointed considering we were in the game,? said Sterrey.
?We gave away the goal in the first-half, and then we were playing in the right areas but weren?t using the ball well enough when we did get possession.
?In the second-half I said we were still in the game as all it takes is one kick.
?In the first twenty of the second we had plenty of the football.
?Goals change games ? Wandi (Jajaw) missed a chance and then we get a free kick 85-yards from our goal, don?t get the ball in the box, and they counterattack to make it 2-0 and put us out of the game.
?Up until then we were right in the game at 1-0 down, and we had enough chances to get ourselves back into the game and didn?t take them.
?Bottom line is we?re not taking our chances, and when we?ve got four players out it?s pretty tough on our roster.?
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 3 (David Cain 7?, Ryuji Miyazawa 74?, Sean Rooney 90?)
Parramatta FC 0
Sunday July 29th, 2012
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Jason Blackwood
Assistant Referees: Paul Faithfull and Jerry Bitas
Fourth Official: Gareth Williams
Blacktown City FC: 20.Luke Turnbull; 3.Ryo Watanabe, 18.Keiran Paull, 6.Matt Lewis, 19.Zac Cairncross, 12.David Cain, 7.Luke Roodenburg, 8.Daniel Bragg (16.Dillon Vorster 87?), 9.Ryuji Miyazawa, 10.James Monie (17.Sean Rooney 60?), 11.Yuchi Yamauchi (14.Adam Jenner 75?)
Substitutes Not Used: 61.Blake Tuxford
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Parramatta FC: 1.Matthew Nash; 4.Domenic Trimboli, 18.Nicholas Napoli, 2.Farres Aoun (16.Stipe Jalouljevic 73?), 15.Masaki Nomoto, 9.Aaron Pederson (7.Patrick Dixon 79?), 11.Bruno Pivato, 10.Akiyoshi Saito, 6.Graziano Trimboli (8.Bryan Soane 62?), 14.Wandi Jajaw, 19.Daniel Rezo
Substitutes Not Used: 17.Mohamed Musa, 40.Michael Sakowicz
Yellow Cards: Aaron Pederson 41?, Graziano Trimboli 59?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Michael Shoolman
