Blacktown keep season alive with Wolves scalp
After Travis Major saw an early penalty saved goals to Adam Jenner and Zac Cairncross before the interval put Blacktown on their way.
Despite Ricky Zucco pulling a goal back shortly after the restart the visitors held on to progress while Wolves bow out with their heads held high after an encouraging season for the Illawarra based club.
The afternoon?s windy conditions gave both side problems throughout the match in a game, making any high balls incredibly difficult to judge in both attack and defence.
Jacob Timpano gave his backline an early scare as he cheaply conceded possession in the opening minute; Daniel Collison made up for the error as he spread his frame to save Yuchi Yamauchi?s attempt on goal.
Luke Roodenburg?s casual back pass gifted Wolves a similar opportunity, however Brody Crane safely gathered Zucco?s cross after Peter Simonovski alertly stole possession.
Blacktown was awarded an early penalty soon after when Major was felled by Jack Keating after running onto Yamauchi?s route-one through ball.
Major picked himself to take the ensuing spot-kick only to have his mind read by Collison as the Wolves custodian picked the right way to block the penalty and safely gather the ball at his second attempt.
With early nerves out of the way the hosts began to build attacking opportunities of their own as Zucco blazed wide with a first-time strike from 25-yards after fine lead up work by Simonovski.
Simonovski almost found himself through on goal minutes later only to be denied by Cairncross? timely intervention.
The visitors broke the deadlock midway through the first-half with an opportunistic finish by Jenner.
Desperate last ditch defending appeared to have staved off any imminent danger; however a weak clearance was intercepted by Jenner who took full advantage with a powerful strike from the edge of the box that rocketed past Collison to give Blacktown the advantage.
Wolves responded immediately and came within inches of equalising as Simonovski?s cross narrowly evaded the outstretched leg of Sasho Petrovski as the experience striker darted toward the far post.
Zucco went even closer on the half hour mark with a marvellous curled free-kick that was unfortunate to find no more than the side netting from 30-yards.
Momentum swung back in favour of Blacktown soon after as Collison was called into action to deny goal bound efforts by Major and Keiran Paull.
Blacktown?s increase in pressure paid off late in the half as they doubled their advantage from the set piece.
Matt Lewis? curled delivery caused havoc in the box and Cairncross was first to react as he bundled the ball into the back of the net at the far post.
After lengthy debate with referee Jason Blackwood regarding the positioning of Blacktown?s wall Zucco threatened from the set piece once again minutes later, this time drawing a fine low diving save from Crane to keep his former club scoreless going into the break.
Wolves emerged from the sheds with renewed attacking ambition and found themselves back in contention shortly after the restart.
A swift counterattack began with Collison; having gather Jenner?s cross the young keeper?s quick distribution saw the hosts break forward and play Zucco through on goal.
The enigmatic attacker made no mistake, crisply knocking the ball past Crane to pull a goal back for his side.
The hosts continued to press forward in search of an equaliser while Blacktown was forced to sit back and absorb the continual pressure.
Petrovski found his stride in the second-half and began playing a more integral role in Wolves attack.
His flick header gave Zucco a half-chance which was harmlessly volleyed over from a narrow angle.
Chris Nathaniel volleyed over at one end while Jenner failed to replicate his first half finish at the other soon after as he fired over from the edge of the box.
Tempers boiled over midway through the half following Samuel Jacob?s high foot on Yamauchi.
James Monie stoked the fire with a shove that left Jacob sprawled across the turf; once the situation was under control both were shown yellow cards for their antics.
A miracle ball from Jenner caught the Wolves backline flat soon after, allowing Cairncross to slip through unmarked.
Wolves were let off the hook with a typical defender?s finish as Cairncross miscued his shot, placing it high and wide of goal.
Keating?s long ball was misread in the air by Roodenburg soon after; the ball sat up nicely for Zucco who sent a powerful effort just wide of goal.
Interim coach Richard Lloyd was forced to roll the dice late on, withdrawing Jacob Timpano from defence before injecting Mark Picciolini into his attack in a late bid to salvage the game.Wolves continued their hunt for an equaliser only to be denied by the visitor?s defensive numbers as Jacob?s first time shot was deflected clear.
The hosts last chance came from the set piece as all players including Collison crowded the Blacktown box for Simonovski?s corner; Picciolini rose the highest the meet the cross only to divert his header narrowly wide as Blacktown held on for the win.
The loss will do little to take the shine off Wolves? stellar season while Blacktown?s campaign will continue next weekend as they search for silverware in 2012.
Blacktown City FC coach Mark Crittenden was pleased to progress after battling their way through a tough do-or-die fixture:
?It was always going to be tough to come here,? said Crittenden.
?They?ve had a great season, the ground isn?t the best in the league, and the wind made it very tough.
?It was never going to be a pretty game; it was a battle.
?We got the two goals in the first-half which was good and we hung on a little bit in the second half with the breeze coming down the ground.?
With the elimination semi-final now out of the way Crittenden refused to be drawn into speculation about their next opponent, stating that they will be ready for the clash regardless of who they face:
?Whoever we play we?ll just turn up and do the best we can,? said Crittenden.
?They?re two good sides; I don?t know who will win.
?We?ll have a watch tomorrow and hope they belt each other and have players sent off ? that?d be handy for us.
?As I said they?re both good sides and we?ll just prepare ourselves and whoever we?ll play we?ll be ready,? Crittenden concluded.
With Trevor Morgan on duty with Western Sydney Wanderers youth team, South Coast Wolves interim coach Richard Lloyd was happy with his side?s accomplishments this season:
?I?m happy with the way the guys played,? said Lloyd.
?They applied themselves throughout this season and the two weeks that Trev has been away they?ve put in under my coaching.
?It was a great experience and I wish we could have topped it off with a win so that Trevor could come back and finish the job but that?s just the way it goes.?
With the club moving in the right direction Lloyd is set to take the reins next season as the club look to build upon this season?s result.
?It was very encouraging,? said Lloyd.
?We finished in the top four after a culmination of three years of hard work by Trevor, a core group of players here, and also the volunteers that turn up week in week out to help out.
?I?m on board for next season and looking forward to the challenge of adding value to what we?ve done.
?We?re going to try get as many local guys to be a part of it as we can.
?We?ll shape up very well as we?ve got a very unique area down here and can draw from a lot of players.
?The guys probably aren?t thinking about next year after today?s loss but we?ll regroup and have a chat in a couple of weeks to see what we can come up with,? Lloyd concluded.
Match Stats
South Coast Wolves 1 (Ricky Zucco 48?)
Blacktown City FC 2 (Adam Jenner 24?, Zac Cairncross 39?)
Saturday September 8th, 2012
John Crehan Park, Cringella
Referee: Jason Blackwood
Assistant Referees: Sarah Ho and Michelle Allen
Fourth Official: Adrian Arndt
South Coast Wolves: 1.Daniel Collison; 2.Jack Keating, 4.Michael Robinson, 5.Samuel Jacob, 6.Nick Littler, 8.Chris Nathaniel, 10.Sasho Petrovski, 11.John Martinovski (14.Fabian Iacovelli 60?), 13.Peter Simonovski, 17.Ricky Zucco, 26.Jacob Timpano (9.Mark Picciolini 85?)
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Mitchell Del Turco, 7.Cameron Littler, 20.Hayden Durose
Yellow Cards: Chris Nathaniel 45?, Samuel Jacob 69?
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City FC: 1.Brody Crane; 4.Travis Major (17. Luke Clifford 90?+2?), 6.Matt Lewis, 7.Luke Roodenburg, 8.Daniel Bragg (16.Yianni Perkatis 81?), 9. Ryuji Miyazawa, 10.James Monie, 11.Yuchi Yamauchi (12.David Cain 82?), 14.Adam Jenner, 18.Keiran Paull, 19.Zac Cairncross
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Ryo Watanabe, 20.Luke Turnbull
Yellow Cards: James Monie 69?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Michael Shoolman
