Minor Semi-Final: Blacktown City ends brave Sydney Olympic title defence at Belmore
In a match dominated by Sydney Olympic for large spells, it was the immense work ethic of Blacktown City that saw Mark Crittenden?s men triumph courtesy of Ryuji Miyazawa goal poacher?s strike early in the second-half.
Blacktown City rode its luck in the closing stages as Sydney Olympic pressed for an equaliser, though in the end the Luke Roodenburg led side grouped together to contain the Blues? best forward forays to setup a shot against Marconi Stallions and a potential grand-final berth.
The supporters present at Belmore Sports Ground were greeted with an extremely fast-paced opening to the encounter.
Sydney Olympic carved out the first chance down the right when Will Angel dispossessed youngster Matt Lewis. The speedy winger drove to the byline before squaring into the penalty-area however failed to find a teammate as the Blacktown City defenders cleared their lines.
The 2010 champions responded immediately via the quick feet of Travis Major. The Blacktown City number 4 skipped his way to the opposite byline before the Blues defenders thwarted his run with some scrambling legs retreating.
On 3? minutes, Matthew Mayora scuffed a mammoth chance on the counterattack. The striker was released through on goal with an exceptional searching ball, and with only the goalkeeper to beat, failed to slot the ball past Brody Crane.
The Blues continued to apply the pressure 30?? seconds later, this time via Chris Triantis. The creative midfielder used his strength to bring down a loose ball and send his shot on the turn inches wide of Crane?s left hand post.
On 4? minutes, Ibrahim Haydar sent a powerful header inches over the crossbar from a corner, much to the despair of the Blues? supporters who were certainly happy with the quick-fire start made by their team.
At the other end, Major very nearly stunned the Belmore Sports Ground crowd when he snuck in behind the Blues? defenders. The young winger attempted what seemed a rather ambitious shot from an acute angle, sending the ball only inches wide of goal.
Blacktown City kept the pressure on Sydney Olympic on 12? minutes as captain Luke Roodenburg headed Matt Lewis? cross from the left inches wide. The Blacktown City captain rose highest to reach the ball, anticipating Henderson?s reading of the ball though directing the effort wide.
Sydney Olympic went close on two occasions at the 15? minute mark. Marton Vass, firstly, saw his long-range shot turned around the post by Crane before Brett Studman blasted over the crossbar from close-range following the resulting corner.
An intense struggle ensued in the middle of the mark as both sides attempted to gain the upper hand in midfield. Sydney Olympic looked most dangerous when Chris Triantis collected the ball in midfield, as Daniel Bragg worked extremely hard to keep the midfielder under control.
Chris Triantis went close again to opening the scoring in the 33? minute with a shot from distance. The midfielder cleverly turned his marker to create the yard of space to shoot, however his powerful drive was too central as Crane made a routine save.
Blacktown City responded with a neat exchange of passes in the front-third 3? minutes later. Major and James Monie combined with a quick exchange before the latter released Bragg on the edge of the penalty-area. Bragg took a first touch to line up his shot, though the rather rushed effort saw the ball finish well off target.
In the 43? minute, tragedy struck for the Blues as Matthew Mayora went down after winning a free-kick on the edge of the penalty-area. The burly striker remained on the surface for a good 2? minutes before being stretchered off, forcing coach Peter Tsekenis to replace Mayora with Kutaiba Elrich in what proved to be the last of the action for the first period.
The half-time whistle was a welcomed break for the twenty-two players on the field who had run very hard over the opening 45? minutes.
In somewhat bizarre circumstance, Sydney Olympic saw a glorious goal scoring chance go begging 3? minutes into the second-half. Chris Triantis whipped in a curling free-kick that Crane appeared to have parried on the line, though somehow the goalkeeper failed to hold the ball as a scramble followed inside the penalty-area before the Blacktown City players cleared away to safety.
The 2011 champions were punished at the other end for the missed chances as Blacktown City found the opening goal. Adam Jenner showed pace, and composure, to get down to the right-hand byline before centering to Ryuji Miyazawa who cleverly diverted the ball past Henderson with a lunging effort.
Sydney Olympic squandered another chance in the 54? minute as 2012 Gold Medal winner Chris Triantis picked up a loose ball inside the penalty-area. With goalkeeper Brody Crane closing the angle, Triantis blasted his snap-shot attempt over the crossbar.
Blues coach Peter Tsekenis turned to his bench with a double change on 55? minutes. Wide players David Gullo and Will Angel made way for youngsters Zac Elrich and Amaury Gauthier to show their pace and continue to press the Blacktown City rearguard.
Despite the pressure applied by Sydney Olympic, Blacktown City?s players ran hard to contain the Blues? onslaught. Half-time substitute Yianni Perkatis was in great touch, marshalling the holding role in midfield after replacing Bragg.
Sydney Olympic went close again in the 62? minute, once more via the boot of Chris Triantis who forced Crane into a save down to his left.
1? minute later at the other end, Yuchi Yamauchi created the space he needed to unleash an attempt on goal ? again against the run of play. Brett Studman however was equal to the chance, forcing the Japanese import to shoot off target.
Yamauchi continued his fine moment of form with another mazy run in the 70? minute. The Japanese number 11, who along with Monie threw their bodies about for Blacktown City, slalomed his was past three defenders before forcing Henderson into a save down to his right.
Sydney Olympic?s best efforts to get forward continued to come from the feet of Chris Triantis, though younger brother Peter, and Zac Elrich, got more involved as the time wore on.
Zac Elrich attempted to get things going himself with an attempted slalom effort past two defenders, though the retreating Zac Cairncross was well positioned to thwart any danger.
In the 78? minute Sydney Olympic?s Marton Vass had a diving Brody Crane beaten with his low-driven shot. Much to the despair of the Blues? supporters, Vass? effort ricocheted off the goalkeeper?s right-hand post.
Major very nearly sealed the win 3? minutes from the end when he exquisitely turned his marker to go through one-on-one with the goalkeeper. With only Henderson to beat, and from a very acute angle, Major?s diagonal attempt finished only centimetres wide of goal.
Back at the other end, Zac Elrich stamped the post with a well-placed shot past Crane. The youngster?s manoeuvre was brilliant, though for the second time of the afternoon, the Blues were denied by the post as Sydney Olympic?s title defence came to an abrupt end.
Victorious coach Mark Crittenden was ecstatic with his side?s win:
?It definitely was a tough match today, though we knew all too well that we would need to battle to get through against a team like Sydney Olympic,? Crittenden started.
?They (Sydney Olympic) pressure you from the very beginning and do not let up during the match, so I am very happy with the effort displayed by my boys today who knew that we needed to dig deep.
?The opening exchanges were very fast paced and they could have had a few goals, though we hit back and could have scored a couple ourselves? I looked at some of the boys on the bench and said to them that we could be at 4-4 by the end of this one (laughs).
?All jokes aside, we do have a young playing group and the likes of Luke Clifford and Yianni Perkatis were great in the second-half; especially Perkatis who came on at the break and replaced Braggy (Daniel Bragg), he did really well to keep our shape in the middle.
?We?re obviously happy with our achievement, and we will approach our next match in the same way.
?Marconi have played their way into some good form over the past few weeks, they too are well organised and tactically a difficult side to break down, though we will prepare as best we can to give the match a great shake,? ended Crittenden.
Sydney Olympic coach Peter Tsekenis, was visibly disappointed with the final result, though proud of his players? efforts this season:
?Many people might say that this has been a disappointing season following the last, seeing we won everything though I am equally proud of the efforts of my players this season,? commented Tsekenis.
?We lost a number of players following last season and we have battled this year with a number of things such as a disrupted schedule of home matches, and not even a good training ground.
?In saying all that, the boys have not once complained and we have worked really hard to get to where we have ? I even think we exceeded the realistic expectations on this side,? Tsekenis explained.
?The match today, well we created the chances to win the match ? I thought we could have had it wrapped up in the first 10?-15? minutes.
?Had we scored early, I think we would not have had any problem holding out, however the missed chances saw our confidence drop, and I guess that has been the story for us over the past few weeks,? Tsekenis concluded.
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 0
Blacktown City FC 1 (Ryuji Miyazawa 49?)
Sunday 16th September, 2012
Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore
Referee: Adam Susz
Assistant Referees: Nicholas Backo and Adam Coombes
Fourth Official: Kurt Ams
Sydney Olympic: 1.Paul Henderson; 21.Marton Vass, 12.Troy Danaskos, 2.Emmanuel Giannaros, 10.Chris Triantis, 19.David Gullo (15.Zac Elrich 55?), 4.Ibrahim Haydar, 24.Matthew Mayora (17.Kutaiba Elrich 45?), 3.Brett Studman (C), 8.Peter Triantis, 11.William Angel (23.Amaury Gauthier 55?)
Substitutes Not Used: 32.Luke Kairies, 14.Sam Awad
Yellow Cards: Brett Studman 80?
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City FC: 1. Brody Crane; 4.Travis Major, 19.Zac Cairncross, 8.Daniel Bragg (16.Yianni Perkatis 46?), 6.Matt Lewis, 18.Kieran Paull, 7.Luke Roodenburg (C), 9.Ryuji Miyazawa, 14.Adam Jenner (17.Luke Clifford 70?), 11.Yuchi Yamauchi (12.David Cain 90?+1?), 10.James Monie
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Luke Turnbull, 3.Ryo Watanabe
Yellow Cards: Luke Roodenburg 47?, James Monie 74?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Joseph Carlucci
