Blacktown City FC hand Reds first defeat of the season

Blacktown City FC put in a dominating performance against Sydney United 58 FC, inflicting a 3-1 defeat on the Edensor Park side at Lily’s Homes Stadium on Saturday.
The home side had the lion’s share of possession and created most of the chances in a thrilling match that entertained the strong crowd at Seven Hills.
The excitement started in the 2’ when Blacktown stalwart Sean Rooney spotted Harris Gaitatzis breaking free of the United line. Gaitatzis was on the end of the ball and with only Liam Reddy to beat, the striker made no mistake, drilling the ball into the back of the net.
It wasn’t quite the start Liam Reddy would have been hoping for in his second match back for United this season – but it was through no fault of his own.
It was Yuichi Yamauchi’s first game back at Blacktown since moving on to United, and his old teammates had clearly prepared for his return, keeping close watch on him and restricting his movements whenever he had the ball.
United’s Chris Triantis tried his luck with a shot from 25-yards out that didn’t have enough power on it to trouble Blacktown keeper Brady Crane.
Blacktown’s Travis Major began what would be a night of torment for Sydney United on the right wing. A 20-yard dash ended with a 30-yard strike that went just wide in the 9’ minute.
Miyazawa began tormenting Sydney United on the left wing. A cross in the 15’ minute from the Japanese forward looked promising but nobody could get on the end of it.
United’s Glen Trifiro was at the heart of all his side’s attacking plays. The energetic midfielder ducked and weaved through the Blacktown box and looked to have teed up Daniel Barac for an equalised, but Barac’s shot was deflected and went out for a corner in the 21’ minute.
3’ minutes later, Blacktown doubled their lead when Matthew Mayora crossed the ball in from the right and sent it straight into the path of Miyazawa who was sliding in and hit the ball into the goal in the 24’ minute.
That second goal fired up United’s Trifiro who seemed to be involved in every play over the next ten minutes. But his determination to get a second goal saw him attempt a 35-yard strike that went high, wide and into neighbouring Ashley Brown Reserve.
It was in the 34’ minute that United clawed back the lead to 2-1. Former Sydney Olympic forward Chris Triantis squared the ball to Robert Mileski who put the ball into the back of the net from close range.
United were determined to equalise. In the 38’ minute, Triantis dribbled through the Blacktown defence only to see his 20-yard strike go just over the crossbar.
When the half-time whistle blew, there was a sense that this was anyone’s game- but Blacktown fans were hoping their side could wrap it up, having seen their side blow the lead more than once this season.
Matt Mayora should have put Blacktown up 3-1 in the 50’ when his shot from five-yards out went straight to United goalkeeper, Reddy.
In the 51’ minute, a United right-back Mitchell Speer sent a long ball into the Blacktown box where Daniel Barac’s shot was saved by Blacktown keeper Crane.
United began to look threatening. It must have worried Blacktown’s Rooney, who fired a 50-yard speculator well wide.
Blacktown began to create the majority of the chances, but they couldn’t convert their chances into goals. The home side had a string of chances in the 59’. Major’s run up the right flank ended with a cross to Mayora who looked like he was going to head it home before Liam Reddy sprung into action to deny the home side.
Reddy showed that his lack of match practice hadn’t affected his reflexes. 
United were let off the hook in the 65’ when Blacktown’s Kearyn Baccus won possession and broke free of the United defence only for his shot to be saved by Reddy.
Major followed this up with another run up the right flank in the 66’ minute but his shot ran across the face of goal and was parried away by Reddy.
There was a worry around the ground that Blacktown were going to pay for not making the most of their chances.
Triantis had a goal disallowed in the 73’ minute after the assistant’s flag was raised to alert the referee to an earlier handball.
But Blacktown applied the pressure and it was soon to pay off. In the 76’ minute, Miyazawa broke free of the United defence on the left flank before squaring it to Gaitatzis whose shot was saved by Reddy- but the ball fell back to Miyazawa and he calmly slotted it home to wrap up the three points for the home side.
Blacktown coach Mark Crittenden was pleased that his side had come off best. He thought United dominated the first-half, but was pleased with his side’s sustained pressure:
“They’re a very good side. Their first-half was very good. We changed a few things in the second half and probably could have won by a few more,” Crittenden said.
The Blacktown coach was full of praise of Miyazawa.
“He’s a good lad, he fits in well and the boys make him feel welcome and he plays like a champion.”
“We knew we had to contain Yamauchi. He was on the game sheet and we knew what he was like and we had to make sure we contained him which we did.”
Sydney United 58 FC coach Mark Rudan said he was pleased with his side’s efforts and wasn’t too worried about their first loss of the season:
“There are games that you can win where the win actually masks the performance. Similarly when you lose, sometimes you don’t deserve to lose,” Rudan said.
“Tonight, I don’t think we played well enough to win. It could’ve easily been 2-2 at the break, but there are no complaints from me. Blacktown deserved to win tonight.”
Rudan played down next Sunday’s local derby against Bonnyrigg White Eagles, saying his side would approach it as they do every other game:
“It’s a big game every week. People can talk it up but we’re talking about two strong teams in the competition and we’ll be making sure we prepare as well as we can to win that match.”
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 3 (Harris Gaitatzis 2’, Ryuji Miyazawa 24’, 76’)
Sydney United 58 FC 1 (Robert Mileski 27’)
Saturday May 4, 2013
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Blacktown City FC: 1.Brody Crane; 3.Andrea Del Brocco, 4.Yianni Fragogiannis, 5.Pat Gatt, 6.Matt Lewis, 7.Travis Major, 9.Ryuji Miyazawa, 10.Harris Gaitatzis, 11.Sean Rooney,12.Kearyn Baccus (14.Daniel Araujo 89’), 15.Matthew Mayora (16.Luke Clifford 80’)
Substitutes Not Used: 13.Blake Tuxford, 21.Shayne D’Cunha, 20.Jesse Curren
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58 FC: 29.Liam Reddy; 22.Daniel Barac, 3.Ben Jurman, 9.Robert Mileski, 4.Nathan Sherlock (5.Callum O’Connell 78’), 2.Mitchell Speer, 6.Mitchell Stamatellis, 15.Anthony Tomelic (13.David Stojic 69’), 10.Chris Triantis, 8.Yuichi Yamauichi (19.Matthew Bilic 69’), 18.Glen Trifiro
Substitutes Not Used: 41.Jordan Jennings, 23.Ante Tomic;
Yellow Cards: Matt Mayora 45’, Kearyn Baccus 62’, Sean Rooney 90’+2’
Red Cards: Nil
Players Ratings:
3 – Ryuji Miyazawa (BFC)
2 – Travis Major (BFC)
1 – Glen Trifiro (SU)
-By Alex Cauchi