Blacktown fiesta as Spartans and City share the spoils

Part one of the Blacktown Derby for 2013 produced an energetic, and entertaining, 90’ minutes of football on a bitterly cold evening at Blacktown Football Park with the Spartans and Blacktown City FC sharing the spoils.
The Spartans overturned an early first-half deficit to net three late goals before the interval, only to be pegged back by a Sean Rooney brace late on for the visitors to take a point from the encounter.
Andre Carle warmed the palms of Brody Crane with an audacious volley inside the 1’ minute of play. The attacking midfielder, who has been in exceptional form in-front of goal over the past month, hit his first-time volley cleanly, denied only by the experienced shot-stopper.
The visitors responded immediately with Matthew Mayora finding some space down the left. The Blacktown City number 15 showed composure as he entered the penalty-area, forcing Carlos Saliadarre into a fine reflex save down to his right.
Harris Gaitatzis was next to carve out an opening 30’’ seconds later, following a scramble inside the area, though once again the Spartans defence stood strong to thwart any concern. 
Back at the other end Greg Kondek found a half opening, forcing Crane into an uncomfortable save before the defenders cleared the ball away to safety.
In the middle of the park, the home side looked to take the initiative with some quick ball movement via the feet of Luke Austin, meanwhile Blacktown City’s pure strength with the likes of Gaitatzis and Sean Rooney – both players not afraid to get back and help with defensive duties – seemed to be gaining the upper-hand for the visitors.
On 11’ minutes the visitors did find the back of the net via Patrick Gatt following a set-piece from the right. The burly defender was quick to pounce on a parried attempt by Saliadarre – the shot-stopper making successive saves following Gaitatzis’ powerful strike – though saw his effort ruled out for offside.
In the 15’ minute, some fine counterattacking play by Travis Major saw the visitors get a look-in on goal. Major released Ryuji Miyazawa down the left before receiving the ball back at the far post. Major’s shot on goal had direction, though failed to carry the power needed to challenge Saliadarre.
The Spartans turned defence into attack swiftly on 18’ minutes with a fabulous switch of play by Brenton Rhodes, resulting in a corner for the home side. The resulting delivery packed some power, however the Spartans players failed to make contact with the ball as the chance went begging.
The visitors very nearly found the opening goal in the 20’ minute after Kearyrn Baccus dispossessed the Spartans defenders and headed goalwards. With little space to work with, Baccus’ square pass to Yianni Fragogiannis saw the feisty midfielder unleash a venomous low-driven effort, forcing Saliadarre to diver the ball behind for a corner.
The pressure from the visitors took its toll in the 22’ when a fine display of skill, and speed, by Major saw the right-sided defender charge towards the byline before cutting the ball across goal. Miyazawa was on the mark at the back post, drilling the ball home with poise for the opening goal.
Saliadarre then twice denied Mayora with two exceptional saves to keep the deficit at one. The first saw the shot-stopper quick off his line to divert the ball wide for a corner before Mayora’s glancing header, seconds later, saw the shot-stopper produce a sensational acrobatic save.
Blacktown Spartans’ best responses arrived via the right side where Bryan Soane got some freedom with his blistering pace, though the final delivery constantly broke down with the Spartans’ strikers failing to get a final touch.
Back in the visitors’ attacking third, Gatt again got forward on 35’ minutes, latching onto a corner delivery from the right before seeing his glancing header cleared off the goal line with some desperate defending from the home side.
In the 38’ minute, Blacktown Spartans found the equalising goal it so desperately sought. A fabulous through ball, on the counterattack, by Jun Kato sent Carle through on goal, only to be denied by a Gatt who picked up a yellow card for his troubles. The resulting free-kick had ‘world class’ written all over it as Luke Austin delivered a remarkable curving effort that finished in the top right-hand corner, leaving Crane helpless as the home supporters came to life.
The Spartans moment of dominance continued after the goal as the side took the lead 3’ minutes later. Some fine build-up play down the right saw a low-driven delivery diverted past Crane at the near post, Jun Kato the goal scorer with a powerful first-time shot on the turn, directing the ball into the back of the net.
The momentum remained with the home side as the Spartans capped off a fabulous final 8’ minutes for the half with a third goal. A moment of magic by Corey Biczo down the left saw the left-sided defender create the space he needed before unleashing a fierce diagonal effort underneath the body of Brody Crane to make it 3-1 at the break.
The visitors were first out from the sheds after the interval, and the intentions of Mark Crittenden’s men were obvious from the outset.
Major firstly, then Rooney, looked to get the ball rolling with a quick interchange of passes, though the Spartans’ defence, marshalled exceptionally well by Luka Dukic, stood tall to keep the side’s two-goal lead intact.
Rooney finally got around Saliadarre with a deft touch down the left, however from an acute angle could only square the ball into an empty penalty-area with another chance gone begging for the visitors.
The onslaught from Blacktown City continued with Matt Lewis showing his pace down the left, though still the problem of the final delivery remained as Saliadarre was quick, and confident, to leave his line and make a routine capture of the ball.
Even with the visitors making most of the running in search of a goal to get back into the contest, the home side cleverly moved the ball around in midfield, and still got a few look-ins in the front third. Andre Carle the liveliest with his quick acceleration, even from a stand-still position, a constant menace for Patrick Gatt & Co.  
On 64’ minutes, Miyazawa picked up a loose ball on the edge of the penalty-area, using his body magnificently to glide his way past two markers before unleashing a violent effort well over the crossbar.
Soane then responded for the Spartans at the other end with a powerful effort of his own, only just skimming Crane’s crossbar as the ball failed to dip enough.
Gaitatzis then took it upon himself to try his luck from distance, blasting a powerful effort directly at Saliadarre who was unyielding once again.
The fast-paced encounter continued with some swift ball movement from one end to the other and Kato very nearly brought the house down with an exquisite piece of skill in the 70’ minute. The Japanese import brought down a cross from the right on his chest, moving his body exceptionally well to then hit the ball first time with power, only just failing to hit the target.
Blacktown City’s efforts to get back into the match reaped some reward in the 74’ minute when Major’s cutback – this time from the left byline – fell into the path of Rooney who left no prisoners with a lethal drive past a helpless Saliadarre.
With the visitors pressing for an equaliser, the Spartans very nearly added a fourth at the other end. Kondek used his pace, and quick thinking, throwing his body on the line as he lunged to divert the ball past Crane. With all eyes firmly on the ball trickling towards goal, in what seemed to be an eternity, the ball came back off the up-right and into the grateful arms of Crane.
The Blacktown City revival was complete when Sean Rooney added a second with a fine glancing effort at the near post. The visitors were applying a lot of pressure down the right, and that proved to be the Spartans’ undoing 4’ minutes from time with the experienced goal-poacher on the money with a fabulous finish.
The equalising goal further spurred the visitors into action, and the Spartans were put through a nervy injury-time period where both Rooney, following some further brilliance by Major, then Gaitatzis both centred in on goal, only to blast wide of the target.
Following the match, Blacktown Spartans coach Ben De Haan was visibly disappointed that his side could not hold onto the lead:
“In the end, we are quite disappointed, no doubt,” commented De Haan.
“We had the two goal lead going into the final 15’ minutes, and I thought we could have held on, though we made a few too many errors and that ultimately cost us.
“I am happy with the progress the side is making, and we are coming off a good period of results, though I still feel we have not reached our peak yet… I hope we can continue moving towards that over the coming weeks with a number of the boys now gelling really well together,” De Haan ended.
Out of the Blacktown City FC sheds, assistant coach Kane Rastall expressed his disappointment in his side’s lapses in concentration:
“I honestly do not know what to say, we can’t put our finger on it, though I guess we should be happy in the end that we got a point, considering how the match was unfolding.
“We do play some great football, and perhaps in the first-half the only thing we did wrong (until the final 10’ minutes) was not score a second goal.
“We have all season had these moments where we allow teams to get back into matches and we undo all the good work we put together, though I guess we are in striking distance of the top-spots, even though we would have been hoping to be higher up in the top-five by this point in the season,” Rastall concluded.
Match Stats
Blacktown Spartans 3 (Luke Austin 38’, Jun Kato 41’, Corey Biczo 45’)

Blacktown City FC 3 (Ryuji Miyazawa 22’, Sean Rooney 74’, 86’)

Saturday 18^th May, 2013

Blacktown Football Park
Referee: Tim McGilchrist
Assistant Referees: Glen Peterkin and Ryan Gallagher
Fourth Official: Gareth Williams
Blacktown Spartans: 1.Carlos Saliadarre (C); 2.Luke Austin, 3.Nathan Millgate, 4.Luka Dukic, 6.Gregory Kondek (5.Daniel Wilkinson 84’), 8.Brenton Rhodes, 9.Jun Kato, 10.Bryan Soane, 7.Andre Carle (23.Damir Prodanovic), 25.Corey Biczo (11.Tyson Rhodes 90’+1’), 38.Zachary Freeburn
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Luke Turnbull, 14.Luke Jenner
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City FC: 1.Brody Crane; 3.Andrea Del Brocco, 4.Yianni Fragogiannis, 5.Patrick Gatt (C), 6.Matthew Lewis, 7.Travis Major, 9.Ryuji Miyazawa, 10.Harris Gaitatzis, 11.Sean Rooney, 12.Kearyn Baccus (16.Luke Clifford 65’), 15.Matthew Mayora
Substitutes Not Used: 19.Zachary Cairncross, 18.Osadolor Edosomwan, 13.Blake Tuxford, 14.Daniel Araujo
Yellow Cards: Patrick Gatt 37’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings: