Super Spartans too hot from the spot
Phillip Makrys has scored a hatrick of goals from the penalty spot to continue the Blacktown Spartans impressive start to the season with a 4-1 win over Manly United at Blacktown Football Park.
The first chance came the way of Manly within the first 10′ minutes of the first half as Brett Studman failed to clear the ball from his own box. Dominic Ferguson then found himself with only the keeper to beat but the shot was pushed just to the left of the posts and the score stayed at 0-0.
Blacktown were next on the attack though and looked promising before David Gullo was fouled just inside the box by the Manly defence and Phillip Makrys was able to beat Manly goalkeeper Dylan Mitchell from the penalty spot to take them one goal up in the 17′ minute.
The Spartans were awarded another penalty in the 36′ minute as Corey Biczo was taken down inside the box by Joshua Lawson and Makrys was able to put it past Mitchell once again to take the Spartans up by two.
Manly had their best chance of the first half in the 42′ minute as Dominic Ferguson played the ball into the middle of the pitch, 30 yards out for Brendan Cholakian, who was able to get a clean strike on the ball. But, Blacktown keeper Carlos Saliadarre was able to comfortably save it at head height and the score remained 2-0 to the break.
In the second half, referee Kris Griffiths-Jones awarded a free kick to Blacktown after a dubious challenge. Cholakian decided to dispute the decision and Griffiths-Jones subsequently issued the forward with a second yellow card (his first was just ten minutes earlier) and therefore an early shower was his.
Manly responded to this adversity strongly though and got their goal through a free kick being played into the box by Ferguson.
The ball couldn’t be handled by the Spartans defence and Scott Bladerson was able to beat the oustreched hand of Saliadarre to put Manly back into the contest on 61’ minutes.
Although Manly were back into the game, the Spartans always looked in control and were dominating both field position and possession.
This lead to David Gullo being able to work his way around the backline of Manly United to put the ball past goalkeeper with a neat finish in the 66′ minute to put Blacktown back in control of the contest.
Blacktown continued to sustain pressure inside the Manly half when Corey Biczo tried to find space inside the Many box and Lawson took him down.
Griffiths-Jones consequently awarded the Spartans their third penalty of the match. Makrys was again able to capitalise and scored completed his penalty hat trick in the 76′ minute.
Blacktown showed fluency and class to overcome Manly in a display that was free flowing. This win takes them to their sixth win from six games to remain exclusively at the top of the National Premier Leagues IGA Mens 1 ladder.
After the game Spartans coach Ben De Haan was more than happy with his team’s performance.
“We did well, to finish off 4-1 we can’t complain, it was pretty much a team effort tonight, we created plenty of opportunities," he said.
Standing out on top of the ladder, De Haan stressed the importance of sustaining this form into the upcoming weeks.
“It will be a challenge, I grabbed the team together tonight and told them we just have to focus on ourselves and not worry about the things we can’t control.”
Meanwhile Manly coach Paul Dee although disappointed with the result, was happy with his teams commitment.
“I was happy with the effort they put in, they worked right to the death and it just became a monumental task with ten men against a very good football side," he said.
On the Spartans, Dee stated how much of a classy outfit they are.
“There a fantastic side, they deserve to be where they are, they are a very organised team and are very fluent going forward.”
Match Stats
Blacktown Spartans 4 (Phil Makrys 17′ [PEN], 36′ [PEN], 76′ [PEN], David Gullo 66′)
Manly United 1 (Scott Balderson 61′)
Saturday 19th April, 2014
Blacktown Football Park, Rooty Hill
Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones
Assistant Referees: Sarah Ho, Daniel Horstead
Fourth Official: Karl Davies
Blacktown Spartans: 1.Carlos Saliadarre (C); 2.Luke Austin, 13.Corey Biczo (Jacob Ott 85′), 5.Luka Dukic, 10.Emmanuel Giannaros, 11.David Gullo, 8.Raymond Miller (Greg Kondek 52′), 7.Phillip Makrys, 3.Nathan Millgate, 4.Brett Studman, 15.Kingsley Williams (Zachary Freeburn 80′)
Substitutes Not Used: Kieran Dalton, Riley Keayes
Yellow cards: Kinsley Williams 45′, Brett Studamn 85′, David Gullo 90′
Red cards: Nil
Manly United: 1.Dylan Mitchell; 7.Scott Balderson (Jack Green ‘77), 10.Brendan Cholakian, 12.Dominic Ferguson, 4.Graeme Forbes (C), 8.Daniel Grant, 5.Joshua Lawson (Patrick Weir 80′), 9.Christopher Payne, 16.Jed Prater, 11.Roberto Speranza, 6.Josh Ward (Masakatsu Tanaka 69′)
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Tonu Liband
Yellow Cards: Joshua Lawson 17′, Brendan Cholakian 46′, Scott Balderson 61′
Red Cards: Brendan Cholakian 55′
Player Ratings:
3- Raymond Miller (BS)
2- Brett Studman (BS)
1- Phillip Makrys (BS)
– By Jack Hislop, National Premier Leagues NSW Mens 1 Reporter, at Blacktown Football Park
