Blacktown City held by gritty Reds
With both teams involved in next week’s Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32, little could separate what was a hard fought match as the points were shared at Lilys Football Centre between Blacktown City and Sydney United 58 FC.
The two points dropped could be a fatal blow to Blacktown City’s Premiership hopes and Mark Crittenden’s side are now three matches without a win.
Blacktown City dominated possession in the opening stages as Sydney United 58 pushed numbers back and the first major chance for the home side came when club top scorer Travis Major found himself with space to move after the Reds failed to clear the ball inside the penalty box, but his shot sprayed just wide of the left upright.
The visitors then had an opportunity go begging as Luka Glavas almost found the outstretched foot of Alec Urosevski, unmarked inside the box, but the ball was just too powerful and Urosevski was unable to connect and the scores remained unchanged on 18’ minutes.
Shortly after, Blacktown City’s attack looked promising inside the Sydney United 58 half as Mitchell Mallia beat two United defenders to then find an open Major in the box. Major looked almost certain to score, but a classic save from Anthony Costa saved United from going one down.
It was still level pegging at the interval, although Blacktown City would have been disappointed they weren’t ahead after having the better of the chances in the first stanza.
After the break though it was Sydney United 58 who found some rhythm and a great opportunity came the way of Joel Chianese in the 58′ minute after Luka Glavas was able to weave away from the City defence, but Chianese was unable to beat Blacktown City’s keeper Blake Tuxford.
As the half wore on the well drilled United defence seemed to frustrate the City attack as they lost their fluency and sharpness, with both teams cancelling each other out.
With only one minute to go in normal time, Sydney United 58 had probably the best opportunity of the game as a ball was crossed in from the right side which found the head of Stjepan Paric who played it onto Urosevski right in front of goal but his header was misdirected and sprayed right of the posts.
After the game Sydney United 58 coach Mark Rudan was impressed with how his team played away from home and gave credit to the opposition.
“I’m really happy with the performance, I thought the players gave everything of themselves up against a team that is vying for the Premiership.
“Credit to Blacktown City as well, they’re a fantastic side, best footballing team in the competition, and a part of me wished that they had won it, but I don’t think because of any other results they can win it now, but full credit to their players they gave it a great crack this season.”
Meanwhile Blacktown City coach Mark Crittenden expressed that he was happy with how his team performed.
“I thought we did well, we had a heap of chances in the first half but the ball just couldn’t find the net.
“I thought we had four or five really good scoring opportunities but we couldn’t tuck it away at the end, but the effort from the lads was outstanding.”
Blacktown City will now focus on the Westfield FFA Cup match against Victorian NPL side Bentleigh Greens at Lilys on Tuesday while on the same evening, Rudan’s men face a tough tie against the Far North Queensland Heat at Edensor Park.
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 0
Sydney United 58 0
Saturday 9th August, 2014
Lilys Football Centre, Seven Hills
Referee: Adam Susz
Assistant Referees: Craig Fisher and Joon Park
Fourth Official: Kearney Robinson
Blacktown City: 13.Blake Tuxford; 3.Giorgio Speranza (11.Danny Choi 87’), 5.Jacob Poscoliero,6.Matt Lewis (18.Daniel Araujo 76’), 7.Travis Major, 8.Sasa Macura (10.Shayne D’Cunha 74’), 9.Ryuji Miyazawa, 14.Mitchell Mallia, 16.Kearyn Baccus, 17.Keiran Paull, 19.Zachary Cairncross
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Nenad Vekic
Yellow Cards: 19.Zachary Cairncross 30’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58: 1.Anthony Costa; 2.Anthony Tomelic, 6.Mitchell Stamatellis, 9.Robert Mileski (Ante Tomic 64’), 10.Chris Triantis (16.Stjepan Paric 70’) 11.Luka Glavas (7.Mirjan Pavlovic 70’), 17.Theo Kofinas, 18.Alec Urosevski, 19. Matthew Bilic, 28.Domenico Tripodi, 41.Joel Chianese
Substitutes Not Used: 24.Tariq Maia, 20. Jaydan Diacono
Yellow Cards: Theo Kofinas 76’, Mirjan Pavlovic 90+1′
Red Cards: Nil
– By Jack Hislop, National Premier Leagues NSW Mens Reporter, at Lilys Football Centre
