Crucial victory for Parramatta FC

Parramatta FC has added another moment to its proud history with a 3-1 win over Blacktown Spartans at Melita Stadium during its PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Heritage Round clash.

Goals to Josh Symons, Luke Grima and Marco Sama were enough for the Franco Consentino coached side to overcome Blacktown who hit the back of the net through Anthony Proia.

It was another tough result for the visitors who have only tasted victory twice this season and sit at the bottom of the table after twelve rounds.

Parramatta FC came out firing and in the fourth minute of the game Joshua Symons found the back of the net and an early lead for the home team/

Jacob Ott had a great chance to level the scores for the Spartans in the lead in the 13th minute after a scuffle inside the box but his shot was sent dribbling wide of the goal.

Anthony Proia came on in the 36th minute for the Spartans in place of Will Munch, making an impact for his side from the get-go.

Both teams fought to stay in the game with a series of chances for both teams but they hit the sheds 1-0.

The second half brought a different tone to the game with Spartans looking dangerous from the opening minutes.

The Spartans proved they weren’t going down without a fight with Ott taking a great shot in the 47th minute that came off Proia to equalise.

Blacktown had another chance in the 50th minute with a free kick in a dangerous position but they couldn’t take the lead despite a strong shot from Shu Sasaki.

A yellow card to Ibrahim Haydar in the 55th minute set off a string of nasty challenges from Parramatta as they struggled to maintain the possession they held in the first half.

The Spartans kept up their attacking force in the second but their defence faltered as Luke Grima powered through what seemed like a one man Spartans defence to take back the lead in the 66th minute.

Sasaki made an excellent run toward goal in the 76th minute but went down in the box with no call from the referee.

Parramatta tried to play on a minimal Spartans defence but Tom Whiteside put a stop to several chances for the home side in with only minutes left to play.

Parramatta put an end to the game with a 90th minute goal. Marco Sama made a huge run to seal the deal for Parramatta, putting a great ball in the back of the net and closing the game 3-1.

Franco Consentino was glad his side got the result, but felt they could have played better overall.

“We certainly weren’t at our best today,” he said.

“Spartans played very well I thought and they were on top of us for long periods of the game but to get the result was good.”

Spartans coach Ben de Haan was disappointed his side lacked the purpose and drive to pick themselves up off the bottom of the table.

“They were just better when they hit us on the counter attack,” he said.

“We knew they were going to do it and we weren’t good enough to stop it.

“I thought we were god enough to get something out of the game but they (Parramatta) just worked extremely hard.

“Credit to them”

Match Stats

Parramatta FC 3 (Symons 4’, Grima 66’, Marco Sama 90’)

Blacktown Spartans (Proia 47’)

Sunday 29th May, 2016

Melita Stadium

Referee: C. Fisher

Assistant Referees: J. Adabjou and T. Lee

Fourth Official: P. Liaros

Parramatta FC: 4. Joshua Symons, 5 Tomislav Mijic, 6. Daniel Gullo, 7. Frank Martey (13. Andreas Vais 72’) 8. Daniel Rezo (3. Blake Richards 80’), 9. Gouse Sama, 10. Marco Sama, 14. Luke Grima (18. Tom Mallett 86’), 15. Ibrahim Haydar, 23. Aram Tayebi Derazkala, 33. Jayden Diacono

Substitutes Not Used: 1. Corey Finch, 12. Paul Katsetis,

Yellow Cards: Ibrahim Haydar 55’

Red Cards: Nil

Blacktown Spartans: 1. Carlos Saliadarre, 3. Joshua Tanner, 4. William Mutch (9. Anthony Proia 36’), 6. Yianni Perkatis, 7. Shu Sasaki, 8. Jacob Ott (25. Amaury Gauthier 83’), 10. Futa Nakamura, 11. Jordan Crighton, 114. Hayden Morton, 15. Thomas Whiteside, 20. Benjamin Tosi,

Substitutes Not Used: 17. Hymas Tomohiro, 39. Andrea Carle, 41. Domenic Nascimben

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings

3 – Luke Grima (Parramatta)

2 – Marco Sama (Parramatta)

1 – Jacob Ott (Blacktown Spartans)

-By PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Madeline Riley