Blanks drawn at Blacktown Football Park
It wasn’t a night for the fans at Blacktown Football Park with Blacktown Spartans and Wollongong Wolves playing out a dour 0-0 draw in their PlayStation®4 NPL NSW Men’s clash on Saturday night.
Neither side could hit the back of the net in a match which could’ve been the kick-start needed for a late finals run.
Blacktown went into the match at the bottom of the ladder and Wollongong weren’t far ahead in 10th spot.
The Spartans looked dominant in the first half, creating numerous chances against a physical Wollongong side.
Futa Nakamura had a chance to take an early lead for Blacktown in the 5th minute with a great opportunity but shot wide of the goal.
Wollongong retaliated with a chance coming off a header from Nicolas Bernal in the 9th minute but again it flew wide of the sticks.
Spartans had some great chances to take the lead mid-way through the first half with a free kick in a dangerous position in the 19th minute and a corner in the 23rd, but they were missing the finish.
New Spartans’ recruit, Andre Carle, did well to fight past Wollongong’s defence in the 27th minute and get a pass through to Shu Sasaki in front of goal. However, Sasaki sent it high over the bar.
Justin Pasfield made an excellent save for the Wolves in the 34th, denying Yianni Perkatis a goal from a powerful shot.
Wollongong had chance after chance in the 37th minute with three corners in succession. Bernal managed to get a shot off with their third chance but it flew wide, keeping the game scoreless.
Zachary Mackenzie went into the referee’s book in the 42nd minute with a nasty challenge earning him a yellow.
Both teams hit the sheds scoreless at half time and Wollongong came back with some fire in the early stage of the second half.
Sasaki created a great opportunity for the Spartans to take the lead in the 64th minute but Pasfield made a great save.
Blacktown earned a free kick just outside the box in the 68th minute and looked poised to take the lead with an impressive shot from Andre Carle. The shot was headed toward goal but Pasfield proved himself yet again with a quality save.
Madden sent a shot toward goal in the 69th minute but Carlos Saliadarre calmly collected.
Blacktown picked up the pace in the final minutes of the game with a counter attack leaving them with a chance but Crighton couldn’t get a shot off, falling to the pressure of Wollongong’s defence.
Ben de Haan showed his frustration with his team’s inability to score despite the improved quality of their football.
“Two weeks of probably playing decent football and we just didn’t have an end product,” De Haan said.
“To move the ball like we did and create the chances is positive but it doesn’t help our cause.”
Jacob Timpano gave credit to Spartans for their impressive first half, saying it was a fair result to share points.
“We were very fortunate to go into the break 0-0,” Timpano said.
“It’s probably the best 45 minutes I’ve seen a team play this year.
“Fortunately for us they didn’t capitalize and our second half was much better.
“They totally outplayed us in the first half and I thought we probably out shaved them in the second half.
“A point was probably a fair result.”
Match Stats
Blacktown Spartans 0
Wollongong Wolves 0
Saturday 18th June, 2016
Blacktown Football Park
Referee: Lachlan Keevers
Assistant Referees: J. Park & J. Tesoriero
Fourth Official: J. Mcfarlane
Blacktown Spartans: 1. SALIADARE Carlos, 3. TANNER Joshua, 5. DUKIC Luka, 6. PERKATIS Yianni, 7. SASAKI Shu, 10. NAKAMURA Futa, 14. MORTON Hayden, 15. WHITESIDE Thomas, 16. CARLE Andre (11. CRIGHTON Jordan 71’), 20. TOSI Benjamin (9. PROIA Anthony 76’), 25. TRIFIRO Jason
Substitutes not used: 2. WAND Jajaw, 4. QUIGLEY Xavier, 41. Nascimben
Yellow Cards: 15. Thomas Whiteside (49’)
Red Cards: Nil
Wollongong Wolves: 1. PASFIELD Justin, 2. KAWASE Kota, 3. MADDEN Darcy, 5. BALDACCHINO James, 6. MCKENZIE Zachary, 7. PRICE Chris, 8. GRIFFIN Brendan, 10. SOSIC David (23. MATTHEWS Samuel 58’), 16. ZUCCO Ben, 18. BERNAL Nicolas, 19. MCDONALD Joshua,
Substitutes not used: 11. WILSON Brett, 12. COLLISON Daniel, 15. LAZAREVKSI Danny, 17. ZUCCO Ricky.
Yellow Cards: 6. Zachary Mackenzie (42’)
Red Cards: Nil
-By PlayStation®4 NPL NSW Men’s reporter Madeline Riley
