Blacktown City edge Sharks

A TENSE affair at Seymour Shaw Park between Sutherland Sharks and Blacktown City was decided in favour of the visitors, thanks to a late goal by Danny Choi.

It was a cat and mouse affair and Bai Antoniou had the first shot in anger in the fifth minute but it didn’t trouble anyone.
The ball took a wicked kick off the pitch and bounced over Matt Gordon’s head in the 12’ minute. It allowed Mitch Mallia to get in behind but Nathan Denham was quickly off his line to thwart the danger, blocking on the edge of the area when the City striker attempted to lob him.
Patrick Antelmi thought he had time to control the ball at the other end, only to find both the recently engaged Nick Littler, and Perry Moustakas, back to clatter the ball out for a corner. 
Seongjin Park won the ball in midfield and slipped it to Sean O’Connell inside the Sharks half and the midfielder went on a run which ended in a shot that flew over the bar.
Neat play between Choi, Antelmi, Mallia, and Joey Gibbs ended with Mallia slicing a shot wide when all that was required was a the finish.
In the final minute of the half, Choi lifted the ball over the head of Dylan Caton, before volleying over. It would have been a spectacular goal.
City coach Mark Crittenden rang the changes early into the second half,  bringing on Travis Major and Yianni Perkatis, for Joey Gibbs and Daniel Araujo.
A cheeky back-heel from Jordan Figon found Antoniou on the left and his cross was met by the head of Jordan Roberts, but he couldn’t gain enough purchase to trouble Vekic, despite a promising move.
More long range efforts produce the same results and with 20 minutes remaining it was hard to see where a goal would come from.
Sutherland coach Steve O’Connor made a double substitution in the 73’ minute, bringing on Chris McStay for Roberts and Cam Devlin for Antoniou.
The breakthrough finally came in the 78’ minute when Choi pounced on a loose ball to plant a left-foot shot into the bottom corner, beyond the reach of Denham. 
Sutherland coach O’Connor said: “The boys put in a great performance tonight where we pressed them and put it on them but we probably didn’t create really enough scoring chances but Blacktown are a decent side and in the end they put one past us to give them the points.
“With the performance we put in here and if we can keep to that standard we will pick up points along the way for sure although I think we can really keep the ball better. We gave it away but the effort and intensity was there and that is what I am really pleased with.
“We pushed pushed and pressed them, but take nothing away from them they are a good side and difficult to break down but we made sure it wasn’t an easy game for them.”
Blacktown City coach Mark Crittenden was a relieved at the full time whistle.

“You always have a tough game against Sutherland irrespective of who they put on the pitch and you cannot come here and expect to have an easy time of things," he said.

"We expected a tough night and to be fair the two big lads did a great job on Joey Gibbs as we were trying to get the ball into his feet but they were on top of that so we got Travis Major in there to inject a bit more pace into the side, and we managed to get the job done with a late goal. 
“We said at the break to keep doing what we’re doing, keep the structure and if the break comes we’ll be on it and a late goal from Danny Choi has got us the points and they are big points when you come away from Seymour Shaw with them in the bag.
“I felt that as long as we stayed in the game we would be alright and if we kept the battle up we would get something from it. We are a good football team and if we maintained that consistency we would win the game and thankfully we did.”
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 0
Blacktown City 1 (Choi 78)
Saturday 23rd May, 2015
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: Rick Schneider
Assistant Referees: Joon Park & Matthew Cassidy
Fourth Official: Adam Vainauskas
Sutherland Sharks: Denham (C), Tratt, Littler, Gordon, O’Connell, Park (Mitwali 83), Moustakas, Figon, Roberts (McStay 73), Antoniou (Devlin 73), Caton
Substitutes Not Used: McKenzie, Depta 
Blacktown City: Vekic, Speranza, Lewis, Macura, Gibbs (Major 55), Choi (Perre 85), Araujo (Perkatis 58), Mallia, Antelmi, Beumie, Cairncross (C)
Substitutes Not Used: Prendergast
Yellow Cards: Major 90+2
Player ratings:
3 – Choi (BCFC)
2 – O’Connell (SS)
1 – Moustakas (SS)
– by Micky Brock, PS4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Reporter, at Seymour Shaw Park