Spartans comeback burns Manly
BLACKTOWN Spartans have extended it’s winning streak to three with an incredible 3-2 come from behind win against Manly United.
Three second half goals from the Spartans secured the win as Ben De Haan’s side delivered a herculean effort to come back from a 2-0 half time deficit.
The loss was the second consecutive defeat for Manly after last week’s 4-1 capitulation at the hands of Rockdale City Suns.
It took only ten minutes for Manly to break through when Dejan Pandurevic capitalised on a pin point through ball from Brendan Cholakian.
The Blacktown defence was at sixes and sevens as the first half progressed with quick transitions from Manly creating chance after chance.
Cholakian was denied a goal of his own in the 13th minute when he was judged to be offside after a darting run into the box.
Futa Nakamura missed a great opportunity to level the scores in the 24th minute but his effort after a classy Shu Sasaki tap on was saved by Dylan Mitchell.
Blacktown slowly found its way back into the match struggled to threaten the keeper.
On the cusp of half time a Brendan Cholakian volley doubled the visitors lead.
The striker found himself unmarked before nodding home from eight yards out.
It was a far improved Spartans in the second half.
More composed in defence, Blacktown was able to shift its focus to breaking down the opposition.
In the 65th minute Ben De Haan’s side eventually got on the scoreboard through an own goal to Travis Oughtred.
It was the kick-start the home side needed as they pushed forward.
it wasn’t until the 78th minute but Blacktown finally took advantage of their momentum.
Josh Tanner rose above the defence to head home and make it 2-2.
One point wasn’t enough and De Haan added experienced striker Mitch Long to the lineup to help the side secure the winner.
In the 83rd minute Jordan Crighton delivered for the home fans when his strike from the left hand side sailed into the net.
De Haan said the win displayed the character of his squad.
“At 2-0 down we were never resigned to defeat. I was confident we could bounce back and once again the boys displayed plenty of courage to get the job done,” he said.
“It’s still early days and although we have won three in row now there is so much to work on.”
“It is still a week to week preposition for us at the moment but it is certainly great to be putting wins on the board.”
Manly Coach Paul Dee said the match was an opportunity lost.
“Going in at halftime with a 2-0 lead we were pretty confident of being able to hold on,” he said.
“Our second half performance just wasn’t their and we gave Blacktown the chance to steal the result from us.
“That lack of composure at key moments cost us again and it is something we need to address.”
Match Stats
Blacktown Spartans 3 (Oughtred og 68’, Tanner 74’, Crighton 83’)
Manly United 2 (Pandurevic 10’ Cholakian’ 43)
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Blacktown Football Centre, Rooty Hill
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referees: Joon Park & Sebastien Brennan
Fourth Official: Adam Naylor
Blacktown Spartans: Saliadarre; Crighton, Da Silva (Long 65’), Dukic, Kondek, Morton, Nakamura, Quigley (Mutch 46’), Sasaki, Tanner, Tomohiro
Substitutes not used : Enwiya, Nacimben, Valastro,
Yellow Cards: Sasaki 72’
Manly United: Mitchell; Cholakian, Ferguson, Gallagher, Lobb, McDonald, Mitchell, Oughtred Pandurevic (Castelnuovo 84’), Paull, Payne (Williams 73), Bragg (Parkhouse 69’)
Substitutes not used: Forbes, Liiband
Yellow Cards: Nil
