Honours even at Blacktown

The 0-0 score line is the most despised in football, but on a chilly Sunday afternoon at Lilys Football Centre it did little justice to an enthralling PS4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 contest between Blacktown City FC and Rockdale City Suns FC.

Neither side could find the back of the net despite numerous examples of fine attacking moves, as exemplary defending and outstanding goalkeeping was the order of the day.

Blacktown City FC controlled the game in the middle of the park, courtesy of a brilliant performance from the midfield axis of Sasa Macura and Connor Evans, but it was Rockdale who created the better chances, hitting the crossbar twice and forcing a goal-line clearance.

From as early as six minutes, it looked like goals might be on the cards.

Yianni Fragogiannis and Travis Major were a constant threat down Blacktown City’s right flank, and when the former whipped in a cross during the sixth minute in the direction of Mitch Mallia, a goal seemed the only outcome, only for Rockdale’s Daniel Petkovski to put in a desperate challenge to block the ball wide of the goal.

Blacktown keeper Nenad Vekic got the first taste of what was to be a very busy afternoon as Rockdale effectively countered off a dominant City midfield when he came under a strong challenge from former Hyundai A-League target man Dylan Macallister.

Macallister beat Vekic 17 minutes in when he did well to control an awkward cross which had bounced to waist height, bringing the ball down and hitting an unconvincing shot past Vekic only for his strike to be cleared off the line by Matt Lewis, who was outstanding all game.

Lewis formed a formidable fortress at the back in tandem with captain Zach Cairncross who dealt effectively with everything that came their way, but not even they could stop slipper Sun Alec Urosevski who was unlucky not to score a brilliant goal in the 19th minute.

Picking up the ball on the right wing near the centre park, Urosevski did everything but find the back of the net as he skinned Giorgio Speranza, rode a challenge from Lewis, stumbled, regained his footing and unleashed a rocket of a shot onto the cross bar from a tight angle.

Blacktown City went close again after 20 minutes when Travis Major failed to keep down a Fragogiannis header that proved a bit too high for the City forward.

The frantic opening 20 minutes set the tone for the rest of the game and before the first half closed Blacktown goalkeeper Vekic had been forced into saves from the Suns’ captain Askin Oygur, Toufic Alameddine and Urosevski.

At the other end, Rockdale were forced to play 17-year-old Nicholas Sorras – who has spent time on Central Coast Mariner’s books – who was outstanding in his senior debut in place of Ivan Necevski.

Sorras coped well, commanding his box admirably and saving a number of long rang efforts well throughout the game.

He was more heavily relied on in the second half than the first, saving brilliantly from Mallia not long after his fellow keeper Vekic was forced into action at the other end by Idriss El Hafiane.

As the game wore on, Rockdale sat deeper and deeper, handing Blacktown the initiative but the ladder leaders couldn’t break through.

Marko Jesic almost stole the show and the points for Rockdale when his fierce long-range effort clipped the crossbar in the 88th minute.

Blacktown City coach Mark Crittenden was left frustrated with his team’s final ball into the box after getting into a number of promising positions.

“We dominated the possession as they sat off us a bit, which a lot of teams seem to be doing at the moment,” Crittenden said.

“They had some good chances though and hit the crossbar, but we didn’t use the ball well enough.

“Our final ball was pretty poor and that’s what really hurt us, because we got into very good areas, which makes it hard to score.”

Crittenden said his team would need to get better at breaking down teams going forward, but said his defence was outstanding.

Suns coach Paul Reid said he would have taken a point before the game, but was disappointed not to leave with all three after a great team performance.

“Before the game you would have taken a draw, but we had the better chances, especially in the first half,” Reid said.

“It was a comfortable draw. We had a game plan and it worked a treat.”

Reid was full of praise for stand-in keeper Sorras.

“He’s only 17 and it’s his first senior game but he was outstanding,” Reid said.

“We bought him in four or five weeks ago for the 20s and 18s, so he was fifth or fourth choice two weeks ago, but he’s been brilliant.”

Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 0
Rockdale City Suns 0
Sunday July 12, 2015
Lilys Football Centre
Referee: Katie-Louise Patterson
Assistant Referees: Raymond Osborne and Kearney Robinson
Fourth Official: Samuel Grasso
Blacktown City: Vekic, Antelmi (Petrakis 74’, (Tomaras 89’), Fragogiannis, Speranza, Mallia, Major, Macura, Lewis, Evans, Choi,(Perre 64’), Cairncross
Substitutes not used: Perkatis, Perre, Prendergast, Timotheou, Tomaras
Yellow Cards: Macura 83’
Rockdale City Suns: Alameddine (Iwamoto 77’), El Hafiane, Hesketh, Jesic, Macallister (Tanoski 84’), Murayama, Oygur, Petkovski, Savor, Urosevski, Sorras
Substitutes not used: Iwamoto, Tanoski, Kemp, Petrillo, Lekoski
Yellow Cards: Petkovski 53’

-By Matthew Galea, National Premier Leagues NSW Mens 1 Reporter, at Lilys Football Centre