The old saying goes that if strikers win you games, it is defenders that win you Premierships.
That is a statement that rings true for Blacktown City FC coach Mark Crittenden, who will watch his Premiership-winning side compete for a place in the Grand Final this weekend at their home ground; Lilys Football Centre.
City conceded just 23 goals in 22 games over the course of the season – the best defensive record in the league – and while the likes of Joey Gibbs, Travis Major and Danny Choi have deservedly been recognised for their goal scoring talents at the other end of the park, the central defensive pairing of Zachary Cairncross and Matt Lewis was every bit as important.
“We actually set a target of conceding no more than 22 goals across the 22 games,” Cairncross said.
“So losing that on the last game with a late goal (from Sutherland Sharks FC’s Peter O’Shea) was a bit disappointing … but obviously winning the Premiership helps to make up for that.”
The milestone Premiership win was a particularly special one for the two Blacktown City juniors who have returned to the club following their own A-League stints.
Cairncross spent two years at Sydney FC, before a short stint at Central Coast Mariners last year, while Lewis plied his trade as a left-back at the Mariners from 2009-11.
“I’ve been here the last four years and it’s something we’ve waited a long time to achieve,” Cairncross said.
“I obviously played elsewhere after my junior days here with Sydney FC and Marconi before that, but I played all my juniors here so it’s special to come back and do this.”
Lewis, one year younger than Cairncross, shares a similar story.
“I’ve been here since I was in under-11s outside of my time at the Mariners,” Lewis said.
“I was younger than Zach, but I usually played as a left-back anyway. I’m not usually a centre-back, but that’s where I’ve played this year.
“It’s been great to play next Zach because I’ve learned a lot from him. I couldn’t have played as well as we have this year without him, so it’s been a great year.”
The guidance and management offered by Crittenden has also proven a key asset for Blacktown City this year, and both had nothing but praise for their Premiership winning coach.
“We’ve got a young team and a good dressing room. We all jel together really well and we’re all mates off the field as well,” Lewis said.
“But Mark is the first to tell us to pull our heads in when someone’s getting a big head or is getting out of line,” Cairncross added.
“I’ve played under him for a couple of years ago now and I couldn’t play for anyone else.”
Lewis’ relationship with Crittenden extends to his working life as well.
“He’s actually my boss away from football, too, so I think I’ve had enough of him,” Lewis joked.
“But seriously, he’s been a great coach and we’re proud to have helped him achieve what we have this year.”
It is a year that still isn’t over with finals calling, and for arguably the finest defensive duo in the league there is still hopefully some more success to be had.
“We’re just glad to have the Premiership in the bag and now a week off,” Cairncross said following last week’s win.
“Obviously we’ll still be training and that will remain a priority, but it will be good to have a week off and be fresh for the finals, regardless of who we have to play.”
– By Matthew Galea, National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Editor, at Lambert Park
Archives for August 2015
Bonnyrigg advance while APIA falter
Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC sent out a big message to their fellow PS4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Finals Series combatants.
The White Eagles were too fit and too strong for APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC on Saturday night at Lambert Park.
Goals from Tyan Diaz, Adam Jenner and Robbie Younis proved a mountain too large for Rod Williams’ APIA boys to climb, despite the home-ground advantage.
The result was a significant turn around within just a month when APIA dismantled Bonnyrigg 3-0 at Bonnyrigg Sports Club, but a completely deserved one for Brian Brown’s men.
Both sides had disrupted pre-game warm-ups with players from both sides going down with injury.
The White Eagles lost David Vrankovic prior to kick-off, while APIA lost Brett Studman, who was replaced by an undercooked Adam Griffiths, who himself had to be replaced at half-time.
Dylan Fox had hit the post for White Eagles after just four minutes, with a wonderful headed effort, while Diaz had a chance shortly after from a free-kick which he blasted wide.
Diaz wouldn’t be denied at the next time of asking when he picked up the ball just outside to the top-right corner of the box.
The diminutive winger didn’t need a second invitation, taking one touch and slamming the ball home across the face of goal and past a helpless Ryan Norval.
With the goal advantage and smelling blood in the water, the White Eagles stepped up the pace another notch and might have been 2-0 up had Aaron Peterson been a bit sharper in the 38th minute.
A minute later, Yuta Kokado had robbed his marker and drove at goal only to smash his glorious chance wide of the far post.
APIA responded with a great run from Nathan Elasi but a poor touch forced the forward to hold up his run and attempt to find Corey Biczo, but the ball flashed just wide of the onrushing winger.
The missed chance proved a costly one when Jenner turned on the style just moments later.
Picking up the ball after a needless turnover from Michael West, Jenner glided past Adam and David D’Apuzzo with consummate ease before turning the ball beyond Norval to double the White Eagles’ lead and send the Bonnyrigg boys into the half-time break well and truly the dominant side.
APIA looked a more resolute outfit after the half-time break and pushed hard for a way back into the game, but struggled to turn that forward pressure into clear chances on goal.
They eventually got some reward when Biczo moved into the box with the ball and was felled by an outstretched leg to earn the Tigers a penalty and a way back into the game.
Substitute Nicholas Olsen stepped up confidently, despite having only just been substituted into the game, and took the penalty with great composure to reduce the deficit to one.
From kick-off, the Tigers hunted the ball straight away and broke forward again through Elasi but the chance was eventually wasted.
By the 70th minute, the White Eagles were re-establishing their dominance on the contest, as a tiring Tigers squad fatigued, but it had to wait until late on to secure the win.
Olsen, the hero early in the half, turned villain when he needlessly attempted to carry the ball out of defence while mobbed by three White Eagles attacker.
He lost the ball and set the dangerous Diaz on another foray forward, when he was fouled by West in the box.
By now, the White Eagles had introduced Robbie Younis, a somewhat surprising exclusion from the starting XI, and the front man proved his ice cold composure again with a solid penalty.
White Eagles’ coach Brian Brown said he was delighted with the way his side stepped up its intensity for finals football.
“It was a fantastic result and an outstanding performance,” Brown said.
“I think our work rate was outstanding. We closed them down really well and we took our chances.
“Finals football is a bit different and tonight our boys handled the intensity brilliantly.
“Blacktown vs Bonnyrigg will always be a good game and I’m excited for it. We’ve got plenty of knocks and injuries but nothing too bad.”
APIA’s Rod Williams was less than pleased after the final whistle.
“To be honest, we played them two weeks ago and they threw the kitchen sink at us, but today was a bit different because we lost Brett Studman before kick-off and had to thrown in Adam Griffiths and I don’t think he was 100 per cent fit either,” Williams said.
“They dominated for 80-90 per cent of the game and we just didn’t show up.
“We’ve learned a couple of things tonight. In Semi Finals you need 11 soldiers and we had a few go missing tonight, but to be honest, we won’t let that happen next week.”
The Tigers will now take on Sydney Olympic FC next week, while Bonnyrigg will travel to Blacktown City FC’s Lilys Football Stadium.
Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC 1 (Olsen 62’)
Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC 3 (Diaz 20’, Jenner 42’, Younis 81’)
Sunday August 23, 2015
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: James Lewis
Assistant Referees: Kearney Robinson & Danny Horstead
Fourth Official: Michael Weiner
APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC: Biczo, A D’Apuzzo (Olsen 60’), D D’Apuzzo, Elasi, Griffiths (Bartels 45’), Millgate, Norval, Parisi, Symons, Ucchino, West
Substitutes not used: Bartels, Moore, Olsen, Vlastelica
Yellow Cards: D. D’Apuzzo 10’, Ucchino 86’
Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC: Chronopolous, Diaz (Caira 86’), Gil, Jenner (McDonald 90’), Kokado, Miller (Younis 69’), Peterson, Spruce, Zonjic, Tadrosse, Fox
Substitutes not used: Caira, Douglas, Younis, Matic
Yellow Cards: Diaz 32’, Peterson 72’, Jenner 77’
– By Matthew Galea, National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Editor, at Lambert Park
Grade 20s: Injury time winner for Stallions
A goal in injury time was all that separated Marconi Stallions from Sutherland Sharks in their Preliminary Semi Final on Sunday afternoon; the Stallions winning 3-2 after a tense 90 minutes of football at Lambert Park gave way to a gripping finish.
Marconi led 2-1 until the final few minutes when a late equaliser from Sutherland’s Patrick O’Shea might have sent the match into extra time, but Matthew Stewart scored almost immediately after the restart to take Marconi into the second week of the finals.
Marconi had the first real opportunity of the match after an early corner when the ball rolled through the box for an unmarked Marcus Donatiello at the back post, but he seemed surprised by the opportunity and smacked a wild shot well over the crossbar under pressure from goalkeeper Andrew Depta.
The Stallions, the form team of the second half of this season (along with Sydney Olympic), streamed forward in numbers when on the ball, their attacking intent standing in sharp contrast to the Sharks’ slow, deliberate build-up play. Yet Marconi found themselves struggling for ideas when they had the ball around Sutherland’s box; Jack Press finishing off more than one Marconi attack with optimistic strikes from range that did little to threaten Depta.
The Sutherland team looked more fatigued than their opponents from the outset – the result of a number of players backing up for both the 20s and first teams – and made a lazy mistake in defence to give away a penalty in the 20th minute; Cameron Devlin chopping Donatiello down as he ran away from goal on the edge of the area. Ryan Peterson stepped up to take the spot kick, and slammed his penalty low and hard to the goalkeeper’s left to give Marconi a deserved 1-0 lead.
A frustrated Sutherland side were determined to hit back straight away, but sparked a flurry of yellow cards in their enthusiasm to win the ball back, leaving Jacob Bandur and Patrick O’Shea – amongst others – on cautions as they fought to get their side back in the game. Jeremy Cox worked some space for himself at the top of the box before cutting back onto his left foot, but smacked his shot well over the crossbar.
Just as it looked as though Marconi would take their slender lead into the halftime break, they scored a second: Sebastian Malfara carried the ball down the right side before reaching the edge of the area, where he skipped over a sprawling Sutherland defender before shooting high into the roof of the net, giving Depta no chance to keep his side from going behind by two.
With just seconds remaining in the half, Sutherland pulled a goal back with an incredible strike from Charles Lokolingoy, who wound up a shot from over 25 metres out which bounced down off the crossbar before settling into the back of the net – a simply remarkable strike, seemingly out of nothing, brought Sutherland Sharks right back into the match.
The second half began in much the same way as the first, with Marconi – and Press in particular – content to continue testing the goalkeeper with shots from range. Peterson picked out Donatiello with a fine weighted cross that found the striker unmarked at the back post, but he couldn’t jump high enough to direct his header down towards goal.
Eager to remind Marconi of the fragility of their lead, Sutherland went searching for a second equaliser, and nearly had it after Lokolingoy held the ball up well for Jeremy Cox to shoot on edge of the 18-yard box, but the strike was deflected up off a defender onto the post, and the Stallions cleared the resulting corner.
Sutherland kept up the pressure with a repeat of the previous play; Lokolingoy holding the ball before dishing it off for Cox, who this time hit a wild shot over the bar under pressure from Marconi goalkeeper Kristian Sekutkoski. Up the other end, Jack Press might have put the game almost out of the Sharks’ reach when the ball dropped from the sky on the penalty spot, but he mistimed his volley and shot high.
Still chasing the match, Sutherland’s shape narrowed as they tired more, encouraging Marconi’s forward line to move up in numbers with Press, Malfara and Noah Chianese all searching for a goal to kill the game. Press found himself with perhaps the best chance to do just that when Matthew Stewart’s wayward shot fell at his feet at the far post, but the goalkeeper was quick to shut the opportunity down.
With full time approaching, an exhausted Sutherland side won a free kick just over 20 metres out from goal. Patrick O’Shea stepped up and curled a beautiful free kick over the wall and down into the bottom left corner, squaring things up with just minutes left on the clock.
Restarting the match with extra time – and penalties beyond that – on the cards, Marconi streamed forward immediately, moving the ball out for Jack Press to cross to the back post for Matthew Stewart, who leaped high to punch a header back across the keeper and into the goal, sparking wild celebrations on the sideline. Sutherland took the ball back to the centre circle and kicked off, but couldn’t muster up a third goal as Marconi held on to secure a place in the second week of the finals. Sutherland, meanwhile, survive to face Sydney Olympic next weekend for a place in the preliminary final.
Marconi’s Nick Dimovski was beaming at the end of the match. "I’m very proud of the boys," he said. "We dug deep and never gave up. We were up 2-0 and they scored a few bomb goals – Charles [Lokolingoy] hit one from way out, and their free kick was from a good 30 yards too – but these boys have a never-say-die attitude that makes me proud to be a part of this team. We scored with one of the last kicks, sure, but I think we deserved to win – we played them off the park."
Sutherland Shark’s coach Allan Edmonson was understandably disappointed by Marconi’s late winner after his side had come back to 2-2 after being 2-0 behind. "I think we outplayed them in the second half of the second half," he said, "but we gave away a cheap goal right at the end and that’s all it took.
"We came back twice and played some good football, which got better as the game went on. I’m just very disappointed about that late goal."
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions FC 3 (Peterson 20′, Malfara 40′, Stewart 88′)
Sutherland Sharks FC 2 (Lokolingoy 45′, Patrick O’Shea 87′)
Sunday August 23, 2015
Lambert Park
Marconi Stallions FC: Brown, Donatiello, Fabiano, Fitzpatrick, Malfara, Peterson, Press, Schmidt, Sekutkoski, Sfiligoi, Vella
Subs: Chianese, Stewart, DeMarigny, Andricopolous, Roebuck
Sutherland Sharks FC: Bandur, Combes, Cox, Curtis, Depta, Devlin, Kakavelis, Lokolingoy, O’Shea, Russell, Stergiou
Subs: Antoniou, Gioiosa, Loe, L. Malfara, Nikas
– by Max Grieve, PS4 National Premier Leagues Grade 20s Reporter
Olympic too good as Wolves are eliminated
There’s no room for error in finals football, and Sydney Olympic FC made very few at Lambert Park on Sunday afternoon.
Olympic put in a classy, controlled performance against South Coast Wolves FC to progress in the PS4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Finals Series.
The Wolves were brave in their own right, putting in a great shift for the Elimination Semi Final, but lacked the class of Olympic in the final third, which ultimately proved the difference.
Goals in the first and second halves from Dimitri Hatzimouratis and then Harris Gaitatzis set the sides apart.
Grant Lee’s side started the game much the stronger and pushed the pace straight form kick-off.
Hatzimouratis gave an early sign of things to come when he stung the palms of Manos after just four minutes, before Scott Balderson kicked off his own impressive shift with a tame effort only two minutes later.
As Olympic piled on the pressure, Michael Gaitatzis and Taiga Soeda both got forward to try their luck with little success.
Still, the early, ominous signs were there for the Wolves who struggled to find a lot of time on the ball, despite the best screening efforts of Zachary Mackenzie in defensive midfield.
Mackenzie distributed the ball well, but as the Wolves tried to release Peter Simonoski and Jordan Murray behind the brilliantly Peter Markovic-marshalled Olympic unsuccessfully.
Ben Zucco was industrious behind the South Coast Wolves front two and had the Wolves best chance of the half when an inspired bit of skill from a cornered Simonoski put the Wolves’ front man in behind.
His cutback found Zucco, but he was blocked out of a shot on goal and seemingly injured in the process, as he was withdrawn shortly after.
The brief Wolves’ spell of dominance was quickly ended and it was Olympic who regained control of the contest.
Soon enough, that dominance was shown on the scoreboard as Hatzimouratis finally got his deserved goal following some superb plat down Olympic’s right flank.
Brayden Sorge did brilliantly to win a header down towards Michael Gaitatzis, who burned his full-back and slipped a low-cross towards goal which Hatzimouratis gratefully tucked away.
Olympic comfortably saw out the half to take in a 1-0 lead into the half-time break, but they met a hungry Wolves outfit after it.
Timpano’s men returned to the field with renewed fire in their bellies as Simonoski tried to force the issue himself, moving the ball into the forward line almost by himself.
He was eventually crowded out of a shot just two minutes after the restart, sparking an avalanche of goalmouth action.
Soeda hit a fierce long-range effort at the other end of the field to test Manos, before the Wolves broke away through Murray, whose high cross was brilliantly collected by Paul Henderson.
Henderson wasted no time in launching a counter-attack of Olympic’s own which eventually saw a brilliant run fro full-back Troy Danaskos result in a blocked shot.
At the other end, Murray looked like a man possessed chasing down everything in sight, but to ultimately no avail, as he struggled to create much in the way of turnovers out of a very calm and controlled Olympic defence.
With Wolves’ enjoying a short period of control, Olympic quickly regained control, but had to wait until the 82nd minute to seal the result.
Harris Gaitatzis smashed home from close range after being released down the left side of the park.
A smart step over delayed the challenge, before Gaitatzis pushed the ball beyond his marker and slammed home to seal progression to the next round.
For Olympic coach, Grant Lee, the result and performance were pleasing, particularly after the side looked to be struggling midway through the season.
“We had a bit of a bad patch in the middle of the season, more mental than physical, and over the last six weeks we’ve got over it and build up very nicely,” Lee said.
“I think from last year, the finals run we had then, and the football we played after with the FFA Cup, proved we can play good football and turn at the start of the year was exceptional … but its been a long period of hard, intense football.
“It wasn’t the physical aspect, more the mental, because for young kids its hard to know how to play that intensity week in, week out, but we’ve learned how to be a real patient and disciplined team and play good Finals football.”
Wolves coach Jacob Timpano said just making finals was an achievement for a side that was at the bottom of the table for much of the early days of the season.
“I think the first half we were outplayed, and the quick deck made it hard for us and we didn’t cope well with the ball speed on the synthetic surface,” Timpano said.
“We gave a really good response in the second half, so I was pleased with that, and I think that we were maybe unlucky not to equalize, but overall they were the better side.
“It’s a superb effort just to be here. We were second bottom after 13 rounds and its an inexperienced squad, so I think this run will hold us in good stead for next year.”
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC 2 (Hatzimouratis 36’, H. Gaitatzis 82’)
South Coast Wolves FC 0
Sunday August 23, 2015
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Christopher Young
Assistant Referees: Andrej Giev & Raymond Osborne
Fourth Official: Adrian Arndt
Sydney Olympic FC: Balderson (Tsattalios 70’), Danaskos, H Gaitatzis (Madonis 86’), M Gaitatzis (Shirai 64’), Hatzimouratis, Henderson, Hooper, Markovic, Soeda, Sorge, Spyrakis
Substitutes not used: Egger, Madonis, Sadaka, Shirai, Tsattalios
Yellow Cards: Spyrakis 63’, Markovic 90’
South Coast Wolves FC: Baldacchino, Griffin (Wilson 76’), Mackenzie, Madden, Manos, Matthews, Murray, O’Rourke, Price, Simonoski, Zucco (La Valle 32’)
Substitutes not used: Al Saad, Hamilton, La Valle, Wilson, Proia
Yellow Cards: Zucco 25’, La Valle 63’, Mackenzie 72’, Madden 90’
-By Matthew Galea, National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Editor, at Lambert Park
Grade 20s: Olympic progress in 5-4 epic
Sydney Olympic scored with virtually the last kick of their elimination semi final against Sydney United 58 to win a 5-4 thriller at Lambert Park on Sunday morning.
Olympic had opened the scoring in the first half but found themselves a goal behind with six minutes remaining, and needed two goals in the last six minutes from striker Adrian Vranic to seal a spot in next week’s minor semi final against Sutherland Sharks.
Rain, which had threatened to continue through the morning and into the afternoon, lifted early in the half as both sides settled into possession; ponderous on the ball in their respective halves, and somewhat panicked when play moved forward. Understandably, given the stakes, there appeared to be an emphasis as much on scoring as on keeping the opposition goalless.
A cagey opening ten minutes gave way to fluidity as Lachan Roberts skipped down the left side and cut in behind his defender to shoot into the side netting, just seconds after running the ball over the byline.
Olympic responded in stunning fashion: Vranic ran a line from midfield towards goal and centred the ball for Sydney United to clear straight to Jack Green beyond the left corner of the box, who swung his boot and sent a scorching volley inside the far post. A goal from nothing, it was a strike worthy of opening the scoring in this elimination semi final.
Vranic had an opportunity to score himself just minutes later when James Andrew squared across goal for the striker sliding in, but there was slightly too much pace on the ball and it ran through for a goal kick. Sydney United hit back, Tariq Maia the next player to attempt to pull back the deficit when he ran free in front of two Olympic defenders, but they recovered to force a tame shot from the edge of the area, which goalkeeper John Dimitrakis took with relative ease.
United’s next attack was more fruitful: Jordan Koton turned his defender after recieving the ball at the top of the box and ran ahead of the Olympic backline to square for Anthony Vrlic, who couldn’t miss an open goal with the keeper beaten; levelling the score at 1-1 with ten minutes left of the first half.
While it seemed both sides would go into the break locked at 1-1 after a curiously tentative first half, Adrian Vranic had other ideas, and latched onto a long, bouncing ball from midfield before United goalkeeper Luke Babic could rush to intercept, poking a shot into an empty net to give his side a 2-1 lead at halftime.
Nobody watching the first half here could have predicted what might happen in the second. Sydney United came out of the sheds firing and equalised again in the 52nd minute when a low cross to the far post found Vrlic in space, the striker throwing himself to the ground to bundle the ball over the line.
Vrlic might’ve put his side ahead for the first time in the match when Cristian Gonzalez hung up a cross for the striker to attack on the penalty spot, but he wasted the chance with a poor header over the bar. He was left to rue his mistake just five minutes later when Oliver Green put Olympic ahead again, following up a saved shot from Michael Trajkovski and slamming the ball under Babic for Olympic’s third goal of the morning.
Olympic barely had time to settle into their lead before they were pegged back again. Lachlan Roberts tore down the right flank before passing inside for Tariq Maia, who finished from close range to level the score at 3-3 just before the hour mark.
Such was the pattern of the second half that another goal seemed inevitable, and James Temezkovsky made no mistake after latching on to a loose ball on the left side of the box, stepping inside his defender and picking his spot to put Sydney United in front for the first time in the match.
Sydney Olympic simply refused to be beaten, however, and with seven minutes remaining won a penalty when Babic clattered into two Olympic bodies as he charged out to punch a high ball. Injured in the collision, Babic was replaced by Max Ephraim, and the goalkeeper could do little to stop a confident penalty from Vranic, whose equaliser at 4-4 had the match seemingly destined for extra time.
Yet there was time for a final twist in the tale, and when the ball rolled free to Vranic in the box with just two minutes left to play, the striker made his shot count, slamming it low through a sea of legs to find the back of the net, and send Olympic into the second week of the finals. Sydney United launched a final few long balls forward, but late effort was in vain, and the whistle blew on a remarkable elimination final.
"It was a good game, wasn’t it?" said Olympic coach Harry Paras, still in some shock after his side’s late winner. "You saw two technical teams playing good football, a few good goals – defensively, we could have been better, especially in the second half.
"I wasn’t particular happy to go into halftime at 2-1 – we’d conceded a soft goal and I though we deserved to be ahead, but Sydney United made it hard for us, so credit to them. It was a great game."
Sydney United’s Davor Bajsic will have been proud of his team’s effort in coming from behind three times, only to find themselves minutes away from a place in the second week of the finals.
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC 5 (J. Green 13′, Vranic 43′, 84′, 88′, O. Green 55′)
Sydney United 58 FC 4 (Vrlic 36′, 52′, Maia 57′, Temezkovsky 71′)
Sunday August 23, 2015
Lambert Park
Sydney Olympic FC: Andrew, Dimitrakas, Duncan, O. Green, J. Green, Keir, C. Morris, S. Morris, Nicolis Trajkovski, Vranic
Subs: T. Bonomy, D. Bonomy, Gollan, Petrovski, Youlley
Sydney United 58 FC: Babic, Borovickic, Gonzalez, Kermack, Maia, McGing, Vlismas, Vrlic, Roberts, Koton, Zuvela
Subs: Ephraim, Temezkovsky, Brischetto, Fraser, Agamemnonos
– by Max Grieve, PS4 National Premier Leagues Grade 20s Reporter