Blacktown City completed the double in the Grade 18’s by defeating Sydney Olympic 4-2 in an entertaining Grand Final at Leichhardt Oval on a fantastic Sydney Spring day.
Four different scorers in Christian Bozinovski, Cooper Coskerie, Charlie Abou Serhal and goal scoring machine Emmanuel Gonzalez saw them overcome a gritty Olympic outfit.
An open start to the match saw chances for both teams early on without the goalkeepers being really tested.
That was until the 16th minute when Christian Bozinovski stepped up to a free kick just outside the area. His powerful curling effort gave the Sydney Olympic custodian no chance, as the ball clipped the bar on its way in.
Jordan Morfitis was creating a few problems down the left with his speed and a dazzling run almost had Olympic level.
Cooper Coskerie almost put City further in front, his dribble in from the left and right footed strike rattled the woodwork.
Morfitis’ early work should have warned City so when he went on another mazy run in the 33rd minute, he made no mistake. His shot powering from the edge of the area into the bottom corner of the goal to bring Olympic level.
City re-took the lead a minute into the second half, Jake Borromeo broke through the Olympic defence to square the ball for Coskerie who calmly finished beyond a despairing Stefan Petrovski.
In the 51st minute City extended their lead, this time through Charlie Abou Serhal. Abou Serhal took a touch and placed the ball into the bottom left corner with Petrovski at full stretch.
Coskerie almost put the game beyond doubt in the 67th minute but Petrovski pulled off a fantastic save.
Coskerie was in again in with thirteen minutes to go but his toe poke came off the post. The rebound fell to City’s top scorer Emmanuel Gonzalez who thundered a shot toward goal but again Petrovski made a great save.
Gonzalez showed his finishing prowess when he broke through the Olympic defence and lobbed Petrovski from the edge of the area to put the game beyond doubt with seven minutes to go.
Aedon Kyra reduced the deficit in the 86th minute, slamming the ball home after a scramble in the penalty area but it was too little too late as Blacktown City claimed the Championship.
Match Stats
Sunday 13th September, 2015
Leichhardt Oval, Lilyfield
Blacktown City 4 (Bozinovski 16’, Coskerie 46’, Abou Serhal 51’, Gonzalez 83’)
Sydney Olympic 2 (Morfitis 33’, Kyra 86’)
Referee: Jarryd McFarlane
Assistant Referees: Andreas Lyndon & Reece Nies
Fourth Official: Adrian Brett
Blacktown City: 1. Figueira, 2. Borromeo (9. Yasser Al Taay 76’), 4. Mamone, 5. Bozinovski, 6. Baccus, 8. Dandan, 10. Shabow (7. Lewis Fraser 85’), 11. Cockerie, 12. Gonzalez, 13. Abou Serhal, 16. Bernardino
Yellow Cards: Bozinovski 30’, Abou Serhal 45’, Bernardino 78’
Sydney Olympic: 1. Petrovski, 2. Athanaseris, 3. Kyra, 6. Patramanis, 7. Hatzon, 8. Nicolaou, 9. Makridopolus (10. Carreno 56’), 14. Kambitsis (36. Traskovski 56’), 25. Markovic, 31. Gollan, 42. Morfitis
Yellow Cards: Nicolau 61’
-By Nikola Pozder
Leave a Reply