Saints halt Blacktown City’s run to the finals
St George FC have snapped a six game winless run to stun finals hopefuls Blacktown City FC 3-2 at Barton Park.
Both sides were pushing hard in the opening minutes in an attempt to nab an early lead, but no real chances were created.
Jaden Casella and Bai Antoniou were dynamic in attack for St George FC, producing a decent opportunity 10 minutes in that was picked up by Blacktown City keeper Cayden Henderson relatively easily.
Jakob Cresnar and Travis Major paired up early on but once again any attack was stalled by the St George FC defence.
Blacktown City FC finally had a breakthrough in the 26th minute as Mitchell Mallia was fouled in the box, referee Kelly Jones immediately pointing at the spot.
Major easily converted to give Blacktown the lead, but from there St George City dominated the rest of the half.
Just 10 minutes after going down, Jaden Casella produced a stunning corner kick that looked like it was heading for the back of the net on its own.
It came off Blacktown City’s Lachlan Campbell, with St George FC levelling the scores from an unfortunate own goal.
Barely two minutes later, St George FC doubled their lead after Nick O’Brien took down Antoniou in the box, the referee once again wasting no time in pointing to the spot.
Troy Danaskos was cool and collected as he went forward to take the penalty, easily slipping it past Henderson who went left while Danaskos went straight down the middle.
Mallia earned himself a yellow card just before the end of the half after a hefty challenge on Jayden Seeto, and St George went into the break 2-1 up.
Blacktown City have always produced their best football when trailing on the scoreboard and this match was no different.
Although the visitors weren’t creating a lot of opportunities to open the second half, it only took 15 minutes after the restart to find the equaliser.
A free kick was awarded to Blacktown City just passed the halfway mark and was taken by Mallia, who belted it straight on goal, only for a flying Lachlan Campbell to head the ball into goal.
St George FC were definitely buoyed by the strong support in attendance and were not held level for long.
A decent scrap was initiated in the St George FC box after a corner kick, and Yelchan managed to get boot to ball and find the back of the net in the 72nd minute.
Blacktown City didn’t give up the fight, pushing right to the end of a lengthy stoppage time, but St George FC took home all three points.
Blacktown City coach Mark Crittenden said St George FC simply played better.
“They battled really hard,” Crittenden said.
“They’re playing for their lives, so to speak, and just stopped us from playing the football we like to play.”
Match Stats
St George FC 3 (Lachlan Campbell (own goal) 35’, Troy Danaskos (pen) 39’, Chan Yelchan 72’)
Blacktown City FC 2 (Travis Major (penalty) 26’, Lachlan Campbell 60’)
Sunday July 27th, 2025
Barton Park, Banksia
Referee: Kelly Jones
Assistant Referees: Lance Greenshields and Matt Staples
Fourth Official: Jackson Tippett
St George FC: 2. Rocco Smith, 3. Troy Danaskos (c), 5. Nicholas Kalogerou, 7. Aedan O’Shea (18. Gianni Di Pizio 62’), 8. Evangelo Souris (19. Nikola Skataric 86’), 9. Chan Yelchan (28. Jesper webber 76’), 10. Jaden Casella, 15. Bai Antinou (14. Justin Poon 76’), 16. Kaidyn Wright, 27. Jayden Seeto, 99. Mackenzie Syron
Substitutes Not Used:
Yellow Cards: Jaden Casella 76’
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City FC: 1. Cayden Henderson (GK), 4. Lachlan Campbell, 6. Adam Berry, 7. Travis Major (c) (25. Reuben Awaritefe 77’), 14. Mitchell Mallia, 16. Benjamin Berry, 17. Martin Fernandez (9. Keanu Moore 81’), 18. Nicholas O’Brien, 22. Jacob Maniti (19. Sebastian Hayward 54’), 23. Jakob Cresnar, 24. Jackson Bandiera
Substitutes Not Used:
Yellow Cards: Nicholas O’Brien 17’, Mitchell Mallia 46’, Lachlan Campbell 71’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Jaden Casella (St George FC)
2 – Chan Yelchan (St George FC)
1 – Lachlan Campbell (Blacktown City)
