Mt Druitt Town Rangers salvage important draw with late equaliser at Blacktown
Blacktown City and Mt Druitt Town Rangers have shared the points with a 2-2 draw at Landen Stadium.
Mt Druitt began the game with significant intensity, with a win necessary away from home in their quest to get off the bottom of the ladder.
In the 18th minute, they created a strong opportunity, with a counter attack reaching William Rankin, who fired a shot just wide of the far post from a good position inside the box.
Six minutes later, Mt Druitt had another good opportunity, with a great cross from Shayden Sanpow finding the head of Caleb Jackson-Brown.
The midfielder powered an effort toward goal, but he was denied by a fantastic save from Cayden Henderson, who parried the ball over the bar to keep the deadlock sealed.
But in the 31st minute, the home side, who had been building steadily into the match, took the lead at Landen Stadium.
A freekick from the right was swung in beautifully by Mitch Mallia, and found the toe of Lachlan Campbell in the box.
The central defender got just enough of a touch to re-direct the ball, wrongfooting Daniel Niski to find the back of the net.
Heading into halftime, it was Blacktown the dominant team, but Mt Druitt weren’t out of it, looking threatening in moments in the first 45.
In the 57th minute, the home side had the chance to double their lead, with a brilliant turn and dribble from Sebastian Hayward creating an opening.
After driving in from the left-flank, Hayward then played a perfectly weighted, trivela pass into the feet of Mitch Mallia inside the box.
First time, Mallia looked to slide a shot past Dylan Niski, but Mt Druitt’s goalkeeper had read the effort, and was down quickly to make a crucial stop.
Two minutes later, the away side had a chance up the other end, with good build-up play finding Yuto Morita in behind.
Taking on his man, the forward found space with a dribble into the box, before seeing a low effort across goal saved by Henderson.
However, in the 61st minute, Mt Druitt couldn’t be prevented, as they found a crucial equaliser at Landen Stadium.
The goal was created by some brilliant play between Abraham Majok and Rankin down the right flank, which allowed the latter to find a clever cutback after advancing into the space in behind.
His pass found the feet of Yuta Komura, who made no mistake in converting with a tidy low finish, to claw the away side right back into this game.
But in the 81st minute, Blacktown found their second goal, with Jakob Cresnar tapping the ball into the back of the net to put the home side back into the lead.
After a good period of possession, Blacktown found Adam Berry wide on the right flank, and the midfielder cut back onto his left foot, before swinging in a wicked ball.
His cross connected with the head of Travis Major, who directed a bullet header towards goal, forcing a super save from Niski.
However, the save fell into the path of Cresnar, who had cleverly gambled on a possible rebound, and calmly blasted the ball into the net to put Blacktown in the ascendancy once more.
But, stunningly, in stoppage time, Mt Druitt found their reply, with a goal to secure a valuable point.
A direct ball from Lachlan Vasiliou found Stevan Stanic-Floody on the edge of the box, who took a brilliant touch before passing the ball onto Theph Theph.
Inside the box, the central defender cushioned the ball before blasting it into the bottom corner, to earn a necessary point for his side in a tricky fixture away from home.
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 2 (Campbell 31’, Cresnar 82’)
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 2 (Komura 61’, Thpeh 94’)
Sunday 3 August, 2025
Landen Stadium
Referee: Ivica Covic
Assistant Referees: Lance Greenshields and Arinath Gobinath
Fourth Official: James Makris
Blacktown City FC: 1. Cayden Henderson, 4. Lachlan Campbell, 6. Adam Berry, 7. Travis Major (C), 10. Maksim Jez (22. Jacob Maniti 80’), 14. Mitchell Mallia (25. Reuben Awaritefe 85’), 16. Benjamin Berry, 17. Martin Fernandez (19. Sebastian Hayward 52’), 18. Nicholas O’Brien, 23. Jakob Cresnar, 24. Jackson Bandiera
Substitutes Not Used: 9. Keanu Moore, 12. Daniel McHugh, 30. William Kinghan
Yellow Cards: Campbell 50’, Jez 53’
Red Cards: None
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC: 1. Dylan Niski (C), 3. Danilo Doce Monteiro (99. Bilal Belkadi 85’), 5. Theph Theph, 6. Jared Macerola, 10. Yuto Morita (20. Thomas Lopez 72’), 12. Rocco Pelle, 14. Abraham Majok, 15. Caleb Jackson-Brown, 21. William Rankin (2. Alexander Trajanoski 72’), 27. Shayden Sampow (17. Stevan Stanic-Floody 79’(, 29. Yuta Komura (18. Lachlan Vasiliou 85’)
Substitutes Not Used: 16. Stefan Giglio
Yellow Cards: Sampow 30’, Theph 69’
Red Cards: None
Player ratings:
3 – Theph Theph (MD)
2 – Jakob Cresnar (BC)
1 – Adam Berry (BC)
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
