Blacktown City edge Wolves as Ilinden awaits in do or die elimination final clash
Blacktown City head into finals football in fifth place and will take on Rockdale Ilinden in the Elimination Final on Wednesday evening after a solid 1-0 win over Wollongong Wolves at Landen Stadium.
Both teams were without most of their top players, with Blacktown City definitely resting the likes of Travis Major and Mitch Mallia ahead of their finals run.
It meant plenty of youngsters had the opportunity to get some solid minutes of first grade action in the final game of the regular season.
Keanu Moore had a solid showing, his first real impact coming in the 11th minute forcing a free kick out of Wollongong Wolves.
The resulting free kick taken by Grant Lynch was taken just outside the box right in front of goal but went straight to Wollongong Wolves keeper Oliver Yates.
Daniel McHugh and Reuben Awaritefe were a great pairing up front for Blacktown City, creating some dynamic chances in and around the box.
Wollongong Wolves had a few opportunities from corners but no strong shots at goal really came from them.
Blacktown City had most of the possession and chances of the first half but both teams still went to the sheds at nil-all.
Blacktown City almost conceded straight off the restart with errors from both McHugh and Jake Briggs allowing Sebastian Hernandez to get a clear sight on goal.
Quick thinking from Blacktown City’s Henderson saved the home team’s blushes.
Blacktown City then had their own opportunity to get on the board with a great cross from Awaritefe to Jacob Maniti, who found the back of the net for his first goal of the season.
One of the young guns to get their first call up into first grade was Charles Saul for Blacktown City, who came onto the pitch in the 63rd minute.
His first game came to an unfortunate early end, with an innocuous clash of legs in the middle of the pitch taking Saul down and out with a knee injury less than 10 minutes later.
With the match ending 1-0 in Blacktown City’s favour, the side will now go on to face Rockdale Ilinden in the finals, while Wollongong Wolves prepare for the inaugural Australian Championship which kicks off next month.
Blacktown City coach Mark Critten said 5th place and a win was a good way to end the regular season.
“There were obviously a lot of changes due to injury and everything else,” Crittenden said.
But it was great to give some of the young boys a chance, and I think they did really well.
“We should be getting back (Danny) Choi, (Martin) Fernandez and (Travis) Major for Wednesday.”
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 1 (Jacob Maniti 51’)
Wollongong Wolves FC 0
Sunday August 31st, 2025
Landen Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Brooklyn Faucett
Assistant Referees: Lance Greenshields and Cameron Wright
Fourth Official: Thomas Dale
Blacktown City FC: 1. Cayden Henderson (GK), 5. Grant Lynch, 9. Keanu Moore, 12. Daniel McHugh, 16. Benjamin Berry, 19. Sebastian Hayward, 22. Jacob Maniti (21. Charles Saul 63’ (28. Lukas Webber 72)), 24. Jackson Bandiera, 25. Reuben Awaritefe (36. Maksim Norton 83’), 34. Jake Briggs, 35. Riley Nolan (31. Lachlan Powell 83’)
Substitutes Not Used: 26. Aiden Renshaw, 40. Cooper Rogers
Yellow Cards: Riley Nolan 61’
Red Cards: Nil
Wollongong Wolves FC: 1. Oliver Yates, 2. Harrison Buesnel, 6. James Anagnostopoulos, 8. Sebastian Duarte, 11. Sebastian Hernandez (7. Lucas Trajcevski 80’), 15. Dax Kelly, 17. Marcus Beattie, 21. Nicholas Olsen (10. Liam Ball 66’), 25. Alex Masciovecchio (9. Damon Gray 66’), 29. Ben Giason (5. Banri Giason 45’), 77. Raphael Le’ai (23. Ryan Lowe 80’)
Substitutes Not Used: 13. Daniel Solsky
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Reuben Awaritefe (Blacktown City)
2 – Sebastian Hernandez (Wollongong Wolves)
1 – Keanu Moore (Blacktown City)
By Katrina May
