In a fixture which saw goals, yellow cards, nasty tackles and coaches screaming on the edge of their technical area, this semi-final of the NSW Premier League produced some outstanding football as Blacktown City FC managed to get a 2-1 win over Sutherland Sharks at Seymour Shaw Park.
No matter how many times a player hears theit theme song as they walk out the tunnel and onto the pitch, it always gives them goosebumps.
This is the time of the season where this feeling can help push players to play harder than any other game. Tonight, this was definitely the case.
Blacktown started the stronger of the two sides, pushing the ball around well and Sutherland under massive pressure whenever they had the ball.
With the likes of Luke Roodenburg and Sean Rooney up front for Blacktown, their aim was obvious to get the ball to them as fast as possible. This tactic worked very well with the away side having the first of the shots on goal.
It took almost 20 minutes for Sutherland to settle on the ball and when they did, they played their beautiful and unique passing game.
Sutherland’s major issue was the lack of any real striker with target man Sam Awad still out thanks to a calf strain forcing the former North Queensland Fury and Central Coast Mariners midfielder, Panni Nikas into a centre forward role.
It took 42 minutes before we saw the opening goal, Blacktown had a good string of passes before Travis Major was found out on the right wing in space.
He was given far too much room on the ball to line up his cross and when he did eventually put the ball across the face of the goal, Sutherland’s defenders were caught completely off guard and Roodenburg was on hand to blast the ball into the net.
Just before the break, former Newcastle Jets striker, Sean Rooney tried a cheeky chip over Sutherland’s ‘keeper Nathan Denham who was off his line. If it wasn’t for Hayden Morton’s clearance off the line, Blacktown would have doubled their scoreline.
As the referee called for half time, Sutherland’s players dropped their heads a bit in disappointment which was a shock, especially since the score was only 1-0 and there was still 45 minutes left to play.
After the sides had their tea and biscuit break, it didn’t take long for Sutherland to continue their usual pattern of being a second half side.
With better play from the centre of the park, it did not take long for Panni Nikas to get into the right spot at the right time and have a fantastic strike on goal bringing the sides level.
However at this point, Blacktown appeared to pick up another level whilst Sutherland looked to be stuck in second gear.
The end-to-end football continued with shots on goal from both sides, Sutherland had a free kick which narrowly skipped wide as no one could knock it in whilst Blacktown continued to push for a second goal. The travelling supporters didn’t have to wait long for a second goal either.
With just over 20 minutes left on the clock, Sean Rooney made sure to secure the victory for Blacktown with a strike he should be proud of.
Lobbing the ball over Denham, who was again slightly off his line, definitely left a smile on the 22 year old striker who would fit in well with most A-League sides.
The tackles started flying in with less than 10 minutes to go, yellow cards were given out like they were chocolate bars.
Despite a clash of heads and a couple moments of stoppage for substitutions, the match had a brilliant flow to it and there was a great cheer let out by the Blacktown supporters and players as the final whistle was blown.
Blacktown City’s coach, Mark Crittenden was obviously happy with the result as he wore a smile which reached ear to ear on his way to the change rooms, “Very happy. Probably didn’t deserve to be in front at the break, they [Sutherland] played some beautiful football. The character in the change room is sensational, the boys play for each other, fight for each other, we’re just a real unit.”
After defeating Bonnyrigg White Eagles and now Sutherland Sharks, there is no doubt Blacktown will be a tough ask whoever they play next weekend. “It doesn’t get any easier! We respect everyone in the top five, but you have to otherwise you’ll get belted.”
Coach of Sutherland, Robbie Stanton was quick to praise his players for the valiant performance even though they didn’t get the desired result, “We played well, we had a bit more possession and dominance in the first half, but it’s the taking of chances and they got the goals when it counted. Very proud of my boys, they did well tonight against tough opposition.”
With Sutherland now out of the final series, Robbie took a moment to reflect on what has been an outstanding season of football to watch from the sidelines, “This has been my most enjoyable season. Might say that two years ago with had success, but to be honest, I got more out of this year than any other year as we changed things for the better and took our game to the next level.
“It’s been a good year, disappointed with the result, but lots of positives.”
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