Bankstown City out-run Blacktown in entertaining encounter at Jensen Park

Bankstown City Lions surged back into the Top-Five with a morale boosting 4-2 win against Blacktown City Demons in an entertaining Jensen Park encounter.

Trailing the Demons 2-1 at the break, Bankstown City ran their opponents into the ground in a second-half that saw the home-side produce three unanswered goals to secure the win.

Bankstown City’s difficult moment with the large list of absentees through injury and suspension continued, though Peter Tsekenis’ unleashing of Shannon Burgin and Suad Ameti in the centre of midfield proved a treat.

The Demons too have been hampered with a long list of unavailable players, though most of the side’s positive displays have revolved around the influence of youngsters Chris Bedzo and Joel Chianese.

The encounter opened with a goal on 4’ minutes for Bankstown City; much to the delight of the home crowd. A Suad Ameti free-kick from the left-flank was floated onto the head of Richard Luksic who beat goalkeeper Michael Herbert with a deft touch to open the scoring.

Blacktown City’s response was immediate as Bedzo and Akwasi Agyei combined well to release Chianese. The Demons number 17 forced Zlatko Joseski into a fine save down to his right with a powerful low-driven effort.

The Demons were at it again on 8’ minutes, this time via a set-piece. Daniel Wilkinson’s attempt from distance had power though failed to trouble Joseski between the sticks.

The home-side held the majority of the possession throughout the opening exchanges and Hussein Salameh went very close to doubling his side’s lead 1’ minute later. Salameh beat two markers down the left-flank before cutting the ball back across goal from the by-line. James Monie was first to the ball and his first-time effort finished against the top of the crossbar and over.

Bankstown City should have doubled their lead on 21’ minutes when a goalmouth scrambled ensued following a floated Ameti set-piece. Efforts by Monie and Salameh were both thwarted, before the linesman brought a halt to play for an offside.

The Demons rode their luck after conceding much of the opening 20’ minutes to the home-side, though on 24’ minutes, Ken Schembri’s men were level.

Some fine build-up play out of midfield caught the Lions defence napping and Joel Chianese snuck in behind his markers to slot home past Joseski.

Blacktown City stunned the home crowd 3’ minutes later as they hit the lead following another defensive lapse by the Lions. Nick Sama found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper; cleverly rounding Joseski before coolly slotting home for a 2-1 lead.

The shell-shocked Lions created two late chances in the half, though both efforts at the feet of Luksic and player/coach Peter Tsekenis failed to find the mark.

Following the break, Blacktown City very nearly extended their lead courtesy of a powerful Bedzo header. The talented striker rose highest to head Wilkinson’s free-kick on-target, though the Demons player was denied by an exceptional Joseski reflex save.

The Demons evening took a turn for the worse when Tyler Simpson was given his marching orders on 51’ minutes for a second yellow card, handing the ascendancy to the home team.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, a swift Demons counter-attack created another one-on-one opportunity. Chianese was played through on goal, though the pressure from a retreating Tsekenis was enough to put the young midfielder off balance.

Bankstown City’s numerical advantage ended on 55’ minutes when Matthew Pressello was shown a straight red card for a foul on Bedzo; the Lions defender adjudged to being the last man.

The disappointment of the home-side spurred the Lions into attack and on 17’ minutes another goalmouth scramble saw the ball finish in the back of the net. Much to the dismay of the players, and home supporters, the goal was disallowed for offside.

Bankstown City’s dominance of possession had the Demons pinned back in their defensive third, and on 71’ minutes, Hussein Akil found an equaliser. A slalom effort by the striker created space on the edge of the area for a low-driven left-footed effort to beat Michael Herbert at his near post.

Within 5’ minutes, Hussein Salameh’s wonder-strike had the Lions ahead. The home-side’s persistence paid off as Salameh received the ball on the edge of the penalty-area and unleashed a venomous left-footed half-volley into the top right-hand corner of the net.

Peter Tsekenis’ men rounded out the result in the 4’ minute of injury-time as Akil drove home from close-range after some strong link-up play by the Lions on the right-flank.

A positive sign for the Lions was the return to the playing field for George Nohra. The midfielder’s cameo appearance proved effective as Nohra played a huge part in Akil’s injury-time goal.

The relief on the face of Bankstown City Lions’ Assistant coach Peter Papoythis was clear for all to see at the conclusion of the match:

“The difference tonight is that we took our chances, as opposed to recent weeks,” Papoythis commented.

“We’ve got a long list of injuries and suspensions and tonight our young players really did step-up and fulfilled their roles to the best of their ability.

“We’re working hard and as we have some of our injured players return to action, we’ll be a strong team in the second part of the season.”

Blacktown City Demons boss Ken Schembri less than impressed with the loss:

“We gave Bankstown City the start of the match, it took us a while to get going which was disappointing.

“On the whole, we certainly did not deserve to win the match and Bankstown City was the better side.

“We had to make some adjustments following the send off which hurt us, though we had a couple of decisions that didn’t roll for us and we could not get going.

“In saying that, we did have two massive chances to go 3-1 up at the start of the second-half though failed to convert. Tonight’s defeat is a costly loss for us; we’ll have our work cut out in the coming weeks but we certainly did show some naivety in this encounter which ultimately cost us a chance of taking something home,” ended Schembri.

In the Grade 20 division, a late goal for the Demons ensured Blacktown City a 1-0 win against Bankstown City.  

Match Stats

Bankstown City Lions 4 (Richard Luksic 4’, Hussein Akil 71’, 90’+4’, Hussein Salameh 76’)

Blacktown City Demons 2 (Joel Chianese 24’, Nick Sama 27’)

Sunday, 17^th May, 2009

Jensen Park, Sefton

Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones

Assistant Referees: Nick Backo and Christian Mehl

Fourth Official: Brendan Johansen

Crowd: 500 Approx.

Bankstown City Lions: 1.Zlatko Joseski; 2.Ibrahim Haydar, 5.Richard Luksic (C), 6.Peter Tsekenis, 13.Mathew Pressello, 7.Stefanos Liavas (12.Stefce Soleski 90’+5’), 9.James Monie (27.William Angel 63’), 14.Suad Ameti, 15.Hussein Salameh (8.George Nohra 87’), 29.Hussein Akil, 32.Shannon Burgin

Substitutions Not Used: 20.Andrew Bazi, 20.Cameron White

Yellow Cards: Suad Ameti 90’+3’

Red Cards: Matthew Pressello 55’

Blacktown City Demons: 1.Michael Herbet; 2.Tyler Simpson, 3.Paul Karbon, 5.Daniel Wilkinson, 6.Luke Casserly (C), 8.Chris Bedzo, 9.Kain Rastall (14.Gavin Forbes 78’), 11.Nick Sama (10.Luke Austin 54’), 16.Ante Deur, 17.Joel Chianese, 18. Akwasi Agyei

Substitutes Not Used: 40.Brody Crane, 15.Ray Miller, 19.Adam Woodbine

Yellow Cards: Tyler Simpson 32’, 51’, Daniel Wilkinson 67’

Red Cards: Tyler Simpson 51’

Player Ratings:

3 – Hussein Akil (BCL)

2 – Chris Bedzo (BCD)

1 – Richard Luksic (BCL)

-By Joseph Carlucci

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