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STALLIONS UNBEATEN RUN CONTINUES
The Marconi
Stallions' impressive start to the season has continued with a 3-0
drubbing of the Blacktown City Demons on Sunday night.
Coming off a luckless
draw against Manly where the Stallions missed a host of opportunities,
Lee Sterrey's men were determined to make amends and
it didn't take long for the action to start.
Nahuel Arrarte went
close to opening the scoring in the 19th minute after being teed up by
Erick Anabalon, but the hard-working midfielder had his shot blocked
by Demons' custodian Brody Crane.
The Stallions skipper
didn't have to wait too much longer however, to get his name on the
scoresheet, when he volleyed him home a loose ball from the edge of
the box in the 29th minute.
That goal came just
moments after Blacktown's Kain Rastall was given his marching orders
after earning a second yellow guard, forcing the home side to slug out
the remainder of the contest with just 10 men.
Anabalon effectively
killed off the contest in the 38th minute, when he pounced on a loose
ball in the box to slot home. It was a deserved reward for the nippy
striker who proved a constant threat all night and has been in
dazzling form in the opening rounds.
Also benefiting from
the extra space afforded through the earlier send-off was Ivory-Coast
import Ousman Toure. The fleet-footed youngster had the ball on a
string in the second half and the Demons were often caught out by his
penetrating runs and deft passing.
Toure set-up his
team-mates on a handful of occasions, but a combination of weak
finishing and fine keeping, kept the deficit respectable.
Despite being down a
man, the Demons did show their fighting qualities and almost pinched a
goal in the 71st minute through Tyler Simpson. It was one of a few
impressive saves that James Chronopoulos pulled off during the
contest, with the Stallions' keeper proving difficult to get past this
season.
At the other end,
Crane was being asked to continually keep his side out of trouble, but
the Demons shot-stopper had no answer to Iraqi Ali Al-Hilfi's fine
strike in the 77th minute.
The win sees the
Stallions maintain second spot on the ladder, two points adrift of
Sydney United, who have won all of their opening three matches.
Match Stats
Blacktown City Demons 0
Marconi Stallions 3 (Arrarte 29’, Anabalon 38’, Al-Hilfi
77’)
Blacktown City Demons:
46.Brody CRANE; 2.Tyler SIMPSON, 3.Paul KARBON, 4.Damien FOXE
(5.Daniel WILKINSON 81’), 6.Luke CASSERLY, 8.Chris BEDZO (14. Gavin
FORBES 59’), 9.Kain RASTALL, 15.Ray MILLER, 16.Ante DEUR, 17.Joel
CHIANESE, 18.Akwasi AGYEI (13.Ben ELLIS 59’)
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Matt RYAN, 19.Luke AUSTIN
Yellow Cards: Carbon 14’, Rastall 22’, 28’, Agyesi
49’, Forbes 81’, Foxe 81’
Red Cards: Rastall 28’
Marconi Stallions: 22.James CHRONOPOULOS; 6.Vuko
TOMASEVIC, 4.Umut TOKDOGAN, 5.Adel ELJAMAL, 8.Alex CANAK, 26.Nahuel
ARRARTE (23.Chris NUNES 59’), 18.Graziano TRIMBOLI, 9.Erick ANABALON,
10.Ali AL-HILFI, 7.Ousame TOURE (2.Wade OOSTENDORP 69’), 13.Ben VIDAIC
(15.Tim MCGOWAN 77’)
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Cem AKILI, 25.Dominic
TRIMBOLI
Yellow Cards: Trimboli 74’, Nunes 81’, 88’
Red Cards: Nunes 88’ |
