Balcatta claim crucial win

Tweet

Report by Blayne Treadgold

 

Balcatta head coach Goran Stajic has called on his team to continue to be "brave" following their 1-0 victory at fellow relegation battlers Subiaco on Saturday afternoon.

 

Kris Gate scored the only goal and Stajic felt his side’s hard work was starting to pay off.

 

“It’s absolutely magic, we’re finally getting the rewards that we deserve,” he said.

 

“We’ve played some other matches where we have played teams off the park and haven’t got those rewards, today wasn’t necessarily a great performance by any means, but it was ok.

 

“We want to be brave, we want to keep playing a fast, fierce brand of football.

 

“We had a look at the game at half-time and you start looking to see where you can hurt the opposition. I thought the change was spot on and we got it right thankfully."

 

After a dour first half in which both sides struggled to create openings, Stajic rolled the dice at half-time with an early tactical adjustment as Nicholas Challot replaced Asher Nelson.

 

Subiaco player-manager Ian McMurray also made changes of his own, opting for extra height up front as he brought himself on for Adam Carlino early in the second half.

 

However, it was Stajic who won the battle of the tacticians as Balcatta gained the impetus in the second half and earned their just rewards through a Gate goal on 59 minutes.

 

As Balcatta began to press up field, Subiaco lost the ball in a dangerous area. Gate took possession on the edge of the box and his shot beat Ryan Montgomery despite the Subiaco keeper getting a decent hand on the ball.

 

Subiaco chased the game late on with the best of the chances falling to Vasco Da Silva but he failed to hit the target with his injury-time header.

 

A disappointed McMurray lamented the loss but will now look ahead to facing fellow battlers Sorrento and Stirling in coming weeks

 

“It was a massive game for both club, we didn’t turn up today ... Balcatta were the better team," he said.

 

“The last 20 minutes we pushed for the goal, played a little bit more direct and tried to put some pressure on them, but they held out and it’s three points to them.

 

“The next few weeks are very important for us, playing teams in a similar position. We’ve got to start getting the points on the board."

 

The win for Balcatta saw them climb to eighth but only two points clear of automatic relegation while Subiaco sit in 10th position and remain safe only by goal difference.

 

Subiaco 0
Balcatta 1 (Gate 59min)

Saturday, June 30
Rosalie Park
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Matthew Southern
Assistant referees: Jatin Lodhia, Mitchell Barrington

 

Subiaco: 1. Ryan MONTGOMERY, 3. Vasco DA SILVA, 4. Robert HARDING (15. Ignacio DOMINGUEZ 68)
5. Manase ABANDELWA, 9. Adam CARLINO (19. Ian MCMURRAY 52) 10. Alex CASTIELLO, 12.Nathan SMITH, 13.Jonas DORLING, 14. Ross JARMAN (17. Mark PRITCHARD 70) 16. Dean APELGREN, 18. David PERICH
Substitutes not used: 8. Jack PAINTER-ANDREWS, 21. Josiah GODFREY
Yellow cards: 18. David PERICH
Red cards: Nil

 

Balcatta: 3. Hayden STEVENS, 4. Calum O’CONNELL, 5. Tom PELLIZZARI, 6. Kris GATE (21. Bleron MAMUDI 70), 7. Asher NELSON (11. Nicholas CHALLOT 46) 8. Carmelo GIUFFRE, 10. Jonathon CORNESS,
14. Lawrence SHURAMA (15. Adriano JELENOVIC 55) 18. Robert DEL BORELLO, 20. Shubham MOKALA,
25. Kyle MCDONALD
Substitutes not used: 1. Domenico SALVODELLI, 24. Rene ALBA
Yellow cards: 3. Hayden STEVENS, 5. Tom PELIZZARI
Red cards: Nil

 

Last Modified on 01/07/2018 02:59

Comments

Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.