*Header photo by Jaime Castaneda (@jamcas50)
A spectacular Joey Gibbs bicycle kick has helped Blacktown City claim a 3-1 win against Sydney FC at Lily Homes Stadium on Sunday.
The highlight reel moment from the veteran striker wrapped up the win for Blacktown with a little more than ten minutes left on the clock in a match where they always held the upper hand.
Dakota Askew opened the scoring for Blacktown after only twenty minutes but the visiting Young Sky Blues evened the ledger from the penalty not long before the interval.
However, it was always going to be Blacktown’s day with Askew, and then Gibb’s incredible overhead finish wrapping up a clinical win for the Mark Crittenden coached side.
The result means City clings onto third spot on the ladder while Sydney FC are left languishing only one spot above the bottom in eleventh.
The hosts were on the front foot from the first minute. An early corner fell to Mani Gonzalez, who flashed a ball across the face of goal only for a Sydney player to clear the danger.
Sydney FC had a chance to take the lead against the run of play as Marco Tilo played Ivanovic through on goal but the linesman’s flag quickly brought a stop to that passage of play.
Blacktown began to settle in possession after a frantic start and Askew emerged as a particular threat, latching onto a cross from Matthew Lewis only to hammer a shot over the crossbar on the right.
Askew wasn’t nearly so wasteful with his next chance; leaping in a crowded box to flick a header inside the far post and into the back of the net midway through the first half.
Sydney FC immediately assumed control after the restart. Heward-Belle picked out Jordan Swibel with a fantastic pass out to the right wing, but the forward could only hit a weak shot at Tristan Prendergast. Swibel went close again soon after, forcing Predergast into a far more difficult save after a good ball into the box from Marco Tilio.
The Sky Blues would equalise soon enough; Marco Tilio winning a penalty to give Luke Ivanovic the opportunity to level for the visitors with a calm spot kick to Prendergast’s left.
The visitors might have gone in front with halftime approaching, as Harry Van Der Saag spotted Prendergast off his line and hit the ball towards goal. The goalkeeper backtracked and stretched to get a hand to the shot; giving away a corner but keeping his side in the game at the break.
The second half picked up at a rapid pace but neither side could find a cutting edge until Askew chased down a deep cross to ram a stunning volley inside the far post from the top of the box.
Sydney came back at their opponents again; Swibel firing over after being released down the left flank as Sydney looked to come from behind for the second time in the match.
As it was, Blacktown delivered a killer blow twelve minutes from time. Askew took the ball on the right wing and clipped a cross inside for Joey Gibbs, who delivered a spectacular overhead kick into the top corner.
It will take something extraordinary to beat this strike for goal of the season.
Mark Crittenden’s side are a week closer to securing their place in the top five, while Sydney FC must now turn their attention to a match against Rockdale as they look to finish the season on a high.
“It was a top game from both teams,” said Jim Van Weeren. “It’s just they scored two nice goals towards the back end of the second half.
“We showed good character to get level after going behind, and I thought we had the better of the chances early in the second half. Their second goal was nice, and third wasn’t bad either.
“We’re competitive, and we’re taking steps forward every week. We’ll take the positives out of today.”
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 3 (Askew 20’, 67’, Gibbs 78’)
Sydney FC 1 (Ivanovic 38’)
Sunday, 30 June 2019
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: C. Fisher
Assistants: S. Edeling, P. Teleki
Fourth official: J. Rose
Blacktown City: 1. PRENDERGAST Tristan, 3. COLLINS Daniel, 4. SPYRAKIS Yianni, 5. LYNCH Grant, 17. ASKEW Dakota, 19. BERRY Adam, 11. GONZALEZ Emmanuel (15. VERSI Mason), 6. LEWIS Matthew, 12. CAMPBELL Lachlan, 22. JENNINGS Leroy (10. DEMETRIOU James), 9. GIBBS Joey (16. HOWARTH Dale)
Yellow cards: Mason Versi
Red Cards:
Sydney FC: 16. BONANNI Paolo, 14. FAY Thomas, 11. IVANOVIC Luke, 8. KING Joel, 5. SCIBILIO Patrick, 17. TALBOT Callum (12. TILIO Giuseppe), 6. VAN DER SAAG Harry, 13. SWIBEL Jordan, 10. TILIO Marco, 15. TEAGUE Ryan, 1. HEWARD-BELLE Thomas
Yellow Cards
Red Cards
