However, in the last four weeks everything has changed. The Wolves have lost four on the trot while the Tigers, under the guidance of Billy McColl, have won four. It is indeed a strange reversal of fortunes.
McColl, who may not literally be a magician, is certainly working wonders with the APIA team he inherited last month. Furthermore, in the history of APIA Leichhardt [a club that dates back to 1954] he is the first coach to be invited back for his third stint as first grade coach. Some record but McColl is not getting carried away.
?The boys just needed a little bit of belief and a little bit of direction and I provided that,? he said. ?APIA always has talented players and we have proved that over the last four weeks.
?I said when I came here that they should have been in the finals and they have proved that even though we?ll miss out.?
So did McColl expect to win four games from four with only one round remaining?
?I expect five from five because next week is a special occasion against Blacktown Spartans as it?s the last time that we?ll play on the dirt before they lay the artificial turf. I hope to see a lot of people here at Lambert Park and enjoying the occasion.
?Today was very tough game and the Wolves were coming here to maintain a finals spot. It was a battle; losing a player in the second-half and our opponents didn?t make it easy but it just shows the true grit and determination of our team.
?We had the whole second half with ten players but we still scored and it was a great victory.?
So, would McColl back up as a fulltime coach of the Tigers in 2013? ?No, this is it as I told you before and I certainly hope that the coach who has the team next year keeps them in the top half of the table so that I don?t have to come back,? he said.
The game itself was most entertaining for the sparse crowd. In the 9? minute a corner kick which wasn?t cleared properly by the APIA defence made its way to Ricky Zucco who, with a powerful volley, almost hit the target but unfortunately for the Wolves it finished just over.
APIA?s first real chance of the game came in the 18? minute and it was a two-pronged opportunity that went begging. Brad Bartels entered the penalty-area and tried to put away a dangerous shot but it took a deflection and ended up away for a corner.
From the subsequent set piece Adel El Jamal almost put the ball in the back of the net with an almighty shot that somehow Daniel Collison deviated away.
South Coast Wolves tried to open to scoring and came close in the 32? minute when Mark Picciolini forced Anthony Costa to turn his shot away for a corner.
However, it was the home side who opened the goal scoring shortly afterwards. A move downfield ended up with Bartels having his shot partially blocked but only as far as Gyu Re Lee who drove the ball home from close-range. The Korean definitely had his best game of the season.
Just prior to the break Stephen Kayes scored a stunningly brilliant goal and didn?t the little midfield maestro enjoy the celebration.
An innocuous ball rolled across to him and, from at least 20-metres out, he blasted home a shot that was never destined to miss the target. Simply brilliant and worth the look at the replay on the highlights reel this week.
The visitors then came out all fired up and determined after the break. Trevor Morgan?s half-time talk must have had the desired effect as Zucco ? who almost signed with the Wellington Phoenix a few months ago ? sent a wonderful free-kick from an acute angle straight into the back of the net.
The Wolves must have thought that all their Christmases had come at once when Adel El Jamal was sent off in the 51? minute.
El Jamal, who was booked earlier for a hand ball, received his marching orders for a second yellow card for exactly the same offence.
However, it would have been difficult for the hardworking defender to pull his hand away as the ball appeared to be shot straight into him. Furthermore, his first booking came after the assistant referee had already signalled for an offside.
Nevertheless, APIA regathered and in the crucial last 40? minutes or so played like their life depended on it. South Coast were poor much to the frustration of their astute coach Trevor Morgan who is now on secondment for two weeks with the Young Socceroos.
?We went quiet,? he said. ?APIA went to a 4-4-1 and they were sitting off us and pressing deep. We ran into the mistake of letting them play things long but after they scored their third goal we switched back but it was too late.
?They were looking to contain us and catch us on the break and that?s exactly what they got, so good for them.?
In the 71? minute APIA scored their third in a classic counterattacking move. A nice route-one ball from Re Lee made its way to Ethan Galbraith who then danced around the goalkeeper and scored with a good finish.
?We haven?t been out of the top three for 18 rounds and we were definitely trying to win this game,? Morgan said. ?We could still come second and its fairly new territory for a lot of players in our squad.
?There are some good signs but also there are some struggles that we are not dealing with too well.
?Sometimes when you have nothing to play for [like APIA] the opposition makes the mistake and relaxes. We have a lot of players away injured but I am definitely not going to make excuses.
?We have lost our rhythm a bit but hopefully we?ll find that again starting from next week.?
Match Stats
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers 3 (Gyu Re Lee 35?, Kayes 42?, Galbraith 71?)
South Coast Wolves 1 (Zucco 48?)
Sunday 26th August, 2012
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Andrew Best
Assistant Referees: Craig Fisher and Thomas Lee
Fourth Official: Gareth Williams
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers: 21.Anthony Costa (1.Stefan Giglio 90?); 2.Mark Byrnes, 3.Adel El Jamal, 4.Mun Soo Gil, 5.Michael West, 7.Stephen Kayes, 9.Ethan Galbraith (13.Nick Taneski 72?), 15.Bradley Bartels, 16.Michael Hawrysiuk (6.Danial Cummins 85?), 18.Brendan Reilly, 20.Gyu Re Lee
Substitutes Not Used: 12.Paul Galimi, 19.Brian Griffin-Colls
Yellow Cards: El Jamal 25?, Kayes 29?, West 50?
Red Cards: El Jamal 51?
South Coast Wolves: 1.Daniel Collison; 2.Jack Keating, 3.Mitchell Del Turco, 5.Samuel Jacob, 6.Nick Littler, 26.Jacob Timpano (7.Cameron Littler 72?), 8.Chris Nathaniel, 9.Mark Picciolini, 10.Sasho Petrovski (11.John Martinoski 78?), 13.Peter Simonoski (14.Fabian Iacovelli 72?), 17.Ricky Zucco
Substitutes Not Used: 16.Hayden Lloyd, 20.Haydyn Durose
Yellow Cards: Zucco 63?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Joe Russo
Leave a Reply