Tigers show no mercy on hapless Sky Blues
APIA Leichhardt Tigers laid on a second half goal blitz to ease to a comfortable 5-1 win over Sydney FC at Lambert Park on Saturday night.
Nominally the visitors for this game, APIA were slow to get going as Sydney FC made a determined start, but never looked back after going ahead through Corey Biczo ten minutes before the break.
Goals from Howard Fondyke and the NPL NSW Men’s top goalscorer Jordan Murray just after the restart set APIA on their way to a straightforward win, which might easily have blown out further if not for Sydney FC’s refusal to go down without a fight.
Sydney FC started brightly, winning an early free kick which Jerry Skodatis curled just past the near post and into the side-netting with Ivan Necevski motionless in the APIA goal.
The Tigers were quick to take play up the other end, and Howard Fondyke was given far too much room to wind up and unleash a stinging drive for Duro Dragicevic to parry and gather.
Sensing opportunity, Adrian Ucchino had an optimistic shot from near halfway float just over the crossbar with a fingertip from the goalkeeper.
Sydney FC hit back as Cameron Devlin was released by a long ball forward from Liam McGing, jinking inside his man before hesitating to see his shot blocked away.
Sam McIllhatton was next to have a crack for the hosts, making the most of a loose touch ahead of him to let fly with a swerving shot which Necevski did well to block with both hands.
Such was the flow of the match that neither side was really able to dominate possession for too long without interruption, and the action soon swung up the other end as Brandon Lundy latched onto a beautiful ball forward from the midfield only to send a dipping volley against the post.
Gaining momentum with their opponents seemingly content to hit them on the break, APIA continued to push forward and were unfortunate not to take the lead when the ball fell to Tasuku Sekiya at the far post, only for the Japanese midfielder to see his wild shot saved by Dragicevic.
An end-to-end match was only missing a goal as halftime approached, and Corey Biczo duly provided the goods as he glided through the Sydney FC defence at the top of the box before sliding a well-placed shot inside the near post to hand APIA the lead.
They might have gone into the sheds ahead by two had Howard Fondyke’s driven volley dipped below the crossbar rather than crashing against the woodwork, but it wasn’t to be and APIA had to be content with a one-goal advantage at the break.
Fondyke couldn’t have worried about his near miss too long, returning from the halftime break with immediate impact as he strolled through the penalty area and slotted a calm finish under the keeper to double the lead for his side. APIA pushed further ahead minutes later through Jordan Murray, who played a clever one-two on the edge of the box before cooly finishing from an angle on the right.
The game firmly in their grasp, APIA still needed to remain sharp at the back and were fortunate to get away without conceding when Josh Symons slid in to flick a cross back towards his own goal, only for Necevski to touch the ball beyond the post. They weren’t done scoring yet, either; Murray going through on the left before lifting a lob over a helpless Dragicevic for APIA’s fourth.
Sydney FC had plenty of opportunities to soften the blow on the scoreboard, and had a goal back through Cameron Devlin after a brilliant driving run through the midfield from Marco Tilio. They might have dreamt of an unlikely comeback had Devlin been as clinical again when put through on goal just a few minutes after scoring, but he pulled his shot agonisingly wide of the far post.
Corey Biczo capped APIA’s night; rounding the goalkeeper with a little over ten minutes left and rolling the ball into an empty net to give the Tigers a fifth. Sydney FC were never deserving of quite such a comprehensive defeat, but few could argue APIA weren’t well worth their win.
A circumspect Rob Stanton said Sydney FC were unfortunate not to have taken more from the game against a strong APIA side.
“They were a strong team,” he said.
“They’ll be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
“We had enough chances, and we’ve got to take them. I’m pretty happy with how we played today, but if you don’t take those chances you get punished. Credit to APIA, they were strong today and deserved the win – it was a good entertaining game to watch.”
APIA Leichhardt Tigers’ Billy McColl sportingly conceded Sydney FC were unfortunate not have scored more on a night when the scoreboard belied the game that had been.
“I enjoy watching two good teams play exciting, attacking football,” he said.
“It was never a 5-1 game – the scoreline flatters us and Sydney deserved to score at least three, but if you don’t take your chances you don’t win, so I’m very pleased.”
Match Stats
Sydney FC 1 (Devlin 76’)
APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC 5 (Bizco 35’, 78’, Fondyke 46’, Murray 52’, 69’)
Saturday June 30, 2018
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: A. Arndt
Assistant Referees: A. Giev, J. Park
Fourth Official: A. Brett
Sydney FC : 6. AGAMEMNONOS Andreas, 15. COX Jeremy, 2. CURTIS Brendan, 10. DEVLIN Cameron, 30. DRAGICEVIC Duro, 3. FLOTTMANN Patrick, 14. KING Joel (16. MUTCH William), 4. MCGING Liam (11. BANDIERA Jackson), 8. MCILLHATTON Sam, 7. SKOTADIS Jerry, 13. SWIBEL Jordan (28. TILIO Marco)
Substitutes: 1. EVANS Mitchell, 9. SCIBILIO Patrick
Yellow Cards: Skodatis 90’
Red Cards: Nil
APIA Leichhardt Tigers FC: 8. BICZO Corey, 7. FONDYKE Howard, 19. LUNDY Brandon, 15. MUATA-MARLOW Themba, 11. MURRAY Jordan, 1. NECEVSKI Ivan, 20. SEKIYA Tasuku (10. PARISI Franco), 4. SYMONS Joshua, 16. SYMONS Sean (17. GULISANO Samuel), 18. UCCHINO Adrian (13. D’APUZZO David), 2. MILLGATE Nathan
Substitutes not used: 3. GALIMI Paul, 22. TUXFORD Blake
Yellow Cards: J. Symons 31’, Gulisano 90’
Red Cards: Nil
-By National Premier Leagues NSW reporter Max Grieve
