APIA and Stallions share points in entertaining derby

A ten-man Marconi Stallions has held on for an entertaining 1-1 draw against staunch rivals APIA Leichhardt at Lambert Park on Sunday.

It was a determined derby performance from the Stallions who equalised early in the second half before clinging on for a point after going down to ten men only moments later.

APIA opened the scoring in spectacular style courtesy of a Paul Galimi stunner in the 51st minute.

However, the visitors were back on level pegging through Mitch Mallia less than 10 minutes later.

Mark Rodic was sent for an early shower after receiving a red card in the 64th minute with the Stallions digging deep to secure a hard-fought point.

The opening chance of the encounter arrived in the 3rd minute when Mitchell Mallia’s shot forced ‘keeper Ivan Necevski to turn the ball around the post for a corner.

In the 10th minute APIA replied. A free kick reached Blake Powell lurking with intent at the back post but his attempt from close range was well saved by Nenad Vekic.

Corey Biczo reached the by-line midway through the first stanza of play but his shot from such an acute angle was well met by Vekic’s feet and there was no change to the score.

The first half was played generally at a high tempo with both sides pressing but there was a lack of clear-cut goal chances and it eventually finished scoreless.

The second stanza of play opened with a goal for the ages in the 51st minute.

A corner reached Paul Galimi just outside the box and he didn’t hesitate to send down a torpedo that didn’t give anyone a chance.

The ball went straight into the back of the net before ‘keeper Vekic could blink and, if the contest required a moment to awaken it, then this was indeed it.

It’s definitely put itself as one of the contenders of ‘Goal of the Season’ following that magical strike from the tough tackling defender.

APIA Leichhardt had taken the lead and the members in the home side’s new facilities in the grandstand let out a roar of approval.

Shortly afterwards Marconi came close when Giorgio Speranza dribbled his way into the box but was denied by a sliding defender who knocked the ball away for a corner.

However, the visitors didn’t have long to wait before equalising. APIA turned over the ball, Liam Youlley had a nice shot that was only partially saved by Necevski and the follow-up was hammered home by Mitchell Mallia.

In the 64th minute Marconi found themselves down a player. Mark Rodic brought down a galloping Harry Callahan and was shown a straight red for his professional foul by referee Craig Fisher jogging on the spot. And while his moment of poor judgement may have cost his side a player, it most likely also denied APIA a goal scoring chance.

Late in the game Powell delightfully flicked a ball on to Mathieu Cordier on the left and his powerful strike brought out the best in Vekic who turned it over the crossbar. It was to be the last real chance of the game which had certainly came to life in the second half.

After the contest APIA Leichhardt’s coach Paul Dee was partially satisfied but lamented not taking home the full points.

“When you go a goal up and have momentum, then it’s hard,” he said.

“You feel like you have given two points back but overall our boys had momentum throughout the second half.

“I was particularly pleased that we kept our game plan that we went into the game with. The players executed that plan and that is really pleasing because the objective is to build on that.”

His counterpart, Stallions coach Peter Tsekenis was also commenting on another drawn game.

“The first half was very scrappy, and the pitch is a bit difficult to play on,” he said.

“In the second half we conceded off a set-piece and there was not much we could do about that, but we did get our goal back and then unfortunately with a red card we had to dig deep.

“We also had to make some changes due injury in that second half but hopefully we can build on that going forward into some FFA Cup games during the week.”

Match Stats

APIA LEICHHARDT: 1 (Galimi 51’)

MARCONI STALLIONS: 1 (Mallia 60’)

Sunday, 11th April 2021

Lambert Park, Leichhardt

Referee: Craig Fisher

Assistant Referees: B. Merchant, M. Limnios

Fourth Official: L. Jones

APIA LEICHHARDT: 1.Ivan Necevski, 2.William Mutch, 3.Paul Galimi, 4.Joshua Symons, 8.Corey Biczo (7.Tynan Diaz 73’), 9.Blake Powell, 10.Franco Parisi (6.Harry Callahan 63’), 11.Mathieu Cordier, 15.Sean Symons, 18.Adrian Ucchino, 20.Samuel McIlhatton.

Substitutes not used: 5.Nicholas Azzone, 21.Michael Kouta, 22.Luke Turnbull, 23.Gian Fiorese,

Yellow Cards: Powell 14’, Diaz 93’

Red Card: Nil

MARCONI STALLIONS: 1.Nenad Vekic, 2.Nathan Millgate, 3.Giorgio Speranza, 4.Roberto Speranza, 6.Mark Rodic, 8.Connor Evans, 10.Marko Jesic (9.Anthony Costa 79’), 11.Mitchell Mallia (21.Emmanuel Peters 70’), 14.Anthony Frangie (17.Martin Fernandez 73’), 16.Liam Youlley, 23.Brandon Vella.

Substitutes not used: 20.Dion Shaw, 24.Paolo Laxamana, 25.Blake Ilitch

Yellow Cards: Rodic 39’, Frangie 48’

Red Card: Rodic 64’

Player Ratings

3 – Paul Galimi (AL)

2 – Giorgio Speranza (MS)

1 – Connor Evans (MS)

By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo