Young Gun Blair Secures Opening Win for APIA Leichhardt
As predicted, APIA Leichhardt FC may have unearthed a new young gun in the making as 17-year-old striker Nathaniel Blair scored the only goal of the match which gifted the Inner West club a 1-0 victory over Manly United in round 2 of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition played at Lambert Park on Friday night.
The historic venue in Leichhardt hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the home side in recent years against the peninsular visitors – in fact, APIA Leichhardt had won only one of their last five encounters against Manly United at their home ground.
Going into this game Danial Cummins’ team was out to turn around that poor run in recent years and that’s exactly what they did with a hard-fought and, at times, tough game of football.
Manly United coach Adam Griffiths was dealt with two blows prior to kick-off with Dejan Pandurevic and Bruno Mendes notable absentees on the team-sheet due to illness and injury.
It was definitely a match for the connoisseurs rather than the casual fan expecting entertainment, as a goal to player of the match Nathaniel Blair was all that separated both teams.
The only goal arrived in the 6th minute when APIA Leichhardt opened the scoring through young debutant Blair.
After a seemingly innocuous diagonal shot by Yianni Nicolaou, it was Blair who turned it into the net as the 17-year-old got his senior career off to a great start.
In the 28th minute it was Blair in action again, this time he beautifully intercepted the ball from the Manly United defence, and with a direct shot on target brought out the best in goalkeeper Jack Greenwood who turned the ball around the post for a corner.
In the 40th minute a shot from just outside the box by Jason Romero forced Greenwood once again into action and another great save – this time turning the ball over the crossbar in majestic fashion.
In the second half it was Romero who dribbled his way nicely into the box in the 50th minute but had his shot was well blocked by the alert Manly United defence.
A few minutes later Blair appeared to be fouled in the box but despite the home side’s bench thinking it was a penalty, the call didn’t come from the man in the middle who was closest to the action.
In the 64th minute Sean Symons fired from just outside the box and narrowly missed the target with his powerful drive.
Immediately afterwards, Blair, having the night of his life, turned in the box and fired on target only to see Greenwood make a reflex save with his feet – it should really have been APIA’s second there and then.
In the 89th minute Romero found Sean Symons who from close range shot beautifully but was thwarted by ‘keeper Greenwood coming off his line.
After the encounter, APIA’s coach Danial Cummins was pleased that his team had secured the three points.
“Today was a tough game as Manly are a good side” he said.
“I watched them last week and we knew that we needed to be disciplined. I am really proud as we had to dig deep and the clean sheet was important to me tonight.
“We had a 17-year-old kid up front and we were missing some players, but I am really proud of our clean sheet. Everyone is working hard; from the 17-year-old [Blair] to the 38-year-old [Parisi].”
His counterpart Adam Griffiths on the other hand was disappointed but stated that the game was not what he really expected
“It was an ugly game in terms of football and that’s not how we want to play,” he said.
“Obviously the effort was there and the pitch was bobbly so it made it difficult.
“The work ethic was there from our team and we kept pushing but we just needed to be better on the ball. We do have some work to do.”
Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt 1 (Blair 6’)
Manly United 0
Friday, 11th March, 2022
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Christian Verdicchio
Assistant Referees: Ivica Covic and Matthew Staples
Fourth Official: Jake Rose
APIA Leichhardt: 1. Ivan Necevski, 5. Nick Azzone, 6. Simon Nicholas, 9. Jason Romero, 14. Jack Armson (26. Josh Azzopardi 91’), 15. Themba Muata Marlow, 16. Sean Symons, 18. Adrian Ucchino, 20. Nathaniel Blair (10. Franco Parisi 81’), 21. Michael Kouta, 38. Yianni Nicolaou
Substitutes Not Used: 2. Gian Fiorese, 3. Paul Galimi, 4. Josh Symons, 22. Luke Turnbull
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United: 2. Kieran Paull, 3. Jesse Piriz, 4. Jimmy Oates, 5. Thomas Fay, 6. James Georgaklis (12. Finn Ashton 79’), 7. Seiya Kambayashi. 8. Dominic Ferguson(18. Lucas Rainbird 45’), 9. Ben Koop (29. Marcus Lal 55’), 11. Matthew Sim, 19. Alen Aganovic, 20. Jack Greenwood
Substitutes Not Used: 17. Zenden Hart, 24. Mitch Mattison, 26. Thomas Chidiac
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Nathaniel Blair (AL)
2 – Jason Romero (AL)
1 – Jimmy Oates (MU)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
