Illinden smashed by ruthless APIA
APIA Leichhardt have defeated Rockdale Ilinden by an astonishing six goals to zero at Lambert Park to round off the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s second round.
APIA had the first shot of the match in the fourth minute, as some good combination play from Jack Stewart and Jason Romero saw Rory Jordan’s effort parried away by David Bradasevic.
Rockdale went up the other end a minute later with a sharp transition and good through ball from Brendan Cholakian allowing Alec Urosevski to cut inside onto his left foot inside the box, but he struggled find power with his effort.
In the 10th minute, Rockdale keeper Bradasevic was forced to make another smart stop, with a good transition involving Sean Symons and Jack Armson leading to Stewart’s shot being saved.
Four minutes later, some sharp, well executed build-up from APIA saw Stewart with space to shoot in the box on the right, but his effort was cleared just in front of the goalline.
In the 19th minute, Romero opened the scoring on a scintillating transition.
APIA capitalised on a loose touch and knocked the ball forwards to the onrushing striker, who took on his opponent with a direct run before finishing clinically with his left foot on an acute angle to give the home side the opening goal.
In the 30th minute, APIA doubled their lead with another fantastic piece of play.
Romero, who had been consistently finding pockets in midfield dropping off from the frontline, picked up the ball in a left central position and played a beautifully weighted pass through to Armson, who made a clever run in behind.
The midfielder only needed one left-footed touch to dispatch the ball home, doubling the home side’s advantage to give them reward for some enterprising build-up and attacking play.
Ten minutes later, they had a chance to add to their tally, but Stewart couldn’t beat Bradasevic with a powerful strike from inside the box.
In the 45th minute, APIA made it three, with Romero making it a brace for himself with a stunning run and finish.
Having made the left channel his own throughout the first half, he stood up his defender with a silky piece of skill inside the box before curling an eloquent effort into the top right-hand corner.
In the 54th minute, an unplayable Romero made it a hat-trick in stunning style.
He went on a series of mazy runs and feints as he glided towards the box, before finishing with ease to give his side a four-goal advantage at Lambert Park.
Michael Kouta made it five for APIA in the 66th with a stunning left footed freekick from just outside the box towards the right, which went off both posts before crossing the line.
In the 75th minute, Romero grabbed his fourth of the game with another clinical action.
On a good transition, Adrian Ucchino picked up the ball and played a killer pass through to the striker, who rounded the goalkeeper before finishing with aplomb.
APIA coach Franco Parisi was happy with his side’s performance, expressing the importance of picking up the three points in their first home match of the campaign.
“It’s a lot of what we worked on, obviously three points is the final result and it’s what we desperately needed.
“We were hungry, we were motivated and I guess the result shows that, but three points is what we need to kick into round 3.”
Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt FC 6 (Romero 19’, 45’, 54’, 75’, Armson 30’, Kouta 66’)
Rockdale Ilinden 0
Sunday 12 February, 2023
Lambert Park
Referee: Brodie Merchant
Assistant Referees: Patrick Teleki and Jackson Mackie
Fourth Official: Ivica Covic
APIA Leichhardt: 1. Ivan Necevski, 7. Jack Stewart, 9. Jason Romero, 14. Jack Armson (25. Aedon Kyra 83’), 15. Themba Muata-Marlow, 16. Sean Symons, 17. Rory Jordan (4. Joshua Symons 83’), 18. Adrian Ucchino (C) (98. Franco Farinella 76’), 19. Fabian Monge (8. Diego Celis 83’), 21. Michael Kouta, 38. Yianni Nicoloau (23. Dakota Askew 76’)
Substitutes Not Used: 42. Anthony Bouzanis
Yellow Cards: Monge 58’
Red Cards: N/A
Rockdale Ilinden: 1. David Bradasevic, 2. Daniel Petkovski (C), 4. Nikola Ujdur, 5. William Mutch (14. Brayden Sorge 78’), 6. Nicola Kuleski, 7. Alec Urosevski, 10. Brendan Cholakian (21. Lochlan Constable 56’), 11. Peter Kekeris (9. Bai Antoniou 45’), 13. Mathieu Cordier, 17. Loic Puyo (Isaac Danzo 45’), 23. Jaden Casella
Substitutes Not Used: 16. Mohamed Ahmed, 20. Ricardo Rizzo,
Yellow Cards: Antoniou 60’
Red Cards: N/A
Player ratings:
3 – Jason Romero (AP)
2 – Jack Armson (AP)
1 – Adrian Ucchino (AP)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Jack George
