APIA pushed to the limit by gritty Sharks

It took a 79th minute goal from APIA Leichhardt FC star Jack Stewart that gifted his side a 1-0 win over the Sutherland Sharks FC at Seymour Shaw Park on a steamy Saturday afternoon.
Having proved the provider for Diego Celis for much of the match, it was the latter who laid the ball on for Stewart to lash home a sweet left-footer beyond the despairing dive of Marko Bulic that gifted Franco Parisi’s men three points.
The fifth minute saw the game’s first real piece of action.
Sharks creative midfielder Louis Khoury struck a shot outside box, but his effort took a deflection that sailed over Ivan Necevski’s head.
Sutherland’s Japanese import Fumoto Kamada jinxed past Themba Muata-Marlow soon after and sent a low cross that hit Alex Brown who was whiskers away from touching the ball that could have troubled Necevski.
It was the home side doing all the early running until Jack Armson had APIA’s first chance in the 13th minute but was denied by both Mitch Stamatellis and Bulic.
A long corner from Khoury was then played to the back stick before Takahide Umebachi spun in the box and poked the ball wide of the upright with Necevski a very interested bystander watching on.
Sutherland were getting closer in an end-to-end encounter with the visitors being uncharacteristically caught on the break with seeming regularity.
It was Armson again who looked to put it right with a blistering shot from the edge of the area in the 20th minute that Bulic did well to turn over the bar in what was the best highlight of the match thus far.
Celis almost capitalised on a Bulic fumble but Kamada came to the rescue to clear with a long punt upfield with Bulic denying the APIA striker again with a full length stop shortly after.
Indeed, APIA grew into the match and turned up the pressure in the final fifteen minutes but the home side were able to keep the scores deadlocked even though they came close once again with an effort that flashed wide of the framework before Bulic denied Celis with another classy save.
Sutherland were looking to defeat APIA for the first time since 2016 only mustering a couple of draws during that time frame.
Stewart played in Celis once more whose blushes were spared when denied after firing straight at Bulic on the turn thanks to the offside flag being hoisted in a sprightly opening to the second-half.
And Celis was denied yet again by Bulic in the 54th minute as his shot was well saved in what seemed to be a great battle on the day between striker and keeper.
It was Stewart who finally broke the deadlock in the 79th minute after a lovely ball from Celis that saw his left-footed strike zing by Bulic that gave APIA the lead.
That goal was all that separated both teams as the final whistle blew much to the delight of the Inner West contingent who made the trip to the Shire.
APIA Coach Franco Parisi was impressed by his opponents but was glad his side took all three points.
“I was very impressed with Sutherland across the park.
“The keeper has had some brilliant moments and he’s done exceptionally well tonight but the whole side played well, pressed in the right areas and are a very difficult team to break down.
“They are very organised, very impressive and we had to dig deep to get the 1-0 result which I think is a fair result in what was a tight game between two evenly matched sides.”
Sharks coach Damir Prodanovic again highlighted his troops’ lack of killer instinct up-front that saw them notch up their fourth loss of the 2023 campaign.
“We played a very good opponent tonight in APIA who are very well structured.
“It was a pretty even game but again we didn’t take our chances and it’s in those moments at this level where you have to.
“We played some good stuff again, particularly in the first twenty-five minutes and in the second-half before they came back at us, but we have little to show for it although I’m happy with the way we played but it’s in those moments where we need to sharpen up and take the opportunities we’re creating.”
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 0
APIA Leichhardt 1 (Jack Stewart 79’)
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Saturday 11th March 2023
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistants: Arinath Gobinath and Joel Crawford
Fourth Official: Michael Weiner
Sutherland Sharks: 1. Marko Bulic, 2 Takahide Umebachi, 3. Jordan Roberts, 4. Mitch Stamatellis, 5. Jesse Photi (7. Connor Rose 57’), 6. Brodie Clarkson, 8. Alexander Brown, 11. Fumoto Kamada, 15. Nathan Grimaldi, 21. Luke Sauer, 33. Louis Khoury (91. Jonty Busch 66’)
Subs not used: 19. Evan Ball, 22. Jacob Cremen-Cowan, 24. Thomas Stobierski, 25. Oliver Randazzo
Yellow Cards.
Red Cards:
APIA Leichhardt: 1. Ivan Necevski, 6. Anthony Sparacino, 7. Jack Stewart, 8. Diego Celis, 14. Jack Armson (98. Franco Farinella 85’), 15. Themba Muata-Marlow (4. Joshua Symons 90+2’), 17. Rory Jordan (16. Sean Symons 62’), 18. Adrian Ucchino (25. Aedon Kyra 85’), 19. Fabian Monge, 23. Dakota Askew, 38. Yianni Nicolaou
Subs not used: 3. Paul Galimi, 12. Anthony Bouzanis
Yellow Cards: Adrian Ucchino 29.
Red Cards:
Player Ratings
3 – Marko Bulic (SS)
2 – Jack Stewart (AL)
1 – Diego Celis (AL)
By NPL NSW Men’s Reporter Micky Brock