Late Monge winner breaks Mariners hearts
APIA Leichhardt clinched three points at Lambert Park in dramatic style thanks to a stoppage time winner from midfielder Fabian Monge to continue their domination in the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s.
APIA Leichhardt altered from their usual system, with the inclusion of Rory Jordan in central midfield for Fabian Monge seeing the Newcastle Jets loanee play higher up the field, alongside Jack Armson.
The change in structure allowed APIA captain Adrian Ucchino to drop off and pick up the ball to control the tempo and exploit his range of passing.
APIA looked to interchange their frontline to allow space for runners in behind, such as Jack Armson and Jason Romero switching positions to allow the former to make a run in behind and the latter to drop into a pocket.
They also looked to create an attacking overload through pushing one fullback forwards into the frontline, meaning the winger would tuck inside in attempt to create a two on one, and to provide an easy wide option to move play forwards; the fullback on the opposite side would tuck in to become part of the defensive line.
At times, one of the forward players – usually Jordan – would drop alongside Ucchino, which allowed APIA to retain possession with more numbers to support.
But in the 11th minute, the Central Coast Mariners, who were demonstrating their quality and positive attitude had a golden opportunity to open the scoring.
A good ball across the box found George Daniel, who drove and played an inviting, low cross to the far post.
The ball found the foot of Bailey Brandtman, but he couldn’t gain meaningful contact with the goal gaping.
Following their chance, the Mariners were dominating the match – APIA struggled to keep the ball and couldn’t find the targets of their direct forward passes.
However, APIA created a good chance in the 29th minute; Jordan picked up the scraps and rolled a pass out to Jack Stewart.
The winger cut inside and played a disguised, angled pass in behind to Armson, whose close-range effort was blocked by the alert Andre Parkes.
Three minutes later, Sean Symons capitalised on a defensive mistake and drove in behind, before precisely finding Romero with a disguised cutback.
The star striker had time to find the far corner, but missed a great chance for his side to open the scoring.
In the 41st minute, the Mariners hit the post, with Brandtman taking on his man positively, going down the outside and hitting the woodwork with a shot to the near post.
APIA struggled to assert their authority on the game in the first half, with individuals, despite the fluid movement, unable to connect in tight spaces and progress the ball with assertiveness.
This was in part due to Monge’s absence in the starting eleven, with the young midfielder having an understated influence in APIA’s all round play, through his energy and tactical intelligence, as well as his clever short passing game.
Early into the second half, a drilled freekick from Armson caused havoc, with Anthony Sparacino narrowly missing the ball as it curved dangerously across goal.
In the 57th minute, an electric Mariners counterattack forced Ivan Necevski to make a sharp stop; a quick one two between Aydon Hammond and Luka Symth saw the former in behind, and the forward curled a powerful effort towards goal, which was parried by the APIA goalkeeper.
The Mariners continued to threaten on transition – a pass from Hammond found Jordan Segreto in behind, and the midfielder squared the ball to substitute Nicholas Duarte, but the striker’s shot couldn’t find the right side of the near post.
Romero caused trouble through purposefully pressing a loose ball rolling into the box but couldn’t find meaningful contact on his eventual effort.
In the 73rd minute, Symons latched onto a block after attempting a disuguised pass in behind but faced a wall of yellow and navy blue as he saw his powerful, driven effort blocked, while a moments later a sumptuous shot from Dakota Askew drifted just wide of the far corner.
Three minutes later, Monge won the ball back high up the pitch and Jordan’s shot after receiving the ball from Symons forced a good save from Jack Warshawsky.
APIA had improved their game, and were now fashioning consistent opportunities, but struggling to convert their chances beyond Warshawsky and into the back of the net.
The Mariners were putting in an outstanding defensive shift; having held out the league’s leading scorers for the majority of the game, the young side was now showing a mixture of awareness and determination to get in the way of any APIA effort.
But in the 90th minute, they were undone, with substitute Monge the difference maker.
An emphatic 50-50 win from Adrian Ucchino freed up Jordan, who played a spellbinding pass through to Monge.
The midfielder took a touch under heavy pressure and toe-poked the ball clinically into the bottom left-hand corner to snatch the three points.
APIA coach Franco Parisi was happy with his team’s performance and their efforts to break down a resolute Mariners side.
“Three points clean sheet, and a professional performance throughout the 90 minutes,” he said.
“We felt we dominated the game and Central Coast came to keep the game as close as possible to them.
“Thankfully, in the dying moments, we found a beautiful goal – it really was a beautiful goal – with Rory Jordan finding his best mate Fabian Monge with a beautiful pass and a beautiful finish.
“Credit to the Mariners; we knew it would take a special goal to break them down, and thankfully Rory and Fab have combined to score a brilliant goal that gets us the three points.”
Central Coast Mariners coach Abbas Saad was proud of his side’s performance, with the late winner not diminishing his pride.
“I thought we were good and competitive in the first half and had some really good moments – I thought it was an even first 45,” he said.
“Then they started getting on top and we were definitely second best all second half.
“Defensively, I thought the boys did unbelievably; it was a makeshift defence and I’m so proud of my team.
“But we lost to the better team and that’s why they’re the best team in the competition.”
Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt FC 1 (Monge 90’)
Central Coast Mariners FC 0
Saturday 15 July, 2023
Lambert Park
Referee: Eric Saba
Assistant Referees: Amber Morris and Jackson Mackie
Fourth Official: Mitchell Renton
APIA Leichhardt FC: 1. Ivan Necevski, 6. Anthony Sparacino, 7. Jack Stewart, 9. Jason Romero (19. Fabian Monge 70’), 14. Jack Armson, 15. Themba Muata-Marlow, 16. Sean Symons, 17. Rory Jordan, 18. Adrian Ucchino (C) (4. Joshua Symons 90’), 23. Dakota Askew (21. Michael Kouta 75’), 38. Yianni Nicolaou
Substitutes Not Used: 8. Florent Indalecio, 12. Anthony Bouzanis, 98. Franco Farinella
Yellow Cards: Jordan 58’, Armson 90’, J. Symons 90’
Red Cards:
Central Coast Mariners FC: 7. Aydan Hammond, 11. Bailey Brandtman (14. Luke Oresti 77’), 12. Luka Smyth (10. Nicholas Duarte 59’), 15. Jordan Segreto (C), 16. William Arnold, 18. George Daniel, 21. Maksim Kasalovic (19. Aidan Milicevic 88’), 22. Andre Parkes, 24. Zac Parkes, 26. Max Middleby (25. Jacob Tresoglavic 59’), 30. Jack Warshawsky
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Dylan Peraic-Cullen, 37. Tobias Peil
Yellow Cards: Middleby 54’, Duarte 90’
Red Cards:
Player ratings
3 – Zac Parkes (CCM)
2 – Anthony Sparacino (APIA)
1 – Rory Jordan (APIA)
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
