APIA thwarted by resilient St George City
St George City brought 2023 Premiers APIA Leichhardt FC back down to earth following a 1-0 victory in round 4 of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition at Penshurst Park on Wednesday evening.
The only goal of the game came courtesy of a set-piece goal from former APIA player Dominic Cox which was all that separated both teams in the end.
The opening chance of the game didn’t arrive until the 12th minute when Fumoto Kamada created space on the left and fired towards goal, but the APIA Leichhardt goalkeeper Alexander Parkes saved well.
APIA’s first real chance arrived midway through the first half when a free-kick from just outside the box by Seiya Kambayashi beat the wall but Jack Kenny saved well down low.
The game was proving to be a rather cagey affair at this stage with neither side willing to concede any space to the other with some solid defending. The last opportunity of the first stanza of play belonged to the home side when Jason Romero fed the ball through to a galloping Presley Ortiz but it had just a fraction too much on it and the APIA custodian was able to knock the danger away.
After the break it was St George City that took the lead. A cleverly worked free-kick by Romero in the 52nd minute reached Dominic Cox just outside the box and he slammed it straight into the back of the net off the underside of the crossbar. It seemed like a perfect training ground set piece but that wasn’t actually the case as confirmed later by coach Mirko Jurilj.
In the 57th APIA Leichhardt should really have equalised when Jack Armson brought out the best in Kenny. He created space down the left channel and, with a clear attempt on goal, was thwarted by an excellent Kenny save who turned it away for a corner.
A few minutes later a corner reached Sean Symons at the near post and his flick-on was well saved again by an alert Kenny.
St George City came ever so close to doubling their lead in the 68th minute when a beautiful assist by Cameron Fong reached Romero who, against his former club, hit it first time on the turn but there was a great save this time by the APIA ‘keeper Parkes.
In the 75th a free kick by Jordan Segreto was beautifully saved by Kenny to once again deny the visitors.
Late in the game Anthony Sparacino was shown a straight red for a high kick when attempting to gather the ball against Jesse Photi and referee Craig Fisher who had a great game decided that Sparacino’s night was over.
Afterwards Mirko Jurilj, coach of St George City FA, was obviously very impressed with his side’s performance.
“It was a fantastic performance in what was a bit of a tense battle,” he said.
“I am super proud of the boys and this year our defence has been superb as we have only conceded three goals.
“If we get the going forward right too, I think we can do some damage in this league. Our goalkeeper Jack Kenny too made some great saves and we also want to make our home ground a bit of a fortress this year because last year we lost five of our games here.”
APIA Leichhardt coach Franco Parisi on the other hand was understandably disappointed but maintained a positive outlook.
“I was happy with how we played but it just didn’t work out tonight” he stated.
“I am happy with what we are doing and where we are going.
“In football it’s simple: you need to score and not concede and we didn’t do either tonight but sometimes football gives these matches and it’s disappointing.”
Match Stats
St GEORGE CITY: 1 (Cox 52’)
APIA LEICHHARDT: 0
Wednesday 6th March 2024
Penshurst Park
Referee: Craig Fisher
Assistant Referees: Alessandro Llana, James Makris
Fourth Official: Joel Crawford
St GEORGE CITY: 1. Jack Kenny, 2. Cameron Fong, 3. Joshua Hong, 4. Soloman Monahan-Vaiika, 5. Fumoto Kamada, 8. Dominic Cox, 10. Jason Romero (19. Jesse Photi 76’), 11. Kosta Petratos, 14. Paolo Mitry (33. Louis Khoury 66’), 25. Brodie Clarkson, 30. Presley Ortiz (6. Tarik Ercan 66’).
Substitutes not used: 7. Nathan Roberts, 9. Maki Petratos, 13. Joseph Knowles
Yellow Cards: Kamada 56’, K. Petratos 72’
Red Cards: Nil
APIA LEICHHARDT: 20. Alexander Parkes, 2. Seiya Kambayashi, 6. Anthony Sparacino, 9. Ben Gibson (7. Jack Stewart 71’), 11. Rory Jordan, 14. Jack Armson (8. Nick Sullivan 79’), 15. Themba Muata-Marlow, 16. Sean Symons (30. Alex Denmead 61), 17. Jordan Segreto, 22. Edward Caspers, 23. Dakota Askew (41. Nicholas Azzone 71’).
Substitutes not used: 18. Adrian Ucchino, 27. Evan Davis
Yellow Cards: Gibson 31’
Red Cards: Sparacino 88’
Player Ratings
3 – Soloman Monahan-Vaiika (StG)
2 – Edward Caspers (AL)
1 – Jack Kenny (StG)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
