Wolves further dent APIA’s Premiership aspirations as honours shared
The Wollongong Wolves have put a slight dent to APIA Leichhardt FC’s NPL Men’s NSW Premiership aspirations following a 1-1 draw in an intense clash at Lambert Park on Saturday.
It was an even start to the fixture at Lambert Park, with both sides firing warning shots but struggling to produce any meaningful opportunities in the first ten minutes.
This trend continued through the first 25 minutes, with APIA’s only major chance coming when a cut-back from Seiya Kambayashi found the foot of Jack Stewart.
The winger skewed his shot towards goal, and Edward Caspers couldn’t re-direct the ball on target.
On the 25th minute, Wollongong were presented with the biggest chance of the match thus far, after a poor underhit backpass from Adrian Ucchino fell the way of Andre Takami.
Sprinting onto the misplaced pass, Takami’s shot was met by the onrushing Anthony Bouzanis, who just managed to prevent the ball from sliding under him and giving Wollongong the lead.
The game was beginning to heat up, as sharp effort from Jordan Segreto forced a save from Vedran Janjetovic, before Segreto and Janjetovic produced another shot and stop minutes later.
In the 40th minute, APIA almost found the opener, as the chances continued to increase in frequency.
A good ball from Michael Kouta found the run of Sean Symons in behind, who subsequently fizzed a near-post cross at the direction of Edward Caspers.
From an acute angle, the midfielder almost produced a wonder goal with some brilliant inspiration, but his flick dragged just wide of the far corner.
However, two minutes later, APIA found their lead from a stupendous Jordan Segreto goal.
From a freekick in line with the left post, and a few metres back from the box, the APIA forward curled a sizzling shot perfectly over the wall, and dipped the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.
It was a crucial lead for APIA, who require three points to remain in Premiership contention against Rockdale Ilinden.
However, just six minutes into the second half, their lead was tarnished, as Wollongong found an equaliser.
The goal was made by a brilliant run from Dylan Ryan, who produced a maradonna to escape pressure on the left, before driving forwards inside.
His dribble was picked up by Yagoub Mustafa, who energetically entered the box, before driving a left-footed effort past Bouzanis and into the far corner.
Following their goal, the Wolves began to pile on the pressure, forcing multiple clearances from APIA and threatening with their incisive attacking play.
APIA dealt with the momentum well, but struggled to create any real goalscoring opportunities of their own, as the two sides continued to cancel each other out.
The home side threatened with a Maksim Kasalovic strike inside the box in the 70th minute, but the midfielder saw his lashed effort fly wide of the post.
They also found the back of the net twice from offside positions in the second half, as they continued to push for a necessary victory.
In the 79th minute, Jack Armson went inches away from finding that invaluable goal, striking the post with a strong left-footed effort from just outside the box, before Ben Gibson narrowly missed an opportunity as he couldn’t connect with a cross to the near post.
In the 87th minute, Alex Masciovecchio almost stole all three points for Wollongong, as APIA continued to pile numbers forwards in search of a winner.
Two minutes later, the Wolves threatened again, with a freekick to the back-post finding Darcy Madden, but he couldn’t find the target with his head from close range.
As the minutes ticked on, APIA grew increasingly desperate, but couldn’t find their goal, as the match finished with a point apiece.
Franco Parisi’s troops will need to pick up points following their midweek 3-2 loss to the Central Coast Mariners as well as their draw against the Wolves with APIA hoping Rockdale Ilinden drop points against Sydney United 58 to shrink the gap at the top once more.
Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt FC 1 (Segreto 42’)
Wollongong Wolves FC 1 (Mustafa 51’)
Saturday 13 July, 2024
Lambert Park
Referee: Michael Weiner
Assistant Referees: Cameron Wright and Lachlan Hines
Fourth Official: Molly Godsell
APIA Leichhardt FC: 1. Anthony Bouzanis, 2. Seiya Kambayashi (11. Rory Jordan 68’), 7. Jack Stewart (9. Ben Gibson 66’), 14. Jack Armson, 15. Themba Muata-Marlow, 16. Sean Symons, 17. Jordan Segreto, 18. Adrian Ucchino (C) (6. Maksim Kasalovic 66’), 21. Michael Kouta, 22. Edward Caspers, 41. Nicholas Azzone
Substitutes Not Used: 4. Josh Symons, 27. Evan Davis, 30. Alex Denmead
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
Wollongong Wolves FC: 20. Vedran Janjetovic, 2. Harrison Buesnel, 3. Darcy Madden, 4. Dylan Ryan, 5. Banri Kanaizumi, 6. Samuel Riak, 8. Andre Takami, 10. Yagoub Mustafa, 11. Sebastian Hernandez (25. Alex Masciovecchio 79’), 24. Lachlan Scott (C) (27. Damon Gray 90’), 88. Christopher McStay (9. Jake Trew 79’)
Substitutes Not Used: 13. Oliver Yates, 15. Dax Kelly, 29. Ben Giason
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
Player ratings:
3 – Yagoub Mustafa (WW)
2 – Jordan Segreto (APIA)
1 – Vedran Janjetovic (WW)
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
