Honours even as St George City and APIA share the spoils
St George City FA and APIA Leichhardt played out a goalless draw at Penshurst Park in what was a tight contest that produced the fairest result in the end on a chilly Saturday evening.
Both sides are within range of the higher ladder positions and a point each will be on the one hand pleasing, but disappointing at the same time for the two that got away.
St George City are now unbeaten in their last five games with three wins and two draws and have found some very consistent form, while APIA Leichhardt were into their third game in seven days and were feeling the effects of the packed schedule.
The opening chance of the game belonged to APIA Leichhardt who could have easily been mistaken for Lazio as they were wearing their light blue away outfit.
A long ball forward reached Jordan Segreto in the box in the 3rd minute and he tried his luck with a diagonal shot on target that was beautifully turned around the post for a corner by Jack Kenny in goal.
In the 12th minute it was St George City that came ever so close to the opening goal. The ball bounced and sat up nicely for Matthew Wahby who hit it first time on the volley, but his shot ended up only a fraction wide of the intended target.
In the 20th minute the visitors were presented with half a chance from an innocuous corner when the ball reached Josh Symons, but his arrow-like shot was well neutralised by Kenny.
The alert St George City custodian was called into the action again a few minutes later to save from Jack Stewart who was bearing down on goal from the right hand flank.
St George City responded and came ever so close in the 28th minute when Brodie Clarkson fired on target only to be denied by an outstanding save from Anthony Bouzanis and, in a game that was a tight contest, chances like that are often the ones that are rued in the end.
In the 41st minute St George City had another good opportunity when Marc McNulty found himself with the ball at his feet on the right, but his shot on goal was nicely saved once again by Bouzanis. The half time break arrived shortly afterwards with the scoreboard attendant untroubled.
The first real chance of the second half belonged to APIA Leichhardt in the 47th minute. A delightful shot by Eddie Caspers from outside the box sailed narrowly over the crossbar and it would have been an instant reward for coach Franco Parisi with his halftime substitutions.
A few minutes later APIA Leichhardt came even closer when a shot from Joel Bertolissio appeared to have hit the mark, only to end up against the outside of the netting much to the relief of the home fans in the grandstand at Penshurst Park.
The game was turning out to be a cat-and-mouse type contest with neither side willing to concede an inch. A free-kick from Segreto from just outside the box in the 70th minute was too direct and never really going to trouble Kenny between the sticks.
In the 82nd minute, after some errors from the St George City defence, the ball fell to replacement Dredon Kelly who provided a nice assist to Stewart but his powerful shot directly on target was well punched away by Kenny.
Late in the contest Seiya Kambaysahi danced his way in from the right to the middle before unleashing on goal but the impenetrable Kenny was there to make the save.
After the game St George City FA coach Manny Spanoudakis was happy with his side’s overall performance.
“I was happy with our resilience and our resolve to stick to the game plan,” he said. “The most encouraging thing is that the draw actually feels like a loss for us because this our fifth unbeaten game. We are starting to do a lot of good things but we need to be a little more clinical in the front third.
“We had two very good chances in the first half to score but overall I am very happy for our boys because we kept a clean sheet against a top team.”
APIA Leichhardt’s coach Franco Parisi was also happy with his side’s resolve and determination
“We had three matches in seven days and that’s the third time we have done that this season, so I am very proud of our players,” he stated. “This is a tough field to come to because of its size and it’s challenging to score goals here.
“Credit to St George because they did what they needed to but credit to us as well because of the week that we had to come through.
“I enjoyed watching what we did because there was some good football played but obviously you need to score a goal and that didn’t come tonight.”
Match Stats
St GEORGE CITY FA: 0
APIA LEICHARDT: 0
Saturday 10th May 2025
Penshurst Park
Referee: Bodie Merchant
Assistant referees: Patrick Teleki, Joshua Kermond
Fourth Official: Liam Smith
St GEORGE CITY FA: 1. Jack Kenny, 2. Matthew Wahby, 6. Tarik Ercan, 8. Dominic Cox, 9. Marc McNulty, 10. Paolo Mitry (7. Nathan Roberts 72’), 11. Fumoto Kamada (12. Kai Kamikura 93’), 17. Noah Ovens, 23. Dakota Askew, 25. Brodie Clarkson, 33. Louis Khoury (18. Goncalo Agrelos 85’).
Substitutes not used: 3. Caio De Godoy, 13. Cameron Kemp, 16. William Kounnas.
Yellow Card: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
APIA LEICHHARDT: 1. Anthony Bouzanis, 2. Seya Kambayashi, 4. Josh Symons, 6. Anthony Sparacino, 7. Jack Stewart, 8. Joel Bertolissio, 12. Franco Farinella, 17. Jordan Segreto (29. Maksim Kasalovic 77’), 18. Adrian Ucchino (22. Eddie Caspers 46’), 21. Michael Kouta (16. Sean Symons 46’), 30. Alex Denmead (23. Dredon Kelly 71’).
Substitutes not used: 41. Nicholas Azzone, 80. Oliver Kalac
Yellow Card: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Joel Bertolissio (AL)
2 – Tarik Ercan (StG)
1 – Dominic Cox (StG)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
