Saints undone by clinical APIA
APIA Leichhardt FC were made to work for the three points but got the job done in the end securing a 3-2 win over St George FC at Barton Park on Saturday night.
After taking an early lead through a Justin Poon goal, St George FC then surrendered the lead to two APIA goals before the break and then conceded a third late in the clash but pulled one back in stoppage time thanks to Jaden Casella.
APIA Leichhardt with this win continued their bid to push for a finals position and came into this match with plenty of motivation to keep their winning run going and continue to put pressure on the three teams above. Their push will be made even stronger thanks to the mid-season signing of former Melbourne Victory ace Fabian Monge who made his full debut against the Saints and showed why he was a class above the rest.
The historical significance of this clash also could not be underestimated as both clubs’ names are part of Football NSW history and Barton Park, with the Frank Arok Grandstand (the modernised version of the former St George Stadium) once home to all major football in Australia. It was indeed fitting then that this clash was awarded Match-of-the-Round status.
In the 3rd minute a ball that was intended as a cross from the right by Cameron Fong saw it almost sneak into the goal at the near post but for the nice low down save from Mackenzie Syron.
St George FC then immediately went up the other end of the field and scored the opening goal. A lovely through ball reached Justin Poon who showed a clean pair of heels and galloped through the midfield, before his beautiful finish had the ball past goalkeeper Oliver Kalac as APIA’s defence was also at sixes and sevens backtracking.
The home side was then forced into an early goalkeeping change when Syron limped from the field after a knock a few minutes earlier.
APIA Leichhardt then equalised in the 20th minute. St George lost the ball in the middle and Seiya Kambayashi from broken play took full advantage by being left with too much time on his hands and, with a deadly shot from just outside the box, he beat new goalkeeper Daniel Axford.
In the 31st minute a looping corner by the Saints reached Nicholas Kalogerou at the far post, but his shot from close range was cleared off the line by defender Dredon Kelly.
The visitors replied in the 35th minute through Rory Jordan who made a very incisive run into the box before firing a fraction wide of the mark.
Just prior to the break APIA did indeed take the lead for the first time. A rare defensive error from Troy Danaskos gifted the ball to Jack Stewart who unleashed a diagonal shot from the right that ended up directly in the bottom left hand corner of the net. It was a dagger through the heart for the Saints skipper as Stewart finished with aplomb.
The second half’s opening salvo arrived in the 53rd minute and favoured APIA when a cross reached Michael Kouta off balance and his shot was cleared off the line by Mark Rodic.
Straight afterwards APIA were at it again and it could well have been their third. A long ball from Joel Bertolissio reached Kambayashi in the box who in turn found Jordan, but his on-target shot was deflected just wide for a corner in what was a close call.
On the hour mark the Saints made a triple change to spark new life into their team with Chan Yelchan, Jesper Webber and Gianni Di Pizio thrown into the action. A minute later, with renewed vigour, St George attacked with a great shot from distance by Bai Antoniou that brought out a nice save from Kalac.
In the 65th minute a free-kick from Jaden Casella was perfectly placed into the mix from where Yelchan tried his luck from close range only to be thwarted by Kalac who turned it away for a corner.
APIA came very close again in the 78th minute when Stewart on the turn majestically fired towards goal but Axford made a great save down low to deny him.
The visitors scored late in the clash. St George were pushing all players forward for a corner that was taken easily by goalkeeper Kalac who then threw a long ball forward to unmarked Stewart who found himself with acres of space at his disposal, before finding Alex Denmead who forced the ball over the line despite Axford’s best efforts.
St George closed the gap in stoppage time with new recruit Gianni Di Pizio finding Casella who found the back of the net with a clinical finish, but it was to be no more than a consolation goal so late in the game.
After the game APIA Leichhardt coach Franco Parisi was happy with the win but stayed very grounded.
“We take it one game at a time,” he stated.
“When the season gets to this stage you need to manage it differently.
“We knew coming here would be tough as Fabian has his team playing a great style of football and Barton Park is not as grassy as it was, so the football needed to be adjusted a bit.
“It was a good game and I know that it’s easier to say that when you are on the winning team, but for the spectators I am sure it was a great match.
“We created enough chances to score goals and both teams showed that they were committed to playing an attacking brand of football.
“I was very happy with our response after conceding early on and I am also very happy with the back-end of the first half which allowed us to go in at halftime 2-1 up.”
St George FC coach Fabian Miceli on the other hand was a bit disappointed with his side but knew that APIA were a quality opposition.
“We knew what we were up against tonight as they [APIA] score a lot of goals” he said.
“I thought that we were really good in the first 15-20 minutes, but then we made a mistake to concede the first goal and after that goal we went away from our game plan.
“We are a team that can play some really good football and play teams off the park, but unfortunately under pressure sometimes we go away from how we want to play.
“We have only had one loss before tonight in our last seven games and we have had a good season so far. We have surprised a lot of people but for me, as a coach, we need to be pushing for a top six finish which is still our goal and we are not going to give up on that.”
Match Stats
St GEORGE FC: 2 (Poon 3’, Casella 94’)
APIA LEICHHARDT FC: 3 (Kamabayashi 20’, Stewart 45’, Denmead 90’)
Saturday 28th June
Barton Park, Kyeemagh
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant referees: Alexis Turner, Liam Smith
Fourth Official: Damien Delovski
St GEORGE FC: 99. Mackenzie Syron (20. Daniel Axford 12’), 2. Rocco Smith, 3. Troy Danaskos, 4. Mark Rodic, 5. Nicholas Kalogerou, 7. Aedan O’Shea (9. Chan Yelchan 60’), 8. Evangelo Souris (18. Gianni Di Pizio 60’), 10. Jaden Casella, 14. Justin Poon (28. Jesper Webber 60’), 15. Bai Antoniou, 16. Kaidyn Wright (19. Nikola Skataric 81’).
Substitutes not used: 34. Kota Toyooka.
Yellow Cards: Wright 29’
Red Cards: Nil
APIA LEICHHARDT FC: 80. Oliver Kalac, 2. Seiya Kambayashi, 7. Jack Stewart, 8. Joel Bertolissio, 9. Presley Ortiz (30. Alex Denmead 68’), 11. Rory Jordan, 14. Cameron Fong, 16. Sean Symons, 19. Fabian Monge (29. Maksim Kasalovic 68’), 21. Michael Kouta, 23. Dredon Kelly.
Substitutes not used: 1. Anthony Bouzanis, 4. Josh Symons, 12. Oscar Gonzalez, 18. Adrian Ucchino.
Yellow Cards: S. Symons 65’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Fabian Monge (AL)
2 – Jack Stewart (AL)
1 – Bai Antoniou (STG)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
