APIA Leichhardt FC crowned 2025 NPL Men’s NSW Champions
APIA Leichhardt have won the 2025 National Premier Leagues Men’s NSW Championship with a 2-1 victory over Rockdale Ilinden at Jubilee Stadium.
After a tense opening to the match, it was APIA Leichhardt who struck first, netting a stellar goal in the first major chance of the match.
The move began with a pass from Presley Ortiz down the left flank, which was met by Seiya Kambayashi, who held up the ball well.
After some quick passing, the ball reached Sean Symons, who picked out Kambayashi in behind with a beautiful, clipped pass.
Without letting the ball bounce, Kambayashi unleashed a sensational strike, powering the ball perfectly into the far corner, just inside the post.
It was a remarkable bit of quality to kickstart the Grand Final, and it was just a sign of things to come at Jubilee Stadium, with APIA not staying ahead for long.
In the 21st minute, Rockdale were working their way into the match, with a lengthy, neat passing move allowing Blake Ricciuto to drive forwards from the backline.
The centre-back found Ali Auglah between the lines, and the winger quickly passed the ball onto Giorgio Speranza, who had time to dribble forward down the left.
When entering the box, the left-back put in an exquisite low ball across goal, beating APIA’s defence and finding the boot of Alec Urosevski.
From point-blank range, Rockdale’s talisman made no mistake, guiding a shot past Oliver Kalac and into the back of the net to level proceedings in this massive Grand Final. It was an emotional goal for the competition’s all time leading scorer as it was to be his final match for his much loved club.
Four minutes later, APIA went centimetres away from retaking the lead, with Sean Symons being denied by the post.
After receiving the ball in line with the width of the goalbox, Symons cut inside, before unleashing a tremendous effort on his allegedly weaker, right-foot.
His curling shot beat the outstretched Nicholas Sorras, but just couldn’t nestle inside the post, and Franco Farinella was unable to place his effort off the rebound on target.
This match was very quickly developing a clear pattern; the two juggernauts would take quick turns exchanging possession, before an unstoppable moment of magic from one of the 22 exceptional players on the field creates an opening.
In the 39th minute, APIA struck the woodwork once more, as they came devastatingly close to their second goal of the match.
On a rapid transition, a clipped ball from Franco Farinella found Jack Stewart in behind, who raced towards goal, attracting the pressure of Hunter Elliott.
Stewart then cleverly slid a ball through to his opposite winger, Kambayashi, who, from just inside the box, had time to strike.
The Japanese star unleashed a near-perfect shot, finding the bottom-left corner with an effort that, after hitting the post, rebounded towards goal.
It looked like it was going to nestle into the back of the net, but somehow just avoided the goal, and the score remained 1-1 at Jubilee Stadium.
But in the 64th minute, the Italian side couldn’t be prevented, as the second half followed the pattern of the first – an even opening before an APIA goal.
It was Kambayashi who now turned provider, with the electric winger whipping in a magnificent ball off a wide left freekick.
His weighted cross perfectly found Dredon Kelly on the six-yard box, and the centre-back converted clinically, thundering the ball around Sorras and into the back of the net.
Suddenly, Rockdale were required to launch a comeback once more, in a bid to avoid back-to-back NPL Men’s NSW Grand Final defeats.
Despite the go-ahead goal, the match still wasn’t swinging in any particular direction, remaining as tense and nail-biting as ever.
And as the minutes ticked on, the pressure was only building, with Rockdale starting to push for a vital equaliser.
But APIA were holding firm, preventing any clear-cut chances from their opponents as they began to creep closer to becoming Champions of the 2025 NPL Men’s NSW competition.
In the 90th minute, Rockdale had their best opportunity since conceding, with a flick-on header from Moudi Najjar in the box finding Oliver Puflett.
The striker directed his header cleverly towards the far post, but it lacked sufficient power, with Sean Symons calmly clearing off the line.
And, minutes later, after comfortably holding out stoppage time, APIA Leichhardt became NPL Men’s NSW Champions for the second time in three seasons.
“First we’ll talk about the game, obviously we get excited about a clean sheet, so that was a disappointing part, but outside of that, everything was amazing,” said APIA head coach Franco Parisi.
“It was a great venue, to the credit of Football NSW, and a great pitch as well, with beautiful grass that allowed for sexy football.
“If you look at our first goal, it’s something you can see around the world, in any other league, so it’s just high level – the pass, the volley, and how we got into that situation.
“And then credit to Rockdale, they did what they needed to do, found an overload, found a simple goal, which we’re very disappointed about.
“But then we hit the post twice and it was a great second goal.
“In terms of the Championship, it’s what we set out to do, and we’ve done it.
“We enjoyed our approach to football, we believed we played a sexy style of football, and that’s nice to see that a footballing team can win the competition.”
APIA Leichhardt FC’s long serving stalwart Michael Kouta took out the plaudits landing himself the Player of the Match for a sterling performance for his beloved club.
Match Stats
Rockdale Ilinden FC 1 (Urosevski 22’)
APIA Leichhardt FC 2 (Kambayashi 16’, Kelly 63’)
Saturday 13 September, 2025
Jubilee Stadium
Referee: Jake Rose
Assistant Referees: Patrick Teleki and Alessandro Llana
Fourth Official: Eric Saba
Rockdale Ilinden FC: 1. Nicholas Sorras, 2. Hunter Elliott, 5. Giorgio Speranza, 6. Isaac Danzo (18. Jerry Skotadis 88’), 7. Alec Urosevski (C), 9. Moudi Najjar, 10. Brendan Cholakian (23. Oliver Puflett 79’), 11. Lochlan Constable (88. Christopher McStay 72’), 14. Brayden Sorge, 22. Blake Ricciuto, 24. Ali Auglah
Substitutes Not Used: 4. James Nikolovski, 20. Ronan Mulgrew, 99. Matthew Keremelevski
Yellow Cards: Auglah 44’, Speranza 76’
Red Cards: None
APIA Leichhardt FC: 80. Oliver Kalac, 2. Seiya Kambayashi, 7. Jack Stewart (30. Alex Denmead 83’), 8. Franco Farinella, 9. Presley Ortiz (11. Rory Jordan 87’), 14. Cameron Fong, 16. Sean Symons (C), 19. Fabian Monge, 21. Michael Kouta, 22. Eddie Caspers (29. Maksim Kasalovic 90+3’), 23. Dredon Kelly
Substitutes Not Used: 6. Patrick Flottmann, 18. Adrian Ucchino, 20. Alexander Parkes
Yellow Cards: Symons 77’, Denmead 90+4’
Red Cards: None
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
