APIA hold off gallant Ilinden to snatch maximum points
APIA Leichhardt secured an important 3-2 win over rivals Rockdale Illinden in a nail-biting affair at Leichhardt Oval.
It was the home side who had the first chance of the match, with a clipped Jack Stewart cross finding Edward Caspers with space to strike at the back post, but the midfielder uncharacteristically missed the ball.
Rockdale Illinden responded with a chance through Alec Urosevski; the striker received the ball in the channel after a mishap in APIA’s build-up and converged in on goal, but a thunderous challenge from Themba Muata-Marlow prevented the effort from reaching the goal.
In the 11th minute, Rockdale had a presentable chance to open the scoring.
After Giorgio Speranza was found free on the wing in an advanced, threatening position, he then played an excellent square ball to Brendan Cholakian.
The midfielder had time to take a touch and strike, but his goalbound, strong effort was blocked imperatively by Josh Symons.
It was APIA who opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a clinical counter-attack.
After receiving a misplaced pass, Adrian Ucchino played an inch-perfect pass in behind into Stewart, who received with space to exploit.
The winger then played an incisive pass across to Ben Gibson, who was lurking at the back post.
Gibson took a purposeful touch into the box, and – after setting himself – clinically converted across goal with a statement strike.
Nine minutes later, the home side doubled their lead to give themselves a crucial buffer in a hotly contested match.
After a period of strong possession, Rory Jordan found the feat of Sean Symons in behind, who was operating in an unorthodox left-back position.
Symons produced a delightful comeback to the feet of Gibson, and with the utmost of composure, the striker – rather than shooting – poked the ball on to Stewart.
The winger lapped up the layoff, curling a persuasive, rapid strike into the top left corner from metres out to give APIA a second goal.
However, Rockdale were far from out of this match, and threatened on transition in the 38th minute, with an Urosevski strike forcing a good save from Anthony Bouzanis.
Three minutes later, they went one better and halved the deficit with a beautiful, curling strike courtesy of Lochlan Constable.
The winger received the ball in an inside left pocket of space, before using Speranza’s overlapping run as a decoy to give himself time to look for a finish.
He pulled out a stunning strike curling the ball around Bouzanis from outside the box to secure a crucial goal just before the break.
However, the first-half drama wasn’t done there, with APIA threatening off a Sean Symons chance from a corner and a Jack Stewart strike from in the box in the immediate aftermath.
However, Symons’ strike was held by Ricardo Rizzo, who was standing in for Rockdale’s number one Harrison Devenish-Meares who was ruled out of the match due to concussion, and a ferocious first half of football came to an end.
In a blistering start to the second stanza, APIA found a lead before the
After a strong header by Edward Caspers, a beautiful flick from Jack Armson freed Rory Jordan in behind.
The winger hit a left-footed, straight effort at his near post which found the back of the net after passing through the gloves of Rizzo.
After a hotly contested 10 minutes, APIA emerged with a strong chance which was made from Gibson’s hustle, pace and technique.
Running onto a clearance in behind, Gibson promptly outpaced his marker, before beautifully finding space with a clever cutback nutmeg.
Gibson then shaped to finish, but ended the move disappointingly after a sensational piece of number nine play.
In the 60th minute, Rockdale went agonisingly close to gaining a goal back, but couldn’t find the back of the net off two strong opportunities.
Firstly, Urosevski was fed in behind after a clever layoff from Olayinka Sunmola, with Bouzanis making a necessary stop in a close, intense one on one.
Cholakian then attempted a spectacular bicycle kick after a bouncing ball in the box, and just sliced the ball past and over the frame of goal.
In the 72nd minute, Rockdale did find the net, with Urosevski getting his goal to set up a delightfully intense end to the match.
The forward made a chance out of nothing, capitalising on the bounce of the ball and striding powerfully to meet it, before sliding a right-footed shot past Bouzanis and into the goal.
Despite controlling possession and territory, Rockdale struggled to find any openings, with APIA’s defensive efforts keeping them ahead.
They threatened in the 90th minute, where an assertive run and pinpoint cross from Hunter Elliott found Mathieu Cordier, who couldn’t gain significant traction with his header.
Speranza met the ball off the rebound, but his shot was blocked by APIA’s strong defence in a truly nail-biting finale to the match of the round.
In added time, Stewart almost secured the three points with a low shot just dragging wide of the near post, before Luigi Ditroia also had a strong chance after turning and striking at goal, forcing a save from Rizzo.
However, three goals was enough for APIA, and they secured an important three points in an exhilarating match.
Franco Parisi was happy with the victory and the overall performance from his side.
“Super pleased with the reaction from the boys from last week to this week”, he said.
“I thought the first half was superb and in the second half we did what we needed to.
“In terms of everything we asked, the quality of the players, the effort, the smartness to score goals – they have quality in the team and they know how to use it.
“We never want to concede so we’ll assess those two goals, but we’re pleased with how we played, we’re pleased with the three points and we’re pleased to keep climbing the ladder.”
Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt FC 3 (Gibson 22’, Stewart 31’, Jordan 46’)
Rockdale Illinden FC 2 (Constable 41’, Urosevski 72’)
Sunday 21 April, 2024
Leichhardt Oval
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referees: Patrick Teleki and Amirhossein Hosnani
Fourth Official: James Makris
APIA Leichhardt FC: 1. Anthony Bouzanis, 2. Seiya Kambayashi, 4. Josh Symons (23. Dakota Askew 72’), 7. Jack Stewart, 9. Ben Gibson (19. Luigi Ditroia 79’), 11. Rory Jordan (17. Jordan Segreto 65’), 14. Jack Armson (8. Nick Sullivan 72’), 15. Themba Muata-Marlow, 16. Sean Symons, 18. Adrian Ucchino (C) (41. Nicholas Azzone 79’), 22. Edward Caspers
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Alexander Parkes
Yellow Cards: S. Symons 8’, Stewart 25’, S. Symons 76’
Red Cards: None
Rockdale Illinden FC: 3. Lachlan Griffiths (23. Dakota Askew 78’), 5. Giorgio Speranza, 6. Isaac Danzo (22. Blake Ricciuto 61’), 7. Alec Urosevski (C), 8. Dean Pelekanos, 9. Bai Antoniou (15. Olayinka Sunmola 37’), 10. Brendan Cholakian (2. Daniel Collins 61’), 11. Lochlan Constable, 15. Brayden Sorge (23. Hunter Elliott 61’), 20. Ricardo Rizzo, 66. Mathieu Cordier
Substitutes Not Used: 28. Ronan Mulgrew
Yellow Cards: Cholakian 53’, Pelekanos 78’
Red Cards: None
Player ratings:
3 – Ben Gibson (APIA)
2 – Themba Muata-Marlow (APIA)
1 – Dean Pelekanos (RI)
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
