APIA Leichhardt secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Sutherland Sharks at Lambert Park on Saturday evening.
Goals to Jack Armson and Josh Symons, along with a penalty conversion from Jason Romero, saw the hosts come away with three points and a clean sheet after a dominant performance in the match.
Battling it out for top spot on the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s ladder, the win gives APIA valuable points as they look to edge out Sydney FC.
The loss, and particularly the conceded penalty, leave Sutherland with their fifth loss and sixth penalty conceded this season as they struggle to find consistency despite showing some promise throughout the year so far.
It was APIA who came out the strongest in the opening stage of the match, creating a number of opportunities in their attacking half while settling into the movement of the match.
Sutherland displayed some promise on the park in the early stages of the game as they played off each other to make their way into attacking opportunities.
Sharks’ American striker Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu earned the first card of the match in just the 14th minute as referee Adrian Arndt pulled him up for simulation after going down very easily in the area.
APIA Leichhardt continued to mount pressure on their visitors and it paid off as they opened the scoring in the 16th minute of the match through Armson.
The youngster received the ball inside the area from Matthew Cahill and sent it past Sutherland goalkeeper Anthony Bouzanis and into the bottom corner.
Sean Symons came agonisingly close to extending APIA Leichhardt’s lead in the 33rd minute as he worked his way into a perfect position and let off a cracking shot that blazed past the sticks.
Walter Scott had a chance for the hosts in the 38th minute as he sent a shot soaring towards the target from range, however Bouzanis was able to tip it over the crossbar.
Romero came knocking again for APIA in the 45th minute, sending a powerful shot at the goal but his effort couldn’t make the target, flying just wide.
Coming out firing after the break, APIA again created an opportunity in the 48th minute, this time through Cahill who couldn’t find the target.
Sutherland had a chance in the 51st minute as James Baldacchino sent a header towards the target from a corner, but APIA’s veteran goalkeeper Ivan Necevski knocked it over the crossbar and out for another corner.
Baldacchino got on the end of the ball from the resultant corner, but his strike soared past the goal.
A free kick to APIA in the 68th minute gave the hosts the opportunity to extend their lead and they took it clinically to score their second of the match.
Sean Symons sent a well-placed ball into the area and Josh Symons cleanly knocked away a header at the far post to double the hosts’ lead.
The home side came straight back for more, but Bouzanis foiled their plans of a third in the 70th minute.
Cahill passed the ball straight across the goalmouth to Armson who let off a shot that was deflected by Bouzanis.
Adrian Ucchino recovered the deflection and let off another shot that Bouzanis again kept out of the net.
It was more than 10 minutes until the next shot on target as the hosts came close yet again in the 81st minute.
Romero sent a shot at the target, but an outstretched Bouzanis managed to get a foot to the ball to hold APIA out.
Chris Lindsay sent a free kick in for Sutherland in the 87th minute in what seemed like a promising chance, but the visitors struggled to capitalise on it.
Things went from bad to worse for Sutherland in the 89th minute as Mark Rodic gave away a penalty for a rough tackle inside the area.
Romero stepped up to take the penalty and sent Bouzanis the wrong way to take their lead to three, wrapping up a clear-cut victory for the Inner West side.
APIA Leichhardt coach Danial Cummins was pleased with his side’s clinical performance to take the win.
“It was great, it was clinical,” he said.
“We wanted to bounce back after last week and we’re yet to concede at home, but we’ve conceded nine away.
“Themba [Muata-Marlow] has been our best player, again he was the best player on the park today.
“I think if you’re going to be successful in this league, you’re going to need a squad so we play a specific way that each person has a job to do and they need to do their job.
“We don’t rely on any one person that’s really important in this league, I think, because if you do that, then other teams will work it out.”
Sutherland Sharks coach Nick Dimovski gave credit to a strong APIA Leichhardt side for their performance and saw some promising passages throughout the match despite the result.
“I tried to go on Google and Google which sporting team has given away six penalties in seven weeks – it’s some record – so we kept that intact tonight,” he said.
“Obviously I’m disappointed with the result.
“I’m glad the penalty didn’t have an impact on the outcome of the game unlike previous weeks.
“I think we got caught early in the first half a bit of a sucker punch, a one-two combo and we’re down 1-0.
“I was happy with the way we started the second half, I think we were asking a lot of questions and we were knocking on the door.
“I think at the end, with 10 minutes to go and the game was 1-0 and we pushed numbers forward, we got caught, but at 1-0 I guess we have to gamble and we’ve got to try something because it wasn’t the scoreline we were looking for tonight.
“I thought we were gelling quite well and it was good.
“The combinations were there, the movement was there, it was fluid – the only thing wrong was the scoreboard, it read 1-0 to APIA.
“There was a lot of good moments of good passages of play – you’re playing against a strong APIA team take nothing away from them, they deserved to win today.
“We just got to regroup and go again next week and hopefully the combinations continue to gel and the players lift again.”
Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt FC 3 (Jack Armson 16’, Josh Symons 68’, Jason Romero 89’p)
Sutherland Sharks FC 0
Saturday, 16th April, 2022
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: Joon Park and Alessandro Llana
Fourth Official: Jackson Mackie
APIA Leichhardt FC: 1. Ivan Necevski, 4. Joshua Symons, 5. Nicholas Azzone, 7. Matthew Cahill (8. Diego Celis 75’), 9. Jason Romero, 14. Jack Armson (10. Franco Parisi 84’), 15. Themba Muata-Marlow, 16. Sean Symons, 18. Adrian Ucchino, 23. Walter Scott, 38. Yianni Nicolaou (3. Paul Galimi 90’)
Substitutes Not Used: 6. Simon Nicholas, 21. Michael Kouta, 22. Luke Turnbull
Yellow Cards: Sean Symons 47’, Josh Symons 86’
Red Cards: Nil
Sutherland Sharks FC: 1. Anthony Bouzanis, 2. James Baldacchino, 3. Gabriel Contigiani, 6. Patrick O’Shea (25. Luke Sauer 80’), 9. Jeremy Cox (18. Mitchell Smith 62’), 12. Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu (10. Lachlan Everett 71’), 14. Chris Lindsay, 17. James Andrew, 21. Michael Neill, 22. Nick Sullivan, 23. Mark Rodic
Substitutes Not Used: 26. Jacob Cremen-Cowan, 99. Lachlan Macdonald
Yellow Cards: Ahmed-Shaibu 14’, Marc Rodic 89’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Themba Muata-Marlow (ALT)
2 – Walter Scott (ALT)
1 – Sean Symons (ALT)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Editor Madeline Riley