After the match, Sutherland Sharks coach Brian Brown admitted that it was his team?s worst performance of the season and, very sportingly, acknowledged that his team was lucky.
?This [Lambert Park] is a difficult place to play, the pitch leaves a little to be desired and I think the conditions made it difficult,? he said.
?I emphasised to our players that it was going to be a bit of a battle and I think A.P.I.A. ? certainly in the first-half ? won the battle.
?To be honest, they were probably upset not to be two or three goals up at half-time, but credit to our boys who kept going and got the equaliser.
?But, that?s clearly our worst performance of the season; yes, by far, by far.?
After dominating play and missing countless excellent chances, A.P.I.A. coach John Romeo knew that two points were lost. Left shaking his head at the end, the normally media savvy coach was almost lost for words.
?We had chances which we didn?t capitalise on, but unfortunately if you don?t finish those chances you don?t win games,? he said.
?A brilliant shot from Pedj [Bojic] from 30-metres dipped all over the place to get them back in the game, so what do you do??
After only 2? minutes, Jason Garrido with a beautiful cross from the left found an unmarked Peter Peralta, but his shot narrowly sailed wide.
In the 17^? minute a Bakis free-kick from the right was met with a tremendous volley by Neil Jablonski who sent the ball crashing against the crossbar.
In the 22? minute Robert Younis opened the scoring directly from a free-kick on the right which beat everyone and ended up directly in the net.
In the 28^? minute Ian King found Younis charging towards goal and while he was able to beat the out-coming Phil Zabaks, he wasn?t able to get enough power on his shot to make it count.
Only a minute later Younis, this time set up by David D?Apuzzo, beat a defender superbly but Zabaks was on hand to deny the brilliant Tigers striker.
Sutherland Sharks equalised right on the stroke of half-time when a Jimmy Bakis free-kick was poorly cleared and Brendan Gan was able to blast his shot into the back of the net.
In the 50^th minute Jamie McMaster entered the fray for A.P.I.A. and two minutes later, with his first touch of the game and his first touch in the TeleChoice Premier League, he scored.
Franco Parisi gave him the ball and the former Leeds United player neatly finished the move off by placing it into the bottom left hand corner of the net.
In the 56^th minute Shane Lyons? cross almost created havoc for the Tigers defence, but luckily for the home side Michael Galluzzo cleared it off the line with a little help from King.
In the 64^th minute an A.P.I.A. throw-in found Younis who superbly rounded a defender but not Zabaks who miraculously turned it away for a corner.
Sutherland followed up with a corner that was once again poorly cleared by the Tigers and Gan, with a powerful shot, almost had his second but the ball sailed narrowly over the crossbar.
A.P.I.A. Leichhardt?s reply once again involved Younis challenging Zabaks: one on one with the goalkeeper, Younis was dispossessed by the brilliant Sharks shot-stopper.
In the 88^th minute Sutherland equalised: it appeared to be an innocuous pass to Bojic who blasted the unstoppable shot over debutant goalkeeper Zaim Zeneli and just under the cross-bar for a truly first class goal.
Ironically, the last real chance of the match fell to Younis but, for the umpteenth time, Zabaks was on hand to deny him. All match they had played cat and mouse and, except for the opening goal, Zabaks had won the battle.
MATCH STATS
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt 2 (Robbie Younis 22?, Jamie McMaster 52?)

Sutherland Sharks 2 (Brendan Gan 45?, Pedj Bojic 88?)

Venue: Lambert Park
Referee: Greg Ledbeater
Assistants: Daniel Dewhurst and Adam Dayeian
A.P.I.A. Leichhardt: Zaim Zeneli, John Kelso, Mark Byrnes, Michael Galluzzo, David D?Apuzzo, Jason Garrido (Jamie McMaster 50?), Ian King, Robert Younis, Franco Parisi, Marton Vass, Peter Peralta.
Substitutes Not Used: Michael Rutherford, Daine Merrin, Simon Ryan, Joe Bruni
Sutherland Sharks: Phil Zabaks, Michael Katz, George Souris, Pedj Bojic, Ben Spruce, David Huxley (David Reid 83?), Jimmy Bakis, Neil Jablonski, Brendan Gan (Nick Stavroulakis 94?), Shane Lyons (Matthew Hall 63?), Brad Boardman.
Substitutes Not Used: Michael Robinson, Nathan Denham
Yellow Cards: 38? Vass (A.P.I.A.); 22? Huxley, 48? Katz, 60? Lyons, 78? Bojic (Sutherland)
Player Ratings:
3 – Robert Younis (AL)
2 – Michael Galluzzo (AL)
1 – Phil Zabaks (SS)
-By Joe Russo