A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt break duck as Blacktown continue winless start
Two goalkeeping mistakes in the first-half had the scores even before Blacktown fans sat nervously for the final half hour following Tyler Simpson?s dismissal for dissent. It was all left for substitute Nicola Rizzo to calmly slot the ball in the back of the net for the win.
The match had barely started before Blacktown City had their first sight on goal. A short corner to Milorad Simonovic allowed him to turn his marker and shoot, only to be denied by glovesman Terry Dalbroi in the Tigers? goal.
Blacktown heaped the pressure on A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt as they passed the ball around the pitch looking for their second chance on goal. The Tigers? first attack came in the 9? minute as a Stephen Kayes through ball to Anthony Hartshorn released him on the left, though the midfielder?s cross into the penalty-area was cleared by Tyler Simpson.
The counterattack seemed to be working for A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt as 4? minutes later Franco Parisi took on Blacktown?s defence before passing to Chris James to cross just over David D?Apuzzo?s head.
Blacktown almost conceded the first goal in the 16? minute as Adam Jenner mistimed a clearance resulting in the ball rolling goalwards before David Bradasevic dived on it to thwart the chance.
But it would be Blacktown who would get the first clear chance on goal. A swift play in the middle allowed Mitch Long to play a clever through ball to Simonovic. In a one-on-one situation, Simonovic could not shoot the ball past Delbroi before the A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt defence cleared.
A minute later, A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt moved up field with Parisi releasing Hartshorn. The through ball was precise, and beat the offside trap, though Blacktown City?s Bradasevic came off his line quickly to clear.
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers then took the lead in the 24? minute as a long-range effort by Stephen Kayes bounced off Bradasevic hands and over him in comedic circumstances, as the ball finished inside the bottom left hand corner.
4? minutes later, Blacktown could have had the equaliser as Tyler Simpson?s shot went wide of the mark after a failed clearance by the visitors.
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt started controlling the match at this point, and in the 32? minute a great one-two between James and D?Apuzzo saw the latter on goal only to beat the goalkeeper but hit the post before Patrick Gatt cleared the ball away to safety.
Blacktown fans had their hearts in their mouths in the 35? minute as Simonovic had two shots from point-blank range blocked by a scrambling Tigers defender on the goal-line, as the away side held on to the lead.
The end-to-end game continued, and 3? minutes later James chipped the ball towards goal with Bradasevic just tapping the ball out for a corner.
3? minutes before the break, Blacktown City equalised in comedic fashion as Delbroi came off his line and dived into the air, only to miss the ball which fell to Simonovic who slotted the ball into the empty net.
The second-half began much like the first, with both sides fighting for possession in the middle of the park.
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt had the chance to take the lead again in the 48? minute as Hartshorn played D?Apuzzo out wide with the latter chipping the ball just over the crossbar.
Blacktown City turned to a long ball game trying to chip the ball over the defence, and in the 57? minute Kain Rastall found space to shoot but saw the ball fly well over the crossbar.
Blacktown?s hopes of a win were dashed 1? minute later as they were reduced to ten men after Tyler Simpson was red carded for swearing at referee Kurt Ams.
The Tigers could smell blood and quickly turned to an attacking game looking for their second goal with captain Parisi taking control.
In the 64? minute Parisi lobbed the ball over the Blacktown defence for Chris James only for Bradasevic to claim.
Minutes later, Parisi again sent an exquisite cross which Hartshorn just missed.
Blacktown City refused to give up with Matt Lewis attacking well down the left-hand touchline but failed to find an attacker in the final third.
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt continued their attacking raids and in the 73? minute a failed clearance by Blacktown saw D?Apuzzo just miss the goal from the edge of the penalty-area.
The Tigers would not give up on their search for the winner as substitute Nicola Rizzo linked with Chris James to shoot wide of the mark with 10? minutes remaining.
Sam Messam was then introduced to the game with the burly striker causing havoc for the Blacktown defence.
In the dying minutes of the match Messam got around Matt Lewis before cutting the ball back for Rizzo to slot into the bottom left-hand corner for the 2-1 win.
Following the match, Tigers? match winner Nicola Rizzo expressed his delight at his side?s win:
?I?m just happy that I could make a contribution to the team and I felt good for the 20? minutes I played, so hopefully I can get back to full fitness,?? he said.
?We?ve got five-points now and I think we can definitely build from what happened today.??
In the opposing dressing room, Blacktown City FC midfielder Mitch Long could not hide his disappointment:
?It was a scrappy start to the game and even though they scored first I thought we could?ve had 4 or 5 goals by then easily,?? he said.
?We then had the send off and it got tougher for us from there. I think we just need to get a result and hopefully things go forward from there.??
In the Grade-20 encounter, A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt scored a late equaliser to seal a 2-2 draw.
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 1 (Milorad Simonovic 43?)
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers 1 (Stephen Kayes 24?, Nicola Rizzo 90?+2?)
Sunday 17th April, 2011
Lily Holmes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Kurt Ams
Crowd: 300 Approx.
Blacktown City FC: 40.David Bradasevic; 2.Tyler Simpson, 3.Mitchell Duke (15.Ray Miller 85?), 4.Travis Major, 5.Patrick Gatt, 9.Kain Rastall (C), 11.Milorad Simonovic (16.Adam Biddle, 88?), 13.Matt Lewis, 14.Michael Brown (7.Luke Roodenburg 57?), 17.Adam Jenner, 10.Mitch Long
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Simon Jaegar, 6.Matt Pressello,
Yellow Cards: Milorad Simonovic 52?
Red Cards: Tyler Simpson 58?
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers: 22.Terry Dalbroi; 2.Mark Byrnes, 3.John Kelso, 4.Cole Tinkler, 5.Michael West, 6.Marton Vass (16.Wand Jajaw 90?), 7.Stephen Kayes, 8.Anthony Hartshorn, 10.Franco Parisi (C)(14.Sam Messam 78?), 13.David D?Apuzzo (11.Nicola Rizzo 74?), 23.Chris James
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Nathan Millgate, 40.Stefan Giglio
Yellow Cards: Cole Tinkler 56?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Chris James (ALT)
2 – Stephen Kayes (ALT)
1 – Mitch Long (BCFC)
-By Chris Georges
