Blacktown take the points after great Tigers comeback
It was all but over after the first-half of football until the Tigers came within a whisker of clawing back all three goals.
It was the classic ?game of two halves? ? Blacktown clearly on top in the first stanza of play, and A.P.I.A. Leichhardt having the better of play in the second.
After the game the affable Blacktown City coach Mark Crittenden certainly admitted that his young team gave him a scare in the second-half after almost squandering a three goal lead.
?This is always a hard place to come to and play, but I thought our first-half was superb, especially with our second goal through Micky Simonovic,? he said.
?They [A.P.I.A.] made a couple of changes in personnel and shape in the second-half and it was heart attack material right up until the end for us, trust me.
?We are a very young team and young boys tend to make some schoolboy errors, so we are missing some of our older boys who lead them around a bit.
?Our average age is about 21 which for this league is very tough. We have a few injuries at the moment, but we are up there in the five, so I am reasonably happy with where we are at.?
In the 8? minute Mitchell Duke, after receiving a lovely ball from Luke Roodenburg which split the entire Tigers defence, found himself with only goalkeeper Jose Bello Amigo to beat and he ever so calmly slotted home to open the scoring.
A.P.I.A. Leichhardt replied shortly afterwards with a cracking shot from Nick Rizzo from some distance out which goalkeeper Simon Jaeger managed to turn away for a corner.
In the 25? minute Blacktown City extended their lead with an almighty goal from Milorad Simonovic that beat all and sundry from the moment it left his boot.
Bello-Amigo didn?t stand a chance such was the pinpoint accuracy of the ball in flight.In the 31? minute Simonovic was back at it again and, once more, he was delightfully set up by Ray Miller who played a major part in the previous goal.
Simonovic?s diagonal shot was beautifully placed and the visitors took a commanding 3-0 lead.
In fact very late in the half Simonovic could have scored his personal hat-trick, but was slightly off target from reasonably close range.
It was a confident half of football from Blacktown City who deserved thoroughly their half time lead.
During the break the Tigers made two substitutions: John Kelso and Robbie Younis came on for Stephen Kayes and Wandi Jajaw respectively.
The entrance of Younis certainly changed things for the Tigers early in the second half.
An early free-kick from the former Adelaide United player forced Jaeger into a diving save and then, after a wonderful ball from David D?Apuzzo, Younis on the turn shot narrowly over the crossbar.
In the 55? minute Michael West found Younis who made enough space for himself between two defenders before unleashing a shot that was never going to miss the target. It was A.P.I.A. Leichhardt?s first goal back as the visitors were starting to panic.
Shortly afterwards Younis fired across the entire face of goal and the ball trickled wide before Mark Byrnes found A.P.I.A. Leichhardt?s everywhere man minutes later, but this time he headed just a fraction wide of the goal.
In the 67? minute A.P.I.A. Leichhardt came right back into the game when a delicate chip cross from Younis found Rizzo unmarked and the former Crystal Palace player headed home.
A pinpoint cross from David D?Apuzzo minutes later found Chris James who headed just wide and, at this stage, it appeared that A.P.I.A. Leichhardt was certainly destined to miraculously equalise as the Blacktown City team seemed to self destruct with panic and doubt.
However, Blacktown City, for so many years the pace setters in the NSW Premier League, almost made it four themselves.
Miller found Roodenburg and against his old club he just missed the intended target with his shot.
Late in the game, as A.P.I.A. Leichhardt pushed forward, Blacktown City could well have scored again when Roodenburg set up replacement Adam Jenner but he fired into the side netting. It was all over shortly afterwards.
After the game A.P.I.A. Leichhardt?s acting captain Michael West spoke on behalf of his side especially about the turnaround after halftime.
?It was a slow start and some of the boys came in at halftime and threw the teabags and teacups around,? he said.
?We came out a different side; Robbie Younis came on and did really well and gave us a lot up front which we were probably missing in the first-half.
?Consistency has been a bit of a problem for us this year and we really need to focus on being disciplined for the whole 90 minutes.
?Rockdale, our opponents next week, run hard and are very well organised but there are still plenty of points for us to play for, so I am sure we?ll bounce back,? he concluded.
Meanwhile, in the Grade-20s A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers defeated Blacktown City FC 2-0.
Match Stats
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers 2 (Younis 55?, Rizzo 67?)
Blacktown City FC 3 (Duke 8?, Simonovic 25? and 31?)
Sunday 3rd July, 2011
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Khodr Yaghi
Assistant referees: Roland Hunt and Steve Nguyen
Fourth Official: Adam Coombes
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Jose Bello-Amigo; 2.Mark Byrnes, 4.Cole Tinkler, 5.Michael West, 6.Marton Vass, 7.Stephen Kayes (3.John Kelso 46?), 13.David D?Apuzzo, 15.Adam D?Apuzzo, 11.Nicola Rizzo (10.Franco Parisi 75?), 17.Wandi Jajaw (9.Robbie Younis 46?), 23.Chris James
Substitutes Not Used: 40.Stefan Giglio, 14.Sam Messam.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City FC: 1.Simon Jaeger; 3.Mitchell Duke (17.Adam Jenner 74?), 4.Travis Major (18.Bruno Privato 79?), 5.Patrick Gatt, 6.Matthew Pressello, 8.Matthew Brennan, 7. Roodenburg, 13.Matthew Lewis, 11.Milorad Simonovic, 15.Ray Miller (10.Daniel Bragg 86?), 16.Luke Austin.
Substitutes Not Used: 40.David Bradasevic, 14.George Dejenck
Yellow Cards: Roodenburg 13?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Joe Russo
