Valiant Tigers grab deserved late win at Blacktown City
An action packed second-half saw Andrew Bevin cancel out Matt Lewis? first-half goal before James Monie and David D?Apuzzo scored in quick succession for their respective sides to ensure a tight finish.
In a season where Blacktown City repeatedly produced late goals, it was the Tigers who shocked the home crowd as David D?Apuzzo fired home an injury time winner to condemn the hosts to a rare home loss and continue the visitors surge up the NSW Premier League table.
APIA-Leichhardt started the match in positive fashion, controlling the early tempo and carving out the first opportunity of the match which was fired high and wide by Ethan Gailbraith.
Blacktown City soon found their rhythm, however it was the visitors who continued to look the more likely to score as Bevin evaded the offside trap to find himself one-on-one with Brody Crane.
The Blacktown City custodian held his ground, darting off his line and spreading his frame to block Bevin?s causally placed finish.
The Tigers were left to rue their early complacency in front of goal soon after as Blacktown took the lead when Lewis? low driven 20-yard effort found its way through a maze of players and inside the far post shortly after the quarter hour mark.
The setback only seemed to spur the visitors on as they continued to create opportunities in front of goal, however wayward finishing let them down.
David D?Apuzzo and Gailbraith shot and headed wide respectively either side of Ryo Watanabe?s vital sliding interception to cut out Mun-Soo Gil?s dangerous through ball.
Adam Jenner?s tight dribbling skills saw him weave through the heart of Tigers? defence at the other end soon after, yet after all the hard word his finish was wayward as he dragged his shot wide from the edge of the box.
The visitors continued to string together positive spells of football as they went in search of an equaliser; Crane was on hand to deny them yet again as he recovered to save Bevin?s shot after it took a wicked deflection off Zac Cairncross.
Stefan Giglio made an equally important intervention just before the interval, beating James Monie to Lewis? dangerous cross to keep his side in the match as they trailed by the single goal going into the break.
The Tigers returned from the sheds to begin the second-half as they began the first and were soon rewarded as their attacking ambition quickly produced a deserved equaliser.
Bevin?s smart diagonal run across the edge of the Blacktown City box saw him spring the offside trap once again and the striker made no mistake this time, neatly tucking Gailbraith?s through ball inside the near post to level the scores.
The home side restored their advantage once again on the hour mark as Ryuji Miyazawa collected a short corner inside the box, turned his marker, and perfectly centred the ball for Monie to fire his side into the lead from close range via the underside of the crossbar.
Their celebrations were short lived though as the Tigers equalised once again a minute later; David D?Apuzzo curled a spectacular 20-yard free-kick inside the near post following Cairncross? mistimed challenge on the edge of the box.
Crane was called into action once again soon after, getting his fingertips to the ball to tip Gil?s rasping volley onto the crossbar to keep his side level under increasing pressure from the away side.
As the sun began to set over Lily Homes Stadium late in the match the game opened up as both sides forged chances at each end.
The visitors came close when Bevin shrugged off Adam Jenner?s challenge and delivered a low cross to the far post the evaded the unmarked Gailbraith by a matter of inches.
Substitute Kieran Paull drew a fine block from Giglio at the other end soon after; the keeper was quick to return to his feet to bravely block Travis Major?s follow up at the expense of a corner.
Major fluffed a late chance to win it late in the half, losing his marker before failing to make any connection with Daniel Bragg?s crossed free kick with the goal at his mercy.
David D?Apuzzo duly punished the hosts for the miss deep in added time, arriving in the box deep in injury time to meet Gil?s layoff and fire his side into the lead to take all three points from a highly entertaining clash.
APIA Leichhardt Tigers coach John Turner was pleased with match and overall performance of his squad having secured the late win:
?I?m happy with the result; I think we deserved it,? said Turner.
?I think it was a pretty scrappy affair all up, but the result was the correct one.
?If we didn?t get anything out of the game it would have been an injustice.
?I?m very proud of them as we?ve backed up and had injuries over the last few weeks ? had to play on Wednesday night and will be backing up this Wednesday night again ? so it?s been tough.
?Overall anyone who comes to Lily Homes Stadium and can get a win has done very well.?
Recent form has seen Tigers climb the NSW Premier League table and back in finals contention, and Turner believes things can only get better for his side with the imminent return of injured players:
?We?ll keep pushing up with what we have,? said Turner.
?We?ve got a few players coming back in from injury; however the players that are out there are still getting the job done.
?I think we can only get better, we?re in the right mood and looking forward to the future,? Turner added.
Blacktown City FC coach Mark Crittenden was obviously disheartened by the late defeat, conceding that Tigers were the superior team on the day:
?We were poor the whole game to be honest,? said Crittenden.
?If we walked out at 2-2 I would have been happy, we got ourselves ahead at 2-1 and conceded another soft goal, but full credit to them (Tigers).
?They worked hard, pressed hard, and clearly came here to get a result and they did just that.
?They know they needed the three points now as the middle of the table is very congested, and they thoroughly deserved their result.?
After a bright start to their campaign, recent form is a concern for Crittenden as he looks to find a way to get his side back on track:
?We?ve been on a downhill slide after starting the season extremely well,? said Crittenden.
?We?re a bit fatigued at the moment after all those games playing with ten men and with Waratah Cup matches midweek.
?Although we?ve been considering starting with ten men ? we?ve been at our best with ten to be fair ? but we?re totally disappointed with the result today.?
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 2 (Matt Lewis 17?, James Monie 60?)
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers 3 (Andrew Bevin 49?, David D?Apuzzo 61?, 90?+2?)
Sunday May 20th, 2012
Lily Homes Stadium, Seven Hills
Referee: Alex Glasgow
Assistant Referees: Lee Corey and Nathan Wotton
Fourth Official: James Tesoriero
Blacktown City FC: 1.Brody Crane; 3.Ryo Watanabe, 19.Zac Cairncross, 4.Travis Major (13.Luke Clifford 90?), 6.Matt Lewis, 9. Ryuji Miyazawa, 14.Adam Jenner, 15.Ray Miller (8.Daniel Bragg 58?), 16.Luke Austin, 11.Yuchi Yamauchi (18.Keiran Paull 72?), 10.James Monie
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Luke Turnbull, 38.Delor Edowoswan
Yellow Cards: Zac Cairncross 61?, Luke Austin 90?+3?
Red Cards: Nil
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Stefan Giglio; 2.Mark Byrnes, 3.Adel El Jamal, 5.Michael West, 12.Andrew Bevin, 7.Steven Kayes (15.Bradley Bartels 9?), 8.Adam D?Apuzzo, 9.Ethan Gailbraith, 13.David D?Apuzzo, 4.Mun-Soo Gil, 16.Michael Harwysuik (20.Wandi Jajaw 46?) (6.Danial Cummins 87?)
Substitutes Not Used: 40.A. Nasreddine
Yellow Cards: Mark Byrnes 37?, Adam D?Apuzzo 87?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? David D?Apuzzo (ALT)
2 ? Matt Lewis (BCFC)
1 ? Mun-Soo Gil (ALT)
-By Michael Shoolman
