Waratah Cup Semi-Final: APIA make it through to final after a tough battle

In the end the Tigers had to wait until well into the second-half to secure the victory after receiving a penalty.

Even though APIA-Leichhardt led by a goal for a long period of time, it can be safely said that Bankstown Berries were never really out of the picture.
After the game APIA Leichhardt?s veteran coach John Turner was very pleased to see APIA through to a final but also acknowledged that the Berries had given them a real good game.
?Of course I am happy to be there [in the final], but credit to Bankstown because they came here to play and had nothing to lose,? he said.
?They were very well organised and Tony [Pace] has done a very good job with them ? he must have learnt something in his time with me at Wollongong,? he said jokingly in reference to when Tony Pace was his assistant coach at Wollongong in 2008.

?We are delighted to be in the final because it has been a few years since APIA were in a final and it will be a good encounter with Sutherland in the final.
?We have always had some good matches in the past with Sutherland. I am looking forward to it and so too are the boys and the club.?

The opening chances of the game fell to the Berries. In the 11? minute a great free-kick from Ante Deur forced David Bradasevic into a brilliant save to turn the ball away for a corner. Bradasevic is APIA?s new young goalkeeper who was with the Central Coast Mariners youth team last season.

A minute later a beautiful through ball reached Dimitri Zakilas and he fired into the side netting. It was another close call for APIA but some great pressure from the visitors nevertheless.

APIA-Leichhardt, however,  took the lead in the 22? minute when a nice cross by Stephen Kayes from the right was partially cleared by the Berries defence, but only as far as the dangerous Franco Parisi who fired home very elegantly for the Tigers.

Bankstown Berries tried to hit back a few minutes later when a free kick from the right reached over to Peter Peralta, against his former club, who then fired it back into David Gardiner?s path but his final shot wasn?t able to penetrate Bradasevic?s hands.

Late in the first-half the diminutive Ben Delicata fired in a superb ball for Zakilas who found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper but couldn?t score.

Early in the second stanza of play Mun Soo Gil was in a dangerous position for the home side but his shot skidded across the face of goal.
However, Bankstown Berries were determined and hit back in the 58? minute when Zakilas placed a nice ball across for Kodjo Adjassou who, with his first touch of the game, found the back of the net. It was a really nice goal for the visitors after a delightful sweeping movement from halfway.

Adjassou was at it again shortly afterwards but this time he was spraying a free kick just wide of the intended target.

APIA Leichhardt did manage to regain the lead in the 77? minute when Aaron Tayebi brought down a rampaging Andrew Bevin in the box and referee Khodr Yaghi awarded a penalty.
Adam Casey had no trouble slotting home the ball much to the delight of the APIA bench.

After pressuring relentlessly for an equaliser without any real conclusive chance, the Berries almost conceded a third goal right at the end. However, Gil?s shot, from a delightfully Sam Salameh ball, finished just over the crossbar after taking a slight deflection from a defender.

After the game the Berries coach Tony Pace was very sporting in his assessment of the match and of his team.
?I was very happy with way we played and it would have been nice to get the result tonight, but I wish John [Turner] and the boys all the best,? he said.
?We took on Bonnyrigg and won that game and we came here with the same mental approach, but unfortunately we had to play route-one football a bit and even though it was a bit ugly the circumstances required it.
?I am very proud of my boys and they will just build on this experience of playing a Premier League side and we?ll take that into our game this weekend.?

Match Stats
 
Wednesday 20th June, 2012
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
 
Referee: Khodr Yaghi
Assistant Referees: Craig Fisher and Michael Weiner

APIA-Leichhardt Tigers 2 (Parisi 22?, Casey 77? (pen) )
Bankstown Berries 1 (Adjassou 58?)
         
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers: 22.David Bradsevic; 3.Adel El Jamal, 4.Mun Soo Gil, 5.Michael West, 6.Danial Cummins, 7.Stephen Kayes (16.Michael Hawrysiuk 71?), 8.Adam D?Apuzzo, 10.Franco Parisi (17.Sam Salameh 86?), 12.Andrew Bevin, 14.Adam Casey, 18.Brendan Reilly
Substitutes Not Used: 21.Anthony Costa, 15.Brad Bartels, 19.Paul Galimi
Yellow Cards:  Nil
Red Cards: Nil

Bankstown Berries: 1.Nestor Tsioustas; 7.Peter Peralta (10.John Tsironis 62?), 2.David Gardiner, 16.Brad Gibson (8. Kodjo Adjassou 55?), 3. Steve Wright, 11.Aaron Tayebi (17.Michael Zezovski 89?), 18.David Stojic, 4.Alex Becerra, 9.Ante Deur, 21.Ben Delicata (15.Peter Crevani 71?), 19.Dimitri Zakilas
Substitutes Not Used: 22.George Bouropoulos
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil

-By Joe Russo