Sutherland tame Tigers with late show in Leichhardt
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers was denied maximum points following a very impressive first 60’ minutes against league leader Sutherland Sharks at Lambert Park on Good Friday.
Played in warm conditions, the Tigers took the game to the Sharks in an entertaining opening that saw Nikola Taneski majestically open the scoring.
A second-half goalkeeper error by the Tigers saw the Sharks state its claim for a late flurry, though both sides would have to settle for a share of the spoils on the Easter weekend.
The Tigers were quick out of the box with Nicola Rizzo playing a tantalising cross from the left in only the 1’ minute of play. The ball had the Sharks scrambling, though Perry Moustakas & Co. did well to clear their lines.
In the 9’ minute, Rizzo again, with his trusty left peg, floated in a fine delivery to the back post however Brad Bartels arrived only seconds too late.
Sutherland’s response arrived via the quick feet of Nathan Elasi and Jamie McMaster down the right; the latter cleverly marshalled by Brendan Reilly – a fine performer in the Tigers defensive line – who thwarted the chance with exceptional use of his body.
On 15’ minutes, Rizzo again had the Sharks’ defenders on the back foot. The former Olyroo played another teasing cross in behind the defence – this time Nathan Denham shielding the ball behind the goal line.
In the 19’ minute, Panni Nikas’ free-kick from the left finally had the Tigers defenders scrambling though any desperate lunging efforts from the Sharks’ strikers went unrewarded.
1’ minute later, Taneski received a neat lay-off from Joshua Symons following some fine build up down the right. The young talent’s attempt on goal failed to beat Nathan Denham.
At the other end, Nikas showed his worth with some fine skill to cut in on his left foot, and beat his marker in the process, before firing a powerful left foot drive well over the crossbar.
The home side continued to press and created another goal scoring chance, Rizzo again the orchestrator. The experienced campaigner delivered a pin-point set-piece from the right, finding the head of captain Mark Byrnes who only just failed to keep his header from going over.
Playmaker Franco Parisi was again the epitome of class and calm on the ball, a constant menace for the Sharks backline with his exceptional ability to hold the ball and extraordinary vision in the front third of the field.
In the 28’ minute, Sutherland again threatened the Tigers via Nikas. From a good 25-metres, the Sharks playmaker unleashed a long-range effort that packed a massive punch, though was well dealt with by Tigers’ goalkeeper Ryan Norval.
Bartels stung the palms of Nathan Denham down the other end moments later with an equally impressive attempt – this one from open play – though the shot-stopper was perfectly positioned to make the save.
The Tigers fine pressing ability continued in the latter part of the half with David D’Apuzzo becoming more involved. Just shy of the 35’ minute mark, the left-sided defender made an impressive forward foray into the penalty-area, riding the challenge of his marker before winning his side a corner.
APIA-Leichhardt’s persistence paid dividends in the 42’ minute with the opening goal via Taneski. With his back to goal, the young talent cleverly played a chipped pass to himself to beat his marker before a neat feign created the space he needed to send his diagonal effort past a helpless Denham.
The goal sparked a quick response from the Sharks though McMaster and Boardman were not on the same page moments before the end of the half as a sloppy one-two saw a changeover in possession.
Following the break, Parisi had the Tigers supporters on their feet when he cleverly used his body to turn his marker 35-metres out. The APIA-Leichhardt number 10 closed in on the penalty-area before firing his low-driven effort wide of the mark.
Sutherland Sharks, well off the pace shown in their opening two matches of the season, looked to get back into the contest with some quick ball movement in the front-third. On 52’ minutes, Nikas created the space for McMaster to deliver a cross from the right byline – the slightest of touches that McMaster would have been looking for from one of his strikers was not forthcoming as Norval went to ground to make a clean save.
The Sharks kept their foot on the accelerator with Stavroulakis and Nikas combining for the latter to release Klim Gjorseski. The speedy left-winger was lighting fast however Norval read the situation to perfection with a timely intervention.
APIA-Leichhardt should have doubled its lead in the 62’ minute when another Rizzo set-piece delivery created a clear goal scoring chance. The delivery was whipped in with pace onto the head of Keith Shevlin who, from point-blank range, failed to hit the target.
Totally against the run of play, Sutherland Sharks found the equaliser it perhaps did not deserve on the balance of play until that point. An over hit free-kick by Panni Nikas appeared to be easy pickings for Norval at the back post, however the talented goalkeeper somehow lost control of the ball, spilling it into the path of defender Perry Moustakas who had the easiest of tasks in slotting the ball into an empty net.
Norval’s afternoon got a little worse only minutes later as he was forced to leave the field with an injury after a pretty heavy contrast with a Sharks player inside the penalty-area.
On 77’ minutes, the Tigers were almost compensated for the goalkeeping error. Sharks’ shot-stopper Nathan Denham, attempting to clear an over hit through ball, struck Shevlin with a powerful clearance that saw the ball ricochet off the striker. The ball was goal bound however did not have enough power as Denham retreated swiftly to claim the ball.
Niko Tsattalios, who has pushed further forward by coach Robbie Stanton, saw his shot flash wide of the mark after creating a yard of space to test substitute goalkeeper Anthony Costa shortly after.
Tsattalios went close again 6’ minutes from time following some energetic work by Stavroulakis in the middle of the park. Tsattalios received a neat lay-off from Olsen on the edge of the penalty-area though failed to keep his first-time shot down to hit the target.
The momentum remained with the Sharks who threatened again through Nikas. The Sharks number 23 created the space he needed on the edge of the penalty-area though he failed to keep his shot down to test Costa.
Sutherland had one last chance to snatch the win, again via the feet of Nikas. The creative genius beat his marker with complete ease on the right touchline before centering into a sea of legs; the chance, though, went begging.
Following the match, Tigers’ assistant coach, who took to the field today, Nick Rizzo expressed his views:
“I thought the first 65’-70’ minutes we were outstanding today, our heads dropped when we conceded the goal unfortunately,” Rizzo explained.
“The goal we conceded was very soft, though that is football and we did have our chances to have scored more goals to finish the game off.
“Overall, the result against a team like Sutherland is a good result, though the way the match unfolded we definitely are a little disappointed with the outcome.
“Our game plan was to pressure high and pressure fast – I think we did that well as we needed to stop Sutherland and their good ball players from playing.
Asked about his playing future, Rizzo explained his current situation:
“Basically I didn’t play last season, this season I have been training with the boys and also am the assistant coach. Gary (Coach, Gary Ward) is wanting to get me back involved so I thought why not give it a go.
“Physically I am feeling ok, and as long as that remains the case and I am still enjoying myself, then I will keep going,” Rizzo ended.
Out of the Sutherland Sharks dressing shed, coach Robbie Stanton was a little disappointed with his side’s first-half though did find some positives from the second 45’ minutes:
“It really was a game of two halves today; we were poor in the first-half, never really got going though we were better in the second-half after a few adjustments.
“In the end, I guess it was a fair result.
“We were expecting them to be aggressive from the opening whistle because they were only on one-point after two matches, both matches played at home, and I have been in that situation before where you start to feel a little desperate to get the season going.
“They came out firing and we did not match them in the first-half.
“Overall, looking at the performance, I have to be happy with the result considering we were out of sorts for large spells.
“We are unbeaten, though we still need to fine tune a couple of things as we have wandered in and out of matches so far this season where we have not been in control…. This is something we will need to improve on though we have collected good results so far,” Stanton concluded.
Match Stats
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers 1 (Nikola Taneski 42’)
Sutherland Sharks 1 (Perry Moustakas 68’)
Friday 29th March, 2013
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: James Lewis
Assistant Referees: Tom Lee and Mitchell Clark
Fourth Official: Nathan Roberts
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Ryan Norval (21.Anthony Costa 73’); 2.Mark Byrnes (C), 8.David D’Apuzzo, 7.Stephen Kayes, 10.Franco Parisi (13.Sam Awad 67’), 4.Brendan Reilly, 24.Nicola Rizzo, 12.Keith Shevlin, 20.Joshua Symons (19.Adamo Raciti 64’), 18.Nikola Taneski, 15.Bradley Bartels
Substitutes Not Used: 9.Gerard Ouffoue
Yellow Cards: Franco Parisi 67’, Bradley Bartels 81’
Red Cards: Nil
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan Denham; 9.Brad Boardman (8.Nicholas Olsen 46’), 7.Nathan Elasi, 17.Klim Gjorseski, 4.James McKenzie (6.Matthew Gordon 59’), 10.Jamie McMaster, 15.Perry Moustakas, 23.Panni Nikas, 14.Nick Stavroulakis (C), 3.Michael Stuart (13.Reo Morinaga 37’), 12.Nikolas Tsattalios
Substitutes Not Used: 22.Andrew Depta
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Nicola Rizzo (ALT)
2 – Brendan Reilly (ALT)
1 – Panni Nikas (SS)
-By Joseph Carlucci
