IGA NPL NSW Grade 20s Round 3 Review

Round 3 of the IGA National Premier Leagues NSW Grade 20s was a goal-laden one, even despite the nil-nil draw in the Match of the Round.
There were good wins for Central Coast Mariners Academy, Blacktown Spartans and Blacktown City FC and despite the lack of a goal to speak of, the Match of the Round between APIA Leichhardt Tigers and Sutherland Sharks was also an entertaining 90 minutes.
MATCH OF THE ROUND  
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 0-0 Sutherland Sharks, Friday at Lambert Park
APIA Leichhardt Tigers and Sutherland Sharks played out a nil-nil stalemate on Good Friday at Lambert Park.
The scene was set on a perfect day for football at the spiritual home of APIA Leichhardt and whilst both sides were willing, there was a lack of end product that meant the scoresheet remained blank.
APIA shaded the match in the end and only a spurned opportunity with the last kick of the match by Hayato Wakino denied them all three points. APIA goalkeeper Anthony Costa had an outstanding game, his experience and safe handling bringing calm when Sutherland threatened with the high ball.
The sending off of Brian Griffin-Colls didn’t help APIA’s cause. The defender was sent off for a last man challenge with Ben Cornish in the 22′ minute. It was all uphill from there, but APIA showed great spirit and determination.
It was a sloppy pass that caught out the APIA defence and the unfortunate Griffin-Colls was the man in the middle, left with no choice but to make a high risk challenge. Once referee Nathan Roberts deemed the challenge to be a foul, he had no choice but to dismiss the APIA defender.
From the resulting free kick, Sutherland’s Aleksandar Lekoski saw his shot cleared off the line.
The visitor’s pushed and probed, using their numerical advantage to good effect in terms of keeping possession, but not so in creating goal scoring opportunities. 
Lekoski had another decent chance in the 28′ minute, but APIA ‘keeper Costa proved equal to it, acrobatically tipping it over the bar.
The home side regrouped at the break and proved a far more potent attacking threat. A change in shape and the introduction of Adam Funari and Hayato Wakino saw them push to break the deadlock.
They were certainly in charge of the second half, with Sutherland slow to react to APIA’s adjustments.
Indeed, APIA had three great chances in the final ten minutes, but were let down by the final ball and in the last instance, but a lack of composure
Matthew Castelnuovo had two chances to play the final pass but was wayward on both, much to the frustration of himself and his side.
With the last kick of the game however, substitute Wakino latched on to some unsure defending from the Sutherland back four, finding himself one on one with Sutherland goalkeeper Andrew Depta. 
Perhaps he had too much time to think about it, but with the game on the line Wakino fired over. The goal was at his mercy and the three points were there to be taken, but as quickly as the chance came, it disappeared and the points were shared.
APIA coach Rod Williams was justifiably proud of his side’s performance, though equally thought they were good enough to snatch the win.
"We probably should have been 2-0 up after ten (minutes)," he said.
"The next 35 minutes belonged to Sutherland but we were very hard to break down.
"They didn’t really threaten us and anything in the air Anthony Costa dealt with; he was superb today.
"In the second half we changed to a back three and penned their fullbacks in and to be honest, I think we should have taken something out of the game.
"I said at half time that we wanted to win the game, which is why we went to a back three. 
"I’m not a negative coach and I always believed that we could snatch the game.
"I’d rather play attractive football and lose 1-0 than sit back and try and defend with 10 men. 
"After seeing Bonnyrigg’s guts with nine men (in Round 1) and Central Coast with 10 men (in Round 2) try and have a go, I thought we could win the game and near enough, that’s what happened," Williams said.
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 0

Sutherland Sharks 0

Friday, 29th March, 2013

Lambert Park, Leichhardt

Referee: Nathan Roberts

Assistant Referees: Thomas Lee

Fourth Official: Mitchell Clark

APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 21.Anthony Costa, 42.Josh Basara (30.Justin Coots 24′), 31.Matthew Castelnuovo, 37.David Chung (25.Adam Funari 58′), 28.Sam Cornish, 22.Brian Griffin-Colls, 14.George Khoury (35.Marko Micevski 76′), 26.Ali Nasreddine, 27.Lachlan O’Connor (41.Hayato Wakino 64′), 32.Blade Richards, 23.Emmanuel Shewan

Substitutes Not Used: 40.Lucas North

Yellow Cards: 28.Sam Cornish 70′

Red Cards: 22.Brian Griffin-Colls 21′ 

Sutherland Sharks: 22.Andrew Depta, 16.Ben Cornish, 50.Mitchell Farmer, 37.Dylan Fox (44.Dylan Caton 64′), 18.Jayden Koulizakis, 29.Aleksandar Lekoski (30.Jordan Roberts 83′), 2.Nicholas Littler, 48.Luke McCosker (45.Andreas Kartsioulas 76′), 11.Patrick Savor (12.Laureano Gomez-Castro 60′), 32.Lukas Stergiou, 28.Jacob Tratt 

Substitutes Not Used: 1.Nathan Campbell  

Yellow Cards:  37.Dylan Fox 61′

Red Cards: Nil

ROUND REVIEW

FRIDAY

Manly United FC 2-5 Blacktown Spartans, at Cromer Park

Manly United were dealt a harsh lesson on Good Friday, going down 5-2 to a rampant Blacktown Spartans.
Manly would have fancied their chances at home, but Spartans showed their true colours, with doubles from Reid Taylor and Jake Harris, plus a goal from Daniel Bittar, seeing them win handsomely. Dylan Whitlock and Tommy Morrisey were on the score sheet for the home side.
SATURDAY

South Coast Wolves 0-1 Sydney United 58 FC, at John Crehan Park

South Coast Wolves faced a strong test at home to Sydney United 58 FC and so it proved as the visiting side won 1-0.
Wolves struggled in the first half, but bounced back in the second, but an Ante Tomic goal was enough for Sydney United 58 FC to take all three points.
Rockdale City Suns 2-1 Marconi Stallions, at Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre

Rockdale City proved their quality at home to Marconi Stallions on Saturday evening.
Vincent Giannini and Toufic Alamedine scored for Rockdale in a match that demonstrated their threat after their rebuilding in the off season. Tom Whiteside scored for Marconi Stallions.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 0-2 Central Coast Mariners Academy, at Bonnyrigg Sports Centre

Bonnyrigg White Eagles went down at home to CCM Academy on Saturday evening, despite having the majority of the game. 
CCM Academy showed a clinical edge in front of goal and a goal each from Adam Woodbine and Dylan Vorster was enough for them to snatch the points from a Bonnyrigg side that edged the game in terms of chances created. 
SUNDAY

Sydney Olympic FC 0-3 Blacktown City FC, at Belmore Sports Ground

Blacktown City were far too good for Sydney Olympic on Easter Sunday, running out 3-0 winners at Belmore Sports Ground.
Alex Arbello opened the scoring, but was sent off for dissent on the half an hour mark. Andre Scroeder netted twice from the spot to seal a very impressive victory for David O’Keefe’s side.
– By Matthew Connellan