IGA NPL NSW Grade 20s Round 5 Review

Round 5 of the IGA National Premier Leagues NSW saw a 0-0 stalemate in the Match of the Round between APIA Leichhardt Tigers and Sydney United 58 FC.
CCM Academy continued their good start, whilst in other matches South Coast Wolves and Sydney Olympic both won, showing that the depth of the competition is strong again in 2013.

MATCH OF THE ROUND
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 0-0 Sydney United 58 FC, at Lambert Park
The two remaining unbeaten sides in the Grade 20s remained so, as APIA Leichhardt Tigers and Sydney United 58 FC played out a 0-0 draw at Lambert Park.

It was a match of few chances as both sides toiled hard in the burning afternoon sun in Sydney’s Inner West.

Indeed, the first 45 minutes contained a solitary chance for each side and once both were squandered, the tone for the match was set.

Tomislav Herceg’s spell in the Grade 20s continued and he was culpable in conceding the set piece that resulted in APIA’s first half chance.

The Sydney United centre half went into the book for a 28′ minute challenge on Matthew Castelnuovo; a cynical foul that incurred the ire of the APIA players.

The resulting free kick was headed back across the area to Fabian Sosa, who was left with the simple task of tapping in.

Inexplicably, Sosa tried to head the ball from almost on the turf and he only succeeded in squandering the opportunity.

Sydney United 58 missed a glorious chance of their own in the 42′ minute.

David Stojic was played in one-on-one with APIA ‘keeper Lucas North, but he could only strike the far post with the goal in front of him.

On the balance of the play, APIA had the better of the first half but it was a reversal in fortunes in the second half as APIA sat deep and invited Sydney United to attack.

Stojic tested North with a dipping volley that the keeper did well to palm clear of danger in the 48′ minute.

Ten minutes later, another glaring opportunity was wasted when Matthew Bilic crossed from the left to David Semialjac, but the United attacker miss kicked and the chance was gone.

Not long after the hour mark, Marko Banic towered over the APIA defence to win a header from a corner, but he could only not it over from ten yards.

The match had descended into a bit of a scrap, characterised by APIA’s Marko Micevski getting booked five minutes after going on as a 79′ minute sub, before himself being subbed off immediately after.

Another substitute, David Chung, found himself in a good position on the edge of the area in the 86’ minute, but in keeping with the theme of the match, his curling shot comfortably cleared the crossbar.

APIA coach Rod Williams thought that the result was a fair reflection of the way the match played out.

"I thought for the first 45 minutes we were the better side," Williams said.

"In the second half a bit of fatigue set in. I thought we were under the pump, it was a tale of two halves.

"The first half belonged to us and the second half belonged to them.
"On paper they’re a good team and I think they’ll do pretty well."

Sydney United 58 coach Ante Moric agreed with Williams.

"I knew they were going to come at us in the first half. I know Rod as a coach, he’s very smart," Moric said.

"He knew he’d get a good game from us and it was a ding-dong battle.

"They were on top of us in the first half and there weren’t many chances in the game.

"0-0 all away from home; I’m happy."
Match Stats

APIA Leichhardt Tigers 0

Sydney United 58 FC 0
Sunday 14th April, 2013

Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Sebastien Brennan

Assistant Referees: Andres Giev and Steven Nguyen
APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 40.Lucas North, 27.Lachlan O’Connor, 28.Sam Cornish, 22.Brian Griffin-Colls, 26.Ali Nasreddine, 31.Matthew Castelnuovo, 23.Emmanual Shewan, 20.Joshua Symons, 42.Joshua Basara (25.Adam Funari 69′), 29.Fabian Sosa (37.David Chung 59′), 32.Blade Richards (35.Marko Micevski 79′ (30.Justin Cootes 87′))

Substitutes Not Used: 33.Joshua Ibini-Isei
Yellow Cards: 29.Fabian Sosa 52′, 27.Lachlan O’Connor 62′, 20.Joshua Symons 68′, 35.Marko Micevski 84′
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58 FC: 1.Marko Bozic, 36.Jacob Badur, 35.Marko Banic, 28.Theo Kocinis, 26.Tomislav Herceg, 27.Marko Vukovic (32.Chris Denkov 73′), 30.David Semialjac, 38.David Stojic (34.Drazen Vucer 34′), 37.Matthew Bilic, 33.Stephen Vukovic, 17.Chris Zuvela

Substitutes Not Used: 25.Michaljo Jonjic, 24.Isaac Savor, 31.Kane Wallace
Yellow Cards: 28.Theo Kocinis 21′, 36.Tomislav Herceg 28′, 37.Matthew Bilic 43′
Red Cards: Nil
ROUND 5 REVIEW
SATURDAY 
Central Coast Mariners Academy 2-0 Blacktown City FC, at Pluim Park
CCM Academy continued their outstanding start to the season, winning 2-0 at home to Blacktown City FC on Saturday evening.

Dean Caletti and Osama Zaki were on the scoresheet for the home side, who have so far proven to be a hugely competitive prospect in the competition.
Bonnyrigg White Eagles 1-1 Sutherland Sharks, at Bonnyrigg Sports Centre
Bonnyrigg White Eagles and Sutherland Sharks played out a high quality 1-1 draw, in a match that saw Bonnyrigg on top in the first half and Sutherland on top in the second.

Bonnyrigg took the lead through Damien Smith and should have taken a 2-0 lead, but they squandered a one-on-one opportunity.

Sutherland regrouped at the break and got back into the game via a penalty from Jacob Tratt and they were unlucky not to take all three points, given that they played against 10 men for the final half an hour.
South Coast Wolves 3-2 Blacktown Spartans, at John Crehan Park
South Coast Wolves got the monkey off their back, winning 3-2 against Blacktown Spartans.

It was a fantastic result against a Spartans side who have been in threatening, if slightly mixed form this season. Lee Gilroy, Josh Bingham and Sam Onana Awono scored for Wolves, to secure what coach Jason Spencer described as a "great result."

For Spartans, Reid Taylor scored a brace to take his tally of goals this season to six in five matches.

SUNDAY
Sydney Olympic FC 4-2 Marconi Stallions FC, at Belmore Sports Ground
Sydney Olympic put in a stirring performance to win 4-2 at home to Marconi Stallions on Sunday afternoon.

James Demetriou, Domine, Stefadouros and Ramirez all netted for Olympic, whilst Harry Brown and Tom Whiteside scored for Marconi, who weren’t helped by Steven Ilic being sent off in the first half.
Rockdale City Suns 3-2 Manly United FC, at Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre
Rockdale City continued their good form, beating Manly United 3-2 at home.

Pivato, Toscano and Giannini scored for the home side, whilst Tommy Morrisey and Dylan Whitlock continued their good form for Manly United, netting again.

– By Matthew Connellan