Spartans and Tigers share the spoils in attacking affair
A very small crowd braved the bitterly cold conditions, and pass on the Manchester United v A-League All Stars encounter, to follow the fortunes of Blacktown Spartans and APIA-Leichhardt Tigers in the only Saturday Round 18 match.
A very tightly fought encounter, where both sets of players had passages of play they dominated ever so well, though in the end Aaron Clapham, for the Tigers, and Greg Kondek, for the Spartans, provided the goal for each side in the 1-1 draw.
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers provided the first opening in the front-third when Franco Parisi and Brad Bartels exchanged a one-two on the left. The latter sent Jason Oswell on goal, though Tyson Rhodes managed to get his head on the ball and divert any danger.
Corey Biczo showed his ability with a fine turn at the other end to beat his marker on the right before some stern defending by the Tigers thwarted any real danger.
The first of the two goalkeepers to be called into action was Andrew Bazi, and the Tigers shot-stopper pulled off a fabulous diving save to deny Luke Austin on 6’ minutes. Austin’s drive from the edge of the penalty-area carried some real punch though Bazi was up to the task with a fabulous response.
The home side kept the pressure on the Tigers with a Phil Makrys corner from the left causing all sorts of distress for Bazi & Co. who somewhat hurriedly cleared their lines.
Bazi was called upon again in the 10’ minute for the visitors as he got down sharply to deny a well-placed attempt by Nathan Millgate. Bazi’s reaction was brilliant, with his strong hand parrying the ball away from any of the strikers following up.
The Spartans momentum continued with Biczo again getting in behind the Tigers defence. With the goalkeeper closing the angle, Biczo drove his diagonal effort only inches wide of Bazi’s right-hand post.
APIA-Leichhardt tried to put a halt to the Spartans’ dominant start with Parisi dropping deep to collect the ball and feed Miroslav Radulovic who slowly got into the game with his impressive strength and speed on the ball.
On 15’ minutes, the Tigers did give Carlos Saliadarre a slight scare as Bartels rose highest to meet a corner from the right that flashed wide of the shot-stopper’s post.
Trent Barton had the very small crowd on its feet in the 20’ minute when he slalomed his way, at tremendous speed, to enter the Tigers’ penalty-area. With the goalkeeper beckoning, Paul Galimi produced a fabulously well-timed tackle to again deny the home side.
Immediately down the other end, the Tigers found the opening goal following a tremendous build-up. Oswell was the provider on this occasion, playing a delightful square ball into the path of Aaron Clapham who toe-poked his effort, despite some immense pressure from his marker and Saliadarre, to open the scoring.
Parisi then stung the palms of Saliadarre, on 26’ minutes, when he found some space in the Spartans’ half before rifling a powerful effort on target. The shot-stopper stood up to the test with a strong save.
The momentum was all with the Tigers as Parisi turned provider with an audacious searching ball that picked out Oswell. The front man took a good touch before blasting on goal – from a very similar position as Parisi moments earlier – that was again dealt with by Saliadarre.
With APIA’s dominating spell, it was experienced campaigner Phil Makrys that got on the ball for the Spartans to attempt a further swing in momentum. The midfielder was the orchestrator of two set-pieces that had the Tigers’ back-peddling, though a goal was not forthcoming.
The equaliser, however, did arrive in the 41’ minute and it was a tremendous bit of play on the left. Some fine work by Biczo on the byline saw the youngster skip his way past two markers before crossing onto the head of Kondek who had an open goal to draw his side level.
Following the interval, it was the Tigers to threaten first with a corner on 48’ minutes. Parisi’s delivery from the left caused a bit of a stir inside the penalty-area though the vocal Spartans’ captain guided his team to make a firm clearance.
The Spartans response arrived 2’ minutes later and it was another Makrys set-piece delivery that had the Tigers defenders, this time, sweating. A scramble of sorts ensued, though Bazi made a good clearance that led to Oswell breaking free at the other end.
The tall striker showed good pace to get in behind his marker before drilling a diagonal effort that was only kept out by a lunging save, of the highest level, by Saliadarre.
The missed chance spurned the Spartans back into attack and again the side created a scramble in the Tigers penalty-area with Biczo running amuck in the front-third. Once more though, the APIA-Leichhardt defence stood strong to deny a ‘go-ahead’ goal.
Just shy of the hour mark, Spartans coach Ben De Haan was forced into replacing latest signing Makrys who limped off with what appeared a thigh strain. The influential midfielder, who was his usual cool, calm self in the middle of the park was replaced by Bryan Soane who started this weekend from the bench.
It was the Tigers that created the next opening, and it followed some exceptional passing between Stephen Kayes and Parisi that opened up the space Oswell needed to fire only inches over in the 64’ minute.
1’ minute later and Barton threaded an exquisite pass in behind the Tigers defence into the path of Biczo who saw his first-time shot on the turn saved by Bazi’s outstretched right leg.
The Spartans’ onslaught continued as Millgate first, with a powerful header, was denied by a fabulous Bazi reflex save, before Kondek saw his curling effort from the right finish only inches wide of the mark.
What followed was a very attacking display by both sides that searched for a match winning goal. The Spartans had Soane and Andre Carle – both second-half substitutes – on the ball in the front-third, though it was the final pass that let the side down.
For the visitors, some quick counterattacking play allowed Parisi and Oswell a look-in upfront, though attempts on goal were limited from distance with Saliadarre in too good form to be beaten from long-range.
The Spartans failed to convert, perhaps its best chance of the half, when Bazi parried a long-range shot into the path of Barton who saw his follow-up diverted by the goalkeeper onto the crossbar, much to the disbelief of the home supporters.
The Tigers created one final chance, deep in injury-time, to find the winner. Bartels and Clapham combined with the former blasting his effort over the crossbar.
Following the referee’s final whistle, Blacktown Spartans coach Ben De Haan expressed his disappointment in the final result:
“I honestly do not know what to say about that,” commented De Haan.
“We dominated for large spells in the match yet we were not able to find the winning goal.
“Credit to APIA-Leichhardt for their goal, I do feel that it came from a foul on one of our players, though we did not react quickly enough, so we were to blame.
“The way we responded though was great, and we scored a fantastic goal and created more chances.
“In football though, if you don’t score goals you can’t win matches, and we did not convert our chances tonight,” concluded De Haan.
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers coach Billy McColl did draw a positive to come from the match, one that the Tigers really needed to win to ease some of the relegation fears.
“We ended our losing streak tonight, which was important, so I guess that we will take the point,” explained McColl.
“I thought we had some very good passages of play, as did they, though in-terms of clear chances, I thought our chances were much better.
“The objective for us does not change. We need to get as many points as possible, so we will now look at the match at Manly United next weekend and look to get something more from there.
“The group here is a great group with a lot of heart, so I am confident that we will see a spirited Leichhardt team over the remaining four weeks of the season,” McColl ended.
Match Stats
Blacktown Spartans 1 (Greg Kondek 41’ )
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers 1 (Aaron Clapham 22’ )
Saturday 20th of July, 2013
Blacktown Football Park
Referee: Khodr Yaghi
Assistant Referees: Lisa Ho and Alec Mouawad
Fourth Official: Brett Lorimer
Blacktown Spartans: 1.Carlos Saliadarre (C); 2.Luke Austin, 3.Nathan Millgate, 5.Daniel Wilkinson, 6.Gregory Kondek (24.Reid Taylor 89’), 7.Phil Makrys (10.Bryan Soane 57’), 11.Tyson Rhodes, 14.Trent Barton, 22.Pasquale Polistina (15.Andre Carle 69’), 25.Corey Biczo, 38.Zachary Freeburn
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Luke Turnbull; 32.Kieran Dalton
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers: 21.Andrew Bazi; 3.Adel El Jamal, 4.Aaron Clapham, 5.Michael West (C), 7.Stephen Kayes, 9.Jason Oswell, 10.Franco Parisi (20.Joshua Symons 90’), 11.Paul Galimi, 12.Miroslav Radulovic (13.David D’Apuzzo 46’), 15.Bradley Bartels, 16.Sean Symons (17.Clayton Musumeci 90’+5’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Simon Jaeger; 19.Adamo Raciti
Yellow Cards: Michael West 90’+3’
Red Cards: Nil
-By Joseph Carlucci
