IGA NPL NSW Grade 20s Round 1 Review
Rockdale City will play Marconi Stallions next weekend after they beat APIA-Leichhardt Tigers.
Meanwhile, Blacktown Spartans’s season is over after they went down to Blacktown City, leaving City to face the Tigers next weekend.
MATCH OF THE ROUND
Rockdale City Suns 3-1 APIA-Leichhardt Tigers, at Sydney United Sports Centre
It was the one that got away for APIA-Leichhardt.
Despite a dominant first half, they were unable to score, which left the door wide open for Rockdale City Suns.
They showed how clinical they could be, as Ben Cornish and Toufic Alameddine, who scored twice, made the most of their opportunities.
APIA-Leichhardt found a lifeline in the second half when Sean Symons won a penalty which he converted. It brought the score back to 2-1, but as they committed men forward, APIA-Leichhardt left themselves vulnerable on the break and Alameddine netted his second in the last minute.
Rockdale City, for the record, did excellently not to succumb to the relentless pressure from APIA-Leichhardt in the first half and when Cornish netted in the minutes before half time, the game was suddenly theirs to lose.
APIA-Leichhardt will be rueful of the hatful of chances they missed in the first half, especially so given the timing of Cornish’s goal. It was just minutes before half time and it took the wind out of APIA-Leichhardt’s sails.
It was a terrible shame for the Tigers as they dominated the first 45′ minutes and in Matthew Castelnuovo and Emmanuel Shewan, they possessed the two outstanding players of the opening period.
Cornish’s goal was the only real sight the Suns had at goal in the first half.
Castelnuovo stung Aaron Liddell’s palms when he let rip from distance early on and moments later Shewan almost found himself on the scoresheet when his scuffed shot was touched onto the post by Liddell.
Barely 60" seconds had passed before APIA-Leichhardt passed up another opportunity, Castelnuovo firing over when he should have squared to the better positioned Sean Symons.
It was a frantic opening and Rockdale City was struggling to keep afloat in the face of the relentless APIA-Leichhardt pressure.
There was a scare for the Tigers though as Simon Jaeger dropped a simple catch from a corner but the eventual shot was blocked out for another corner. Jaeger came for the next one and this time showed far safer hands.
Two wonderful chances followed in quick succession for APIA-Leichhardt. The first saw Shewan and Castelnuovo combine, as the former released the latter with a perfectly weighted ball over the fullback. Castelnuovo couldn’t find his composure though, and blasted over.
The second saw Castelnuovo turn provider as he raced down the right. His square ball was begging to be tapped in by Sean Symons at the back post, but he blazed over when he seemed destined to score.
There was a feeling that their profligacy could cost them dearly and it so it proved, as Cornish opened the scoring in the 41′ minute.
He was sent through on goal but was blocked off by a combination of Jaeger and Brendan Reilly, but they only seemed to hinder each other when the ball came back to Cornish, who slotted home.
There was still time for another APIA-Leichhardt opportunity, Sean Symons finding the head of Joshua Symons with a free kick but Liddell was equal to the task, tipping it over.
Rockdale City started anew in the second stanza and Sotiri Kagaras tested Jaeger with an ambitious overhead kick almost immediately after the kick off.
APIA looked shaken, having failed to take advantage of their stirling first half and when Alameddine doubled Rockdale City’s lead in the 56′ minute, they were doomed. It was a quality, composed finish from the Rockdale City winger.
APIA-Leichhardt thought they should have had a penalty when Castelnuovo appeared to have his shirt pulled as he raced in on goal, but they did have one awarded in the 67′ minute when Sean Symons was fouled.
He stepped up to the spot to roll the ball past Liddell and give APIA-Leichhardt some hope, but it was fatally extinguished when, at the second time of asking, Alameddine converted a cross in the shadows of full time.
APIA-Leichhardt coach Rod Williams was pleased with how his side played in the first half.
"I’m very happy with the first half performance," he said.
"We created four clear scoring opportunities but lacked the finish.
"The second half, we started slowly and we paid the price. I thought we came back well but we just couldn’t get an equaliser," Williams said.
Rockdale City coach Justin Bucciarelli is looking forward to their clash with Marconi Stallions next weekend.
"It was a hard fought game," he said.
"It was proper finals football.
"I think, in the end, we deserved the victory."
Match Stats
Rockdale City Suns 3 (Ben Cornish 41′, Toufic Alameddine 56′ 89′)
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers 1 (Sean Symons [PEN] 67′)
Sunday 25th August, 2013
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Referee: Nathan Roberts
Assistant Referees: Leigh Pigram and Thomas Lee
Rockdale City Suns: 24.Aaron Liddell; 25.Tom Gollins, 27.Patrick Savor, 29.Daniel Kamel, 30.Sotiri Kagaras (26.Michael Cimino 87′), 32.Themba Muata-Marlow, 34.Toufic Alameddine, 35.Max Burgess (28.Jacob Esposito 81′), 39.Keifer Dotti, 44.Nicholas Petrillo, 45.Ben Cornish
Substitutes Not Used: 40.Christopher Paradisis (GK), 25.Christopher Arditti, 36.Aaron Davis
Yellow Cards: Ben Cornish 42′, Michael Cimino 89′
Red Cards: Nil
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Simon Jaeger; 4.Brendan Reilly, 16.Sean Symons, 17.Clayton Musumeci, 20.Joshua Symons, 22.Brian Griffin-Colls, 23.Emmanuel Shewan (35.Marko Micevski 64′), 26.Ali Nasreddine, 28.Sam Cornish (36.Daniel Vellonio 64′), 31.Matthew Castelnuovo (42.Joshua Basara 74′), 32.Blade Richards (41.Alan Kovacevic 70′)
Substitutes Not Used: 37.David Chung
Yellow Cards: Brian Griffin-Colls 63′, Nicholas Petrillo 67′
Red Cards: Nil
ELIMINATION FINAL REVIEW
Blacktown Spartans 1-2 Blacktown City, at Seymour Shaw Park
Blacktown Spartans’s season came to an end as they went down to Blacktown City in the Elimination Final.
All three goals came in the second half.
Dolor Edosomwan gave Blacktown City the lead in the 60′ minute before Luke Clifford sent them two goals clear, 10′ minutes later.
Blake Fisher’s 85′ minute goal turned out to be nothing more than a consolation, leaving Spartans to plan for 2014 and Blacktown City looking forward to a match against APIA-Leichhardt Tigers next weekend.
– by Matthew Connellan
