Tigers pummelled by Blacktown City

THE clash between APIA Leichhardt Tigers and Blacktown City ended with a convincing victory to the visitors who showed quality and class to beat the home side in a highly entertaining clash at Lambert Park in Leichhardt.

The game itself was very pleasing for all who attended even for Tigers supporters who suffered the humiliation of such large defeat at home.

In the fourth minute Blacktown City took the lead when Mitchell Mallia ran down the middle and with a stupendous chip scored an unbelievable goal that caught APIA Leichhardt goalkeeper Andrew Bazi off his line. It was a sign for the Tigers of the type of night that they could expect.

In the 8’ minute Travis Major broke free and had a shot on goal which Bazi did well to save but in the 15’ minute he made no mistake. Blacktown City’s captain took advantage when he tapped the ball in from close range after Bazi had parried the ball into his path.

At this point it seemed that it would be a long night for the Tigers but they did manage to get one goal back shortly afterwards.

In the 22’ minute a brilliant ball across the goal area from Franco Parisi found Blake Powell who hit it well first time and found the back of the net. It was a superb finish from the former Sydney FC player.

In the 32’ minute Giorgio Speranza fired in a rocket from outside the box for the visitors that was beautifully saved by Andrew Bazi.

The last chance of the first stanza of play belonged to APIA Leichhardt in the 44’ minute when Marc Warren had a powerful shot blocked by goalkeeper Blake Tuxford.

Early in the second half in the 50’ minute Blacktown City once again took a two-goal lead when a free kick from the right reached Major who flicked the ball on for Zachary Cairncross who made no mistake from close range.

In the 65’ minute Blacktown City scored their fourth goal when a cross from the left by Mallia found Major who scored his second for the night. It was all too easy for Blacktown City and it was the sharpshooter’s twelfth goal of the year.

In the 78’ minute Mallia found himself unmarked in the box and, with all the time in the world, scored Blacktown City’s fifth goal of the night. At that point there was not much more to write home about for either team: Blacktown had clearly won and APIA were clearly waiting for the fulltime whistle to go to forget that the game had ever occurred.

After the game Blacktown City’s coach Mark Crittenden was very pleased with his side’s performance and for securing all three points away.

“It was a comprehensive win but we did drop a few points last week,” he said. “Tonight was always going to be a big night because APIA is always very hard to beat at home and, to come here and put five past them, it was outstanding.

“I was very happy with our ball possession. We kept a lot of possession and we didn’t rush and we were happy to play the ball out from the back and our patience was really good.

“APIA is a very good squad and depth wise they are very solid. Coming here is never easy and our boys performed as a unit tonight and everybody stood up for each other,” Crittenden said.

APIA Leichhardt’s coach Billy McColl was full of praise for Blacktown City and when asked if they were really a four-goal better team than APIA he stated: “On tonight’s performance they were a seven goal better team than APIA.”
“It was delightful to watch Blacktown because they played fast and skilful. It is what we are trying to be but it seems that they are a few years ahead of us.

“Our positives were that we kept our heads up, we kept going and we kept putting Blacktown under pressure and did some good things with the ball. I am very confident of creating an upset next week,” he concluded.

Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 1 (Blake Powell 22’)           
Blacktown City 5 (Mitchell Mallia 4’, 78’, Travis Major 15’, 65’, Zachary Cairncross 50’)
Saturday 21st  June, 2014
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Alejandro Azarra
Assistant Referees: Adam Coombes and Joon Park
Fourth Official: David Haslett
APIA-Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Andrew Bazi, 2.Travis Oughtred, 3.Jamie Lobb, 4.Bradley Bartels, 6.Marc Warren (C), 7.Stephen Kayes, 8.Bradley McDonald, 9.Blake Powell, 10.Franco Parisi, 14.Paul Galimi, 19.Joey Gibbs
Substitutes not used: 11.Daniel Fogarty, 12.Luke Clifford, 18.Adam Raciti, 20.Ali Nasreddine, 40.Stefan Giglio
Yellow Cards: Paul Galimi 45’, Travis Oughtred 58’, Marc Warren 75’, Stephen Kayes 84’
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown City: 13.Blake Tuxford, 4. Yiannis Fragogiannis (10.Shayne D’Cunha 71’), 5.Jacob Poscoliero, 6.Matthew Lewis, 7.Travis Major (C) (11.Danny Choi 81’), 8.Sasa Macura, 9.Ryuji Miyazawa (18.Daniel Araujo 73’), 14.Mitchella Malia, 16.Kearyn Baccus, 19.Zachary Cairncross, 35.Giorgio Speranza
Substitutes not used: 15.Marco Travaglini
Yellow Cards: Sasa Macura 42’
Red Cards: Nil
– By Joe Russo, National Premier Leagues NSW Mens 1 Reporter, at Lambert Park