APIA pushed to the limit by 9-man Tigers FC to book Round of 16 FFA Cup spot

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 02: Leichhardt FC players celebrate winning the FFA Cup round of 32 match between Tigers FC and APIA Leichhardt FC at Seiffert Oval on December 02, 2021 in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

It may have taken 112 minutes against a nine-man gallant Tigers FC outfit but APIA Leichhardt have booked a spot in the FFA Cup Round of 16 against A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers next Tuesday evening with a 3-0 after extra-time victory at Seiffert Oval.

In match that saw Danial Cummins’ side largely dominate, the game turned on its head when the hosts were reduced to ten men when Nikola Popovich was given his second caution for the night in the 79th minute.

Matters went from bad to worse for Tigers FC as  the NPL Capital Football outfit were dealt another blow with Julian Borgna given his marching orders for a second yellow in the 93rd minute.

The game prior to these incidents saw Cummins make a number of forced substitutions with David D’Apuzzo coming off injured in the 22nd minute while Matt Cahill, Paul Galimi and what appeared to be a serious knee injury to Corey Biczo only further challenged the 2019 NPL NSW Men’s Champions quest for a spot against the Wanderers.

At one stage, APIA were down to ten man as they used all their substitutions during the normal 90 minutes such was the unbelievable situation they were in.

The Inner West outfit scuffed several chances in both halves via new recruit Jason Romero and Hassan Jalloh however the two looked menacing and were seen as the only players to break the deadlock.

The never say die attitude of the Tigers held on and pushed the game into extra-time as the match finished scoreless in the ninety minutes.

The hero of the evening was Tigers custodian Jacob Cole who saved his side on countless occasions as coach Ryan Grogan saw his side battle hard but their formation of 4-3-1 ran out of fuel in the 113th minute when Sean Symons broke Tigers hearts with a well taken goal smashing his effort to send the few APIA fans into a frenzy.

Symons’ strike knocked the stuffing out of a battle-hardened Tigers side as Romero added to the tally three minutes later before yet another new recruit Jack Armson finished the game off with a third in the 121st minute.

Cummins’ weary troops will now have four days to recover before they take on what will be a titanic challenge against Carl Robinson’s Western Sydney Wanderers outfit at Leichhardt Oval next Tuesday evening.

APIA remain as the only team representing Football NSW in the 2021/2022 FFA Cup.