As so often happens when two high quality teams meet, stalemate was the result. APIA Leichhardt and Bonnyrigg White Eagles played out a 0-0 draw at Lambert Park last night, reports MARK STAVROULAKIS.
Both sides had one superb chance to score each, but Nathan Elasi and Ray Miller fluffed their lines when presented with an opportunity to make a difference.
Midfield reigned supreme and the battle between Miller and Adrian Ucchino was absorbing. As with the rest of the match, honours were even in that contest.
Blake Powell, who has 13 goals to his name this season, failed to score for the first time, bringing to an end his remarkable run of scoring in nine matches in a row to start the season.
Tactical fouls were the order of the day, and neither side truly got going in a 90 minutes characterised by free kicks and stoppages and a draw was certainly a fair result.
Only in the final five minutes did space begin to appear, but neither side was able to take advantage.
For APIA, the lucky dip between the sticks continued as Ryan Norval was preferred to Andrew Bazi. Norval justified his selection early on, making a strong one-on-one save to deny Tynan Diaz, who showed searing pace to get in behind Michael West and Daniel Petkovski.
Robbie Younis fired a warning shot over the bar shortly after, but Diaz was looking their main threat and his pace meant West and Petkovski were on red alert.
The clearest chance of the first half fell to Elasi. Nice interplay by Franco Parisi and Blake Powell saw the ball come to Elasi at the back post, but the winger shot straight at James Chronopoulos.
He really should have scored.
David D’Apuzzo lined a shot up from distance 10 minutes before half time, only for it to fizz wide, before Ray Miller clipped the top of the crossbar.
Petkovski let a ball bounce over his head, which allowed Miller to race clear. With only Norval to beat though, his delicate attempt at a finish grazed the woodwork.
Norval had to be at his best when, 10 minutes after half time, Younis’ eyes lit up. He lashed a 35 yard shot at goal that was heading for the top corner until Norval’s intervention.
Corey Biczo replaced Elasi for APIA, and Aaron Peterson took Adam Jenner’s place for Bonnyrigg.
The game was still mostly mired in midfield, with Miller and Ucchino going at it like two prize fighters in search of the knockout blow, though none was forthcoming.
Chances were few and far between in the second stanza though, and Chronopoulos would have been forgiven for wondering why he was there at all, save for the odd clearance.
Adam Griffiths returned from injury with a late cameo, but it was spoiled when he curiously received two yellow cards within the space of a few minutes, and was marched. Nobody seemed quite sure what had happened.
The match was summed up neatly when, in the final minute, Brian Brown replaced Diaz with centre back Ben Spruce to safeguard a share of the points.
It was only fair.
• Across town, Marconi Stallions, fresh from an away win at Seymour Shaw Park last weekend, were looking for back-to-back wins but fell short, going down to a hungry Sydney United 3-1 at home.
United 58 coach Mark Rudan was pleased with the effort from his side.
“Tonight was a good reaction from the last two weeks and we wanted to make amends because we’ve had a lot of games, this was our fifth in 13 days so the boys were a bit tired but they worked to our structure and gave the performance I think we were all after,” he said.
Marconi’s new coach Jeff Suzor, who last week replaced Paul Carter, said his side paid the price for silly mistakes.
“I thought we started the game really well and were perhaps unlucky not to hit the lead but we made a couple of silly errors which we need to fix and find ourselves chasing the game against a quality outfit,” he said.”
