Despite a late goal from Jesse Piriz, Manly United fell to a 2-1 defeat against APIA Leichhardt at Cromer Park on Good Friday.
Manly had their first chance in the second minute when Bilal Belkadi’s shot thudded off Presley Ortiz, after the midfielder whizzed his way into APIA’s box.
Six minutes later, the visitors applied pressure as Joel Bertolissio lost a race to the ball against Levi Kaye. Then moments later from a difficult sideline angle, Bertolissio’s attempt was thwarted by Aaron O’Driscoll and put out of play.
Jordan Segreto was next off the block for APIA as his lethal attempt was pushed away by a diving, one-handed save from Kaye. That chance was shortly preceded by his 26th minute shot that thundered off the post after a barnstorming run.
To help close out the first half, Jack Stewart saw his long-range attempt saved well by Kaye in the 35th minute. To this point, Kaye had been the busier of the two goalkeepers.
The deadlock was broken in the 38th minute as APIA found the back of the net through Presley Ortiz, who powered a header over Kaye.
Adrian Ucchino came close to opening the second half with a bang for APIA Leichhardt in the 51st minute, as his curling shot from outside the box looked perfectly positioned to land in the bottom corner, only for it to smack off Harry McCarthy.
Then three minutes after Ucchino’s attempt, Jack Stewart saw his effort from a significant distance blaze over the bar.
APIA doubled the margin in the 59th minute through Seiya Kambayashi, as the Japanese star capitalised on an error and left Kaye helpless with a shot from just inside the penalty area.
The visitors continued their dominance in the 66th minute after Kambayashi and then Eddie Caspers were denied by Kaye.
Manly finally found their breakthrough in the fourth minute of added time as a Jesse Piriz header escaped the clutches of Oliver Kalac. However, that mattered little for the final result, with the visitors securing a 2-1 win away from home.
APIA substitute Maksim Kasalovic was delighted with the result as he stated that the club’s expectations were to win everything that’s on offer.
“We’re disappointed with Manly’s strike as it came down to a lack in concentration. We should’ve been more switched on as we really wanted the clean sheet.
“At training we’ve been working on winning games with full control and comfortably … it was a big goal of ours.
“Tonight, we were dangerous and a good version of ourselves.
“We want to climb the ladder, stay in top spot and win it all.”
Manly United 1 (Jesse Piriz 90 + 4’)
Apia Leichhardt 2 (Presley Ortiz 38’, Seiya Kambayashi 59’)
Match Stats
Friday 18 April 2025
Cromer Park
Referee: Karl Davies
Assistant Referees: Alessandro Llana and Arinath Gobinath
Fourth Official: Thomas Dale
Manly United: 1.Levi Kaye, 2.Aaron O’Driscoll, 3.Matthew O’Donoghue, (4.Jesse Piriz 75’), 6.Bilal Belkadi, (7.Peter Kekeris 67’), 9.Benjamin Koop, 10.Harry McCarthy, 11.Lucas Meek,12.Rocco Pelle, (13.Taiga Kawano 67’), (14.Maxwell Pengelly 75’), (17.Farah Koko 75’), 19.Alen Aganovic, 23.Darcy Burgess, 26.Harry Van Der Saag
Unused subs: 18.Jay Coates
Yellow cards: Aaron O’Driscoll 30’
Red cards: None
APIA Leichhardt: 2.Seiya Kambayashi, 4.Josh Symons, (5.Dredon Kelly 71’), 6.Anthony Sparacino, 7.Jack Stewart, 8.Joel Bertolissio, 9.Presley Ortiz, (11.Rory Jordan 62’), 16.Sean Symons, 17.Jordan Segreto, 18.Adrian Ucchino, 22.Eddie Caspers, (29.Maksim Kasalovic 62’), (30.Alex Denmead 71’), (41.Nicholas Azzone 81’), 80.Oliver Kalac
Unused subs: 1.Anthony Bouzanis
Yellow cards: Josh Symons 34’
Red cards: None
Player Ratings:
3: Seiya Kambayashi (APIA)
2: Levi Kaye (Manly)
1: Presley Ortiz (APIA)
-By Football NSW
