Boardman Double Sinks Former Club

The lanky marksman had former team-mate Chad Taylor reaching into his net in the 9? and 27? minutes after capitalising on some diabolical defending from a jaded Penrith, who struggled early to adapt to the afternoon heat on what was a sun-soaked Australia Day.

Former Joeys star Pedge Bojic then capped off a ?man of the match? performance with a sublime free kick in the 68? minute to give the men from the shire what looked to be an unassailable lead.

Penrith managed to add some respectability to the scoreline with two late goals courtesy of winger Nathan Ralph and substitute Erik Anabalon, but the damage was already done.

Sharks coach Brian ?Bomber? Brown was happy to secure the three points in his teams first official hit-out but did express disappointment over conceding at the death.

?Even though we let in two goals right at the end I felt we controlled the tempo over the 90 minutes,? he said.

?We weren?t at full strength and still looked pretty sharp from the outset so it was a good hit-out for us.?

Brown was particularly pleased with the performance from Boardman, who looks to be the answer to the Sharks? goalscoring woes of past campaigns after his double, which was complimented by Bojic?s stunning free kick from the edge of the area in the second-half.

?I am delighted for Brad, he has come in and from day one has looked the goods,? he said.

?He didn?t need any motivation playing against his former team and was unlucky not to hit a hat trick.

?We didn?t have an out-and-out goal scorer at the club in 2007 so if he keeps fit he will be very handy for us.

?Pedj Bojic was outstanding and really showed his class. I don?t think it will be too long before A League clubs start asking about him if he stays fit and plays like that each week.?

Brown had two players out injured in goalkeeper Mitchell Blowes and tough tackling midfielder Nick Stavroulakis.

Brown?s counterpart Abbas Saad felt the result was not of major importance and was encouraged by the way his team responded after falling behind.

?Full credit to Sutherland, they came out at a million miles an hour and asked us plenty of questions,? he said.

?The boys could have dropped their heads and then anything could have happened but to their credit, they kept up the fight and I felt we finished the better of the two teams.?

Saad was impressed with triallist Chris Camilleri, who excelled in a roving attacker?s role after coming on as an early first-half substitute.

?Chris has come to us with some pretty impressive credentials and he didn?t look out of place,? he said.

?Along with Tayfun Buykkoropu I think he may be the answer we are looking for in terms of producing our creative spark.

?As usual, Ryan O?Shea was very good for us at the back and we will improve even more once Ante Juric comes back to marshall the defence.

?We will more than likely rotate our squad to give the bench and a few triallists a run in our next game but I feel we are heading in the right direction.?

Penrith will play host to Sydney United at Cook Park, St Marys in their third round match of the Johnny Warren Cup this Wednesday at 8.30pm with the action between Marconi and Sydney Olympic kicking off proceedings at 6.45pm. 

Match Stats
Penrith-Nepean United 2 (Nathan Ralph, Erik Anabalon)
Sutherland Sharks 3 (Brad Boardman 9?, 27?, Pedge Bojic 68?)

Penrith Nepean United: Taylor, Stewart, Wright, O?Shea, Vanbentum, Long, Martino, Buykkoropu, Kendok, McNaughton, Ralph.
Substitutes: Schwarzer (RGK) Anabalon, Camilleri. 

Sutherland Sharks: Zabaks, Katz, Souris, Bojic, Bakis, Huxley, Gan, Lyons , Boardman, Price, Lawrence
Substitutes: Reid, Spruce, Snellenberg. 
Referee: Matt Gillett 
Crowd: Approximately 500 at Cromer Park

Player Ratings
3 – Bradley Boardman (SS)
2 – Pedj Bojic (SS)
1 – Ryan O’Shea (PP)