Boardman’s brace beats his old boys
In a close battle it was the Sharks who came away with the result thanks to Boardman?s goals in the 62? and 90? minutes.
The first-half began well for Sutherland but the early upper hand they gained was given up as Penrith took over the dominance of the possession fifteen minutes in.
However it was the Sharks who had the first real effort on goal, a spectacular overhead scissors kick from young starlet Brendan Gan was well covered by Daniel Schwarzer in goals for Penrith Nepean.
A minute later Penrith responded with great interplay between Nathan Ralph, Erick Anabalon and Carl McNaughton down the right only for Ralph to get into the area and just miss the ball which had been cut back by McNaughton.
The match then moved into a period where both sides tried to get the upper hand but neither came up with that edge to give them great opportunities on goal.
Sutherland had a handball claim in the area declined by the referee and in the 41st minute some good scrambling by Penrith Nepean stopped them from going in behind at the break.
The second-half saw Sutherland step up their game whilst Penrith, who had played reasonable football to that point, lost focus and started suffering for it.
It did not look that way early, though, as McNaughton almost scored at the far post after a free-kick from the right was not cleared effectively by Dave Abel and instead fell the way of the Penrith player.
His effort on target at the near post was brilliantly denied by Phillip Zabaks in goals for the visitors.
After gaining the upper hand and putting some good passes together Shane Lyons received the ball on the left hand flank and played it to his near post where Boardman was stationed.
Boardman wrong-footed Schwarzer in goal with a shot that was helped by the fact it did not come cleanly off Boardman?s foot.
The ball was in the back of the net and two minutes later it nearly was again, this time from Lyons. David Huxley and Boardman combined through the midfield to set Lyons up on the left only for his shot to be brilliantly pushed wide by Schwarzer with a stretching one handed effort.
Jimmy Bakis had another chance in the 76? minute to put his side further ahead but his effort went wide of the near post when all his opponents were beaten.
Despite pushing forward Penrith struggled to break down the Sutherland defence, led so ably by George Souris, and eventually were caught on the break.
Right on full-time Brad Boardman was played through and slotted the ball past the advancing Schwarzer and into the back of the net.
Two promising signs for Brian Brown and his push to get a full healthy squad on Saturday was the return from suspension of Bakis while the return from injury in midfielder Nick Stavroulakis.
Penrith coach Abbas Saad was extremely disappointed after the match:
?We were comfortable in the first-half but we dropped off our intensity in the second and let in soft goals.?
His counterpart at Sutherland, Brian Brown, was delighted with the result:
?Not too many teams will come here and get three points. We have not conceded tonight and we have room for improvement in our play.
“We were much better in the second-half as both teams had cancelled each other out in the first. As we moved people forward we caused them more problems. Brad Boardman was outstanding tonight, I was especially delighted with his work rate both on and off the ball.?
Two wins from two games sees Sutherland move into their next game against Manly on Saturday night with confidence, whilst Penrith-Nepean United must re-group before taking on the undefeated West Sydney Berries at CUA Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Match Stats
Penrith Nepean United 0
Sutherland Sharks 2 (Brad Boardman 62, 90)
Penrith Nepean United:1 Daniel Schwarzer; 2 William Stuart, 28 Ante Juric, 17 Ozgur Kanyilmaz, 16 Michael Cromar (10 Tayfun Buyukkopru 77?), 20 Ben Wright (23 Devrim Huseyin 66?), 5 Luke Boyd, 9 Carl McNaughton, 13 Nathan Ralph, 8 Stewart Van Bentum (6 Jack Long 66?), 11 Erick Anabalon
Substitutes not used: 1 Chad Taylor, 4 Ryan O?Shea
Yellow Cards: Kanyilmaz 84?
Sutherland Sharks: 99 Phillip Zabaks; 15 Michael Katz, 2 George Souris, 5 Dave Abel (7 Jimmy Bakis 66?), 11 Ben Spruce, 8 David Huxley, 20 James Lawrence (14 Nick Stavroulakis 66?), 4 Predrag Bojic, 3 Brendan Gan, 6 Shane Lyons (16 Ben Price 90?), 9 Brad Boardman
Substitutes not used: 1 M Branalise, 17 Michael Robinson
Yellow Cards: Huxley 25?, Lawrence 62?
Match Ratings:
3 ? Brad Boardman (SS)
2 ? Shane Lyons (SS)
1 ? Nathan Ralph (PNU)
-By Stuart Jones
