Sharks unbeaten in hard fought match against Rams

Several half-chances came and went before the eighth minute when Michael Katz and Brad Boardman combined to set-up Shane Lyons, but his header was weak and easily gathered by Brody Crane in the Rams net.
If it was a portent of things to come it didn?t really materialise as Macarthur set their stall out early to sit back and hit on the break in the hope of frustrating the mobile Sharks attack in the opening half as the home side dominated possession.
Pedj Bojic had an audacious attempt from fully 35-yards out after 11-minutes that Crane was at full stretch to save in one of the better efforts of the match. It wasn?t until 12-minutes later that Macarthur Rams had any sort of chance. Paul Crisp his a dipping volley from even further out that went close but didn?t cause any real concern.
That was the story of the first-half for the Rams as they tried from long-range and not once had an attempt from inside the box, such was the commanding display shown by the Sharks back four.
Indeed such was their dominance that Daniel McCann had the visitors best opportunity when his curling shot was destined for the top corner before being touched away for a corner in the 25?^h minute. Following this effort it was all the sharks again as Boardman had another couple of chances – that he would normally bury – go wide.
Still scoreless at the break, Macarthur decided to change things up a little by bringing on Andrew Keady and Shannon Hankin for Sam Mort and McCann respectively but it was the Sharks who nearly opened the scoring within the opening minute. Ben Spruce played in Lyons whose pass fell to David Reid but again Crane saved the day.
The Sharks began the second period full of hunger and desire and continued to dominate in all areas of the pitch and one felt it was really only a matter of time before they found the net.
The Rams stuck to the game plan they came with and could have gone in front themselves when Michael Brown, the instigator of all things good for the visitors, blazed over the bar with the goal at his mercy.
It was a let-off the Sharks were not going to squander.
Jim Bakis went on a delightful dribble into the box after 76? minutes and teed up Lyons who only had to put his foot to the ball to make it one-nil, which he did in some style to open the game up as it meant the Rams now had to be a little more adventurous if they were to get anything from the match.
Moments after and three yellow cards were added to the statistics as Adel El Jamal reacted to a Brendan Gan tackle which resulted in a push and shove match that Shannon Hankin involved himself in also. Nothing untoward, though referee Peter Vrtkovski was quickly on the spot and handled the situation with some aplomb.
With the Rams starting to push forward the inevitable gaps were appearing at the back which Sutherland exploited in the 86? minute as Boardman slotted home to give the home side a well deserved two-nil win.
Brian Brown, Sharks coach, said after the game: ?We talked about this all week and everyone was aware that if we were to be taken seriously this season it was in games like this we had to stand up.
?It was always going to be a dangerous match as the Rams needed to kick start their season and we fully expected this sort of game and it shows that we are capable of being patient and are learning to unlock defences while keeping our focus on the game plan.
?Obviously I?m delighted with the three hard earned points but we look to Bankstown City next week at Jensen Park knowing that they are in a false position on the ladder and will really give us another hard task to overcome.?
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 2 (Shane Lyons 76?, Bradley Boardman 86?)
Macarthur Rams 0
Venue: Seymour Shaw Park
Crowd: 1,237
Referee: Peter Vrtkovski
Sutherland Sharks: 99 Phillip Zabaks; 2 George Souris, 15 Michael Katz, 4 Pedj Bojic, 11 Ben Spruce, 7 Jim Bakis, 8 David Huxley, 22 David Reid (39 Neil Jablonski 90?), 3 Brendan Gan, 6 Shane Lyons, 9 Bradley Boardman (10 Matthew Hall 87?)
Substitutes not used: 1 Michael Brandalise, 38 Michael Robinson, 5 Dave Abel
Yellow Cards: Brendan Gan 75, Pedj Bojic 84
Red Cards: Nil
Macarthur Rams: 1 Brody Crane; 3 Adel El Jamal (2 Craig Cooley 85?), 4 Jason Lewis, 5 Michael Brown, 7 Matt Toogood, 11 Sam Mort (12 Shannon Hankin 46?), 14 Daniel McCann (15 Andrew Keady 46?), 16 Steven Baveas, 17 Adam Wither, 18 Hugo Coronel, 19 Paul Crisp
Substitutes not used: 21 Renato Jelen, 20 Matthew Kasbarian
Yellow Cards: Adel El Jamal 75?, Shannon Hankin 76?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? George Souris (SS)
2 ? Michael Brown (MR)
1 ? Brendan Gan (SS)
-By Micky Brock