Sutherland Sharks knockout Bankstown City Lions to advance to Tiger Turf Cup Semis
It was the Sharks second major scalp in the tournament after they trounced the Marconi Stallions 4-1 in their round 4 clash while it was the end of the road for the Lions who took out the Cup last season.
A feverish pace was set by two teams taking no prisoners in a hard but fair contest with the away side the fresher of the two after having their last round postponed due to wet weather.
The game saw its first chance as early as the second minute as firstly Shane Webb shot from distance at the Sharks net only to see the ball whistle across the face of goal and then a scramble at the other end had Zlatko Joseski grateful to collect the ball at the second attempt after making a point blank save.
Aram Tayebi collected a couple of ‘hello to the game’ tackles from Phil Makrys and Brett Studman inside the opening five-minutes but showed maturity beyond his years and kept attacking down the Lions right flank when linking up with Chris Price and Panny Nikas although Studman and George Nohra were proving troublesome for the Sharks too.
It was the home team who had to reshuffle when Michael Katz was replaced by Yanni Fragogiannis after only 23-minutes of play with a groin strain as the Lions began to exert pressure and gain the ascendancy.
Sharks? midfield hard-men Nick Stavroulakis and Neil Jablonski wrestled back control of midfield to the extent where George Souris was comfortable in being able to come forward and try his luck from distance on the half-hour mark but the shot was high, wide and not really very handsome but it brought the sparse crowd to their feet in willing the ball goal ward.
The game see-sawed and scoring opportunities became fleeting in a thoroughly absorbing contest between two committed sides and the impression was the first goal could just be the decider even though they had shared 13-goals between them in the two previous encounters this season.
Joseski was called into action once more in the 35th minute from a curling Nikas free-kick that was tipped over the bar as once again the match edged toward the Sharks favour and this was something the Lions wouldn?t take without a fight and when Daniel Severino floated a free-kick to the back post moments later it was Jablonski who managed to head clear from the chasing Lions pack.
Nathan Ralph was the next to show when scampering through only to see the side netting bulge before Peter Tsekenis was cautioned for hauling back Brad Boardman just outside the box. Panny Nikas took the free-kick and sent it under the wall along the ground and into the unsighted Joseski?s net in injury time to give the Sharks a 1-nil advantage at the break.
Several half-chances littered the opening spell of the second-half as Sutherland attempted the end the tie and the Lions to restore parity and if the pace were frenetic before it was upped again at the opening exchanges on the resumption of play.
Bankstown nearly equalised in the 62nd when Hussein Akil played the ball back to Shane Webb to cross for Severino at the back post to volley left-footed just wide of the opposite stick with Jordan Nikolovski stranded on the line and the pressure on the home side intensified although the Sharks could now utilise their pace and hit on the break.
Severino twice had free-kick opportunities from far out that whistled wide of the mark without threatening the ?keeper as he slowly began to find his range as the counter-attacking football of the Sharks left them vulnerable and open to conceding another as both tried to find the goal they needed as the lightning flashed around the ground which, thankfully, didn?t bring the rain.
Nikas robbed Tsekenis of the ball and fired in a shot that Joseski managed to palm onto the post and out for a corner that didn?t leave the Lions players very happy but the resultant corner was cleared and the danger passed until falling to Stavroulakis some 30-yards out whose first time chip had Joseski back peddling hastily as the ball slipped narrowly over and the Sharks dominated the game almost completely at this point.
Nikas finally settled the tie when side footing home in the 88th after a sweeping move saw Boardman dummy a Tayebi centre as he notched his seventh goal of competition this season even though Bankstown almost pulled one back through, of all people, Joseski coming forward for a corner with nothing to lose and an exquisitely timed diving header forcing his opposite number into a tremendous save before Martin did get the consolation in the final minute to give the Sharks a nervous ending to the match.
It was Nikas? seventh goal in the Tiger Turf Cup tournament as the youngster grabbed a double in the Sharks? round 3 clash against Sydney University before notching up a hat-trick against the Stallions in round 4.
Robbie Stanton of the Sharks said afterwards: ?We changed a couple of things tonight and we deserved the win.
?We wanted it more and played well and I?m very pleased with the team structure, how we kept our shape and stuck to the game plan.
?Overall I am very impressed with the way we played and the players now need to take that attitude into every match.?
A gracious in defeat Peter Tsekenis stated: ?We didn?t do enough to win tonight.
?We couldn?t seem to get out of second gear and couldn?t change up when we needed to.
?They really wanted to win it more than us but we need to look at being up for every game week in, week out because you can?t pick and choose the games you do it in with opposition and teams like this.
?We need to learn from this quickly and concentrate on the remainder of the season.?
News after the match in the sheds is that Michael Katz?s injury is not too serious and he should be fit for the match against Marconi Stallions this Saturday at Shark Park with the 4pm kick-off prior to the Sydney FC vs. Queensland Fury game.
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks: 2 (Panny Nikas 45, 88)
Bankstown City Lions: 1 (Tallan Martin 90)
Venue: Seymour Shaw Park
Attendance: Approx 130
Sutherland Sharks: 17 Jordan Nikolovski, 2 George Souris, 6 Chris Price, 8 Nathan Ralph (10 Matthew Hall 64), 9 Brad Boardman, 11 Ben Spruce, 12 Neil Jablonski, 14 Nick Stavroulakis, 15 Michael Katz (18 Yanni Fragogiannis 23), 21 Aram Tayebi, 23 Panny Nikas
Subs Not Used: 1 Nathan Denham, 3 Blake Powell, 19 Matt Villazon
Yellow Cards: Jablonksi 85, Nikas 86
Red Cards:
Bankstown City Lions: 1 Zlatko Joseski, 3 Shane Webb, 4 Brett Studman, 5 Richard Luksic, 6 Peter Tsekenis, 7 Stefanos Liavas (23 Tallan Martin 75), 8 George Nohra, 11 Phillip Makrys, 29 Hussein Akil, 82 Daniel Severino, 99 Chris Gody Bascur (10 Robbie Mileski 58)
Subs Not Used: 18 Fadi Ghosson, 13 Matthew Presselo, 14 Suad Ameti
Yellow Cards: Tsekenis 45
Referee: Khodr Yaghi
Assistant Referees: David Goldsmith, Dale Fuda,
4th Official: Bruce Wayne
Player Ratings:
3 ? Nick Stavroulakis (SS)
2 ? Neil Jablonski (SS)
1 ? Aram Tayebi (SS)
Tiger Turf Cup Quarter Final Results
2 Sutherland Sharks v Bankstown City 1
Tiger Turf Cup Quarter Final Fixtures
Bonnyrigg White Eagles v Manly United FC Wednesday 1st July 7:30pm Bonnyrigg Sports Club
Blacktown City v Fraser Park Tuesday 7th July 6:30pm Gabbie Stadium
Penrith Nepean United v Wollongong CFC Tuesday 7th July 8:15pm Gabbie Stadium
-By Micky Brock
