Sharks salvage unlikely draw at the death against Stallions
The Sharks justifiably considered themselves lucky after the 90? minutes after being put under the pump for much of the game in what was their worst performance of the season to-date.
2? minutes in, a Marconi corner sent over by Ali Abbas Al-Hilfi fell to Christopher Nunes from a half-clearance but his initial shot was well parried by Nathan Denham in the Sharks goal; and the follow up was sent well wide by Nahuel Arrarte.
Tim McGowan had a shot deflected wide for a corner on 11? minutes and Ousmane Toure fired one straight at Denham moments later, but all efforts were from distance as the Stallions couldn?t break through the wall of Michael Katz, George Souris, Ben Spruce and Chris Price.
The set pieces were proving a handful for the Sharks as Toure fired in yet another corner that Vamara Diarra volleyed just wide of the up-right, and still there had been no real threat from Sutherland as they looked sluggish.
It wasn?t until the 25? minute that the Sharks worried Marconi when Cem Akili was called into action to make a double point-blank save from firstly Panni Nikas and then Aram Tayebi on the follow up.
The first-half ended as it began – all square at 0-0 – but there had been plenty of entertaining football and, at times, some rugged tackling but just the solitary caution to Nick Stavroulakis for a sliding tackle on Nunes near the end of the period.
Marconi looked sharp at the beginning of the second stanza and could have found themselves in front 5? minutes in when Toure hit a first-time shot that Denham did well to hold on to.
Coach Robbie Stanton had seen enough and decided to make changes to a very flat looking Sutherland side when replacing Nathan Ralph with Matt Hall to inject some pace into the Sharks attack, although Brad Boardman led the line well and the service to him had not been the best. The change almost paid dividends immediately when Hall contested a header and the ball fell to Nikas to fire home, only to be denied by the referee who signalled for an earlier offside.
Marconi was soon in the ascendancy with Alex Canak (twice) and Arrarte going close before Toure struck the opener when substitute Daniel Ott fortuitously played into Toure’s path and he made no mistake when sending it down low to the left of Denham when one-on-one with the ?keeper.
Sutherland came straight back and almost levelled less than 60?? seconds later when Boardman sent a header agonisingly wide; in the process clashing heads with Jamal that left the striker with nine-stitches in a gash above the eye ? Jamal also required treatment.
Sutherland had no option but to come at Marconi and piled on almost relentless pressure to cause them plenty of nervous moments right up until Neil Jablonski managed to ghost into the box, completely unseen and unmarked, to head home a Nikas corner and, on the face of it, an undeserved equaliser.
Robbie Stanton was a very relieved coach for the Sharks after the game when saying:
?We were terrible and that was the worst performance we?ve given this season.
?I?m happy with the way we kept our structure when under pressure but we didn?t get going until nearly 45? minutes had gone and we cannot do that at this level.
?I?m happy with the point but disappointed with the way we had to achieve it so I will think about making some changes.?
Lee Sterrey was not pleased either after his side had dominated but shared the points and admitted:
?Sutherland are a very good side but we didn?t make use of our wide players enough tonight.
?We kept the ball well and played better and we have lost twice to them this season so getting something is better than nothing but we had it in the bag here and if I had to pinpoint something not right in our play, other than allowing that goal at the death, it would be our final ball option wasn?t always the right one.
?We?ve played both Sydney United, the League leaders, and now the Sharks who are also above us, in the last two games and should have come away with at least four points but we have to settle for just one.?
Sydney FC defeated Queensland Fury 4-0 following the TeleChoice Premier League encounter with Sharks old boy Brendan Gan getting on the score-sheet.
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 1 (Neil Jablonski 89?)
Marconi Stallions 1 (Ousmane Toure 73?)
Saturday, 27th of June, 2009
Shark Park, Cronulla
Referee: Strebre Delovski
Assistant Referees: Wayne Lenardon and Lance Greenshields
Fourth Official: Miles Allen-Scott
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan Denham; 2.George Souris, 6.Chris Price, 8.Nathan Ralph (10.Matt Hall 53?), 9.Brad Boardman (3.Blake Powell 76?), 11.Ben Spruce, 15.Michael Katz, 12.Neil Jablonski, 14.Nick Stavroulakis, 23.Panni Nikas, 21.Aram Tayebi
Substitutes Not Used: 18.Kyle Stuart, 22.Yianni Fragogiannis, 17.Jordan Nikolovski
Yellow Cards: Stavroulakis 41?
Red Cards: Nil
Marconi Stallions: 20.Cem Akili; 2.Wade Oostendorp, 5.Adel El Jamal, 7.Ousmane Toure (4.Umut Tokdogan 89?), 8.Alex Canak, 10.Ali Abbas Al-Hilfi (11.Matthew Gordon 70?), 15.Tim McGowan (14.Daniel Ott 70?), 17.Vamara Diarra, 23.Christopher Nunes, 26.Nahuel Arrarte, 30.Andrea Merenda
Substitutes Not Used: 9.Erick Anabalon, 22.James Chronopoulos
Yellow Cards: Vamara Diarra 54?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Micky Brock
