United turn on the heat against below par Sharks
United were caught cold in the 3? minute when Chris Price found Panni Nikas in acres of space. Nikas, back at Sutherland following his impressive stint at Central Coast Mariners, was able to pick his spot with a header that had goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic clutching at straws as the visitors hit the lead.
The Sydney United side has much character in the squad, and David Zdrilic?s men came back strongly to take control of the midfield in a tough tackling contest.
Mirjan Pavlovic found Steve Hayes in space inside the box in the 9? minute but the midfielder blasted harmlessly over, though the signs were positive for the Reds.
60?? seconds later, the Reds had their equaliser. A shot was blocked into the path of Pavlovic who sipped the ball to Elsid Bakhousir who kept his shot low to the right of Nathan Denham in the Sharks goal to send the home crowd into raptures.
Chris Price went on a dazzling run down the left leaving three defenders in his wake before the ball was put out for a throw-in as the Sharks fought back, and perhaps could have taken the lead once more in the 23? minute. Jimmy Bakis? free-kick stung the hands of Janjetovic as he managed to divert the ball over the crossbar.
The home-side gained the ascendancy in midfield and began stringing together plenty of chances that Sutherland seemed powerless to counter. The visitors didn?t learn their lesson when Neil Jablonski lost the ball in the centre of the park; the ball spread quickly to Pavlovic who powered through the defence and rounded Denham before seeing his goal bound effort cleared off the line by Michael Robinson.
The Sharks went behind 1? minute later courtesy of an Ante Tomic special. The midfielder?s strike from a narrow angle went across Sharks? goalkeeper Denham, and in off the far post. It was little more than United deserved as they showed plenty of grit, determination and character after going behind early on.
Blake Powell replaced Steve McConologue for the Sharks at the start of the second-half and looked lively. The visitors though were found wanting again in the 53? minute when Barkhousir netted his second of the match when finishing off a David Zdrilic free-kick that caused some controversy when the referee firstly awarded the dead ball to the Sharks, who went forward for the kick, and then changed the decision and quick thinking by Zdrilic sent Tomic away down the left to centre for Barkhousir to score.
Chances still came at both ends, mainly for United, and in the 55? minute it was they who should have found the net once more when Zdrilic again set up another opportunity for the impressive Pavlovic, who ran the Sharks defence ragged all afternoon, but he pulled his shot narrowly wide from the edge of the penalty-area.
Sutherland really should have narrowed the advantage 30?? seconds later when Jimmy Bakis centred for Jablonski. The midfielder though couldn?t twist his body around at the near post and didn?t connect cleanly with the ball from two-yards out.
From that point on, there was scant scoring chances for the Sharks even after Ben Vidaic entered the field of play in an attempt to bring fresh legs and mobility to their attack.
Steven Veleski, on for Pavlovic in the 90? minute, should have helped himself to a goal for United but was another to see his effort cleared of the line, this time by Panni Nikas in what was the last kick of the match that left Sutherland on the wrong end of 3-1 score line.
Sharks coach Robbie Stanton was left to rue the early missed chances:
?We had an off day but the time of day and heat cannot be used as an excuse as we got off to the perfect start after three minutes but we let it slip.
?I?m disappointed with a number of aspects in the match today but the reality is we didn?t deserve to win because we didn?t come here ready to play.
?Our distribution was poor and not taking our chances is costing us this season and we need to improve on this very quickly and I?m disappointed by the players reaction after we went behind.
Sydney United player/coach David Zdrilic was upbeat when commenting:
?We were lacking early on in the game as we did in the earlier rounds and that cost us points which could prove crucial later on but we knew that this far into the season we would be facing tougher opposition as the teams would have settled into their rhythm.
?We dropped points against South Coast Wolves and West Sydney Berries when we outplayed them on the day and we still have a lot of work to do between now and the end of the year, but I am happy with the points today.
?We were caught out by the long ball in the opening minutes but we came back strongly and what pleased me most was the way we remained solid after taking the lead.?
In the Grade-20 match, Sutherland Sharks took the points with a 2-0 win against Sydney United.
Match Stats
Sydney United 3 (Barkhousir 10?, 53?, Tomic 39?)
Sutherland Sharks 1 (Nikas 3?)
Sunday, 11th April, 2010
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Referee: James Lewis
Assistant Referees: Chris Peck and Tom Klein
Fourth Official: Brendan Johansen
Sydney United: 1.Vedran Janjetovic; 5.Damon Collina, 6.Joe Vrkic, 28.George Strogylos, 14.Petar Markovic, 9.David Zdrilic (21.Sean Mitchell 68?), 23.Ivo Bosnar, 10.Steve Hayes, 25.Mirjan Pavlovic (12.Steven Veleski 90?), 16.Elsid Bakhousir (2.Adam Jenner 68?), 32.Ante Tomic
Substitutes Not Used: 12.Steve Veleski, 34. Tomislav Grjac, 20.Roy Bell
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan Denham; 2.George Souris, 4.Michael Robinson, 6.Chris Price, 7.Jimmy Bakis (16.Jim Lawrence 88?), 10.Steve McConologue (8.Blake Powell 46?), 11.Ben Spruce, 12.Neil Jablonski, 14.Nick Stavroulakis (9.Ben Vidaic 60?), 22.Yianni Fragogiannis, 23.Panni Nikas
Substitutes Not Used: 36.Tyson Rhodes, 24.Jack Duncan
Yellow Cards: Stavroulakis 40?, Powell 66?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Mirjan Pavlovic (SU)
2 ? Elsid Bakhousir (SU)
1 ? Joe Vrkic (SU)
-By Micky Brock
