Bankstown sink toothless Sharks at Seymour
Robert Mileski hit a hopeful long-range effort straight at Nathan Denham in the Sharks net immediately from the kick-off that was easily held but it was an early warning that went unheeded well inside the first 10?? seconds of the match.
A further 90?? seconds later, Blake Powell (Sharks) and Brett Studman clashed heads which left the latter spark out on the ground for a few moments causing great concern among the players. Luckily, he was taken to the touchline and re-entered the fray minutes later when obviously suffering a mild concussion at the least.
If he was it didn?t deter him as he proceeded to put in a classical hard but fair performance in a most determined fashion.
Sutherland competed well and had a few chances that were wayward, or well saved by Zlatko Joseski in the Bankstown net, although the visitors by far had the better of the opportunities that they couldn?t turn in to goals. If not for the bravery and positioning of their custodian on the night, the Lions may well have been left to rue later on.
The Lions pressure finally bore fruit when awarded a penalty in the in the 33? minute that Denham got a hand to but couldn?t keep out from Mileski as Bankstown took a deserved lead.
Sutherland came back strongly but on the stroke of half-time Ben Spruce slipped an under hit back pass that was seized upon by the Lions midfield before Tallan Martin was put through and he made no mistake in putting the ball past a glaringly exposed Denham as the defence were caught out of position as the whistle blew for the end of the first 45? minutes with the visitors two goals to the good.
A half-time rocket by Sharks coach Robbie Stanton appeared to fall on deaf ear as his defence was again caught out at the back early. Hussein Salameh watched his effort sail harmlessly over the crossbar by some distance as yet again Sutherland didn?t heed the warning.
The match became a more stifled affair until the tackles became harder and the cautions began to flow as the niggle crept in that made you wonder whether all the players would remain on the pitch as Neil Jablonski, Chris Price and Jimmy Bakis went into the book for Sutherland in an 8? minute spell quickly followed by Mileski for the Lions.
The Sharks best move came when Bakis sent in a teasing cross that Ben Vidaic shaped to head but dummied for Panni Nikas who controlled well under pressure and fired in a stinging shot that Joseski blocked at point-blank range to deny Sutherland a lifeline for not the first time on the evening.
It was a slight hiccup to the Lions who continued to dominate, and the best was yet to come, when Bill Tsandis stole the ball inside his half and galloped off toward goal evading a lunging tackle from George Souris just inside the half with no other Sharks defender near enough to close him down. From the edge of the box he unleashed a left foot shot that was always curling away from the exposed Denham who made a wilful effort to keep it out at full stretch to his left, all to no avail though.
The match was never for the faint of heart and was in danger of boiling over several times as the players squared up to each other as yet again an uncharacteristic showing by Sutherland left many scratching their heads including coach Stanton when he said afterwards:
?We were a well beaten side tonight and made silly mistakes even though we had to reshuffle the pack after losing Michael Robinson to a hamstring injury in the pre-match warm-up but that is no excuse.
?We looked reasonably comfortable up until the first goal but after that we had too many players not up for it and prepared to battle for the points and they are now starting to find out that everyone wants to beat the Champions which, added to the fact we had a poor pre-season which is coming back to haunt us now, they are beginning to realise just what it takes to stay at the top.
When posed with the question of whether having a small squad is playing a part in things just now he replied:
?Yes we do have a small squad but that is the reality right now with the injuries we have to players so those who are fit need to suck it up and start performing to their abilities because winning the Grand Final is now history and you are judged by what you do now not last season.?
Peter Tsekenis was rightly delighted afterwards stating:
?We made a few changes to the side because we?ve got a few young lads who deserved a chance and it worked for us out there.
?We played well and the youngsters did well too as we kept our first clean sheet of the season after taking control of the game.
?Our goalkeeper kept us in it and we know we have goals in the team but keeping it tight at the back has been our downfall too often so we set out primarily to keep a clean sheet firstly and then look to win the match and so mission accomplished tonight and from here we?ll look to build on it.?
In the Grade-20 match, Sutherland Sharks and Bankstown City drew 1-1.
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 0
Bankstown City Lions 3 (Robbie Mileski 33? (pen), Tallan Martin 45?, Bill Tsandis 81?)
Saturday, 17th April, 2010
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: James Lewis
Assistant Referees: David Lockeridge and Bachar Allam
Fourth Official: Thomas Klein
Crowd: 700 Approx.
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan Denham; 2.George Souris, 6.Chris Price, 7.Jim Bakis (16.Jimmy Lawrence 82?), 8.Blake Powell, 9.Ben Vidaic (10.Steve McConologue 82?), 11.Ben Spruce, 12.Neil Jablonski, 14.Nick Stavroulakis, 22.Yianni Fragogiannis, 23.Panni Nikas
Substitutes Not Used: 36.Tyson Rhodes, 24.Jack Duncan, 31.Huseyin Jasli
Yellow Cards: Stavroulakis 53?, Jablonski 59?, Price 64?, Bakis 67?
Red Cards: Nil
Bankstown City: 1.Zlatko Joseski; 2.Scott Thomas, 4.Brett Studman, 5.Richard Luksic, 6.Peter Tsekenis, 8.George Nohra (99.Chris Godoy Bascur 87?), 9.Hassan Akil (7.Steve Liavas 71?), 10.Robert Mileski, 12.Bill Tsandis, 20.Hussein Salameh (18.William Angel 83?), 23.Tallan Martin
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Shannon Burgin, 22.Robert Napoleone
Yellow Cards: Studman 44?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Brett Studman (BCL)
2 ? Zlatko Joseski (BCL)
1 ? Tallan Martin (BCL)
-By Micky Brock
