Sutherland and Bankstown deal eachother a finals-series blow
In an entertaining contest, the Lions could not grind out their two-goal first-half lead ? which included 41? second-half minutes against ten-men ? to hold out for three-points. The draw does little for both sides as the Sharks lose their hold on fifth-spot, meanwhile Bankstown City?s final rush towards finals football seems to be over with three League matches remaining.
The opening exchanges saw a tight midfield battle develop, though it was the visitors who created some distress in the defensive third for their adversaries. Nick Stavroulakis picked up a loose ball following an aerial contrast with Tallan Martin, before taking a touch and trying his luck from distance, only to see his effort finish wide of Zlatko Joseski?s upright.
The visitors had the Lions stretched in the 10? minute as Chris Price got to the byline to cut in a cross for Jim Bakis. The final pass though carried a little too much punch as Bakis? lunging effort failed to make contact with the ball.
Bankstown City opened the goalscoring with their first real forward foray. Damien Brosque?s left-footed in-swinger from the right-flank met captain Richard Luksic?s glancing header ? the effort finished out of Sharks? goalkeeper Nathan Denham?s reach an in the back of the net.
Bakis tried to bring the Sharks level via a set-piece, though his curled effort from the edge of the penalty-area failed to dip enough to finish under the crossbar.
The home-side doubled their lead, again via a set-piece, when Robert Mileski?s in-swinger from the left-flank was diverted into the back of the net by the Sharks Neil Jablonski. Under serious pressure from Luksic, the ball finished in the back of Nathan Denham?s net for the second time in the space of 10? minutes.
The Sharks were unlucky not to pull a goal back on the half-hour as the visitors were denied firstly by goalkeeper Zlatko Joseski and then the crossbar in the space of 5?? seconds. Paul Kohler played Scottish import Stephen McConologue through on goal, only to be denied by a fine save down to his right by the Lions? shot-stopper. The loose ball fell into the path of Chris Price who drove his effort against the crossbar as the Bankstown City defence cleared their lines.
Following the break, Brosque stung the palms of Denham with a free-kick from the edge of the penalty-area, though the Sharks goalkeeper did well to thwart any danger.
The visitors?, trailing by two-goals, were dealt a huge blow in the 49? minute as captain George Souris collected two yellow cards in the space of 30?? seconds to earn him an early shower. Despite the numerical disadvantage though, the Sharks set about the job at hand and continued to pressure the Lions rearguard.
Jim Bakis tried his luck with a shot from distance, though his effort lacked power and conviction as the ball finished wide of the mark.
Robert Mileski came to life for the Lions on 54? minutes with a slalom effort taking the playmaker past three defenders before unleashing a venomous low-driven effort against Denham?s right-hand post.
To the Sharks credit, the team continued to press forward as Bakis, Yianni Fragogiannis, Jablonski and again Fragogiannis combined well to release the latter down the right-flank. The young winger?s best efforts to keep the ball in play were not enough, under the watchful eye of Lions defender Luksic.
Sutherland found their way back into the game as Fragogiannis did get free down the right on the hour and played a pin-point pass across the face of goal into the path of Jablonski who finished with aplomb past an exposed Joseski.
On 65? minutes, a swift Sharks counter-attack had the Lions on the back foot, though Jablonski only just failed to latch onto Price?s cross from the left as Lions captain Luksic cleaned up the scraps.
Sutherland Sharks did draw level on 67? minutes as Bakis found the back of the net with a clinical finish off a Jablonski offering. The midfield maestro, from a decentralised right position inside the penalty-area and without facing the goal, hit a first-time effort across goal to beat Joseski, much to the delight of the travelling Sharks supporters.
Despite conceding two goals, Bankstown took the lead again on 80? minutes via substitutes Hussein Akil. A quick throw-in down the left sent Mileski on his way. The Lions number 10 played a short pass to Shannon Burgin who in-turn picked out Akil with a square-ball; and the striker made no mistake in driving the his effort into the back of the net.
In a rather strange 2? minutes, Lions coach Peter Tsekenis was asked to leave the dugout, much to the surprise of the Lions bench, by the referee. Sutherland then found their equaliser via a set-piece as Huseyin Jasli?s floated effort into the penalty-area met the head of Jablonski who headed home at the near post.
Sharks boss Robbie Stanton too was asked by the referee to leave his dugout, as an entertaining final few minutes of the match took shape. Both sides through caution to the wind in search of a winner, though following 3? minutes of injury-time, both sides needed to settle for a point.
In the Grade-20 division, Bankstown City and Sutherland Sharks shared the spoil with a 0-0 draw.
Bankstown City 3 (Richard Luksic 14?, Neil Jablonski (og) 24?, Hussein Akil 80?)
Sutherland Sharks 3 (Neil Jablonski 60?, 82?, Jim Bakis 67?)
Sunday, 4th July, 2010
Jensen Park, Sefton
Referee: A. Best
Assistant Referees: N. Backo and C. Fisher
Fourth Official: S. Lucas
Crowd: 300 Approx.
Bankstown City FC: 1.Zlatko Joseski; 2.Scott Thomas, 3.Shannon Burgin, 5.Richard Luksic (C), 7.Steve Liavas (9.Hassan Akil 63?), 10.Robert Mileski, 12.Bill Tsanidis, 18.William Angel, 23.Tallan Martin, 80.Ali Haydar, 16.Damien Brosque (99.Chris Godoy-Bascur 77?)
Substitutes Not Used: 4.S. Tibbetts, 91.Andrew Mercuri, 94.T. Barton
Yellow Cards: Ali Haydar 37?, William Angel 68?
Red Cards: Nil
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan Denham; 2.George Souris (C), 4.Michael Robinson, 6.Chris Price, 7.Jim Bakis, 10.Stephen McConologue (31.Huseyin Jasli 74?), 11.Ben Spruce, 12.Neil Jablonski, 14.Nick Stavroulakis, 22.Yianni Fragogiannis, 20.Paul Kohler (8.Blake Powell 46?)
Substitutes Not Used: 16.James Lawrence, 24.Jack Duncan, 9.Ben Vidaic
Yellow Cards: Ben Spruce 47?, George Souris 49?, 49?, Nick Stavroulakis 75?, Chris Price 85?, Huseyin Jasli 90?+1?
Red Cards: George Souris 49?
– Joe Carlucci
