Suns shine but Sharks sub breaks hearts
Suns captain Peter Apolevski notched a penalty on the stroke of half-time against table toppers Sutherland Sharks but it was the visitors who used their ?get out of jail? card when substitute Jasli netted a headed equaliser with two minutes to go after coming on just three minutes earlier as Rockdale made them look a pale shadow of themselves in a hotly contested local derby.
Rockdale?s first attacking opportunity of the game came in the 8th minute when Adem Kir curled a right-footed shot around Nathan Denham?s left-hand upright. This came after some neat build-up work through the centre involving Giorgio Speranza and James Monie when Apolevski slipped the ball through from the right to create the chance in a hotly contested midfield battle.
Sutherland created a few half chances but didn?t hit their straps early on and when Kir again had a shot in the 19th minute it took a Denham full stretch save to keep the home side at bay.
Former Suns striker Sam Awad almost put the Sharks ahead a minute later when spinning in the box but placing his shot into the side netting.
Apolevski and Paul Dee did a splendid job in marshaling the rampaging runs of Nick Tsattalios down the left and Askin Oygur was almost in the back pocket of best mate (off the field) of Awad to contain his aerial threat, and when he went forward, the task fell to Joshua Lawson who was not found wanting, as the visitors drew on all their reserves to slowly pull themselves into the match as they countered the defensive looking 5-4-1 of Lee Sterrey?s men..
Apolevski was through after a defensive slip from the Sharks that had Denham out to save sharply with his feet as neither side could find the inaugural breakthrough.
With four flooding the midfield for Rockdale, Panni Nikas was never allowed the freedom he has been accustomed to set up play and the Sharks were left to fight hard for any scraps that came their way and it remained to and fro for much of the half and when Dominic Hudap saw his shot from 25-yards flash narrowly passed the post.
Drama hit in the 44th minute at Rockdale though as Sharks defender Paul Kohler was adjudged to have tripped Hudap.
Apolevski stepped up and scored from the spot and broke the deadlock to give the home side the lead just before the half-time break.
Rockdale were forced to soak up plenty of early pressure in the second half with Nikas going close as Sutherland pushed forward with some urgency as they sought the equaliser to bring the game back to parity, yet the home side showed great resilience in stemming the tide and looked to hit on the break as the space appeared at the back.
Apolevski slipped the ball to Speranza who in turn passed on to Monie but his flick shot sailed harmlessly over the bar in the 63rd minute and less than sixty seconds later it was Speranza who fired straight at Denham as they looked to kill the game off with a second goal that looked more on the cards than an equaliser as the minutes ticked over.
The remainder of the half was a case of attack and counter attack with the Suns midfield making plenty of forays down the Sharks left flank, led mainly by their impressive captain Apolevski.
Sharks coach Robbie Stanton needed to tinker with his formation and brought on the fresh legs of Huseyin Jasli in the 85th minute after playing nearly the full ninety minutes in the Under 20 side and it turned out to be an eventful cameo appearance.
Nick Stavroulakis rounded three Rockdale defenders who between them managed to force him out wide to pose no threat to their lead until Askin Oygur fouled the Sharks midfielder with the resultant free-kick floated into the mix by Nikas for Jasli to connect with a sweet header beyond the despairing grasp of McNamara to give Sutherland a share of the spoils – but questions must be asked as to who was supposed to be picking up the late substitute that lead to the goal that snatched a draw from the clutches of a certain win.
A disappointed Suns coach Lee Sterrey said afterwards, ?We fought hard and our shape was great all night, we kept our structure and discipline in every area and I am really proud of the guys tonight.
?They really put everything on the line out there and we definitely deserved the three points and we should have stopped Panni Nikas 10-metres inside their half because once he gets one on one with you on the counter attack we should have been able to deal with him and when he went as wide out on the left as he did, we should have just stood our ground but instead we give away a soft free-kick and he floats in an in-swinger and our defence was simply suicidal in that position.
?That said, the boys played really well, really fought hard and I?m very proud of what they did and of course they wanted to give the supporters a good game to watch and I feel they?ve done that.?
Talk before the match was of a defensive 5-4-1 formation that was anything but. ?Our wide guys pushed on and James Monie did very well for a time and I felt the tactics tonight were the right ones because we knew this would be a tough game and they are a very good team home or away and this was always going to a stern test with Dominic (Hudap) and the others putting themselves on the line to reach the Monie flicks and knock downs and getting up and down quickly in attack and defence.
?Dominic made the penalty with fast support and the four in midfield supported the attack at all times and we set out to be fearless and not sit back and we were intense and in their faces for eighty-five minutes and got caught by a sucker punch at the end and I?m very disappointed by that but Sutherland are a very good team, they?re topping the table and the yardstick we all have to measure ourselves by.
?Robbie (Stanton) has them well drilled and our pitch would have helped but in reality there was only one team who deserved to win this game and we feel it is two points dropped.?
Robbie Stanton, Sutherland coach, was in agreement when he added, ?The first-half we didn?t turn up and play smart football and really played into their hands and the system they were playing suited their football and was effective when you look at their results and with Lee Sterrey being the astute coach he is, they were always going to be tough to beat, especially here at home but we were lucky today and as you rightly said, we got out of jail.
?I think we had enough possession in the second-half in their half to get something from the match but in the end it really was a close run thing and we did get out of jail with the late goal and they will probably feel they were unlucky in the end not to hold us out because they are a tough team as there are no easy games in this league.
?Lee (Sterrey) is a very wise coach and has been around a lot longer on the coaching ranks than I have and he has his players very well structured and they won?t give anything away cheaply and the difference is that they took their chance when it came along while we didn?t create as many opportunities as we normally would and that is because of the way they approached the game and didn?t give us any time on the ball.
?That said, they deserved their goal and both sides have had a heavy week and we didn?t look sharp out there and were flat at times so maybe I?ll look at changing a few things up a bit but we certainly chanced our arm toward the end by throwing on a couple of the young boys and it paid off and I have to be happy with that.
?I needed to get someone out there who was fresh and eager to get on with the job and Hus (Huseyin Jasli) has been pushing for a chance in recent weeks and when you consider he came on with five to go after playing most of the Under 20 grade game, nets the equaliser and picks up a caution it was just the pick-me-up we needed so I have a lot of thinking to do over the next few days.
?If Rockdale can produce performances like this on a consistent basis I have no doubts they can be in the Top Five at the end of the campaign, they are hard to break down and play well at home and home form can make or break the season.?
The Rockdale City Suns and Sutherland Sharks U/20s grade match finished with the visitors 3-nil victors.
Match Stats
Rockdale City Suns 1 (Peter Apolevski 45′ pen)
Sutherland Sharks 1 (Huseyin Jasli 88′)
Saturday, 21st May, 2011
Venue: Ilinden Sports Centre, Rockdale
Referee: Alex Glasgow
Assistant Referees: Christian Mehl & Steven Nguyen
Fourth Official: Alex Long
Rockdale City Suns: 1.Ben McNamara, 3.Shay Spitz (19. Marino Musumeci 84), 6.Joshua Lawson, 7.Peter Apolevski (c), 2.Paul Dee, 23.Askin Oygur, 21.Mirko Jurilj, 13.Georgio Speranza, 11.Adem Kir, 8.Dominic Hudap, 12.James Monie (9.Jason Naidovski 78)
Substitutes Not Used: 14.Itsuki Hasegawa, 15.Adrian Karakolevski, 22.Dion Shaw
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan Denham, 2.George Souris (c), 4.Yianni Fragogiannis (11.Todd Halloran 64), 6.Sam Awad (5.Lachlan Cahill 68), 8.Chris Price, 10.Matt Bailey, 14.Nick Stavroulakis, 15.Michael Katz, 20.Paul Kohler, 23.Panni Nikas, 33.Nick Tsattalios (19.Huseyin Jasli 85)
Substitutes Not Used: 7.Jimmy Bakis, 22.Jack Duncan
Yellow Cards: Fragogiannis 32, Nikas 75
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 ? Peter Apolevski (RC)
2 ? Giorgio Speranza (RC)
1 ? Askin Oygur (RC)
-By Micky Brock
