United hold on for draw against rampant Sharks

The visiting hordes made plenty of noise and added to the atmosphere on a slightly chilly evening in the Sutherland Shire, as booth sides settled for a stare of the spoils. 
Hussein Salameh had a good chance in the 5′ minute when weaving through the United defence but scuffing his left-foot shot wide in the opening stages.
United took the lead in their first attack with a delightful pass from Steve Hayes through to Luka Glavas who beat Nathan Denham in the Sharks goal only for the ball to rebound off the post before Ben Vidaic, playing against his former club, reacted quickest to fire home strongly with Denham unable to deflect the ball away.
Sydney United had soaked up the pressure until this point with some ease reducing the Sharks to limited half-chances but when the opportunity arose they were not found wanting, leaving the home side to play catch-up football which, if the score stayed the same, would mean gaps certainly appearing at the back for Sutherland.
Fragogianis and youngster Klim Gjorseski looked very promising for the Sharks, particularly down the left flank, as they slowly fought for control of the game while Stavroulakis sprang through some clever balls as skipper. For the Reds, Hayes made the usual nuisance of himself switching across the midfield with probing runs and crosses for United with Luka Glavas also looking lively up front.
Matt Bailey looked to have played in Chris Price and it took a last ditch intervention by the United defence to snuff out the danger in the 26′ minute followed by a Panni Nikas through ball that almost baffled the ?keeper Vedran Janjetovic before the defence cleared away for a throw-in.
A Nikas free-kick in the 29′ minute had Janjetovic at full stretch to save as Sutherland strove to find the equaliser.
Chris Price was next to try in the 33′ minute when Fragogianis chipped an exquisite ball over the top for the midfielder, though he mishit on the volley.  Seconds later, Nikas saw his effort sail harmlessly over the bar as the Sharks rolled United back into defending deeper although they were always a major threat on the break.
Although United were playing themselves out of trouble a poor back-pass saw Nikas latch onto the ball and play a slide rule pass for Matt Bailey to run onto but his left-foot shot was straight at Janjetovic and another opportunity went begging for the Sharks.
It wasn?t quite all one-way traffic and the height of the United side certainly played its part in attack and defence but some adjustment was needed when Michael Cindric needed to be replaced by Kyle Ewart on the stroke of half-time due to a groin strain with the visitors going into the break one up.
The second period started bright for Sutherland with Gjorseski scuffing a shot and then Nikas warming the hands of Janjetovic with Price then almost  finding the net with the United ?keeper having to tip the ball over as the shot curled toward the top right hand corner of the net.
Sutherland thought they had equalised in the 50′ minute when Gjorseski rounded the defence and slipped in a cross that Price put away only to be flagged offside.
United’s response was immediate as Hayes fired embarrassingly high and wide when clean through on goal.
Sutherland were creating better chances early on once they began to play the ball on the floor which defused the height advantage United had but the elusive goal was eluding them.
Janjetovic had to be down sharply to deny the on rushing Price as Sutherland pressed home the attacks in the 56′ minute.
United were producing sporadic breaks up field that amounted to half-chances as the minutes ticked away, yet they looked vulnerable to the quick breaks of the Sharks which, but for a better final ball option, would certainly see parity restored.
Nikas played in Bailey in the latest Sharks attack and again Janjetovic beat away the opportunity to keep United in the lead and the question remained as to whether they would be able to hold on for the win.
Gjorseski then played in a beautiful cross for Hussein Salameh in the 72′ minute only for the striker to completely miskick the ball with the goal wide open as Sutherland again spurned an excellent opening they.
At the other end Denham saved at point-blank from Glavas inside the 6-yard box that surely would have seen United home in the 77′ minute.
Nikas sent over a cross from the right that substitute Matt Gordon took with a left-footed volley that whisked narrowly past the post as Sutherland refused to lie down at home but through a combination of Janjetovic, desperate defending and luck United were able to keep them at bay.
That was until the 82′ minute when Price was sent down the left flank to cross for Nikas who managed to head home and restore parity, confirming the Sharks pressure finally paid off.
Glavas was denied an opportunity by tremendous defending from Paul Cotte in the 86′ minute inside the box as United again hit on the break, and the same player was denied by a smothering save from Denham 4′ minutes later as neither could find the clear opening to seal the points.
Sutherland almost stole it in stoppage time when Todd Halloran fired in a shot-cum-cross that found Bailey unmarked at the back post but with the ball coming through a sea of players he was unable to find the target. 
Sharks coach Robbie Stanton said afterwards:
?We had them under the pump for much of the game and had we not got something from it I would have been upset but United are a benchmark team and I thought we showed them a bit of a lesson tonight.
?It was a tough match against them as you would expect but we changed a few things around and worked on our movement during the week to see how we can create openings and that showed tonight as well.
?We now need to turn that into points but I?m pleased with the performance here.?
Sydney United coach Jean-Paul de Marigny was reflective when saying:
?It?s the first ever point we have taken here at Seymour Shaw so I cannot be disappointed with that but we had to hold on hard for it.
?They put us under plenty of pressure and we had to endure some tough moments but I thought we were better in the first-half, especially the first 20′ minutes.
?We showed resilience out there and it?s always tough to come to Seymour Shaw against the Sharks and get anything so I have to pleased we held on, but it was a very tough game.?
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 1 (Nikas 82?)
Sydney United 58 FC 1 (Vidaic 12?)
Saturday 28th April, 2012
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: Alex Glasgow
Assistant Referees: Michael Robertson & Nathan Wotton
Fourth Official: Christopher Peck
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan Denham; 4.Yianni Fragogianis, 5.Paul Cotte, 8.Chris Price, 9.Hussein Salameh (11.Todd Halloran 81?), 10.Matt Bailey, 12.Hayden Morton, 14.Nick Stavroulakis (C), 16.Klim Gjorseski (6.Matt Gordon 76?), 18.Michael Stuart, 23.Panni Nikas, 
Substitutes Not Used: 32.Jacob Bandur, 38.Anthony Krajacic, 22.Simon Jaeger
Yellow Cards: Morton 74?
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58 FC: 1.Vedran Janjetovic; 2.Mitchell Speer, 6.Mitchell Stamatellis, 4.Michael Cindric (12.Kyle Ewart 45), 8.Jared Lum, 10.Stephen Hayes, 11.Luka Glavas, 13.Ben Vidaic (22.Daniel Barac 59?), 14.Petar Markovic, 21.Ante Tomic (16.Stjepan Paric 55?), 23.Ivo Bosnar (C)
Substitutes Not Used: 15.Sam Chappel, 20.Ian Johnson
Yellow Cards: Ewart 52?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Vedran Janjetovic (SU)
2 ? Yianni Fragogianis (SS)
1 ? Klim Gjorseski (SS)
-By Micky Brock