Spartans, architects of their own downfall in thriller at Seymour Shaw
Panni Nikas inspired the 4-3 win for the Sharks with an exceptional hat-trick as the ten men of Blacktown Spartans went close to causing what would have been a surprise victory.
Sutherland Sharks returned to winning ways in an extremely hard fought encounter against Blacktown Spartans at Seymour Shaw. Panni Nikas inspired the 4-3 win for the Sharks with an exceptional hat-trick as the ten men of Blacktown Spartans went close to causing what would have been a surprise victory.
Greg Kondek fashioned a cross at pace for Spartans that fell to Chris Bedzo in the 13? minute, though the burly striker spurned the opportunity in a fine scoring chance.
At the other end, George Souris lobbed a long ball over the top for Chris Price who sent the shot wide, despite the chance being a difficult one with the ball coming over his right shoulder.
Price was again involved when Nikas sent in a free-kick in the 16? minute. The Sharks striker was unable to head on target as the home side began to peg the Spartans back and create decent half-chances.
Steve Veleski worked his magic on the right in the 20? minute to set-up Chris Bedzo for the visitors although this time he dragged his shot across the face of goal as the game began to open up after the midfield battle in the preceding 20?minutes.
Sutherland took the lead after a sweeping move down the left saw Matt Gordon centre to Nikas who slotted home with aplomb and give Blacktown that familiar feeling of being behind. The deficit would now test their reserves of mettle after being forced to play catch up football, luckily with plenty of time on their side.
Nick Stavroulakis, battling a slight ankle injury, played his usual no-nonsense role in midfield for the Sharks with biting tackles, tracking back and telling forward runs with the only question to be asked as to whether he would see out the full 90? minutes.
Djordge Degenek brought down Nikas out wide on the left to earn himself a booking shortly after, however the Sharks midfielder took the ensuing free-kick but miss-hit the shot with the ball finding Carlos Saliadarre gathering with ease at his near post.
Degenek was sent from the field in the 40? minute following his second caution when fouling Hayden Morton inside the penalty-area. Nikas stepped up to the penalty-spot and netted to double his side?s lead.
With the extra man the Sharks were able to pull Blacktown all over the park for the remainder of the half knowing they had a two goal cushion and began to dominate for the first time in the match. With 45? minutes still to play, the home side would no doubt look to consolidate further whilst Blacktown would be either forced to dig their heels in to avoid a rout or throw caution to the wind and try to gain something from the game.
No changes were made for the start of the second period as Blacktown kicked-off and immediately went up-field and scored through Andre Carle following a knock-down by Bedzo to reduce the deficit as Sutherland were caught cold and once again it was game on.
Veleski switched from the right to left wings for the second period and led the Sharks defence a merry dance, however Blacktown were unable to find an equaliser and, though down to ten men, were certainly putting in a spirited performance particularly when Michael Stuart left the field with injury to be replaced by Matt Bailey some minutes later.
The changes made no great difference as the game became bogged down in a congested midfield as Blacktown defended high up the pitch but were susceptible to the ball over the top. Only desperate defending prevented the home side from adding to the score board as several occasions went begging.
They were being stretched down the flanks through Morton and Niko Tsattalios on the right and, with the introduction of Bailey to burrow through the middle of defence, it was surely only a matter of time before the unyielding pressure paid off for Sutherland who were beginning to expose themselves at the back.
Sutherland extended its lead in the 78? minute when substitute Matt Bailey rounded off a sweeping move down the right when spinning inside the box, before Nikas scored a contender for goal of the season 3? minutes later. The Sharks playmaker picked-up the ball, dribbling around the defence and selling Saliadarre a dummy before dinking the ball into the net to complete his hat-trick.
Blacktown didn?t capitulate, instead the players responded with another goal of their own when Nathan Millgate completed the move that reduced the Sharks lead to two but it was a matter of too little too late in the final wash up, even though the ten men made the Sharks defence look very nervous in the closing minutes and caught the home side again when Greg Kondek netted a third for the Spartans who must have wondered what they could have achieved with a full playing compliment.
Coach Ben de Haan commented afterwards:
?I thought we were well structured tonight and played really well up until the send-off.
?1-0 down and coming back, we kept working and we had to all the time and the guys did themselves proud and I couldn?t be happier for them despite the result.
?A few things didn?t go our way but that?s life and perhaps we should have had a penalty of our own towards the end but what do you do?
?We can take a lot from this game and leave with our heads high.?
Counterpart Robbie Stanton added:
?I warned the players at half-time this team has the players to do something different, the coach can always do something different and come out with different ideas on how to beat you.
?They are not silly and I emphasised at the break not to disrespect this team, the game isn?t over and to go out there and control the game but the second-half encapsulates our season to-date.
?We can be devastating and totally dominant in games and then just switch off.
?I said to play the ball quickly, move it through the channels and when we did that I feel we were in complete control but then we just switched off.
?Everyone thought ok, we?ve got a couple of goals up and went for it and they came at us from the opening seconds of the half and by the time we were struggling to keep them out I had had enough, I was very disappointed in our display.
?We?ll take the three points, but if anyone wants to know why we won?t make the finals this season, there is your answer
?The quality is there, the ability is there but the consistency is lacking, simple as that and that is what has disappointed me this season.?
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 4 (Nikas 27? ,40? (pen), 82?, Bailey 78?)
Blacktown Spartans FC 3 (Carle 46?, Millgate 85?, Kondek 89?)
Saturday 28th July, 2012
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: Andrew Best
Assistant Referees: Michelle Allen & Danny Horstead
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nathan Denham; 2.George Souris (C), 4.Yianni Fragogianis, 5.Paul Cotte, 6.Matthew Gordon, 8.Chris Price, 12.Hayden Morton, 13.Nick Tsattalios, 14.Nick Stavroulakis, 18.Michael Stuart (10.Matt Bailey 61?), 23.Panni Nikas
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Tyson Rhodes, 16.Klim Gjorseski, 28.Nick Olsen, 22.Simon Jaeger,
Yellow Cards: Tsattalios 88?
Red Cards: Nil
Blacktown Spartans: 1.Carlos Saliadarre (C); 3.Nathan Millgate, 6.Greg Kondek, 8.Djordge Degenek, 9.Chris Bedzo (10.Chris Gomez 63), 11.Steven Veleski (15.Louis Bozanic 77), 13.Hiroaki Kawasaki, 14.Jonathan Castano-Acero (20.Sean Mitchell 81), 17.Peter Hubbard, 22.Andre Carle, 27.Jacob Ott
Substitutes Not Used: 2.Michael Khoury, 40.Jesse Shewan
Yellow Cards: Degenek 35?, 40?, Kawasaki 39?, Carle 50?, Veleski 65?
Red Cards: Degenek 40?
-By Micky Brock
