Sharks win seven goal Cup tie thriller in the Shire
Sutherland Sharks progressed to the Waratah Cup semi-finals and have booked themselves a date with St George FC after a pulsating 4-3 win over Sydney Olympic at Seymour Shaw on Wednesday evening.
The Sharks took the early shot from the kick-off inside 5’’ seconds of the match and grazed the bar as a signal of intent to the youthful visitors, Sydney Olympic, that Anthony Bouzanis did well to gather between the sticks when back-peddling toward the line.
The opener did follow in the 5’ minute when Panni Nikas played Nik Tsattalios in. The left sided winger beat the offside trap through the middle and pulled the ball back for Nathan Elasi to slot home against Bouzanis who was left hopelessly exposed.
The home side were over-running Olympic in the middle of the park and bossing the game from the outset, never allowing the opposition to settle as they pressed forward with pace and numbers.
Chris Naumoff burst through the Olympic midfield this time and unleashed a powerful shot from 25-yards out that again had Bouzanis scrambling to hold in the 12’ minute of play, Sutherland looking to put the game to bed early..
Perry Moustakas had a left-footed shot on the volley from the edge of the box 2’ minutes later that slipped narrowly wide of the Olympic post and surely it was little more than a matter of time before the lead was extended.
Sydney Olympic mounted their first real attack of the match in the 17’ minute when breaking down their left flank, but the cross was put away for a corner which Andrew Depta, deputising for the rested Nathan Denham in goal, had no trouble dealing with.
Amaury Gauthier couldn’t gain purchase on the ball and steer it goal ward for Olympic when Depta attempted to punch clear from another corner and should have been further behind within seconds.
The Sharks went straight onto the attack and when Alex Kelly hauled back Jamie McMaster and received a straight red card for the visitors. It was Nikas, who played the initial through ball once more, however the playmaker had the penalty saved by Bouzanis in the 23’ minute.
Nathan Elasi extended the lead 2’ minutes later with a curling left foot shot from the edge of the area.
The player completed the hat-trick before half-time when in the 35’ minute he connected with a sweet volley to slot home his, and Sutherland’s, third of the evening.
It was looking all too easy for the home team although Gauthier had Depta working overtime when saving full stretch from a free-kick in Olympic’s best chance of the half with 38’ minutes on the clock. With only ten men it wasn’t going to get any easier.
Brayden Sorge went in bravely to block a Tsattalios drive inside the box that Bouzanis dealt with under pressure as Olympic showed their battling qualities as the shot-stopper was called into action again to pluck a lobbed effort from the same player moments later as Sutherland attacked in waves and kept the high line against their under-manned opponents.
Even prior to the send-off, Olympic were under the pump and only sparingly managed any worthwhile attempts on goal.
With the Blues on the ropes after their first-half mauling they had nothing to lose in the second period but it would take an inspirational half-time team talk to turn this match around as surely all that was left was to play for pride.
From the re-start Troy Danaskos tried his luck from long range for the visitors but was well wide of the mark as they looked to reduce the deficit that was closely followed by James Demetriou whose effort sailed similarly past the upright.
The ten men put up a spirited performance against a Sharks side who looked sluggish after the break yet couldn’t make their early forays forward count.
Whether it was Olympic beginning to dominate or Sutherland taking their foot off the peddle, the second-half had the sparse visiting support heartened on a pleasant wintery evening in the Shire.
And they were on their feet when Troy Danaskos slotted home in the 59’ minute as Zac Elrich fired wide a minute later, causing the supporters to become more vocal in their support.
The unlikeliest of comebacks looked positively on for the ten men when Chris Godoy-Bascur reduced the lead to just one in the 63’ minute, completing a neat move down the Sharks right.
Sutherland finally awoke from their slumber and hit back when Nikas found the net and was immediately replaced by Klim Gjorseski to a rousing round of applause from those gathered in the stands.
Depta was again down quickly to thwart Demetriou who, despite everything, was having a terrific match in a losing side.
Bouzanis, by far the busier goalkeeper, not to be outdone by Depta at the other end,
completed a point-blank block from Naumoff as the Sharks rediscovered their first-half hunger.
However it was Sydney Olympic who stole another goal back when substitute William Angel netted in the 80’ minute to make it 4-3on the night in real Cup tie football that once more had the Olympic faithful believing it might just be their year.
Elasi maybe should have had a personal fourth, and put the tie finally to bed, when firing wide in the 85’ minute and only time would tell if the miss would be rued at length.
It wasn’t to be but it left the home side with plenty to ponder as they would face the same opponents on Sunday afternoon at Belmore Sports Ground in the IGA NSW Mens Premier League 1 prompting Sharks coach Robbie Stanton to comment:
“We had our foot on the throat in the first period but took it off for the second.
“I think the players felt they would cruise through the second-half and you can’t do that even though they were a man down.
“Without doubt, Olympic probably got a rocket up them at the break for the way they played but the second-half they gave it a really good shake and we ended up by doing just enough to win the tie and that is, as they say, football.
“We made changes tonight and there were five out from the usual starting line-up as we made some rotations and I would have liked to have made some more but there are times when you simply cannot make that many so now we move on to the weekend.
“They’ve made changes to what they are doing and I’ve had a good look at it tonight I’ll have a good think about it over the next few days and how we’ll approach it but we’ll certainly step up a gear on Sunday as we look for the three points.”
With St. George their next opponents in the semi-final will it alter their focus at all: “We know it will be a tough game mate as they are sitting high in their league but we are not looking that far ahead to be honest just yet, but they are a very good standard in the Super League and we’ll approach that game when it comes.”
Grant Lee, Sydney Olympic coach, was understandably disappointed but encouraged by his charges performance:
“It was a fantastic Cup tie and what more can you ask for, a great crowd and a seven goal thriller?
“We had a lot of young kids in the team and of course we gave away some cheap possession which hurt us and gave away a couple of goals because we gave away the ball and panicked in dangerous areas but it is young kids making rash decisions but if you give them the confidence to play that will sort itself out.
“In the second-half I thought we got a lot better at it and maintained possession a lot better, moved the ball a little quicker and believed in ourselves.
“We had a go at them after the break but made another mistake that eventually cost us as we could have pulled the game back to three-all even with the ten men and had that been the case who knows what could have happened.
“Yes, we were over-run in the first-half but we used the break to talk to the players and asked a few questions and obviously gave them a few instructions about being more focussed and patient on the ball and we managed to make a game of it and that was the pleasing thing as we could have capitulated and lost by six or seven.
Without doubt this was a classic cup tie in every sense of the phrase and promises plenty for both in the remaining fixtures of the campaign.
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 4 (Elasi 5’, 25’, 35’, Nikas 68’)
Sydney Olympic 3 (Danaskos 59’, Godoy-Bascur 63’, Angel 80’)
Wednesday 5th of June, 2013
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: Stephen Lucas
Assistant Referees: Andre Giev and Mitch Clark
Fourth Official: Craig Fisher
Sutherland Sharks: 22.Andrew Depta; 3.Michael Stuart (13.Reo Morinaga 84’), 4.James McKenzie, 6.Matthew Gordon (18.Jayden Koulizakis 53’), 7.Nathan Elasi, 10.Jamie McMaster, 14.Nick Stavroulakis (C), 15.Perry Moustakas, 19.Chris Naumoff, 23.Panni Nikas (17.Klim Gjorseski 69’), 33.Nick Tsattalios (9.Brad Boardman 86’)
Substitutes Not Used: 2.Nick Littler
Yellow Cards: McMaster 18’, McKenzie 56’, Nikas 65’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic: 20.Anthony Bouzanis; 2.Brayden Sorge, 4.Alexander Kelly, 5.B. Treloar, 9.Luke Grima (8.Kingsley Williams 77’), 10.Renato Franco Ramirez, 12.Troy Danaskos, 15.Zakeriya Elrich (11.William Angel 77’), 19.Christopher Godoy-Bascur, 21.James Demetriou, 22.Amaury Gauthier (C)
Substitutes Not Used: 3.J Morrison, 23.Luke Kairies,
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Kelly 23’
-By Micky Brock
