Saints Downed By Sharks in Thrilling Cup Tie Football
Sutherland Sharks have secured its spot in the Waratah Cup Final after defeating St George FC on Wednesday evening in a thrilling Cup semi-final.
Local rivals St. George Saints came to Seymour Shaw Park on a bitterly cold evening to face hosts Sutherland Sharks, and the side gave a terrific account of themselves before finally losing out by three goals to one in a tremendous cup tie battle that could have swung either way.
Sutherland were into their stride quickly when stringing together myriad passes that eventually fashioned a chance for Panni Nikas to attack but the ball was swept off his toe at the last inside 60’’ seconds.
A long range effort from the Sharks midfielder was deflected wide for a corner not long after that was squandered as the home side looked to mount the early pressure.
The Saints looked to reply in kind with Bruno Pivato and Samuel Messam looking nimble in attack but rapidly closed down by James McKenzie and Nick Littler in defence with neither troubling Nathan Denham between the sticks.
Matt Gordon attempted a cross-cum-shot in the 10’ minute that had Daniel Nash back-peddling in some haste before watching it clear the bar, before the ‘keeper was forced to punch over the from a Nick Tsattalios header after good work down the Sharks right as the home side pressed soon after.
Brad Boardman had a header come back off the bar and then Tsattalios had a shot blocked on the line and another corner with Sutherland winning the aerial battles in the box during the first 12’ minutes of play, but still the opening strike remained elusive.
St. George countered in the 13’ minute that had Pivato forcing Denham down into a sharp reaction full length save to his left at the base of the post for a corner that caused the Blues some headaches before finally being cleared.
It was end-to-end football as the home side again broke with Tsattalios once more forcing Nash into a dramatic save before the officials flagged for offside on the rebound.
The visitors were not taking this lightly and went on the attack with Pivato finding Aleksander Jovovic on the left and his shot on the angle beating Denham to give St. George an unlikely lead in the 15’ minute.
Suddenly the Saints had their tails up and looked sharper on the ball as Sutherland looked to regroup and for all the early impetus shown they found themselves behind, a situation they have not been in too many times this season.
A clever move from St. George was started by Pivato who played the ball wide to Messam, in turn pulling it back for Pivato to fire wide of the upright before Nikas once more forced Nash into a magnificent save at the other end in traditionally thrilling Cup tie football.
Before the half-hour parity was restored when Tsattalios squirmed away from his marker to float in a near post cross that was met by the head of Brad Boardman who steered the ball home leaving Nash no chance at close range.
Sutherland had by far created more opportunities, Nash keeping the Saints in the game many times, but it was the visitors who made the most of their limited chances and looked for more to take down their more fancied opponents.
Creator of the Sharks’ equaliser Tsattalios limped from the field in the 35’ minute to be replaced by Klim Gjorseski.
Pivato was proving to be the fulcrum in midfield for the Saints and started most of their better moves but he was ably assisted by skipper Juan Carlos-Chavez and, oddly enough, centre-back Michael Smith who was no slouch in getting forward to support the attack.
Nikas, as expected, buzzed around the top of the midfield triangle pulling the strings with captain Nick Stavroulakis as solid and reliable in the holding role as ever for the Sharks, Nathan Elasi and Matt Gordon looking good on the flanks in return.
It remained all square as the teams went to the break with a further 45’ minutes remaining to see who would meet the winner of the second-semi-final in the ultimate Cup decider.
On the resumption the Saints defence had three goes at Boardman before finally bringing him down in the box as he was forced away from goal inside 10’’ seconds.
Up stepped Nikas to plant the ball home from the spot, Nash to the right, ball to left to give the Sharks the lead for the first time on the evening.
St. George, rocked at finding themselves behind so soon after the restart, refused to abandon their attacking principles and kept Sutherland honest in midfield and defence with some delightful passing play. One such occasion allowing George Lagoudakis an effort from distance that flew wide of the upright as they fought back.
Nick Olsen was having a tough game against the close attention of the visitors #16 Jonathan Castano-Acero who certainly claimed the height advantage.
Jovovic had another chance for St. George that was blocked on the line by one of his own team mates in a goalmouth scramble that was impossible to distinguish who was whom as legs were flying around everywhere like a threshing machine.
Cup tie football this certainly was as it warmed the fans on an increasingly gelid evening.
The Saints were scrapping for everything, contesting every ball all over the pitch blunting the fluid movement of Sutherland who found themselves under the pump at times without truly looking in peril but certainly looking pretty nervous at times.
Nick Littler and James McKenzie, the centre-back pairing for the Sharks, are growing more effective as the weeks pass with Matt Gordon and Michael Stuart ably assisting at left and right back respectively and they were required to be solid as the Saints kept asking questions of them.
The goalmouth action became more sporadic as the midfield battle took centre stage, the relentless pace taking its toll with everything gearing up for a grandstand finale in true cup tie spirit.
One of the visitors’ best chances fell to substitute Marino Musumeci inside the box in the 82’ minute but his scuffed shot went horribly wide, much to the dismay of his team-mates.
It got worse 2’ minutes later when Nathan Elasi latched on to a rebound to put Sutherland two goals ahead and end the Saints’ dreams of the Waratah Cup Final for another year.
Sutherland went close again in the latter stages of the match but didn’t trouble the score board.
The wind was finally taken from the St. George sails but they put in a champions performance against the IGA NSW Mens 1 league second placed side that had coach Manny Spanoudakis saying at the end:
“We’ve got a small squad at the moment with many first teamers out inured but they are coming back shortly and we’ll look to concentrate on our remaining nine league games.
“I think we were a little naïve to concede the first goal in the manner we did because it was a turnover in midfield by our player under no pressure, the penalty was harsh as the striker was heading away from goal at the time and for the decision to be given less than 20’’ seconds into the half was a big call.
“Some decisions you take and some you disagree with and tonight I am not happy with that one but you take it as part of the game and get on with it.
“I cannot fault my players tonight as we do have a small squad and even after going behind we created maybe four good opportunities and perhaps a little bit of nerves and anxiety got the better of the boys but full credit to Sutherland.
“They are a top team, you can see that tonight and Robbie (Stanton) has them very fit and the speed of their passing game and mobility is tremendous.
“I’m very proud of my teams performance so now we look to the championship and try to stay on top of our league.”
Robbie Stanton was happy with the result but added:
“The Saints were very good value tonight but I thought the first-half was a little slow, a bit down tempo and although we had plenty of possession we didn’t raise it to the next level as we know we can do.
“The second-half the game got quicker and St. George should be commended for their efforts for the way they kept possession and the way they tried to play football and they had some really good opportunities and they showed they can take them with the opener in the first quarter hour of the match.
“That was the good kick up the backside we needed as we perhaps a bit complacent, a little flat after the heavy work load we’ve had recently.
“I don’t think you’ve quite seen the slick Sharks or the fast ball movement from the side at the moment as we looked a bit heavy again tonight but in saying that you cannot take anything away from the Saints as they are a tremendous side and if you look at the ladder they should be a Premier League team with the amount of goals they’ve scored this season.
“They are certainly the best Super League team we have seen this year and probably the difference between the sides tonight was that we took our chances and they didn’t from the opportunities they created so we are fortunate to be in our third final in 5-years.”
St. George didn’t lump it long, played a terrific brand of passing football and put in a champions performance on the night and certainly more than played their part in a thrilling Cup tie so all credit to them and the best of luck for the remainder of the season.
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 3 (Boardman 29’, Nikas 46’ (pen), Elasi 84’)
St. George FC 1 (Jovovic 15’)
Wednesday 19th of June 2013
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: Chris Young
Assistant Referees: Adam Coombes and Craig Fisher
Fourth Official: Mitch Clark
Sutherland Sharks:.1.Nathan Denham; 2.Nick Littler, 3.Michael Stuart, 4.James McKenzie, 6.Matthew Gordon, 7.Nathan Elasi (13.Reo Morinaga 85’), 8.Nick Olsen, 9.Brad Boardman (19.Chris Naumoff 56’), 14.Nick Stavroulakis (C), 23.Panni Nikas (37.Dylan Fox 87’), 33.Nick Tsattalios (17.Klim Gjorseski 35’)
Substitutes Not Used: 22.Andrew Depta
Yellow Cards: Naumoff 62’
Red Cards: Nil
St. George FC: 60.Daniel Nash; 2.Michael Smith, 3.David Dascal, 6.Sean Thomas, 7.George Lagoudakis (8.Marino Musumeci 75’), 9.Samuel Messam (22.Matthew Sadler 66’), 10.Bruno Pivato, 11.Juan Carlos-Chavez (C) (36.James Spanoudakis 87’), 12.Aleksander Jovovic, 16.Jonathan Castano-Acero, 19.Nicholas Napoli
Substitutes Not Used: 23.Dion Shaw, 35.Costa Andricopoulos
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
-By Micky Brock
