Eagles stutter as Sharks triumph
Parramatta FC has succumbed to its third straight loss as two late goals helped Sutherland Sharks collect a 2-0 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition win at Seymour Shaw on Saturday.
Strikes to Josh Da Silva and Jordan Figon helped the home side to its first win since round one ending a three game losing streak.
It was a hard loss to stomach for Parramatta who threatened for most of the match but were let down by a brief drop in concentration.
The visitors started the match with intent and in the eleventh minute a great shot by Daniel Rezo from just outside the box was turned over the crossbar brilliantly by Sutherland’s debutant goalkeeper Nikolas Loe.
The reply was almost immediate from the Sharks when a free kick from the right reached Nicholas Littler who struck a sweet volley only to be met by Luke Turnbull in the Parramatta FC goal.
In the 29th minute a wonderful strike by Tomohiro Kajiyama of the Sharks from well outside the box just shaved the crossbar but it would have a great goal had it been a fraction lower.
Parramatta FC went back up the other end a few minutes later when Rezo fired over the crossbar but it would be one of few chances before both teams went into the break locked at 0-0
The second half started like a game of chess as both sides gave little away in a tight midfield contest
The first real salvo of the second stanza occurred in the 67th minute when Kajiyama fired just wide of the mark for the home side.
Sutherland Sharks opened the scoring in the 71st minute when a cross from the left was slightly deflected but fell to Joshua Da Silva who drove it brilliantly into the back of the net much to the delight of the home fans.
Three minutes later Sutherland were down to ten men when Lukas Stergiou was sent off for his second yellow card of the night.
In and act of frustration, Stergiou kicked the ball away after he had been booked moments earlier
In the 75th minute Parramatta FC could have equalised when Gosue Sama’s shot was cleared off the line
A tough tackle from Tomislav Mijic earned the Parramatta FC player an early shower after he was sent off for a second bookable offence.
In the 83rd minute a free kick by David Rezo was pure class.
It curled over the wall and was destined to finish in the top left hand corner of the net but Loe was able to turn it beautifully over the crossbar for a corner.
In stoppage time, after a great goal-mouth scramble, Ibrahim Haydar should really have equalised for the visitors but Loe got down well to pull off another miraculous save.
The ball went up the other end of the field and Jordan Figon did all the hard work before a clinical finish in front of goal to make it 2-0 for the Sharks.
After the game coach Carlos Villazon was happy his side was able to find its shooting boots.
“Look, I am very happy with the result because in the last few games we played really good football but in the front third chances went missing,” he said.
“Today I thought that it was good football from our players.
“My idea is to always play attacking football with a lot of penetration through the wide areas.”
When asked about his debutant goalkeeper Loe, Villazon was very forthcoming.
“After three losses in a row, I decided to change goalkeepers and that’s the reason and he had a good game tonight.”
Parramatta FC coach Franco Cosentino was upset that his team had failed to come away with any points after a promising and gritty display.
“For the last three weeks it has been the same story but, at the end of the day, we deserved the three points,” he said.
“We did everything right and we had all the chances but we didn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
“There were four occasions when their goalkeeper came up with good saves. I am disappointed to have conceded after a free-kick and it hurts that key moments in the game go like that.”
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks: 2 (Da Silva 70’, Figon 90’)
Parramatta FC 0
Saturday, April 9 2016
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: B. Abraham
Assistant Referees: L. Greenshields, J. Adabjou
Fourth Official: J. McFarlane
Sutherland Sharks: 21. LOE Nikolas; 3. MURAYAMA Takuya, 5. LITTLER Nicholas, 9. FIGON Jordan, 10. DA SILVA Joshua, 11. JOVOVIC Aleksander, 12. STERGIOU Lukas, 15. MOUSTAKAS Perry (4. KAYES Stephen 70’), 19. FITZPATRICK Callum, 23. HAYES Steven, 35. KAJIYAMA Tomohiro.
Substitutes not used: 1. DENHAM Nathan, 17. JAMES Andrew, 8. McSTAY Christopher, 7. PRESS Jack
Yellow Cards: Stergiou 50’, Fitzpatrick 80’
Red Cards: Stergiou 74’
PARRAMATTA FC: 1. TURNBULL Luke; 4. SYMONS Joshua, 5. MIJIC Tomislav, 6. GULLO Daniel, 8. REZO Daniel (7. MARTEY Frank 83’), 9. SAMA Gosue, 10. SAMA Marco, 11. TOMIC Ante, 18. MALLETT Tom (14. GRIMA Luke 85’), 20. HAYDAR Ibrahim, 23. TAYEBI DERAZKALA Aram
Substitutes not used: 17. GERSBASCH Joshua, 33. DIACONO Jayden, 3. DAVIDSON Mitchell
Yellow Cards: Mijic 12’, Rezo 16’, M. Sama 28’, G. Sama 62’
Red Cards: Mijic 76’
Player Ratings
3 – Nikolas Loe (SS)
2 – Joshua Da Silva (SS)
1 – Daniel Rezo (PFC)
–By Joe Russo, PlayStation®National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Reporter, at Seymour Shaw Park.
