Sharks flex muscles over Wolves
Sutherland Sharks has added another chapter to their second half of the season resurgence with a comprehensive 3-1 win against Wollongong Wolves at Seymour Shaw Park on Saturday.
Goals to Matthew Gordon, Nick Littler and Jack Press ensured back to back PlayStation®4 NPL NSW Men’s competition victories for Sutherland.
Nicolas Bernal managed to hit the back of the net in the 76th minute however it was a night of one-way traffic in Miranda with the Sharks attacking football a sight a to be seen.
The Carlos VIllazon coached Sharks went on the offensive from the opening whistle.
Tomohiro Kajiyama hit a sweetly struck volley in the opening minute when the ball came in from the left that whistled just past the Wolves’ upright.
The embattled Wolves were finding it difficult to break out of their half, but when Ricky Zucco played in Josh Macdonald on the right he fizzed a shot just off target in a very slick counter-attacking move.
It was a high tempo affair from as two pacy sides pushed to outdo each other.
Ben Griffin was next to show for the visitors when looping a shot wide after the ball came back of the box from a Macdonald free-kick.
Daniel Collinson pulled off a decent save after 21 minutes when James Andrew went on a solo weaving run. Cutting in from the left he fired towards goal but a diving save from Wolves keeper Daniel Collison had it covered.
Josh Da Silva was sent through with a raking ball over the top two minutes later and cut into the box, this time from the right, only for Kajiyama to take the ball off his toe at the vital moment and skew an effort wide.
Sutherland were enjoying long spells of possession, putting the tall timber of the visiting back four under plenty of pressure, however the home side needed to turn it into goals.
Andrew went on anther amazing run into the box but tried to take on one player too many before the ball came out to Da Silva whose first time effort wasn’t far off the target and brought gasps from the crowd.
Chris McStay, pulling the strings in midfield and looking comfortable on the ball, had to leave the field for the Sharks after an accidental clash of heads left blood streaming down his face and reduced the Sharks to 10-men for many minutes. He was to return wearing the number 26 jersey some minutes later, his head wrapped in bandages.
Ricky Zucco picked up the ball and fired in from 35-yards out that had Denham scrambling to make a save.
It was McStay threading the needle to set up Matt Gordon to fire home the opener in the 42nd minute in a move of sheer quality. The through ball was exquisite, the finishing clinical. It had been coming but the manner in which it was executed was beyond expectation.
It was a deserved lead for the Sharks who went to the half-time break one goal to the good.
Wolves coach Jacob Timpano added Nicolas Bernal to the attack at the start of the second half as the visitors went on the search for an equaliser.
It was a much tighter contest in the opening stages of the second stanza as Sutherland pushed and probed without the same gusto of the first-half. The Wolves started to push on with a little more adventure in their attack.
A second goal for Sutherland arrived courtesy of a well-placed Nick Littler header.
Littler somehow gliding in unnoticed at the near post to nod home and double the Sharks lead to 2-0.
Once again Wollongong were turning in a tremendous performance but looked to be coming away with nothing for their efforts.
Substitute Bernal had claims for a penalty waved away when going in for a high ball with Denham in the 62nd minute. Wollongong peppered the Sharks area but were unable to connect and reduce the deficit.
Jordan Figon replaced the lively Da Silva with little more than 15 minutes to go, Coach Carlos Villazon looked to inject aerial power and even more pace to the home side’s attack.
Wollongong immediately struck back when Bernal needed several attempts to sweep past the hapless Denham to bring the visitors back into the game.
The visitor sensed they may be able to rescue at least a point from the match and battled, chased and hurried harder than they had all match as the match entered its penultimate stages.
It wasn’t to be when Jack Press, guilty of some glaring misses earlier, finally found the net to restore Sutherland’s two goal cushion in the 83rd minute.
Carlos Villazon was a happy coach after the match
“We deserved the win and the players are now getting my philosophy on the football I want us to play,” he said.
“I want the fans to see good attacking football and a winning team and the guys know I want us to finish this part of the season strongly whether we make the finals or not.
“We maybe could have had a few more tonight but we knew we had to be strong at the back. When we got the ball deep my players want to get forward and that is what I want my teams to do.
“We are very happy with the result tonight.”
For Jacob Timpano it was déjà vu when again his side showed much promise but came away with nothing.
“Yes, again we played well but have nothing to show for it when are in tight games,” he said.
“We didn’t get enough ball into the box but when we did we scored. Once again we’ve given away soft goals and that is frustrating.
“It has been a frustrating match and a frustrating season but we are close to being where we want to be. We need to cut out the sleeping at the back at crucial points during the games.”
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 3 (Gordon 42’, Little 55’, Press 83’)
Wollongong Wolves 1 (Bernal 76’)
Saturday, 23rd July, 2016
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: Chris Young
Assistant Referees: Lance Greenshields & Jack Bell
Fourth Official: Jarryd McFarlane
Sutherland Sharks: 1. DENHAM Nathan ©, 3. MURUYAMA Takuya, 4. KAYES Stephen, 5. LITTLER Nicholas, 6. GORDON Matthew, 7. PRESS Jack (12. STERGIOU Lucas 87’), 8. MCSTAY Chris, 10. DA SILVA Joshua (9. FIGON Jordan73’), 15. MOUSTAKAS Perry, 17. ANDREW James (16. GOMES-CASTRO Laureano 79’), 35. KAJIYAMA Tomohiro
Substitutes Not Used: 14. O’SHEA Patrick, 21. LOE Nikolas
Yellow Cards: Press 29’, Gordon 85’, Moustakas 90+2’
Red Cards:
Wollongong Wolves: 12. COLLINSON Daniel, 2. KAWASE Kota, 3. MADDEN Darcy, 5. BALDACCHINO James, 6. MCKENZIE Zachary, 7. PRICE Chris ©, 8. GRIFFIN Brendan (16. ZUCCO Ben 85’), 15. LAZEREVSKI Danny (10. STOJIC David 64’), 17. ZUCCO Ricky (18. BERNAL Nicholas 46’), 18. MACDONALD Josh, 20. HRISTOVSKI Steven,
Substitutes Not Used: 13. DIMOVSKI Stefan, 1. ARCARO Daniel
Yellow Cards: Baldacchino 27’, Hristovski 79’
Red Cards:
-By PlayStation®4 NPL NSW Men’s competition reporter Micky Brock
