Sharks end Wolves’ unbeaten 2018 winning run
Wollongong Wolves unbeaten start to the season has ended in emphatic fashion after they were thrashed 3-0 by Sutherland Sharks at Seymour Shaw on Saturday.
Sutherland opened the scoring with a contender for ‘Goal of the Week’ courtesy of a Nick Olsen thunderbolt and went into the break two ahead when Adrian Vranic hit his first of the season when scrambling the ball over the line from a great Jacob Tratt nod down.
Wollongong looked dangerous on the break, particularly down the left through Josh McDonald, Yuzo Tashiro and Takuya Nozawa but paid the price for sloppy finishing.
Vranic benefitted from another Tratt effort in the 53rd minute to side-foot home his second of the night and secure a comfortable win for Grant Lee’s side.
Sutherland started proceedings briskly and quickly penned the Wolves back into their own half.
The visitors were quite happy to sit off and ride out the early exchanges and with both sides packed with former players, it was always going to be interesting.
Nozawa linked well with Tashiro in the 9th minute but the lightning counter attack was thwarted by a quick thinking Keisuke Hayashi.
The Sharks responded when a long ball out from the back was brought under control by Hristijan Tanoski and his overhead kick wrong-footed Justin Pasfield only to rebound back off the woodwork before eventually being put out for a corner.
It wasn’t long before Sutherland did hit the front when in the 16’ minute Olsen absolutely thundered home from the edge of the box that left Pasfield a spectator as the ball almost burst the back of the net.
Olsen tried again five minutes later from 35-yards out but his effort sailed harmlessly over the bar but had the crowd on their feet.
It was a purple patch for the Sharks as they bossed the midfield and continued to press Wollongong but the final delivery was lacking.
McDonald played a neat one-two with Tashiro and attempted a shot from the edge of the box for the visitors that lacked power and didn’t worry Ryan Norval.
Olsen probably should have added a second when rounding Michael Robinson in the Wolves’ box and curling a right-footed effort just wide of the far post after cutting in from the left.
For all the possession, Sutherland still only led by the single strike and the Wolves were showing glimpses as they slowly clawed their way back into the contest.
Olsen, having one of his better games, picked up the ball inside his own half and set off through the middle before laying it off to Josh Da Silva who cut inside and again tried a shot from distance that was over the bar by some distance.
Tashiro fired back almost instantly but was happy to be flagged offside when slipping the ball agonisingly wide of the upright at the other end from the restart.
The game was certainly becoming an end-to-end bonanza only lacking the addition of goals.
A corner in the 41st minute resulted in Tratt nodding the ball back into the area that Vranic managed to scrambled over the line for his first of the season and to give the home side a 2-0 lead.
Although two down at the break, Wollongong would be thinking they still had a way back into the match if they retained their discipline and made their counter-attacks count.
Wollongong coach, Jacob Timpano, immediately rang the changes for the start of the second period when replacing the effervescent Stevie Hayes with Peter Simonoski and switching the impressive McDonald to the right wing to give his side another attacking option up front. It lifted the visitors intensity but they struggled to make a telling difference in the box.
Indeed it was the Wolves who succumbed to the counter when Tratt burst through the middle from inside his own half before seeing his effort rebound back of the left-hand upright. however, Vranic was following in and side-footed home his second and Sutherland’s third of the night.
Wollongong did everything but score on the hour when neither Tashiro nor Nozawa were able to wriggle free and slot home with Norval eventually able to dive on the loose ball. The Wolves were throwing everything at the Sharks’ defence yet couldn’t fashion the opening that would get them back into the match nor indeed their play deserved. The Sharks were standing strong.
Vranic should have completed his hat-trick when holding off the impressive Robinson and toe-poking just wide of the upright in the 69th minute.
Stephen Kayes, working his way back from injury, replaced Tanoski to leave Vranic alone up front for Sutherland as they packed the midfield to ensure they stifled the supply lines of Wollongong and give Timpano another headache to worry about.
Ciaomhin Fowler tested Norval from the edge of the box, with 10-minutes to go, the Sharks’ ‘keeper did well to get to and see out for a corner.
At the final whistle Wolves’ coach Jacob Timpano rued a game which didn’t go his team’s way.
“It was a disappointing night tonight to be honest,” he said.
“Sutherland maybe wanted it a bit more than us and edged it. In saying that Olsen scores a cracker of a goal and then we concede a sloppy second which put us on the back foot.
“We were always in the game and didn’t take a backward step, made some positive substitutions but the third was the killer blow that put it beyond us.
“If we had have kept it at two we might have been able to get something from the game and in the end it could have finished 6-4 perhaps either way, it was one of those matches.”
Sutherland coach Grant Lee was all smiles at full at full-time.
“I felt it was a really good performance tonight against a very good side,” Lee said.
“We hesitated a lot of the time in the opening games and didn’t have the confidence in what we are doing. Perhaps we showed a lot more fluidity in our play tonight.
“The good thing for me is we pushed it and played through the full 90-minutes and worked very hard to create good opportunities which, tonight, we’ve taken so I’m very pleased with the result and the performance and I hope this is the platform from which we build on.”
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks: 3 (Olsen 16, Vranic 41’, 53’)
Wollongong Wolves: 0
unday 31st March, 2018
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: Michael Weiner
Assistants: Scott Edeling & Maggie Price
4th Official: Jarryd McFarlane
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Ryan Norval, 2.Jacob Tratt, 6.Lachlan Everett, 9.Adrian Vranic, 10.Joshua Da Silva (16.Ryoga Suyama 88’) , 11.Hristjan Tanoski (7.Stephen Kayes 74’), 12.Blair Brown, 13.Robert Watson (14.Leo Malfara 83’), 17.Leroy Jennings, 20.Keisuke Hayashi, 22.Nick Olsen
Subs not used: 21.Nick Loe, 26.Harry Sutherland
Yellow Cards: Tanoski 46’, Brown 82’
Red Cards:
Wollongong Wolves: 1.Justin Pasfield, 3.Darcy Madden, 4.Michael Robinson, 5.James Baldacchino, 7.Chris Price, 10.Joshua McDonald, 17.Ryan Ensor, 21.Caoimhin Fowler, 23.Steven Hayes (9.Peter Simonoski 45+1’), 30.Yuzo Tashiro, 40.Takuya Nozawa (6.Nick Montgomery 64’)
Subs not used: 2.Taylor McDonald, 14.Ethan Kambisios, 16.Luke Kairies
Yellow Cards: Robinson 68’
Red Cards:
Player Ratings
3 – Tratt (SS)
2 – Vranic (SS)
1 – Olsen (SS)
-By National Premier Leagues NSW reporter Micky Brock
