Six-goal bonanza at Seymour Shaw
An Adrian Vranic penalty ten minutes from full time has helped Sutherland Sharks snatch a 3-3 draw with APIA Leichhardt Tigers at Seymour Shaw on Saturday night.
It was a topsy turvy clash with both sides trading goals and the lead in a high scoring battle.
Themba Muata-Marlow helped APIA to a perfect start when he found the back of the net less than 60 seconds into the contest, before Sutherland fired back only moments later through Vranic.
A Josh Symons own goal midway through the opening stanza had Sutherland on track for a 2-1 lead at the break but Sean Symons levelled the scores in the dying stages of the half.
A 62nd minute Jordan Murray goal had the visitors take the lead before the Sharks were awarded a penalty in the 78th minute which Vrancic calmly dispatched to deny their opponents victory.
Sutherland were caught napping inside the opening minute when Muata-Marlow went for precision over power to glance Home a wonderful header to give the visitors the lead.
It was a lead they couldn’t maintain when four minutes later they were pegged back through Vranic. A surging run through the heart of the Tigers defence opened up the opportunity before he fired past the outstretched arms of Necevski.
Adrian Ucchino nearly restored APIA’s lead in the 12th minute when his curling effort slipped wide of the post. It was a warning shot the home side didn’t heed when they allowed Murray to centre for Sean Symons to volley. It was blocked with a suspicion of handball and from the corner Josh Symons should have headed home.
Namesake Sean was at it again from a free-kick out near the right wing that had Sharks’ glove man Ryan Norval scurrying backwards to defend but again went agonisingly wide of the woodwork.
Norval was made to work again in the 26th minute when pulling off a fantastic save, this time from Murray.
Sutherland responded through Keisuke Hayashi who pushed down to the byline and cut a cross back into the area. In an attempt to clear the pass, Josh Symons unluckily caught the ball with the outside of his right boot to steer it past the wrong-footed Necevski and give the sharks a 2-1 lead.
It was a lead that couldn’t be held as less than two minutes later Sean Symons spared his brothers’ blushes by powering home an unstoppable rasping shot leaving Norval no chance.
It was somewhat justice as APIA had had the better of the opening half and would’ve wondered how it was all square at the interval.
The Sharks’ started the second period the brighter with the energetic Hayashi providing Leroy Jennings with a header he should have put away.
The game hinged on two penalty decisions. The first for the Tigers when Nick Littler was presumably adjudged to have halted an APIA attack with a trip, although Jacob Tratt was also in the tackle for the ball. Murray made no mistake from the spot and the visiting side had the lead once more.
But it wasn’t enough as another contentious penalty decision as Vranic went down in the box after a challenge from Nathan Millgate. The striker picked himself up and netted his second and Sutherland’s third to restore parity once more.
Either could have won the tie late on. Necevski pulled off a truly brave save at the feet of Vranic after he was played in by Jennings, berfore, at the other end of the pitch, Sean Symons blasted over the bar under pressure in stoppage time.
Grant Lee had no complaints about the results.
“It was a great game for the neutral against a very good side who were prepared to have a go against each other,” he said.
“There were some great passages of play and I suppose at the end of the day things tended to even themselves out. It’s a point well earned and not two points dropped.
“They had the better of us in the first-half and we were a little disjointed in what we were doing. We rectified that and could have nicked it at the end but for a great stop.”
APIA’s Billy McColl reflected on what he believed was an entertaining contest.
“It was a combination match really, crazy ridiculous and crazy good and that’s what the beauty of this competition is, any team can beat any other such is the standard,” he said.
“There were two different styles of football being played by the teams tonight and I’m sure it was very enjoyable for the fans and we take the point and move on to next week.”
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 3 (Vranic 5’,77’p, J.Symons 28’)
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 3 (Muata-Marlow 1’, S.Symons 30’, Murray 61’p)
Saturaday, March 21 2018
Seymour Shaw, Miranda
Referee: Stephen Lucas
Assistant referees: Janush Adabjou & Matt Reidy
Fourth Official: Hugh Carwardine Seymour Shaw, Miranda
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Ryan Norval, 2.Jacob Tratt, 4.Hayden Morton (32.James Tremelkovski 64’) 5.Brad Bartels (Robert Watson) 6.Lachlan Everett, 9.Adrian Vranic, 10.Joshua Da Silva (16.Ryoga Suyama 90’), 12.Blair Brown, 15.Nick Littler, 17.Leroy Jennings, 20.Keisuke Hayashi
Substitutes not used: 11.Hristijan Tanoski, 21.Nikola Loe
Yellow Cards: Brown 42’, Tratt 77’
Red Cards:
APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Ivan Necevski, 2. Nathan Millgate, 4.Joshua Symons, 7.Howard Fondyke, 8.Corey Biczo (Franco Parisi 64’), 11.Jordan Murray, 15.Themba Muata-Marlow, 16.Sean Symons, 17.Brandon Lundy, 18.Adrian Ucchino, 20.Tasuku Sekiya
Substitutes not used: 6.Zac Mackenzie, 9.George Howard, 12.Marc Warren, 22.Blake Tuxford
Yellow cards: Ucchino 81’
Red cards:
Player Ratings
3 – S.Symons (ALT)
2 – Vranic (SS)
1 – Sekiya (SS)
-By National Premier Leagues NSW reporter Micky Brock