Sharks bite sinking Stallions
A Joshua Da Silva brace has helped Sutherland Sharks FC take a bite out of Marconi Stallion’s top five chances, as the visitors prevailed 2-0 at Marconi Stadium on Saturday night.
It was a brilliant smash and grab result for the Sharks who held out a relentless Marconi attack and took the lead through two counter-attacking goals on either side of the interval.
The Stallions were reduced to 10 men after 38 minutes when Sean O’Connell was sent off but it didn’t stop them dominating the fixture.
However, it proved to be little consolation for the Peter Tsekenis coached side who suffered yet another frustrating defeat when the result could’ve easily gone the other way.
Bristling from their 2-2 draw against Sydney FC, the Stallions galloped out of the gates. A pair of headers went wide, alongside a fizzed shot from Sean Rooney that was saved, as Sharks custodian Ryan Norval was busy throughout the night.
For their domination, the Stallions conceded from a lost ball in midfield. Winger Leroy Jennings picked up the ball, before he slipped it to Joshua Da Silva in the box, the striker finished with aplomb to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead.
Much of the positive work from the Sharks went through Jennings. The winger linked up with well with D Silva and Adrian Vranic as the visitors looked to sit back and hit their more fancied opponents on the counter.
That tactic was helped with the sending off of Sean O’Connell. The Stallions attacker was given a straight red for a dangerous tackle on the far touchline, making the task even tougher for the home side.
Sutherland started brighter in the second stanza. A neat interplay sent Da Silva through on-goal again, but his effort was swept away. The Sharks started to find more space behind the Stallions defence and the home side’s keeper, Nenad Vekic saved well a Ryoga Suyama effort in the 50th minute.
Sean Rooney looked the most lively for Marconi. The striker deflected shot almost sailed into the net, alas it fell to the grateful hands of Norval. Across the ninety minutes, Rooney created the most for the Stallions.
For their endeavour, the Stallions almost conceded a second in the 65th minute. Another quick counter caught out the Stallions, and the ball fell invitingly to Vranic, the striker ballooned his effort over to keep the Stallions in the game.
As the time ticked down, Marconi threw more men forward and sent on both Eros Bergamin and Braden Cheng to find the equaliser. The best chance fell to a more seasoned player though.
James Andrew found an inch of space before he delivered a delightful cross for Rooney. The striker took a touch on his chest before he fired it goal bound but Norval once again, was up to the task and repelled him.
The Sharks rewarded their keeper’s superb save with a game sealing second goal. With men pushed forward, the Stallions left their backline bare and Vranic streamed forward and unselfishly squared it for Da Silva to tap home to make it 2-0.
The game was settled but Marconi continued to push, it wasn’t to be tonight for the Stallions. They peppered Norval’s goal with chances but the keeper plucked the ball out of the air well, as the Sharks held on.
Afterwards Sharks coach Grant Lee paid tribute to his side after their defeat last week.
“It was very important to get back in the winner’s circle. We had got ahead of ourselves in the last few weeks but we got back to what we did best. I thought the boys thoroughly deserved it tonight,” he said.
“Marconi has built a heck of a squad. They have match winners across the park but we stood firm and Ryan Norval was superb across the 90 minutes. So we’re happy to take the points.”
For Marconi coach Peter Tsekensis it was the same old story of his side chasing the game that cost them tonight.
“Look I am disappointed. We made a silly error and were punished. I thought we totally dominated the game tonight, even with ten men. But if you don’t take your chances these results happen,” Tsekenis said.
“We’re chasing games at the moment. When your chasing, you put pressure on yourselves to have to come back and we couldn’t do that tonight.”
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions 0
Sutherland Sharks 2 (Da Silva ’17, ’83)
Saturday 12 May 2018
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Referee: M. Bailey
Assistant Referees: J. Adabjou, J. Park
Fourth Offical: T. Plasto
Marconi Stallions: 1. VEKIC Nenad, 5. BEAUCHAMP Michael, 6. O’CONNELL Sean, 8. ROONEY Sean, 10. JESIC Marko, 12. ANDREWS James, 14. PELEKANOS Peter, 15. POLJAK Matteo (19. BERGAMIN ’55), 17. KOFINAS Theo (2. CHENG ’81), 22. VELLA Brandon, 23. NUNES Christopher
Substitutes not used: 4. DANASKOS Troy, 21. SEKUTKOSKI Kristian, 38. NICOLAOU Yianni
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: O’Connell ’38
Sutherland Sharks: 1. NORVAL Ryan, 2. TRATT Jacob, 6. EVERETT Lachlan, 9. VRANIC Adrian (32. TEMELKOVSKI ’92), 10. DA SILVA Joshua (33. PAPA ’93), 12. BROWN Blair, 13. WATSON Robert, 15. LITTLER Nicholas, 16. SUYAMA Ryoga (11. TANOSKI ’85), 17. JENNINGS Leroy, 20. HAYASHI Keisuke
Substitutes not useds: 4. MORTON Hayden, 21. LOE Nick
Yellow cards: Da Silva ’35
Red cards: nil
Player Ratings
3: Josh Da Silva (SSFC)
2: Sean Rooney (MSFC)
1: Ryan Norval (SSFC)
-By National Premier Leagues Reporter Justin Davies
