Sharks upstage Olympic for the second time this season
Sutherland Sharks have ended their 10 game winless streak in emphatic fashion thrashing Sydney Olympic 3-0 at Seymour Shaw Park on Saturday.
The win is only Sutherland’s second of the season with their other three pointer coming against Olympic all the way back in round 1.
Goals to Raul Romero, Jeremy Cox and Charles Lokolingoy were unanswered by Olympic, leaving the home side with all three points from the match.
It was a listless performance from the visitors who looked nothing like the side who dominated the competition less than 12 months ago.
The first goal came after just nine minutes for the Sharks.
Some good combination play from the hosts saw Romero find himself with the ball in a dangerous position.
Olympic defender Zach Mackenzie struggled to mount enough pressure on the attacker, who comfortably sent his shot out of reach of Paul Henderson and into the netting.
Sutherland continued to push forward, finding the holes in Olympic’s formation to maintain dominance in the first half.
The home side doubled their lead just before the break, with Cox making his way onto the scoreboard in the 45th minute.
Jordan Morifits sent a high cross in to Cox in a prime attacking position.
What seemed like a lack of communication between Olympic’s defence saw Will Angel drop off his defensive run, leaving Cox to calmly collect the cross.
The attacker then drew Henderson out of his position and sent his strike into an unmanned net.
Olympic found a sense of urgency in the second half, transitioning to a more attacking style as they attempted to chase the game.
The visitors kept looking for a goal as the clock ran down, but their efforts were at a loss with Sutherland’s new recruit Lokolingoy rubbing salt into the wound in the closing stages of the contest.
Lokolingoy received the ball from substitute and new recruit Alex Lopez and hammered it into the top corner in the last kick of the game.
Sutherland Sharks coach Terry Palapanis was elated with his team’s performance and result.
“We obviously started strong, but to be honest it’s been coming for weeks,” he explained.
“Today the difference was we had a great goal to start off with and the boys lifted their confidence.
“We stopped them, that was the first task and I thought the boys did exceptionally well.
“I think they’re a great side with some great players.
“We’ve played them twice and we didn’t concede against a team like that.
“It will be a happy change room.”
A downtrodden Olympic boss Abbas Saad rued another costly defeat.
“The score line was disappointing, but it’s not like we were outplayed,” he said.
“We had all the chances in the second half, but we just couldn’t convert.
“They were a lot more desperate than we were and that showed today.”
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks FC 3 (Raul Romero 9’, Cox 45’, Lokolingoy 90+5’)
Sydney Olympic FC 0
Saturday, 25th May 2019
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Referee: H, Jomaa
Assistant referees: S. Edeling, J. Park
Fourth official: S. Kelly
Sutherland Sharks: 2. Quentin Cheng, 4. Patrick O’Shea, 8. Mateo Poljak, 9. Jeremy Cox, 10. Raul Romeo (25. Brodie Clarkson), 11. Jordan Morfitis (32. Alexander Lopez), 12. Blair Brown, 14. Charles Lokolingoy, 17. Liam McGing, 21. Tarik Ercan, 46. Nathan Denham,
Substitutes Not Used: 15. Thomas Papa, 19. Harry Sutherland, , 26. Mario Aleksik,
Yellow Cards: Tarik Ecran 39’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic FC: 1. Paul Henderson, 2. Thomas Whiteside (6. Nikola Kuleski), 4. Mitchell Stamatellis, 7. Will Angel, 8. Jason Madonis, 9. Radovan Pavicevic ,10. Harris Gaitatzis (33. Nikolas Tsattalios (44. Peter Kekeris)), 11. Jinya An, 12. Zachary Mackenzie, 14. Alex Sanchez, 17. Jack Stewart
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Eze Consoni, 25. Dimi Petratos,
Yellow Cards: Zach Mackenzie 87’, Alex Sanchez 79’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Mateo Poljak (SS)
2 – Raul Romero (SS)
1 – Charles Lokolingoy (SS)
Written by National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Madeline Riley (Twitter: @madelineriley23)
