Heroic Sharks rally to topple Manly United
Sutherland Sharks put in a herculean effort to record a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Manly United albeit with ten-men following the sending off Nathan Grimaldi for the majority of the second half at Seymour Shaw on Saturday night.
Hamish Lamberton was the hero for the Shire side scoring a screaming volley from a free-kick late in the match that secured the Sharks its second successive victory and three precious points to move them up the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s ladder.
A number of hefty tackles in the opening minutes proved a portent of what was to follow as both sides went head-to-head demanding the points on offer.
Manly United were dealt an early blow as Finn Ashton came off injured in the 12th minute giving Nick Rainbird a chance to shine.
It was tough, uncompromising football as expected, but didn’t amount to opportunities until the 18th minute when the visitors had the ball hacked clear from a corner with several players appealing the ball had either crossed the line or for handball, but the decision didn’t go their way.
Both sides having played midweek Australia Cup games, looked a little sluggish at the start but soon grew into a pulsating match.
Midway through the match, Manly began to string the passes together which created a few problems for the home defence but found themselves caught on the break with Levi Kaye having to force the ball over the bar from a Fumoto Kamada effort.
Harry McCarthy spun on the edge of the box and fired goalward but Marko Bulic was awake to the strikers’ ploy and dealt with it easily on the half-hour.
Marcus Lal than had the opportunity to put the visitors ahead when swivelling superbly on the edge of the area and connecting sweetly with the ball only to see his shot blocked by a scrambling Sharks defence as half-time approached.
Both sides would have received a stern half-time briefing and it remained to be seen who would take charge in what was a very evenly fought fixture.
The second half started with drama as Grimaldi was given his marching orders following an incident with Manly’s Bilal Belkadi. This incident impacted greatly on how the game would unfold as the hosts subbed Jesse Photi for Lamberton in a bold attacking move for the ten-man home side.
The visitors turned the screw and pushed forward with their one-man advantage but even with the loss of Grimaldi, the home defence held firm although McCarthy came close firing his effort across goal.
Lamberton then raced onto a through ball but a last-ditch tackle from Rainbird seemed to have foiled the chance until the Sharks striker chased it down and attempted to chip Kaye only to see the ball nestle on top of the netting in the 64th minute. A valiant effort followed up with a lashed shot into the side netting after a run down the right moments after by the big marksman.
Manly rang the changes with a triple substitution with twenty minutes to play as they looked to grab maximum points by utilising fresh legs against an overworked Sharks defence.
Against the run of play from a free-kick, it was Sharks who took the lead when Lamberton volleyed home a stunning strike in the 80th minute to set-up, in reality, an unexpected grandstand finish.
Manly United had four defenders back but none were able to cut out the cross nor sublime finish.
Manly threw any remaining caution to the wind and laid siege to the Sutherland box but were unable to find a way through leaving a disgruntled coach, Patrick Zwaanswijk, to comment.
“I don’t think we were slow out of the blocks but too many injuries and accidents today happened plus decisions perhaps not going our way led to the result,” he said.
“All decisions obviously can affect a game and in the last two games they haven’t been to our advantage, but we cannot use that as an excuse.
“When we create a chance, we need to start taking them, we had a couple in the first-half but didn’t take them and in the second they had one chance on goal and they took it when we shouldn’t have allowed it with four against two, and it was enough to win them the game.
“We played a similar type of game, but we need to be smarter and improve and not get too emotionally involved in certain situations that gets us frustrated and then we don’t play well,” he concluded.
There were different scenes in the opposing dressing sheds as Sharks coach Damir Prodanovic was delighted with the result.
“It was a different game for us, a different challenge going a man down and credit must go to Manly as they are a tough side to break down and play a similar style of football that we are trying to bring to Sutherland,” he said.
“I felt it was a game of chess tonight, they were better in the first-half and we needed to improve in a lot of areas.
“Second half I could not fault the boys defensively and in the transitional moments and everything we’ve been working on is starting to come alive.
“I’m super proud of these boys, every training session they are putting in the hard yards and they want success.
“Manly were a very tough opponent for us but every week we try to build, try to improve and I’m super, super proud of the effort tonight.”
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 1 (Hamish Lamberton 81’)
Manly United 0
Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Saturday 15th April 2023
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistants: Emma Kocbek and Blake Sanchez-Cruz
Fourth Official: Jackson Mackie
Sutherland Sharks: 1. Marko Bulic, 4. Mitch Stamatellis, 5. Jesse Photi (9. Hamish Lamberton 50’), 6. Brodie Clarkson, 8. Alex Brown, 11. Fumoto Kamada, 14. Chris Lindsay, 15. Nathan Grimaldi, 21. Luke Sauer, 33. Louis Khoury, 91. Jonty Busch
Subs not used: 3. Jordan Roberts, 7. Connor Rose, 19. Evan Ball, 22. Jacob Cremen-Cowan, 32. Levi Sciuriaga
Yellow Cards: Jonty Busch 59’
Red Cards: Nathan Grimaldi 47’
Manly United: 20. Levi Kaye, 5. Tom Fay, 6. Finn Ashton (15. Nick Rainbird 12’) (29. Hunter Elliott 71′), 7. Seiya Kambayashi, 10. Bruno Mendes (32. Saxon Hilyer 71’), 12. Kristian Santich (11. Mat Sim 55’), 18. Lucas Rainbird, 19. Alen Aganovic (35. Max Martinello 71’), 22. Bilal Belkadi, 23. Harry McCarthy, 31. Marcus Lal
Subs not used: 1. Jack Greenwood
Yellow Cards: Alen Aganovic 43’, Bilal Belkadi 47’, Nick Rainbird 70’, Lucas Rainbird 81’
Red Cards:
Player Ratings
3 – Fumoto Kamada (SS)
2 – Hamish Lamberton (SS)
1 – Seiya Kambayashi (MU)
By NPL NSW Men’s Reporter Micky Brock
