NWS Spirit FC unable to breakdown resilent Sharks

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In a backs to the wall performance, a nine-man Sutherland Sharks outfit held out a luckless NWS Spirit FC in a fiery match that saw three red cards dished out in a scoreless 0-0 draw at Seymour Shaw Park on Saturday afternoon. 

In a game of few chances, Sutherland were reduced to nine men following send-offs to Jonty Busch and Maxx Green, while Simon Nicholas saw red for Spirit.

The extra space did not provide a goal for the visitors who for the second successive week remained scoreless, as the fulltime score read as it started.

It was a competitive start to the match, with both teams looking to get a foothold early on.

Sutherland conjured up a chance 13 minutes in when Levi Sciuriaga got on the end of a ball from the right, but Spirit goalkeeper Christopher Marquez managed to smother it.

The visitors responded two minutes later as a left-sided corner dropped to Bradley Whitworth on the edge of the box, whose first-time shot was repelled by Nenad Vekic in the Sharks’ goal. It was a good save by Vekic who wanted to right the wrongs following his howler in last weekend’s loss to the Western Sydney Wanderers.

Sutherland had another opportunity midway through the half when Kotaro Katsuta nicked the ball and drove into the Spirit box, however, he could not get an effort away.

The game heated up in the 36th minute as Sutherland’s Busch saw red for an off-the-ball incident, forcing Sutherland to re-structure ahead of halftime.

Spirit sought to take the initiative with their man advantage before the teams went into the sheds.

With three regular first-half minutes to play, Gianni Bouzoukis got into the left of the box and flashed a low shot wide of the far post.

The sides could not be separated at the break in a drama-filled first period at Seymour Shaw.

It took until the hour mark for the meaningful action of the second half, with Spirit creating a double chance.

Simon Nicholas’ original shot fell back to him in the left of the box before he slashed the ball high over the bar.

Seconds later, Bouzoukis took on a volley from outside the box that bounced past the left post.

The Sharks took the ball down the other end a few moments after that, as substitute Green spun well on the edge of the box but sliced his effort narrowly over.

There was more drama in the 69th minute when NWS Spirit’s Nicholas was sent off following another heated exchange between the two sets of players.

Cards continued to be flashed around with challenges flying in, seeing three Sutherland players cautioned in the first eight minutes after the red card.

Spirit almost took the lead in the 79th minute when a right-sided free-kick dropped to Jared Lum in the right of the box, but Vekic pulled off a vital save at his near post.

The hosts nearly scored themselves seconds later as substitute Jay McGowan raced in on goal down the left, with some desperate Spirit defending keeping the scores level.

Sutherland went down another player four minutes after this when Green received his second yellow card for a late challenge, being sent off only five minutes after his first caution.

Cakovski could have made it a memorable evening for the Sharks in the 88th minute when he jinked his way into the right of the box before an onrushing Marquez got a crucial touch.

A late flurry of corners did not provide a winner for NWS Spirit, as the points were shared in a 0-0 stalemate.

Even though its early in the season, the lack of firepower up-front would be something NWS Spirit FC coach David Perkovic will need to sort out from round 3 onwards.

Match Stats 

Sutherland Sharks FC 0

NWS Spirit FC 0

Saturday 24 February 2024

Seymour Shaw, Miranda

Referee: Stephen Lucas

Assistant Referees: Aaron Bloch and Ethan Zvargulis

Fourth Official: Charbel Geha

Sutherland Sharks FC: 1. Nenad Vekic, 2. Kotaro Katsuta, 3. Jordan Roberts (C) (7. James Cakovski 58’), 4. Mitchell Stamatellis, 6. Samuel Gulisano, 10. Mason Fernandez, 15. Matthew Moric (11. Jay McGowan 80’), 23. Ethan Beavan (14. Chris Lindsay 53’), 27. Matthew Jackson, 77. Levi Sciuriaga (9. Maxx Green 58’), 91. Jonty Busch

Substitutes Not Used: 21. Luke Sauer, 99. Jacob Cremen-Cowan

Yellow Cards: James Cakovski 70’, Chris Lindsay 77’, Maxx Green 78’

Red Cards: Jonty Busch 36’, Maxx Green 83’

NWS Spirit FC: 1. Christopher Marquez, 4. Jarred McKinley, 5. Bradley Whitworth (15. Brayden Burr 75’), 8. Grant Cornwell (C), 9. Gianni Bouzoukis (19. Jesse Michel 78’), 11. OIlie Wiggin, 13. Simon Nicholas, 16. Ante Bakmaz, 17. Jacob Chidiac (18. Zachary Cianci 86’), 20. Jared Lum, 21. Luiz Lobo

Substitutes Not Used: 3. Kyle Shaw, 22. Jack Greenwood, 29. Kyle Bennett

Yellow Cards: Grant Cornwell 5’, Jared Lum 28’, Jarred McKinley 63’

Red Cards: Simon Nicholas 69’

Player Ratings:

3 – Jared Lum (NWS)

2 – Luiz Lobo (NWS)

1 – Nenad Vekic (SS)

Report by Tim Gibson, on Twitter@Timg123_