St George City couldn’t follow up their back-to-back wins in the league on Saturday, picking up just a point against strugglers Sutherland Sharks in what was a hard fought away performance for the visitors to earn them a 1-1 draw on the road in round 14 of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition at Penshurst Park.
The first real chance of the game came just under a quarter of an hour in and resulted in a St George City goal.
It started with Kosta Petratos on the right-hand side, and the winger picked out Louis Khoury inside the box who made space for himself well before unleashing a brilliant effort on the turn and smashing it into the bottom left corner, opening the scoring against his former side.
Only minutes later, Presley Ortiz almost scored an identical goal to his teammate with another shot on the turn inside the box, which was heading for the bottom left once more, however the 21-year-old was denied by the post this time.
The visitors responded to this surge of pressure well and started to attack the St George City goal more, with a notable chance coming for Jay McGowan who was through on goal after pouncing on a Matthew Keremelevski mistake, but the forward’s well struck effort was fantastically tipped past the post by Jack Kenny.
The Sharks were rewarded for their show of character however, and in the 27th minute Maxx Green’s excellent low cross from the right wing was dispatched by Matthew Jackson from a range he just couldn’t miss from.
The home side really should have retaken the lead just before half time when Fumoto Kamada, who was becoming the heart of every St George City attack, put in a brilliant low cross for Ortiz, and the forward very cleverly backheeled it to Jason Romero, but the American’s effort from close range was hit straight at the keeper.
There was very little action in front of goal for either side in the second half, which was a testament to the solidity at the back for both teams.
However, the game opened up in stoppage time with both sides clearly trying to snatch a late winner.
St George City came the closest in the 92nd minute when a Petratos corner fell very kindly on the volley to Dominic Cox with space in the heart of the box, but the midfielder’s cushioned effort blasted just over the bar.
Only moments after, Sharks caught the home side on the break on a couple of occasions, but failed to create any clear cut chance to give the visitors a chance of a late goal.
Sutherland will undoubtedly be the happier of the two sides, with Steve Zoric’s men conceding many goals of late, but their well-structured performance earned them a well-deserved point on the road.
Match Stats
St George City FA 1 (Khoury 14’)
Sutherland Sharks FC 1 (Jackson 27’)
Saturday 11 May 2024
Penshurst Park
Referee: Kelly Jones
Assistant Referees: Joel Crawford & Owen Ferguson
Fourth Official: Gerrod Young
St George City FA: 1. Jack Kenny, 4. Solomon-John Monahan-Vaiika, 5. Fumoto Kamada (38. Kai Kamikura 68’), 6. Tarik Ercan, 8. Dominic Cox, 10. Jason Romero (29. William Kounnas 83’), 11. Kosta Petratos, 25. Brodie Clarkson, 30. Presley Ortiz (19. Jesse Photi 68’), 33. Louis Khoury (7. Nathan Roberts 83’), 99. Matthew Keremelevski (3. Joshua Hong 68’).
Unused subs: 21. Ryan Reid
Yellow cards: Ercan 41’, Kamada 44’, Clarkson 67’, Cox 86’
Red cards: nil
Sutherland Sharks FC: 1. Nenad Vekic, 3. Jordan Roberts, 4. Mitchell Stamatellis, 5. Takahide Umebachi, 9. Maxx Green (6. Samuel Gulisano 80’), 11. Jay Mcgowan, 14. Chris Lindsay, 15. Matthew Moric (22. Jordan Graoroski 88’), 23. Ethan Beaven, 26. Jacob Garner, 27. Matthew Jackson (7. James Cakovski 90+4’).
Unused subs: 43. Ikko Ehode Arimoto, 66. Alexander Trajanoski, 99. Jacob Cremen-Cowan
Yellow cards: Green 53’
Red cards: nil
Player Ratings:
3: Louis Khoury (STC)
2: Fumoto Kamada (STC)
1: Takahide Umebachi (SUT)
By Liam O’Sullivan (@liamdlosullivan)
