Backs against the wall as Sharks draw against Wanderers

The Western Sydney Wanderers’ good run of form in 2024 has hit a few hurdles in recent weeks, this time playing out a scoreless 0-0 draw against relegation threatened Sutherland Sharks at Seymour Shaw on Saturday.

There was an early scare for Taiga Harper and Western Sydney Wanderers when the goalkeeper came off his line to meet an over-the-top ball, but he ended up completely missing the ball. To his and the visitors’ relief though, this was immediately dealt with by the Wanderers defence.

A quarter of an hour in, Matty Jackson produced quite an exceptional bit of skill to turn and nutmeg Jesse Cameron at the by-line and subsequently winning a free kick.

Jackson struck the free kick with pace on target from an acute angle which was parried by Harper, and Mohamed Ahmed followed it up but poked it wide.

The best chance of the half came Wanderers’ way, when Ryley Hollingdale set up Zac Sapsford on the edge of the box, and the skipper struck it with venom goalward, but his strike was unfortunately denied by the bar.

Only moments after, another ball fell kindly to Sapsford inside the box this time, and he struck it once more with great power, but this time it fizzled wide of the post.

The Sharks almost took the lead early in the second half when Jay McGowan gave the match another great bit of skill, beating two red and black shirts out wide with great footwork, before playing through Mason Fernandez, who struck it well aiming for the top left, but Harper denied him with a fantastic stop.

Sutherland continued to pile pressure on to Western Sydney Wanderers, with McGowan having a speculative effort from about 30 yards out, and his strike was not far off finding the top corner.

Sharks continued to show persistence, with a low drive from Matthew Moric being tipped behind the post once more by Harper, and then soon after a golden opportunity falling to Levi Sciuriaga with space in the box, but he seemed to miss kick it wide.

Both teams continued to search for a winner with promising attacks coming for both teams, but little clear-cut opportunities arose for either team in the dying embers of the game, meaning the game ended goalless.

The point did little to help the Wanderers push for the Premiership while for the Sharks, any points against higher opposition will be like gold as they continue to push themselves away from the relegation zone,

Sutherland Sharks head coach Steve Zoric was proud of his players effort against a talented Wanderers outfit.

“I’m happy with the boys, they showed character.

“We did put in a bit of a defensive system with five at the back and it worked.

“We’re not deadly up front, and we’re working on that in training, and hopefully it finally starts clicking up front soon.”

Wanderers head coach Andrew Christiansen reflected on his side’s point on the road.

“We weren’t at our best tonight, and the conditions do disrupt how we want to play.

“We were flying, we had some good momentum behind us.

Maybe results aren’t going are way, and maybe the calls we were getting before we’re not getting now, but my message to the boys is to trust the process.

“The boys are obviously disappointed, which is pleasing to see from my perspective.”

Match Stats

Sutherland Sharks FC 0

Western Sydney Wanderers FC 0

Saturday 25 May 2024

Seymour Shaw

Referee: Logan Jones

Assistant Referees: James Makris & Rory McFarlane

Fourth Official: Luke Chapman

Sutherland Sharks FC: 1. Nenad Vekic, 4. Mitchell Stamatellis, 5. Takahide Umebachi, 6. Samuel Gulisano, 8. Mohamed Ahmed, 10. Mason Fernandez (3. Jordan Roberts ’89), 11. Jay McGowan, 15. Matthew Moric (6. Samuel Gulisano ‘77’), 23. Ethan Beaven, 26. Jacob Garner, 27. Matthew Jackson, 77. Levi Sciuriaga (9. Maxx Green ’77).

Unused subs: 14. Chris Lindsay, 66. Alexander Trajanoski, 99. Jacob Cremen-Cowan

Yellow cards: Moric ’34, Jackson ‘50

Red cards: nil

Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 1. Taiga Harper, 4. Doni Grdic, 6. Dylan Scicluna, 7. Marcus Younis, 10. Alexander Badolato, 13. Aydan Hammond (47. Edmun Haddad ’60), 14. Zachary Sapsford (23. Marcus Fernandez ’71), 22. Jesse Cameron, 24. Anthony Barbic, 25. Ryley Hollingdale (18. Awan Lual ’71), 99. Ryan Devine.

Unused subs: 20. Lucas Sinnott, 27. Julian Cop, 77. Phillip Gigliotti

Yellow cards: Haddad ‘83

Red cards: nil

Player Ratings:

3: Matthew Jackson (SUT)

2: Mitch Stamatellis (SUT)

1: Zachary Sapsford (WSW)

By Liam O’Sullivan (@liamdlosullivan)