Sharks prove too slick for Manly
The Sutherland Sharks recorded an entertaining 3-0 victory over Manly United at Cromer Park on Friday evening signalling its intent in challenging for silverware during their round 2 National Premier Leagues Men’s NSW clash.
Yerasimakis (Makis) Petratos secured an impressive double, whilst Lachlan Macdonald scored from an unthinkable angle in the visitor’s impressive victory.
It took all of twenty-five seconds for Manly to test out Sutherland as a connecting pass from Pater Kekeris skimmed over the bar from Alen Aganovic’s header.
On the six-minute mark Ikko Ehode Arimoto thought he had forged the opener for the visitors via his smartly curated header, only to be called offside.
The back-and-forth nature of the heated affair continued as Aaron O’Driscoll drew his attempt just wide of the far post in the 23rd minute, after Kekeris’s free kick couldn’t have found the ‘Irishman’ any better.
Manly were made to pay dearly as Sutherland thundered home strikes in the 25th and 37th minutes stunning the hosts who cruised to a 5-0 win during their round 1 encounter against the Central Coast Mariners.
The first goal saw Maki Petratos slot home an easy rebound after an initial Levi Kaye save bubbled out to the midfielder who made no mistake slotting home from close range for the opener.
Lachlan Macdonald then scored a goal he won’t forget in a hurry from an acute angle after some beautiful build up play by the hosts.
The Sharks rout continued just two-minutes into the second half as Petratos locked down his second strike of the evening, as a captivating twisting and turning move from Mason Fernandez inside the box left Petratos with ample room to fire away.
Following Sutherland’s goal, an audacious bicycle kick was attempted by Lucas Meek as Danijel Nizic made himself big to thwart it.
Meek, the hero for the hosts last week, found himself edging closer to the Sharks goals with a high-octane run only to be pulled down from behind with a perfectly placed tackle from Ikko Ehode Arimoto, as Manly continued to press Sutherland midway through the second half.
Manly’s frustrations for the night were summed up when a looped ball from Meek into the area found no one except Nizic in the 78th minute.
A jubilant Sharks shotstopper Danijel Nizic struck a happy figure post-game not with just the victory away from home but also keeping a clean sheet.
“Manly scored a few goals last week and today we did a very good job of tightening up and keeping them quiet.
“We worked hard on closing the game out and dug in deep, it was an effort to be proud of.
“For ninety-minutes we didn’t stop, and we kept on running. It’s showing that all the hard work we’ve put in during pre-season is slowly starting to pay off.
“We’re very happy to have gotten the points today because the league is so tough, every team is in it to win it.
“We’re aiming to get as many points as possible because we know making or missing out on the finals can come down to just a couple of results.”
Match Stats
Manly United 0
Sutherland Sharks 3 (Yerasimakis Petratos 25’, 47’, Lachlan Macdonald 37’)
Friday 14 February 2025
Cromer Park
Referee: Michael Weiner
Assistant Referees: Thomas Dale and Owen Medcalf
Fourth Official: Joel Crawford
Manly United: 1.Levi Kaye, 2.Aaron O’Driscoll, (3.Matthew O’Donoghue 63’), 4.Jesse Piriz, 6.Bilal Belkadi, 7.Peter Kekeris, (9.Benjamin Koop 63’), 10.Harry McCarthy, 11.Lucas Meek, 13.Taiga Kawano, (16.Ryan Devine 68’), (17.Farah Koko 64’), 19.Alen Aganovic, 23.Darcy Burgess, (26.Harry Van Der Saag 64’), 28.Jasper Chipman
Unused subs: 21.Anthony Carreras
Yellow cards: Jesse Piriz 84’
Red cards: None
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Danijel Nizic, 2.Lachlan Macdonald, (3.Jordan Roberts 88’), 6.Mohamed Ahmed, 7.Peter Grozos, 10.Yerasimakis Petratos, 12.Ikko Ehode Arimoto, (14.Dylan Susovic 85’), (17.Richard Shoueiki 79’), (20.Jacob Tresoglavic 88’), 21.Jerry Skotadis, 22.Kotaro Katsuta, 23.Mason Fernandez, 26.Jacob Garner, 58.Daniel Wong
Unused subs: 8.Nicholas Sullivan, 14.Dylan Susovic, 30.Sebastian Arranz
Yellow cards: Daniel Wong 58’
Red cards: None
Player Ratings:
3: Ikko Ehode Arimoto (SS)
2: Yerasimakis Petratos (SS)
1: Lachlan Macdonald (SS)
-By Tobias Canning
