Saints fire past Sharks to post maiden victory in 2025
St George have secured their first win of the National Premier Leagues Men’s NSW season with a comprehensive performance at Barton Park, beating Sutherland Sharks 3-0 in the local derby on Friday.
It was the home side that made a flying start in this fixture, capitalising on an early period of dominance by finding the lead inside 12 minutes.
A loose pass from the Sharks was pounced on by Sunday Yona, who drove impressively against a retreating defence, roaring down the centre of the field.
After beating multiple players, he picked out Aedan O’Shea with a calm, incisive pass, and from close range, the winger took a slick first touch, opening up his body perfectly to allow his second to comfortable find the back of the net.
It was a quiet 10 minutes to follow in terms of chances, with teams taking turns to dominate the game, as they looked to play in their
In the 25th minute, A. O’Shea went close to gaining his and St George’s second goal of the game after a patient move from the home side.
Receiving the ball with space in midfield, Evangelo Souris turned and efficiently pushed play forwards to Troy Danaskos, who had made an overlapping run down the left.
From the by-line, Danakos played a pinpoint cutback into the feet of A. O’Shea, whose sharp shot was saved strongly by Danijel Nizic.
However, Sutherland’s captain could do nothing about St George’s next shot, as the home side doubled their lead in a brilliant start to the match.
A loose ball in the air fell to Aedan O’Shea, and, uncontested, he headered the ball back into the danger zone, with his effort met by Jaden Casella, who produced a strong flick on under pressure from Sutherland’s backline.
Bai Antoniou had gambled on Casella winning the flick on, and it was a highly rewarding bet, as the forward found himself in behind, and swept the ball home with Nizic left stranded once more.
Sutherland made a quick response, however, creating three opportunities in quick succession, the middle of which seeing Richard Shoueiki force a good save from Mackenzie Syron off a low shot across goal from inside the box.
But in the third minute of first half stoppage time, it was St George who found the net once more, making it three Antoniou earning his brace at the back post.
After a brilliant long pass from Danaskos released Casella in behind, St George moved forwards and quickly established position in Sutherland’s half.
After playing the ball inside, Casella then received again, and wasted no time in whipping in a sensational ball into the box.
The cross met Antoniou at the far post, and he made no mistake from close range to give the home side a three goal lead heading into halftime.
It was an intense start to the second half, with the Sharks showing more energy as they looked for a way back into the match.
However, St George did well to stifle any momentum shift, remaining composed and tidy on the ball, and began to dominate the second half.
A period of Sutherland dominance then followed, with some good passages of play, but they struggled to truly trouble Syron.
As the second half progressed, Sutherland began to impress more, with their technically gifted players looking strong when getting close to each other to combine, but time was ticking, and St George looked comfortable in defence while continuing to threaten going forward.
In the 86th minute, with the game already won, St George went close to making it four, with Casella almost finding what would be a well-deserved goal.
After receiving between the lines off a good pass from Seeto, Antoniou played a pinpoint, defence-splitting pass in behind to Casella, who drove towards goa.
Composing himself as he engaged in a one-on-one with Nizic, Casella then slid the ball around the goalkeeper, but was prevented by Jacob Tresoglavic, who made a clearance off the line after a strong recovery run to keep the deficit at three.
And that was the scoreline at which the game finished, as St George picked up their first win of the season in style with a strong performance at Barton Park.
Match Stats
St George FC 3 (A. O’Shea 12’ ,Antoniou 29’, 45+3’)
Sutherland Sharks FC 0
Friday 7 March, 2025
Barton Park
Referee: Mujtaba Ebrahimi
Assistant Referees: Charbel Geha and Oliver Leanfore
Fourth Official: Damien Delovski
St George FC: 99. Mackenzie Syron, 3. Troy Danaskos (C), 5. Nicholas Kalogerou, 6. Pat O’Shea, 7. Aedan O’Shea (12. Thomas Dunn 65’), 8. Evangelo Souris, 10. Jaden Casella (35. Harrison Farrow 88’), 13. Sunday Yona (14. Justin Poon 65’), 15. Bai Antoniou, 17. Thomas Brown (16. Kaidyn Wright 39’), 27. Jayden Seeto
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Daniel Axford, 34. Kota Toyooka
Yellow Cards: Seeto 46’
Red Cards:
Sutherland Sharks FC: 1. Danijel Nizic (C), 5. Takahide Umebachi, 6. Mohamed Ahmed, 7. Peter Grozos, 8. Nicholas Sullivan, 10. Yerasimakis Petratos (15. Matthew Moric 45’), 12. Ikko Ehode Arimoto (20. Jacob Tresoglavic 45’), 17. Richard Shoueiki (44. Tye McGowan 84’), 21. Jerry Skotadis, 23. Mason Fernandez (14. Dylan Susovic 71’), 87. Thomas Stobierski (3. Jordan Roberts 71’)
Substitutes Not Used: 30. Sebastian Arranz
Yellow Cards: Umebachi 81’
Red Cards:
Player ratings:
3 – Jaden Casella (SG)
2 – Troy Danaskos (SG)
1 – Bai Antoniou (SG)
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
