St George City finals hopes continue to rise as Sharks relegation fears deepen
St George City have grinded out a tight 1 -0 win over relegation threatened Sutherland Sharks in Round 26 at Penshurst Park in what really was a must-win match to remain in contention for finals football for the hosts.
The only goal of the encounter came early in the second half and it was none other than former Scottish international Marc McNulty who slotted home. For the Sutherland Sharks’ it is now four defeats in a row which leaves them in a precarious position close to the bottom of the ladder.
The opening chance of the game fell to the Sharks in the 8th minute when a cross by Tye McGowan from the right found Matthew Moric in the box, but his diagonal volley ended up just wide of the goal.
At the quarter hour mark the heavens opened over Penshurst Park which made playing conditions rather difficult for both teams, especially when combined with the gale force winds. And even though the rain did eventually subside, it was the wind which was the one constant throughout this fixture.
In the 17th minute Goncalo Agrelos weaved some magic from just outside the box for the home side but couldn’t keep his shot down and it went narrowly over the crossbar.
The tightly fought first half didn’t offer any more real goal scoring chances which was hardly surprising given that the wind made any ball off the ground a real lottery.
In the second half the first opportunity belonged to St George City and it was the only goal of the evening. A lovely through ball from Lewis Miccio found a charging Marc McNulty in the 50th minute and the Scotsman with a clinical finish put the home side ahead.
In the 54th minute the ball fell nicely for Jesse Photi in the area but his instinctive shot went across the face of goal and just wide in what could have been St George’s second there and then.
Sutherland Sharks replied in the 63rd minute through McGowan who fortuitously found himself with a perfect ball that stood up for him, but he just couldn’t manage to steer his powerful volley a bit lower and under the crossbar.
In the 66th minute the Sharks defence coughed up possession to McNulty who fired from distance but goalkeeper Danijel Nizic was ready.
In the 76th minute some pressure by St George City in attack forced the Sharks in defence to lose the ball and it fell to Paolo Mitry who shot just wide.
St George City were finding the Sharks defence generally hard to break down but they did make some inroads in the 86th minute when McNulty had a reasonable shot along the carpet that was just wide of the goal.
Late in the contest there were two corners for the Sharks and they forced everyone forward, including the goalkeeper, and it was actually Danijel Nizic himself with a header that was cleared off the line in what would have been an extraordinary and unusual late equaliser.
After the game St George City coach Manny Spanoudakis was happy with the three points but acknowledged that the conditions made it tough for both sides.
“The conditions were terrible for both teams of course,” he said.
“We had to adjust with Dominic Cox, Louis Khoury and Tarik [Ercan] out, so I was happy with the boys that started but we made a change in our shape at halftime which worked and took the game to them.
“We deserved to win that game and we did what we needed to do in those terrible conditions. I was happy with our patience and our clean sheet because we knew it wasn’t going to be pretty football.
“As a team we have patience and belief, and then at some point we know that we’ll get an opportunity if we are switched on like tonight and Marc [McNulty] took that.
“Next week is still a dangerous game for us against the Wanderers because the academy teams are picking up a lot of points and they have quality players. The Wanderers will fight like they always do because they need to stay away from the bottom.”
In the other dressing room Sutherland Sharks coach Steve Zoric was disappointed with the outcome but happy with some play from his team given the conditions.
“It was a hard game and I was happy with some patches of play when we moved the ball quickly,” he said.
“We probably should have done better in the first half, especially when we were in good positions around the box and better too in the front third in the last 25 minutes or so.
“All four remaining games for us are now grand finals and we need to pick up points, but we can only worry about ourselves and not the other results.”
MATCH STATS
St GEORGE CITY FA: 1 (McNulty 50’
SUTHERLAND SHARKS: 0
Saturday 2nd August
Penshurst Park
Referee: Michael Weiner
Assistant referees: Liam Smith, Hayden Kaye
Fourth Official: Rory McFarlane
St GEORGE CITY: 1. Jack Kenny, 4. Solomon Monahan-Vaiika, 5. Lewis Miccio (99. Peter Kekeris 77’), 9. Marc McNulty (16. William Kounnas 94’), 10. Paolo Mitry, 15. Nathan Grimaldi, 17. Noah Ovens, 18. Goncalo Agrelos, 19. Jesse Photi (7. Levi Sciuriaga 80’) , 23. Dakota Askew, 25. Brodie Clarkson.
Substitutes not used: 2. Matthew Wahby, 13. Cameron Kemp, , 48. Hugh McAteer.
Yellow Card: McNulty 84’
Red Cards: Nil
SUTHERLAND SHARKS: 1. Danijel Nizic, 2. Lachlan Macdonald, 4. Lachlan Fields, 8. Nicholas Petratos, 10. Maki Petratos ((23. Mason Fernandez 64’), 15. Matthew Moric (49. Marcus Fernandez 72’), 19. Tariq Maia, 22. Kotaro Katsuta, 27. Matthew Jackson, 44. Tye McGowan (88. Brendan Gan 72’), 77. Leo Mazis
Substitutes not used: 6. Mohamed Ahmed, 9. Jaden Gasking, 30. Sebastian Arranz.
Yellow Card: Katsuta 57’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Marc McNulty (StG)
2 – Brodie Clarkson (StG)
1 – Kotaro Katsuta (SS)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
