Sydney FC smashed by rejuvenated Sharks
The Sutherland Sharks have taken a huge step in its fight against relegation following a stunning 4-0 victory over Sydney FC in tough conditions at Seymour Shaw on Saturday.
For the majority of the match, the Sharks were on top in rainy conditions as they put a young ‘Sky Blues’ side under the hammer and broke their four-game losing streak in style.
The Sharks started ‘circling’ Sydney FC straight away and signalled their intent no more than seconds in when Taye Hedley was forced to header the ball away from Yerasimakis Petratos in a dangerous position.
Moments later Sutherland screamed for a penalty when Petratos was pulled down by Sydney FC centre-back Nicholas Zdrillic in the box and when that didn’t eventuate, the next play witnessed Lachlan Fields’ shot skewed away by Zdrillic.
With the hosts peppering the Sky Blues it was only time until the deadlock was broken in the 13th minute. Lachlan Fields saw his header hit the post but the resulting action saw the ball hit the path of Yianni Nicolaou who smashed home much to the delight of the host fans.
Sutherland continued to dominate as the game wore on and in the 25th minute Petratos forced a massive diving stop out of Sydney FC goalkeeper Jacob Cremen-Cowan who took charge of the number one jersey following Gus Hoefsloot’s call-up to the team’s senior side for their Hahn Australia Cup clash against Sydney United 58.
Just a minute later the Sharks scored their second after a calamitous error from Zdrillic in defence. Following Sutherland’s corner kick the young defender misplaced his clearance into Cremen-Cowan as Richard Shoueiki picked up the ball and dribbled around the keeper before firing home from close range.
As the first half was ending, Caelan Marshall-Witte pulled out a potentially goal-saving tackle on Leo Mazis in the 37th minute while in the 45th minute, Mazis’s free kick attempt forced a quality save out of Cremen-Cowan as he palmed the ball away ferociously.
The early stages of the second half saw Marin France create a few half-magic moments for the visitors and in the 52nd minute his beautiful ball into the box went to waste.
Nickolas Alfaro and France exchanged some very sharp passes between one another in the 57th minute as they went on an impressive run. However, Alfaro shot straight at Sutherland shot-stopper Danijel Nizic.
But in the 68th minute all that good form came crashing down as Tariq Maia controlled the ball with one touch off his chest before smashing home from close range that would go down as one of the goals of the season.
Like clockwork in 82nd minute Mazis evaded a few ‘Sky Blues’ and forced a one-handed save out of Cremen-Cowan, before Mohamed Ahmed was there to collect the rebound and score with ease, making it four goals on the night for the Sharks.
Whilst on the stroke of fulltime it could have been five had Marcus Fernandez not rattled his shot off the post.
One of the Sharks’ victorious goalscorer Richard Shoueiki was extremely happy with his side’s performance at full-time.
“Today’s win means everything to us.
“Every game from now until the end of the season is like a Grand Final for us.
“We have been fighting and training hard, which was reflected in our performance.
“Every team is tough to play against including Sydney and for us to break our losing streak at home in front of our supporters was brilliant.”
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 4 (Yianni Nicolaou 13’, Richard Shoueiki 26, Tariq Maia 68’, Mohamed Ahmed 82’)
Sydney FC 0
Saturday 09 August 2025
Seymour Shaw Park
Referee: Hugh Fenton-White
Assistant Referees: Blake Sanchez-Cruz and Lucy Hungerford
Fourth Official: Nina Cortese
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Danijel Nizic, 2.Lachlan Macdonald, 4.Lachlan Fields, 6.Mohamed Ahmed, (8.Nicholas Sullivan 47’), (9.Jaden Gasking 88’), 10.Yerasimakis Petratos, 17.Richard Shoueiki, 19.Tariq Maia, (23.Mason Fernandez 87’), 27.Matthew Jackson, 33.Yianni Nicolaou, (44.Tye McGowan 72’), (49.Marcus Fernandez 87’), 77.Leo Mazis, 88.Brendan Gan
Unused subs: 30.Sebastian Arranz
Yellow cards: Mohamed Ahmed 22’
Red cards: None
Sydney FC: 1.Jacob Cremen-Cowan, 2.Nicholas Zdrillic, 6.Tyler Williams, (7.Nickolas Alfaro 45’), 10.Taye Hedley, 11.Marin France, 14.Jared Middleton, (15.Samuel Lancaster 45’), (17.Jacob McLachlan 70’), 18.Oscar Gultekin, 19.Jordan Graoroski, 26.Dylan Rose, 27.Lachlan Middleton, (21.Zachary De Jesus 45’), (22.Zac Fowler 63’), 33.Caelan Marshall-Witte
Unused subs: 12.Alexander Zaverdinos
Yellow cards: Dylan Rose 16’, Nickolas Alfaro 62’
Red card: None
Player Ratings:
3: Yerasimakis Petratos (SS)
2: Tariq Maia (SS)
1: Jacob Cremen-Cowan (SFC)
