Sutherland strike late to extend Olympic’s misery

A late Thijs Van Amerongen header guided Sutherland Sharks to a hard-fought 2–1 victory over Sydney Olympic at Belmore Sports Ground on Saturday evening — their first away win against them in many years.

The Sharks put together a strong display to secure the three points while simultaneously extending Olympic’s winless run to six matches.

The travellers came out hot and created two strong early chances.

The first came in the fifth minute via a corner set piece, where Tye McGowan produced a powerful header that struck the left post.

Tariq Maia followed up with another chance just one minute later, in the sixth minute, with the midfielder unleashing a strike from the right side of the box that forced a strong save from Olympic goalkeeper Josip Orlovic.

Maia eventually put the visitors ahead with a sensational volley in the 15th minute.

The goal arrived from another corner, where the ball was headed into the air by an Olympic defender towards Maia outside the box. He met it sweetly and struck it beautifully into the bottom right corner.

Sutherland and Maia continued to wreak havoc, creating another chance from a corner in the 32nd minute. Maia again met the ball outside the box and unleashed a long-range shot, which was saved this time by Orlovic down low to his left.

Olympic managed to level the score before the break following a perfectly weighted long ball from defender and captain Ziggy Gordon, which found Yuto Fujita just outside the box on the left side. The winger took the ball in stride and calmly slotted it into the net.

The hosts came close to grabbing a second in the 45+1st minute when a free kick from deep found Gordon in the box, though his header was saved comfortably by Sharks goalkeeper and captain Danijel Nizic.

The Sharks came close to regaining the lead in the 73rd minute when Takumi Ofuka found Nicholas Olsen in the middle of the box, but Olympic’s defenders stood firm to block the forward’s shot and keep the contest level.

Olympic nearly went ahead themselves in the 86th minute when Marco Arambasic drove forward and released a shot that was blocked by a Sutherland defender. The rebound fell to Yuta Komura, whose effort went just wide of the post.

The Sharks made them pay by scoring what proved to be the winner in the 88th minute through Thijs Van Amerongen, who got on the end of a Lachlan MacDonald cross and headed the ball into the right side of the goal.

Sutherland Sharks coach David Perkovic was full of praise for his players’ achievement in securing the win, which saw them claim back-to-back victories for the first time this campaign.

He remarked that they knew it would be a difficult match, given both teams came in desperate for points, telling Football NSW.

“It was really positive that we found a way to win the match.”

When asked what was discussed at half-time, Perkovic said.

“We just addressed something defensively from a tactical standpoint. It was only a minor problem.

“We addressed that, and it was just reinforcing that we were actually playing really well, that we needed to keep moving the ball quickly and just trying to keep that momentum going.

“It was really hard to break their deep block down, but we found a way in the end and I am really pleased.”

Match Stats

Sydney Olympic 1 (Yuto Fujita 44’)

Sutherland Sharks 2 (Tariq Maia 15’, Thijs Van Amerongen 88’)

Saturday 4 April

Belmore Sports Ground

Referee: Charlotte Flynn

Assistant Referees: Liam Smith and Thomas Aalders

Fourth Official: Chloe Gray

Sydney Olympic: 1. Josip Orlovic, 3. Samuel Bosnjak, 4. Joshua Hong, 5. Ziggy Gordon, 11. Giorgos Louca (35. Daniel Wong 81’), 16. Bailey Callaghan, 23. Brooklyn Mallia (21. Yuta Komura 81’), 24. Ben Giason, 30. Joshua Da Silva (13. Liam Saba 90’), 31. Yuto Fujita (9. Marco Arambasic 73’), 34. Marcus Fernandez

Substitutes Not Used: 12. Peter Grozos, 18. Kim Jun-Yong, 40. Anthony Carreras

Yellow Cards: Marcus Fernandez 57’, Ben Giason 84’

Red Cards: Nil

Sutherland Sharks: 1. Danijel Nizic, 3. Yianni Nicolaou, 4. Thijs Van Amerongen, 5. Jordan Perez (Jacob McLaughlan 76’), 6. Ryley Hollingdale (15. Jamie Percevski 46’), 8. Brendan Gan, 10. Tariq Maia, 11. Danny Choi (2. Lachlan MacDonald 76’), 17. Richard Shoueiki (7. Takumi Ofuka 67’), 21. Nicholas Olsen, 22. Tye McGowan (30. Julian Fedele 81’)

Substitutes Not Used: 12. James Husoy, 18. Guy Fiorese

Yellow Cards: Jamie Percevski 65’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings:

3: Tariq Maia (SS)

2: Brendan Gan (SS)

1: Brooklyn Mallia (SO)

-By Dimitri Kallos