Sutherland Sharks recorded their fourth win of the PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s season with a tightly contested but impressive 3-2 victory at Seymour Shaw.
The other big news coming on the night was that of Panni Nikas playing his final game for Sydney United 58.
A brace for Tomohiro Kajiyama put the Sharks on course for the victory and Nathan Elasi’s 84th minute strike helped cap off a strong performance from the home side as they spoiled Nikas’ final game for United 58.
It was an off-night for Sydney United 58 who were below their usual standard.
Although Chris Payne scored his second goal in as many appearances and Anthony Vrlic hit the back of the net, the Red’s lacked the clinical edge to secure the three competition points.
With a move to Thai side Police Tero FC confirmed, Nikas was determined to give the fans a show in his last match in the PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues. The mercurial midfielder didn’t disappoint and threatened early with a curving free-kick that just whistled wide of Nathan Denham’s left post.
The first fifteen minutes were a rugged affair as both teams traded fouls with the best chances coming from the set piece. Kajiyama put one right on the head of Jeremy Cox to nod over the bar.
Sutherland Sharks started to warm into their rhythm as Kajiyama combined well with Cox before the latter hammered one into the side netting.
Their positive play was rewarded with the opener. Some swift feet from Joshua Da Silva created the chance down the wing before he squared it to Kajiyama to smash home his tenth goal of the season and a 1-0 lead for the Sharks.
The usually fluid Sydney United 58 side found it hard to break down the Sharks defence. Their best chances came from the set piece – Nikas curled another past the right post this time.
Both sides livened up in the second half as Kajiyama once again stood over a free-kick but he could only angle it wide.
Christopher Payne had the best chance for Sydney United 58 as he tried to wrap his foot around the ball but a determined Rob Watson block denied him.
Sutherland Sharks made the visitors pay for their wastefulness in front of goal as a loose pass from Yianni Perkatis fell to Kajiyama to slot home for 2-nil.
Just as they fell behind – Sydney United 58 found a lifeline back into the contest from the spot. Payne was fouled by Sharks keeper Nathan Denham in the box. He dusted himself off to make it 2-1 and an interesting final 20 minutes.
It seemed that Sutherland Sharks refused to lose tonight – Jeremy Cox was energetic all night and created the third goal as he crossed it for Elasi to tap home for 3-1.
The Sharks almost piled on the misery just before full-time when Elasi knocked one down smartly in the box for Kajiyama who rattled the ball against the crossbar.
The visitors pulled one back late as substitute Anthony Vrlic’s shot was deflected into the net for a 3-2 final score in a match which Sutherland Sharks dominated.
A jubilant Grant Lee praised the effort of his side against a good Sydney United 58 side.
“Tonight was good but we still caused ourselves problems like the penalty tonight.” Lee said.
“A brief when I took over was to solidify the back four and I think tonight we did that. We never allowed Sydney United 58 much of a chance.”
Departing the PS4 NPL NSW Men’s competition, Nikas praised the competition and his side.
“It has been a good time and the standard is improving each year. I walk out with my head high and onto the next challenge”, he said.
“I don’t think we deserved the win tonight as we were below our usual standard. I have full faith that the boys can turn it around next week.”
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 3 (Kajiyama ’33, ’74, Elasi ’84)
Sydney United 58 2 (Payne ’78 and Vrlic ’94)
Saturday 17th June 2017
Seymour Shaw
Referee: T. Danaskos
Assistant Referees: L. Greenshields & A. Beecham
4th Official: N. McOrist
Sutherland Sharks: 1. DENHAM Nathan, 3. MURAYAMA Takuya, 5. LITTLER Nicholas (GORDON ’57), 9. KAJIYAMA Tomohiro, 10. DA SILVA Joshua (EVERETT ’84), 11. ELASI Nathan, 12. BROWN Blair, 13. COX Jeremy (DA SILVA SANTOS ’86), 14. O’SHEA Patrick, 19. FITZPATRICK Callum, 31. WATSON Rob
Subs not used: 15. LOPES Kevin, 21. LOE Nikolas and 23. PAPPA Tom
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: nil
Sydney United 58: 3. BERTOLISSIO Nathan, 5. TOMELIC Anthony, 6. USKOK Tomislav, 7. SHIN Yutaro (PARIC ’72), 11. PERKATIS Yianni, 14. STAVROULAKIS Nicholas (VRLIC ’60), 20. MARKOVIC Peter, 21. MANOS Thomas, 23. NIKAS Panni, 32. OLSEN Nicholas and 66. PAYNE Christopher
Subs not used: 9. VRANIC Adrian and 17. BILIC Matthew
Yellow cards: Uskok, Perkatis, Markovic, Nikas and Bertolisso
Red cards: nil
-By PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Justin Davies
APIA’s winning run continues
APIA Leichhardt Tigers have continued their stellar season with a solid 2-0 win against Sutherland Sharks during their PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition clash at Lambert Park.
A first half penalty to Jordan Murray and a fantastic late strike to Brendan Lundy were enough to get the full three points for the Tigers.
It was a tough night for Sutherland who struggled to break down APIA’s dominance at both ends of the pitch.
The victory was APIA’s fifth straight as they extended their lead at the top of the table.
The first chance of the game favoured the Sutherland Sharks in the 12th minute when Nathan Elasi fed the ball to Joshua Da Silva charging down the left, but his powerful shot ended up just wide of the goal.
It was APIA Leichhardt that opened the scoring a few minutes later. A corner produced some pushing and shoving in the box and, in the end, it was Nathan Millgate who went down. The home side was duly awarded the penalty which Jordan Murray took with textbook precision.
Sutherland Sharks could have struck back in the 20th minute when a corner reached Da Silva at the far post, but his volley was well saved by the APIA custodian Luke Turnbull.
The reply from the Tigers was in the 23rd minute when a Lundy shot from distance forced a great low save from Nathan Denham.
It was Lundy again with a shot from outside the box in the 32nd minute, but even though it was almighty close, the ball still needs to hit the back of the net to make them count on the scoreboard.
Five minutes before the end of the first stanza a shot by Corey Biczo was just wide of the mark as APIA Leichhardt once again came close to hitting the target.
In the second half the first chance fell to the visitors when Elasi fired against the outside of the netting in the 56th minute but it was in the 70th minute that the best chance of the game arrived.
A long, speculating ball from the right by Adrian Ucchino reached Matthew West on the right who struck the ball so sweetly in the teaming rain that it rattled the crossbar before Denham had realised what had happened. It would have been a classic goal on the grand old ground of football.
In the 80th minute Sean Symons charged down towards goal in the pouring rain but his close range attempt was well saved by Denham.
APIA Leichhardt did score again in the 85th minute and it was great goal indeed. Tasuku Sekiya fed Lundy who unleashed a shot with such venom that gave no one any chance.
After the game Danial Cummins coach of APIA Leichhardt Tigers finally admitted that his team is possibly the scalp that all the others now want.
“We have a target on our back now,” he said.
“For the first ten rounds or so we went under the radar because there may have been a thought that this won’t last, but now things are different. It’s a good thing which creates a different kind of pressure and the team is responding well.
“Today was really important to have secured the three points. We knew that Grant [Lee] has got them working quite well down there at Sutherland and they’re a resilient teram, so we knew that we had to turn up and play.”
Over in the Sutherland Sharks dressing room their coach Grant Lee was frustrated somewhat by the fact that his team had been in the game the whole way but in the end came away with nothing to show for their efforts.
“We don’t just get the rub of the green,” he said. “We compound ourselves sometimes by conceding silly goals like the second one and then the game gets away from you.
“In the first half we were not as composed and played into their hands by treating the ball like a hot potato, but in the second half we were more patient in our build ups and we did quite well.
“We had some great opportunities and, playing a bit smarter, we’ll be able to get a bit more out of it but you just can’t afford to give away much against good opponents like APIA”.
Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 2 (Murray 17’ pen, Lundy 86’)
Sutherland Sharks: 0
Saturday 10th June 2017
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Chris Young
Assistant Referees: Kearney Robinson, Roy Osborne
Fourth Official: Nick Farmer
APIA LEICHHARDT TIGERS: 22. Luke Turnbull, 2. Nathan Millgate, 3. Paul Galimi, 7. Sean O’Connell (13. David D’Apuzzo 84’), 8. Corey Biczo (16. Sean Symons 52’), 11. Jordan Murray (9. Matthew West 55’), 15. Themba Muata-Marlow, 17. Adrian Vlastelica, 18. Adrian Ucchino, 19. Brandon Lundy, 20. Tasuku Sekiya.
Substitutes not used: 1. Ivan Necevski, 10. Franco Parisi.
Yellow Cards: O’Connell 39’, Galimi 51’, Ucchino 77’
Red Cards: Nil
SUTHERLAND SHARKS: 1. Nathan Denham, 3. Takuya Murayama, 5. Nicholas Littler, 6. Matthew Gordon (19. Callum Fitzpatrick 86’), 9. Tomohiro Kajiyama, 10. Joshua Da Silva, 11. Nathan Elasi, 12. Blair Brown, 13. Jeremy Cox, 14. Patrick O’Shea, 31. Robert Watson
Substitutes not used: 15. Kevin Lopes, 18. Matias Da Silva Santos, 21. Nikolas Loe, 33. Tom Pappa
Yellow Cards: Elasi 81’
Red Card:
-by Joe Russo, PlayStation4® National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Reporter, at Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Blacktown City dominate hapless Sharks
Blacktown City FC cruised to a 2-0 victory against Sutherland Sharks during their PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s clash at Seymour Shaw on Saturday.
Goals to winger and former Sharks youngster James Andrew and Joey Gibbs helped the visitors secure all three points and put the pressure on top side APIA Leichhardt Tigers in the battle for the PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Premiership.
It was the Andrew show in the first half as the winger, making his first appearance at Seymour Shaw since leaving the club at the end of last season, terrorised the Sutherland defence in a man of the match performance.
Sutherland’s cause wasn’t helped by a 35th minute red card from Christopher McStay as they struggled to break down an in-form Blacktown outfit.
It was a brighter start than in previous weeks from the Sharks with a 4th minute Christopher McStay header went inches wide of City goalkeeper Tristian Prendergast’s post.
The game settled down in the 15th minute when Blacktown City’s no nonsense defender Zachary Cairncross was forced off with an injury. His replacement Andrew proceeded to light up the contest.
The substitute opened the scoring with a lovely solo effort as he guided himself around defenders before slotting home under Sharks keeper Nikolas Loe.
Tomohiro Kajiyama played a lone hand for the Sharks in the first half. The striker put a tame effort right at Prendergast before minutes later the Blacktown City keeper was forced to smother another Kajiyama shot to keep it 1-nil.
Things got worse for the already trailing Sharks, as they were reduced to ten when Christopher McStay was shown a red card after a late challenge on a Blacktown City player.
Blacktown City FC used their man advantage to full effect a minute later. Andrew again involved as he was brought down in the box. Joey Gibbs stepped up and converted to make it 2-0.
Mitchell Mallia had the chance to make it three in the 41st minute but some brave keeping from Loe kept it at 2-0 going into the break.
Sutherland Sharks coach Grant Lee asked his side to show some more attack in the second half and they opened up Blacktown City FC a few times.
Nathan Elasi smashed one against the crossbar as Blacktown City FC keeper Prendergast could only watch.
Andrew continued to use his pace to threaten as he skipped into the box. At times it looked like the winger was the Harlem Globetrotters against the Washington Generals such was his dominance every time he received the ball.
The Sharks were unlucky not to find the net late on as Elasi once again had a header in the net, but it was chalked off due to offside.
Blacktown City were able to see out the rest of the contest to take all three points.
Afterwards Blacktown boss Mark Crittenden was happy with the effort backing up from a midweek FFA Cup match.
"We had to make a couple of changes after the cup. To back up tonight and get the result I was very happy with it," he said.
“He (Andrew) has pace to burn and we are glad to have him at Blacktown City FC. He has scored six or seven goals and I’m very happy with him."
Despite the loss Sutherland Sharks boss Grant Lee was happy with the effort.
"We still do some stupid things at critical moments which cost us. Missed a couple of tackles then we concede the goal." Said Lee.
"I think [Nikolas] Loe had one save to make. We hit the crossbar several times and I can’t fault the effort of the boys."
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 0
Blacktown City 2 (Andrew ’17, Gibbs ’36)
Saturday, June 3 2017
Seymour Shaw, Miranda
Referee: S. Lucas
Assistant Referees: J. Tesoriero & M. McOrist
Fourth Official: A. Brett
Sutherland Sharks: 3. MURAYAMA Takuya (WATSON ’45), 4. KAYES Stephen, 5. LITTLER Nicholas, 6. GORDON Matthew (DA SILVA J. ’67), 8. MCSTAY Christopher, 9. KAJIYAMA Tomohiro, 11. ELASI Nathan, 12. BROWN Blair, 13. COX Jeremy (LOPES ’77), 14. O’SHEA Patrick and 21. LOE Nikolas
Substitutes not used: 1. DENHAM Nathan, 18. DA SILVA Santos
Yellow cards: Brown, Elasi
Red cards: McStay
Blacktown City FC: 1. PRENDERGAST Tristian, 3. SPERANZA Giorgio, 4. SPERANZA Roberto, 5. LYNCH Grant 6. LEWIS Matthew, 8. ARAUJO Daniel (KONAGAYA ’64), 9. GIBBS Joey, 10. EVANS Connor, 14. MALLIA Mitchell (BEUMIE ’80), 19. CAIRNCROSS Zachary (ANDREW ’15), 21. CHUN Bo-Hyun
Substitutes not used: 16. IRELAND Mason and 20. SYMES Matthew
Yellow cards: Cairncross
Red cards: nil
*Player Ratings hidden with points going towards the Team of the Year to be released at the conclusion of the 2017 PS4 NPL NSW Men’s season
-By PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Justin Davies
Sharks stun Manly at Cromer
It was the same old story for Manly United on Sunday afternoon in their 2-1 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s defeat against Sutherland at Cromer Park.
Celebrating Heritage Round, the hosts were keen to put on a show, but once again poor finishing was their Achilles heel.
Following a dour opening, United’s Nikola Taneski fired a warning shot from distance in the 18th minute.
Two minutes later the away side should have taken the lead.
The usually reliable Nathan Elasi found himself unmarked in the area, but the striker snatched at his effort, hitting it wide of the target.
It proved costly with Manly taking the lead after 25 minutes.
Brendan Cholakian burst into the area before gliding the ball past Sutherland keeper Nikolas Loe.
With 33 minutes on the clock Taneski almost doubled Manly’s lead.
The always dangerous attacker jinked and found room in the box, but Sharks defender Nick Littler positioned himself perfectly, blocking Taneski’s effort.
On 42 minutes Taneski turned provider.
He whipped in a decent ball but Sipan Berti header over the half chance.
Manly attempted to kill the contest after the break.
Dom Ferguson blazed over a loose ball from a Jamie Lobb corner on 49 minutes and moments later that man Littler was on hand to deny Taneski from point blank range.
When Berti then missed a 1v1 against Loe just before the hour mark, you sensed it might be Sutherland’s day.
On 62 minutes they equalised.
Manly substitute Mitchell Rooke casually turned over a ball on halfway and the Sharks broke quickly.
Elasi capitalised, taking a touch before slotting an effort past Manly shot stopper Dylan Mitchell.
Minutes later Josh Da Silva volleyed over for the away side and then seconds down the other end Sam Wilson had a huge chance to give Manly the lead again.
The left back blazed over after Cholakian played him in, with the chorus of groans in the Lucas Neill Grandstand telling the story.
A winner was inevitable in what was an end to end second stanza and Sharks striker Tomohiro Kajiyama provided it.
The Japanese import squeezed a shot past Mitchell at the near post, sparking jubilant scenes from the visitors bench.
On 75 and 76 minutes Taneski had two chances for Manly to square the ledger, with the second blocked by man of the match Littler.
Cholakian almost rescued a point for Manly with 84 minutes played, only to see his sharp effort smack against the post and out to safety.
Littler described the contest at ‘hard fought’ at the final whistle.
"We are finally starting to take our chances,” he said.
"I thought we showed some good character to come from a goal down.
"In the first half we battled well, and then after the break we scored two goals, so job done."
Manly’s Rhys Williams said it was another game his teammates were left pondering what may have been.
"If you don’t score from the chances we had, you don’t win games,” he said.
"We also had a few guys out injured, but our squad depth is decent enough to get a result in games like that.
"I still think we can still mount a case to finish in the top five, if not higher.
"We are leaking too many goals, we certainly need to address that."
Match Stats
Manly United 1 (Brendan Cholakian 25′)
Sutherland 2 (Nathan Elasi 62′, Tomohiro Kajiyama 70′)
Cromer Park, Sunday May 28, 2017
Referee: M.Weiner
Assistant referees: S.Edeling, T.Lee
Fourth official: A.Mansour
Manly United: 1.Dylan MITCHELL, 2.Kieren PAULL, 3.Jamie LOBB, 4.Travis OUGHTRED, (12.Leigh EGGER 62′), 6.Dom FERGUSON, 8.Sasa MACURA, (28.Mitchell ROOKE 46′) 10.Brendan CHOLAKIAN, 11.Nikola TANESKI, 16.Sipan BERTI, 17.Sam WILSON, 19.Daniel SARIC (5.Rhys WILLIAMS 73′)
Substitutes not used: 20.Shaun CATLIN, 33.Jamie GLOVER
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil
Sutherland Sharks: 21.Nikolas LOE, 3.Takuya MURAYAMA, 4.Stephen KAYES, 5.Nick LITTLER, 8.Chris McSTAY, (30.Lachlan EVERETT 71′) 9.Tomohiro KAJIYAMA, 10.Josh DA SILVA, (7.Jack PRESS 81′) 11.Nathan ELASI, 12.Blair BROWN, 13.Jeremy COX, 31.Rob WATSON (27.Harrison QUIRK 90′)
Substitutes not used: 1.Nathan DENHAM
Yellow cards: Press 89′, Kayes 90′
Red cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Nick Littler (SS)
2 – Brendan Cholakian (MU)
1 – Nathan Elasi (SS)
-By PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Andrew Prentice
Sharks thwarted by Olympic comeback
A sensational second-half salvo from Sydney Olympic saw the Blues come from behind to defeat Sutherland Sharks 3-1 in their PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s round 11 contest at Belmore Sports Ground.
Tomihiro Kajiyama’s opening half strike looked to have set up a happy comeback to Belmore for returning Olympic talisman Grant Lee, but three unanswered second half goals from Yu Kuboki, Radovan Pavicevic and Jinya An saw Olympic breeze to their sixth win of the campaign.
The visitors will lament their second half implosion which leaves the struggling side in eleventh position ahead of next weekend’s battle of the beaches against Manly United, especially with Lee’s men enjoying a comfortable 1-0 lead at the half-time break having repelled Olympic successfully for the opening forty-five minutes.
It was Kajiyama’s ability to be in the right moment at the right time that saw the visitors break the deadlock ten minutes before half-time. An excellent piece of close control and cross from Josh Da Silva squeezed through a line of Olympic bodies before the ball was emphatically hammered home by Kajiyama.
Sutherland were untroubled for much of the half but the Blues spurned a good chance to restore parity on the cusp of half-time when Jason Madonis ended a superb burst from the right by tricking his way to the byline but the fullback’s cross to the back post was sent into the side netting by William Angel.
Although Olympic had flattered to deceive in the first half the contest was turned on its head when the hosts were awarded a penalty after a cynical collision from Nicholas Littler on Blues flyer Sebastian Malfara in the area.
Yu Kuboki confidently dispatched the spot kick down the centre to bring the scores level, and it got even better for the hosts minutes later when a superb run and cross from Nikita Andricopoulos was swept home with conviction by Olympic frontman Radovan Pavicevic.
Olympic made it three in nine minutes when Hagi Gligor robbed the Sutherland backline on the edge of the box and turned in another excellent delivery into the box that was turned home by Jinya An.
Sutherland manager Grant Lee mourned a terrible second half spell following the match but said his players are showing enough positive signs to turn around their season around.
“The first half was really good, we deserved the lead.
“We came out into the second and invited trouble and there was nine minutes of madness, all starting with the penalty which was completely avoidable.
“It’s by far a mental thing, we start living in the past and the doubt creeps in and we start feeling sorry for ourselves.
“There are some really nice things about the squad, we play some nice football and if we get a little tougher mentally we will get things back on track.
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 3 (Kuboki 55’, Pavicevic 60’, An 64’)
Sutherland Sharks 1 (Kajiyama 35’)
Sunday 21 May, 2017
Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore
Sydney Olympic: 11. Jinya An, 7. William Angel, 19. Darcy Burgess, 24. Christopher Gligor, 1. Paul Henderson, 12. Yu Kuboki, 8. Jason Madonis, 15. Sebastian Malfara (16. Nikita Andricopoulos 56’), 23. Tass Mourdoukoutas, 9. Radovan Pavicevic, 4. Thomas Whiteside
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Ezequiel Consoni, 25. Mark Rodic, 6. Mitchell Stamatellis, 13. Yahya Ethindi
Yellow Cards: N/A
Red Cards: N/A
Sutherland Sharks: 3. Taku Murayama, 4. Steve Gomes, 5. Nick Littler, 6. Matthew Gordon, 9. Tomihiro Kajiyama, 10. Josh Da Silva, 11. Nathan Elasi, 12. Blair Brown, 13. Jeremy Cox (7. Jack Press 67’), 14. Patrick O’Shea (8. Chris McStay 67’), 21. Nicholas Loe
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Nathan Denham, 19. Callum Fitzpatrick, 13. Kevin Lopes
Yellow Cards: 6. Matthew Gordon 55’
Red Cards: N/A
Player Ratings
3 – Thomas Whiteside (SO)
2 – Jinya An (SO)
1 – Jason Madonis (SO)
-By PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Jacob Windon