Sutherland Sharks advanced to the NSW Premier League Grand Final with a
gutsy 2-1 win over Sydney Olympic at Seymour Shaw Park on Saturday night, in
front of a smaller crowd than expected.
The Premiers will meet second-placed Wollongong Wolves at Penrith's CUA
Stadium next Sunday afternoon, having been beaten by the South Coast side in
the Major Semi-Final a week earlier.
Two well-taken first half goals proved enough for Sutherland to claim the
remaining Grand Final spot, despite a dominant second half from Olympic, who
squandered many chances in front of goal in that final period.
When they were on target Sutherland keeper Phil Zabaks got in the way to
stop them and never put a foot wrong all night.
Sharks' captain George Souris returned to action to lead his side with
distinction, after being carried off injured in his side's title-clinching
0-0 home draw against Wollongong at the end of the regular season.
Souris was struggling right at the end of this Preliminary Final match after
picking up a knock, but his coach, Brian Brown, doubted the veteran would
miss the Grand Final.
"We'll patch him up again and get him on the park for next week. We had
quite a few in trouble before the game tonight and it was a spirited effort
by the players to get through it," he said.
"David Reid got too tired and had to come off as well. We patched up quite a
few players and they just held on towards the end. It was a very big effort
from them all," he said.
Sydney Olympic began the better of the two teams with former Shark, Paul
Wither, very dangerous going forward, with his physique making life hard for
the home defenders.
He was denied by a brilliant save at the near post by Zabaks in the second
minute, after getting the better of the last man and going one-on-one with
the keeper.
Sutherland began to find their rhythm after that and two minutes later the
industrious Jim Bakis steered a shot wide for the Sharks.
The tide began to turn in favour of the Sharks in the 13th minute when right
back Mike Katz showed tremendous early dash to speed down the flank and send
Olympic defender, Emmanuel Giannaros, sprawling with a clever feint.
After wrong-footing the Blues' man Katz sent over an inch-perfect cross for
Brad Boardman to head home at the far post.
Olympic might have drawn level in the 20th but Chris Triantis shot wide when
he had men free to pass to, after a fast counter-attack and that very strong
chance was lost.
A throw on the left, a second in succession for the Sharks out near the
corner flag led to the second goal.
David Reid took the ball to the byline and crossed deep to the far post.
Defenders appeared to have the ball covered but Sutherland midfielder, Nick
Stavroulakis, had other ideas.
He made a perfectly-timed run into the box to arrive at the far post at the
exact moment the ball arrived, catching the defence off-guard as he stabbed
the ball just inside the right hand post.
Boardman should have put away a simpler chance in the 34th minute when
one-on-one, but Olympic keeper, Michel Herbet, made a fine save to keep the
score at 2-0.
"Had Brad scored that it was game over at 3-0," reflected Brown after the
match.
But the let-off for Olympic meant the Sharks could cling on only to their
two-goal half time lead and try and prevent Sydney Olympic finding a way
back in the second half.
The Blues introduced Anthony Doumanis off the bench at half time in place of
youngster Giannaros and Sutherland had to work hard to contain the visitors.
Stavroulakis, however, could have put his side three up, seven minutes after
the restart, but from a well-directed Jim Bakis corner he headed wide after
again arriving late at the far post.
Two minutes later Olympic pressure paid off when Anthony Hartshorn scrambled
the ball in after torrid goalmouth action had seen Sutherland struggling to
clear their lines. At 2-1 the game was once more in the balance.
Olympic defender Michael Cindric headed just wide after a 69th minute free
kick as the Sharks found possession hard to hold onto for very long.
Sutherland substitute Matt Hall, on for Boardman, broke from half way in the
81st to confront Herbet, but dwelt too long on the ball when through and a
defender came across to deny the striker.
At the other end Wither was wide with a powerful volley and Olympic
replacement, Marino Musumeci twice found himself out of luck in the last
five minutes with Souris clearing off the line and Zabaks making a save to
preserve the 2-1 result for the Premiers.
"We've got a week off now to get our players fit again for the Grand Final
which will be a very hard game," said Brown, "but I'm sure every one of
these players will be able to make it next week.
If they do, they face a very motivated Wollongong side, keen to show that
Grand Finals are their forte, having snared an NSL Grand Final trophy in
Perth some years ago under Nick Theodorakopoulos in a memorable match.
TeleChoice Premier League Grand Final:
Wollongong Wolves FC vs Sutherland Sharks -
3:00pm, Sunday 7 September, 2008 at CUA Stadium, Penrith
GRADE 20: Marconi Stallions 2 (Brodie Mooy 24', 26') defeated Manly United 0
NSW Premier League - Preliminary Final
7:30pm, Saturday 30 August 2008 - at Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda
Sutherland Sharks 2
(David Reid 13', Nicholas Stavroulakis 26')
defeated
Sydney Olympic FC 1
(Anthony Hartshorn 54')
