Sharks Stun Blacktown City in Monumental Win at Seymour

Sutherland Sharks recorded a huge victory to kick start their campaign to beat off relegation following a hard fought 2-0 victory over a high flying Blacktown City outfit who were brought back down to earth at Seymour Shaw on Saturday.

Blacktown City had the early possession but Matthew Moric was on hand to put Sutherland ahead on the counter in only the 8th minute to stun visiting City before visiting skipper Mario Shabow up-ended Levi Sciurriaga midway through the second allowing Mitch Stamatellis to send Tristan Prendergast the wrong way and double the advantage.

Both sides fielded much altered starting line-ups through injury, rotation and suspension and it was Joey Gibbs who was the first to show with a shot from outside the area that Takehide Umebachi did well to track down and block in the 6th minute.

It was Moric who found the back of the net for the home side two minutes later hitting on the break and celebrating the strike in some style.

Jay McGowan almost made it two when firing in from 30-yards out that had the beating of Prendergast between the City sticks but crept narrowly wide of the upright.

Blacktown, uncharacteristically starting slowly and apparently not heeding the early warning, needed to shut down the ball over the top rapidly or run the risk of being caught a second time.

Several half-chances came and went for both as the game finally settled into a rhythm, mainly being played between the boxes with neither ‘keeper being worked to any great extent however the visitors were slowly imposing their authority and began pinning the Sharks back inside their half who, to their credit, were battling for every ball to keep City at bay.

The Matty Jackson versus Tyren Burnie and Danny Choi battle on Sutherland’s left was truly engaging.

Jak O’Brien received the ball from Choi but Nenad Vekic bravely managed to help the ball out of play for a corner but it was a close run thing near the end of the half.

O’Brien, Mario Shabow and Choi created a very decent opportunity in stoppage time that Shabow fired over the bar after intricate passing created the chance yet Sutherland would retain their slender lead going into the break albeit looking to hold out for another 45-minutes.

There were no personnel changes at the break although Choi noticeably came over to the left wing for the restart having had little joy against the impressive Jackson during the first 45’ minutes.

Goalscorer Moric was replaced by Sam Gulisano, the young striker picking up an injury, early into the second-half and just moments later Choi was on the end of a volley that curled away from the woodwork. It would have been yet another spectacular strike to add to a burgeoning back catalogue.

Kotaro Katsuta provided a tantalising cross for Sciurriaga whose header was deflected away by the fingertips of Prendergast but it was Shabow who gave away a penalty in the 63rd minute when fouling Sciurriaga inside the area the ever reliable Stamatellis tucked away with great aplomb for Sutherland to take a priceless two goal lead.

Katsuta pulled the ball back for Gulisano whose tame shot was easily dealt with by Prendergast however the home side were finding more space in behind City who were forced to play purely on the offensive in the remaining time if they were salvage anything from the match.

Tensions, always simmering below the surface, boiled over in the 78th minute with all players and both benches involved, mostly attempting to break it up, when tempers flared after a niggly foul by City substitute Lachlan Henderson leading to a lengthy hold up in play culminating in the protagonist being cautioned and Sharks’ Umebachi shown a straight red.

It was all hands on deck as Sutherland fought to hold back the relentless black tide coming at them in waves but a breakaway saw Jackson slip the net and fire at Prendergast in the 93rd minute and Mitch Mallia hitting a thumping drive straight at Vekic with almost the final kick of a topsy-turvy match leaving a disappointed City Coach, Mark Crittenden to reflect.

“At the end of the day, despite having a lot of possession, Sutherland out enthused us,” he commented.

“We knew they would sit off a little bit in the way they’ve shaped their team over the last few weeks but in saying that when they got the ball they got forward quickly and deserved to take the lead but to out enthuse us is the disappointing part for me tonight.

“I’m disappointed in the way we went about our work but full credit to Sutherland.

“At the moment we are down on players and we have to hope Danny (Choi) pulls up ok (Groin) or it’s another to add to a long list and we have a midweek game coming up on Wednesday night so on this performance there is very little we can take as a positive from the game but we’ll regroup, work hard and move on to the next fixture as always,” he ended.

A delighted Sharks coach Steve Zoric was ecstatic after the whistle and stated.

“It was a very disciplined performance from us tonight,” he said.

“We did everything right defensively, held our structure and I’m pleased we’ve kept two clean sheets in a row now against opposition a lot higher on the ladder than us who are challenging so that’s a big plus too.

“We took it to Blacktown and the boys expressed themselves tonight and showed they are starting to mature as a team and we always said it would be the second half of the season when we would start to fulfil the promise this side has.

“I cannot single out an individual in a team performance but Matty (Jackson) has shut down three top players in the past 2-games and at just 19-years of age is really starting to come on strong in the left-back position despite the fact he is a natural winger. He has shown he can defend as well as attack and possibly could have been on the scoresheet tonight right at the end and we have nothing but praise for the lad.

“All in all it was a terrific performance from the boy’s, three points probably no-one thought we would collect and now hopefully we can show our true colours in the remaining fixtures,” he concluded.

Sharks Under 10’s SAP team soaking up the post-win atmosphere in the dressing room

Match Stats

Sutherland Sharks 2 (Matthew Moric 8’, Mitch Stamatellis 64p’)

Blacktown City 0

Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda

Saturday 8th June 2024

Referee: Joshua Kermond

Assistants: Eric Aglieco and Harriet Gee

Fourth Official:

Sutherland Sharks: 1. Nenad Vekic, 2. Kotaro Katsuta, 4. Mitch Stamatellis, 5. Takehide Umebachi, 8. Mo Ahmed (14. Chris Lindsay 90+1), 11. Jay McGowan, 15. Matthew Moric (6. Sam Gulisano 54’), 23. Ethan Beaven, 26. Jacob Garner, 27. Matty Jackson, 77. Levi Sciurriaga (9. Maxx Green 77’)

Subs not used:  3. Jordan Roberts, 30. Nathan Denham, 66. Alex Trajanoski

Yellow Cards: Matthew Moric 45’, Nenad Vekic 90+5’

Red Cards: Takehide Umebachi 75’

Blacktown City: 1. Tristan Prendergast, 5. Grant Lynch, 8. Jak O’Brien, 10. Mario Shabow, 11. Danny Choi (42. Lachlan Henderson 74’), 12. Tyren Burnie, 16. Benjamin Berry (19. Julian Rodriguez 86’), 17. Martin Fernandez (14. Mitchell Mallia 58’), 18. Nicholas O’Brien, 22. Jacob Maniti, 23. Joey Gibbs

Subs not used: 7. Travis Major, 20. Cayden Henderson, 53. Yusei Miki

Yellow Cards: Ben Berry 56’, Mario Shabow 75’, Lachlan Henderson 75’, Martin Fernandez 75′

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings

3 – Matty Jackson (SS)

2 –Mitch Stamatellis (SS)

1 – Kotaro Katsuta (SS)

By NPL NSW Men’s Reporter Micky Brock