Sharks Defence Proves Too Strong For Wanderers

Defence was key for First Grade as we fought off an impressive Western Sydney Wanderers side to take home three points with a 1-0 victory at Wanderers Football Park.

We started off strong, launching three decent attacks on goal within the first few minutes. Our first shot on target came in the fourth minute, as Maki Petratos pounced on a quick counter-attack, only for Wanderers keeper Tristan Vidackovic to safely catch the ball.

Daniel Wong causing problems for Wanderers down the left hand side.

Daniel Wong was causing all sorts of trouble for the Wanderers' defence, and it soon paid off. After some nifty footwork, he lined up a brilliant strike that found the back of the net in the 14th minute.

We kept up the momentum, with Petratos creating another good chance, but it was stopped by Wanderers’ defender Nathan Barrie.

The Wanderers then mounted their own attack, with Nicholas Badolato forcing our keeper Danijel Nizic to palm his strike over the crossbar in the 24th minute. Ricky Fransen followed up with a long-range effort, but Nizic comfortably caught it.

We seemed to be banking on quick counter-attacks for more goals in the first half, and Lachlan Macdonald nearly had the better of Vidackovic.

The final chances of the opening half came for us after a silly foul by Luka Knezevic on Petratos near the edge of the box. However, it was the Wanderers’ counter-attack that had real promise, but the resulting shot was saved by Nizic, who was really tested by the home team’s attack.

The second half saw the Wanderers leading the charge with a brilliant sequence from Knezevic to Noah Peacock, who sent the ball wide. A follow-up from Alaat Abdul-Ramen was stopped by a scrambling defence.

Both sides were quick on the counter, with us sending long balls through their defence, while the Wanderers used their speed to cut through.

The Wanderers had a few good, scrappy chances early in the half but were let down by their finishing.

Wong had another great opportunity in front of goal, but his shot lacked power and went straight into Vidackovic’s gloves.

Wanderers’ captain Aidan Simmons had a chance soon after, but his powerful strike went wide of goal, and a scramble for the ball saw Dylan Susovic clear it to safety. Susovic then followed up his heroics with a yellow card for a rough tackle.

Wong had the final opportunity of the evening, with his header off a well-placed free kick hitting the crossbar.

Coach Steve Zoric credited our defence for the victory.

“It was a good team effort defensively,” Zoric said. “We’re putting in the effort, staying structured, and working hard on the training field. Now we’ve got two clean sheets in a row.”