Sydney United Take the Points at Seymour, But Not Without a Fight
Sydney United 58 have left Seymour Shaw with a 1-0 victory over the Sutherland Sharks after Japanese maestro Shunta Nakamura’s stellar goal in the 31st minute.
NPL Men's NSW Round 22 Highlights – Sutherland Sharks v Sydney United 58Watch on YouTubeThe win for the visitors has now seen them go unbeaten in 12 straight encounters v the Sharks.
Sydney United 58 stamped their authority early in the proceedings as skipper Adrian Vlastelica placed in a crisp, long ball through to Matthew Hatch who was unable to capitalise from a difficult angle.
The 19th minute saw the Sharks finally break down a resolute United 58 defence as Matthew Moric and Levi Sciuriaga exchanged a series of tantalising passes before Moric was bundled over by Vlastelica resulting in a sizeable free kick chance for the hosts. Sciuriaga positioned his attempt over the visitors wall, however Oliver Kalac made little trouble of disposing it.
Ten-minutes later the Sharks had several great chances before they were broken down United 58. Jay McGowan produced a great run down the wing as Sciuriaga appeared to be in a great position to score only for Vlastelica to push the ball out off his legs.
The visitors replied with venom in the 31st minute as following a corner kick Kalac produced a perfect pass to Nakamura who worked his way past two waiting Sharks before unleashing his shot from the edge of the box to score the opening goal of the match.
Just before the half ended, Sciuriaga thought he had scored as his shot bounced off the crossbar and looked to have gone over the line, however referee Jake Rose waived play on.
Ten-minutes into the opening of the second half, Hatch found himself with some space as he was involved in a one-on-one race to the ball against keeper Nenad Vekic – The experienced keeper did enough to get to the ball first.
Moric replied strongly as he conjured up a fantastic opportunity for Sutherland in the 62nd minute but his powerful attempt was saved by the outstretched arm of Kalac as the Sharks continued to press hard.
McGowan was the next Sutherland Shark to try and exert their influence as he witnessed his low driving shot leapt on by a relieved Kalac.
Entering the final stages of the match Patrick Antelmi forced a fine save out of Vekic as the visitors held on to continue their late season push for a finals berth.
Zeljko Kalac spoke post game about his own team, as well as the opposition’s efforts.
“It was a fantastic defensive display from us and I’m very happy with the effort the boys put in, however Sutherland made it very hard for us, as I thought it was very even – it was a fantastic effort overall.
“We didn’t put away our chances though and they had some too. Oliver Kalac was big for us today and performed great.
“As for Sutherland, they are better than what their position on the ladder suggests with what I’ve seen tonight and with what they have they’ll be fine.”
Match Stats
Sutherland Sharks 0
Sydney United 58 1 (Shunta Nakamura 31’)
Saturday 29 June 2024
Seymour Shaw, Miranda
Referee: Jake Rose
Assistant Referees: Arinath Gobinath and Oliver Leanfore
Fourth Official: Jasper White
Sutherland Sharks: 1.Nenad Vekic, 2.Kotaro Katsuta, (3.Jordan Roberts 83’), 4.Mitchell Stamatellis, 5.Takahide Umebachi, 6.Samuel Gulisano, 8.Mohamed Ahmed, (9.Maxx Green 83’), (10.Mason Fernandez 54’), 11.Jay Mcgowan, 14.Chris Lindsay, 15.Matthew Moric, (21.Lachlan Macdonald 33’), 23.Ethan Beaven, 77.Levi Sciuriaga
Unused subs: 43.Ikko Ehode Arimoto, 99.Jacob Cremen-cowan
Yellow cards: Nil
Red cards: Nil
Sydney United 58: 1.Oliver Kalac, (2.Christian Gonzalez 86’), 4.Adrian Vlastelica, 5.Anthony Tomelic, 7.Jordan Ivancic, 8.Shunta Nakamura, (9.Patrick Antelmi 69’), 10.Carlos De Oliveira, 11.Matthew Hatch, 13.Alessandro Lacalandra, 14.Liam Mcging, 15.Tariq Maia, (19.Aiden Milicevic 86’), (21.Luiz Lobo 69’), 22.Stephan De Robillard, (32.Mason Wells 45’)
Unused subs: 17.Matthew Nikolovski,
Yellow cards: (Carlos De Oliveira 65’)
Red cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3: Oliver Kalac (SU58)
2: Nenad Vekic (SS)
1: Shunta Nakamura (SU58)
-By Tobias Canning