Late Twist Sees Wanderers Take Points at Seymour
We were left frustrated on Friday night at Seymour Shaw, falling 3–2 to Western Sydney Wanderers after a late turnaround in an entertaining five-goal contest.
We started the match well in front of our home crowd and created several early opportunities as both sides settled into an open and lively encounter.
Yianni Nicolaou came closest early on, seeing a close-range effort cleared off the line before Jamie Percevski forced a strong save from the resulting corner. Richard Shoueiki was also heavily involved, weaving through defenders before testing the Wanderers goalkeeper from the edge of the area.
Richard Shoueiki putting the Wanderers keeper under pressure
At the other end, Danijel Nizic produced several important saves to keep us level as the visitors looked to respond.
Our pressure paid off in the 23rd minute. Jacob McLachlan’s strike was parried into a dangerous area, and Shoueiki reacted quickest, turning home the rebound to give us a deserved lead.
The team celebrating with Richard Shoueiki after his goal
The Wanderers responded six minutes later with a moment of quality, as Atiya Waraga found the top corner following a short corner routine to level the scores.
The contest remained evenly poised heading into halftime, with both sides creating chances in an entertaining end-to-end battle.
After the break, the visitors lifted their intensity, though we continued to threaten on the counter. One of our best opportunities came when Nizic launched a quick goal kick that released Nicholas Olsen down the left. Olsen drove forward and delivered a dangerous ball across the face of the goal, but it flashed through the area without a finishing touch.
Nicholas Olsen left frustrated after his cross couldn’t find a teammate
The decisive moments arrived late in the match.
In the 83rd minute, the Wanderers completed a flowing attacking move that ended with substitute Lachlan Sattout, a former Sharks youth player, finding the net after his initial effort was saved.
The visitors added another soon after through Jesse Cameron following a free-kick situation, leaving us with plenty to do in the closing stages.
To the boys’ credit, we kept pushing until the final whistle and pulled one back in the 93rd minute when Thijs van Amerongen found the net to give us a lifeline. Despite a late surge, we were unable to find the equaliser before full-time.
Thijs van Amerongen taking one back in the 93rd minute
It was a tough defeat to take after a competitive performance and plenty of positives in front of our home supporters.
We return to Seymour Shaw Park this Saturday when we host UNSW FC, and we would love to see the Sutherland faithful back in the stands to support the boys.