The Adelaide Sharks bounced back from being down to an early goal, to beat UTS Olympic 3-1 at Thebarton Oval yesterday.
Olympic snatched the lead when Derek Poimer took advantage of a defensive error to easily slot into the Sharks' net after only 9 minutes of play.
Seven minutes later, Olympic defender Adam Ciantar was judged to have handled the ball in the penalty square and a penalty kick was awarded to the Sharks. Jimmy Tsekinis, back into the Shark's line-up after returning mid-week from trialling with a number of English clubs (including Bolton, Manchester City and Reading), stepped up for the kick. His shot was well saved by Olympic 'keeper Bob Catlin, and although Nathan Day quickly swooped on the rebound, Catlin recovered to clear the danger.
The strong wind assisted the Sharks as they continually drove forward, with Nathan Day and Jimmy Tsekinis regularly striking at the Olympic goal. Into injury time of the first half, a Corey Artone pass found Nathan Day whose shot seemed destined for goal. The ball rebounded off the post towards the oncoming Andrew Borghetto, who slotted the ball in to equalise just on half-time.
The home team attack continued into the second half and the Sharks eventually hit the front when Artone and Day teamed up to charge forward and past Catlin, with Day slotting the ball in after 71 minutes.
Pablo Cardozo sealed the game for the Sharks when he received a pass from Tsekinis, to tap in the Sharks' third goal, as the game ticked into injury time.
Former Leichardt Tigers 'keeper Frank Mikuletic debuted for the Sharks in goal. Although Mikuletic had a relatively quiet game, he did make an important save when Norman Tome struck a thundering drive in the 72nd minute.
In summary, the Sharks play well, continually attacking and driving forward and deserving the maximum points they earned from the game.
The match stats:
Played on 12-Oct-1997 at Thebarton Oval, Adelaide
Adelaide Sharks 3 - UTS Olympic 1
(Andrew Borghetto 45) (Derek Poimer 9)
(Nathan Day 71)
(Pablo Cardozo 91)
Starting line-ups:
Sharks: Frank Mikuletic, Alex Castro, Branko Milosevic, Alex Kuzmanovic, Con Kokkinoplitis, Richie Alagich, Corey Artone, Nathan Day, Jimmy Tsekinis, Andrew Borghetto, Bill Misailidis. Subs used: Pablo Cardozo, Paul Pezos, Frank Tibaldi
Olympic: Bob Catlin, Adam Ciantar, J P Demarigny, Danny Barbalace, Hussein Jomaa, Brett Emerton, Walter Ardone, Peter Tsekinis, Huseyin Bayhan, Derek Poimer, Norman Tome. Subs used: Nick Carle, Ante Juric. Sub not used: George Bouhoutsos
Yellow Cards:
Sharks: Nathan Day (45), Branko Milosevic (70)
Olympic: Adam Ciantar (3)
Man-of-the-match: (selected by the media contingent present)
Jimmy Tsekinis (Sharks)