The Adelaide Sharks turned on a fierce first-half display to effectively knock out Sydney Olympic 4-1 Sunday night at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Sydney Olympic commenced the game more organised than the Sharks, with Jason Culina making numerous runs and shots at goal inside the first 10-15 minutes. After 3 minutes, Culina had a dashing run into the penalty area, but his shot was deflected by a defender. From the resultant corner, Culina again lined up, but the ball was smothered by the Sharks defence.
Branko Milosevic, John Gibson and Richie Alagich started to dominate the midfield and began feeding the Sharks' forward line of Derek Poimer, Alex Duric and Hamilton Thorp.
After 8 minutes, Sharks' midfielder Branko Milosevic crossed the ball in to find Duric, but his header was just over the crossbar. That move saw the balance of the game slowly swing into the Sharks' favour.
Culina made another run for goals after 11 minutes, but a sliding tackle from the side by Paul Pezos saw the ball pushed safely away.
The Sharks struck in the 17th minute with an incoming cross from Milosevic being deflected and rising high in the penalty area. Olympic 'keeper Jim Kourtis ran off his line to punch the ball clear, but his clearance was not effective, with the ball falling onto Alex Duric's head and into the open goal for the Sharks' opening goal, much to the surprise of Olympic as well as Duric !
Ten minutes later, Alex Castro charged in from the right. His incoming cross found Hamilton Thorp, who nodded home from close range, to put the Sharks 2-0 ahead after 27 minutes.
Sharks' 'keeper Nathan Wildy stood his ground to thwart Olympic with two diving saves, after 31 and 34 minutes. Wildy was actually a late inclusion to the Sharks' line-up, when first 'keeper David Miller fell ill (dizzy spells) during the warm-up session only minutes prior to the game. Wildy was added to the team sheet after Sharks' coach Manfred Schaefer had the change authorised by referee Gerry Connely and Olympic coach Branko Culina notified of the alteration.
The Sharks continued their surge, after 36 minutes with an Alex Duric run towards goal, which saw him brought down in the penalty area. Derek Poimer converted the penalty kick to put the Sharks 3-0 ahead, striking the ball hard and fast to the centre of the goals, with Kourtis diving to his right.
By this point of the game, nothing seemed to be going right for Olympic, exemplified when Pablo Cardozo crossed in from the left after 39 minutes, to find Norman Tome, but the header went well wide of an open goal. Then two minutes later, Chris Kalantzis received a yellow card for taking a free kick too early, as the Sharks defence were erecting a wall near the edge of the penalty area.
With the Sharks going from strength to strength and a minute remaining in the half, a cross from Poimer found Milosevic, who timed his run to perfection to header the ball past Kourtis to give the Sharks a comfortable 4-0 lead at the break.
Into the second half, Branko Culina had made two changes during the half-time break, bringing on Leo Carle and Carlos Gonzales on for Adam Pokic and Norman Tome. Hamilton Thorp was rested when he was replaced by youngster Danny Vidakovic after 57 minutes.
The second half was almost entirely the Sharks', with Alex Castro almost increasing the tally in the 59th, but a cross in from his left from Pezos was spooned over an open goal.
Three minutes later, Cardozo had a strong run along the right, with a well struck shot from the edge of the penalty area. The ball struck the left goal-post and bounced in to peg a goal back for Olympic.
The goal seemed to knock the wind out of the Sharks for a few minutes, with Olympic desperatly pressing forward, in search of goals.
By the 70th minute, the Sharks had stabilised again and their free-flowing game had returned. Gibson missed after 71 minutes, while Duric in the 75th minute, with plenty of time to line up his shot, blasted the ball wide of the goals.
The following minute Richie Alagich headed the ball off the goal line from a Cardozo shot, in what was Olympic's last real shot for goal for the game.
Derek Poimer ran towards goal after 77 minutes, but was hacked down in what appeared a certain goal. Lining up for the penalty, Kourtis denied the Sharks from another goal, saving the kick with a save to his right.
Despite further raids of the Olympic goal, the Sharks were unable to add to their first half tally and the game finished 4-1 to the Sharks.
Overall, the Sharks dominated most of the game, and could easily have scored more in the second half. After the game, Manfred Schaefer said he didn't expected such a big win and described the win as a "good result", especially after the previous week going down 0-4 at Marconi. Schaefer praised the good work of Nathan Wildy, who was called up at such late notice for the game (and having played in the National Youth League curtain-raiser game) and was also very confident with his new signing in Joel Porter, whom he sent onto the park in the 75th minute for Alex Duric.
Next week, the Sharks travel to Perth to face the top placed Glory side. Perth will surely view this game keenly, as the Sharks are the only team that Perth has yet to defeat in the A-League in Glory's two seasons in the competition. Both games at Perth Oval so far have been draws, while both games in Adelaide have been won by the Sharks.
Sharks' 'keeper David Miller may, however, have to miss the trip, despite given the "all clear" following tests at hospital on Sunday night. Schaefer will monitor Miller's condition (a suspected pinched nerve) before deciding on his choice of 'keeper.
The result continues the Sharks' dominance over Olympic at Hindmarsh, and pushed the Sharks up 5 places into 6th. By contrast, Sydney Olympic plummeted 5 places, down from 3rd to 8th and will have to re-group before their fixture next week, when they host the Newcastle Breakers.