Following a brilliant League campaign, whereby the Sharks remained undefeated up until Round 19, Brian Brown’s men were in a predicament as a loss against Sydney Olympic would have ended their season after Wollongong FC handed them a defeat in the Major Semi-Final one-week earlier.

Against Sydney Olympic, who reached the Sutherland Sharks showdown following a 2-1 defeat of Manly United in the Minor Semi-Final, Brian Brown had the luxury of home surface advantage, even though the Blues had defeated the Sharks in both the pre-season Johnny Warren Cup Final and Tiger Turf Cup semi-final at the same venue.

An indifferent start from both sides eventually saw Sydney Olympic take control of midfield, and the Milan Blagojevic coached side should have taken the lead when Paul Wither beat the offside trap to go one-on-one with Sharks’ goalkeeper Philip Zabaks; the shot-stopper stood tall to produce a great reflex save.

As momentum built with Sydney Olympic, Sutherland Sharks had the home crowd in full voice as they hit on the counter-attack. Michael Katz’s incursion down the right-flank provided him with a chance to cross to an unmarked David Reid at the back post; the Sharks’ midfielder headed powerfully past Sydney Olympic shot-stopper Michael Herbet.

Even before Sydney Olympic could seriously mount a charge for an equalising goal, Nick Stavroulakis snuck in at the back post to divert a Reid cross from the left into an empty net and give the Sharks a two-goal lead.

Milan Blagojevic’s introduction of Anthony Doumanis gave Sydney Olympic some additional creativity in the middle of the park after the break, though despite their dominance of possession the Blues could not find a way past the Sharks’ Phillip Zabaks.

On 53’ minutes though, a fierce drive from close-range by Sydney Olympic’s Anthony Hartshorn found the back of the net, despite Zabaks doing ever so well to get a finger to the ball, keeping Sydney Olympic’s slight hopes alive.

Despite the pressure applied by the Blues Sutherland resisted, even after substitute Shane Lyons received his second yellow card and the Sharks were forced to play the final minutes with 10-men.

The win sets up a spectacular Grand Final scenario at Penrith’s CUA Stadium as the Top-Two sides from the regular season will go ‘head-to-head’ for the Grand Final trophy.

In the Grade 20 division, a resolute Marconi Stallions steamrolled Manly United to seal a Grand Final spot against Sydney Olympic. The Stallions wasted no time as the impressive Brodie Mooy (a striker) scored twice inside the opening 6’ minutes to seal the win. Mooy’s first arrived via the penalty-spot after he was fouled following some trickery inside the penalty-area.

The Stallions second arrived moments later via the right-flank where Timothy McGowan’s low cross picked out Mooy who calmly slotted past Manly United’s Rhyss Keane.

For a full list of TeleChoice Premier League Championship Series fixtures, check Football NSW website – www.footballnsw.com.au

- By Joseph Carlucci