An exquisite chipped strike from Olympic Sharks goal-poacher supreme Ante Milicic paved the way for a 1-0 victory over the Football Kingz at Toyota Park on January 18, and brought to an end a two-match losing streak for the long-time league leaders.      But it was a defiant "in-your-face" performance from the visitors which put the defending National Soccer League champions off their stride, and the Kiwi team will head back across the Tasman disappointed not to have taken something from a match which was dominated by a blustery wind and an eye-sore of a playing surface.      As a result of the down-the-ground gusts, controlling the ball proved quite a challenge for both sets of players - such was the strength of the wind that it was not uncommon to see the ball heading back over the kicker's head! That they were forced to "aim high" was due in no small part to arguably the poorest playing surface seen in the NSL this season.      Consequently, there was little quality football in this scrappy encounter, and goalscoring opportunities were fewer still. To some extent, it was a war of attrition - one team wanting to arrest a losing streak which has clearly dented their confidence; the other lacking the penetrative edge necessary to extend said streak, and stem their own run of victory-free form.      The Kingz would have been well-pleased to have come off the park at half-time with a 0-0 scoreline to show for their efforts. They did not give the Sharks a moment's peace in the first forty-five minutes, and the home team's frustration was clearly evident in Troy Halpin's flying lunge at Chris Jackson, after the ball had gone.      That he received only a yellow card for this variation on a challenge does not reflect well on referee Simon Micallef - he was a little too lenient on this occasion, to the midfielder's relief.      The visitors enjoyed the better of the exchanges in the first twenty minutes, with James Pritchett proving a threat whenever he got the chance to break down the right. But his crosses were admired by his team-mates, rather than capitalised upon - headed chances for Andy Vlahos and Jeff Campbell went begging as a result.      Debutant Chilean defender Mauro Donoso showed his keenness to contribute to the Kingz cause when joining the attack in the nineteenth minute, linking neatly with Vlahos before sending a cross-shot fizzing across the face of Clint Bolton's goal.      Gradually, the Sharks began to find their feet. An extraordinary wind-assisted sixty-five yard chip by Halpin had Michael Utting back-pedalling in the 22nd minute, while Jeromy Harris was denied by the impressive Jonathan Perry a minute later, as he lined up a shot from the edge of the penalty area.      Halpin and Milicic both chanced their arm before the half-hour, while late in the spell, the Sharks had two chances to open the scoring. A raking fifty-yard pass from the tireless Tom Pondeljak sent Harris scampering through in the 39th minute, with Perry's attempt to clear the danger cannoning off the striker and just past Utting's right-hand post.      Pondeljak was involved in the final attack of note in the half, linking with Halpin and Paul Kohler, whose cross to the far post was just too far in front of the fast-arriving Hiroyuki Ishida for the Japanese star to latch onto in the shadows of the uprights.      The 2868 home faithful who turned up were hoping for better things from the boys in blue during the second spell, but it was the white-clad Kingz who again started the stronger, Vlahos curling a twenty-

yarder narrowly over the bar, before Bolton saved a Raf de Gregorio rocket, the midfielder latching onto the goalkeeper's wind-affected clearance and letting fly from twenty-five yards in the 53rd minute. The visitors had a glorious chance to open the scoring nine minutes later, when a swiftly taken free-kick found Vlahos leading the charge, with Campbell motoring into acres of space on his right. The ball was duly played to the All White, but his cross merely served to emphasise the Kingz inability to penetrate opponents - as was the case during his recent absence through injury, the visitors sorely missed the creative thrust provided by suspended striker Patricio Almendra, this performance underlining their need for another player of game-breaking quality similar to that of the Chilean international. The Sharks have such players in abundance, and it was only a timely clearance by Perry which denied one of them, Milicic, the chance to open the scoring in the 64th minute, after Hiroshi Miyazawa had gifted possession to Wayne Srhoj, who, in turn, released Harris down the right. The same three players were involved again three minutes later, this time with match-winning effect. After Utting had hurtled out of his penalty area to thwart Srhoj, as he charged onto a raking pass from Halpin, the Kingz Japanese defender, Miyazawa, committed footballing hara-kiri, Harris catching him in possession on half-way as he struggled to control the bouncing ball on the minefield which passed for a football pitch! Srhoj pounced on the loose ball, returned it to Harris, who timed his pass to perfection to send Milicic scampering through the space which Miyazawa's forward surge had created. The most expensive player in NSL history then proceeded to demonstrate why the Sharks paid $A110,000 for his services - an exquisite chip over the stranded Utting which landed perfectly in the bottom right-hand corner of the net. The goal broke the shackles by which the game had become bound, with both teams showing a greater willingness to attack as a result - the Kingz looking for an equaliser, the title-chasers keen to exploit the gaps their opponents were now forced to reveal. But few chances came to pass due to the playing conditions. Milicic was twice denied by Utting before the finish, while a long-range effort from Jackson fizzed wide of Bolton's uprights three minutes from time, with the goalkeeper saving Harry Ngata's deflected drive soon afterwards, after the striker, having been picked out by Steven Turner, had evaded two challenges. Only Ante Juric's despairing tackle denied the Kingz striker an equaliser. The Sharks' victory took them back to the top of the table, albeit for a couple of hours at the time, but defeat for the Kingz - their fourth in five games, and all on their travels - does not aid their prospects of joining the Sharks in the play-offs. While the log-jam to make the top six remains tight, the Kiwi team's passport to the championship phase of the competition may well prove to be their home form - of their remaining eight matches, five take place on New Zealand soil. Sharks:     Bolton; Souris, Juric, North; Pondeljak, Srhoj, Kohler, Halpin (booked, 32), Ishida; Harris (Porter, 70), Milicic (Owens, 86) (Parisi, 90) Kingz:          Utting; Perry, Miyazawa, Donoso; Pritchett (Turner, 76), Jackson, de Gregorio (booked, 27), Atkinson (Taylor, 71); Campbell (Urlovic, 71), Ngata, Vlahos Referee:     Simon Micallef