Wolves howl in strong second half performance

Second half goals to Wolves new boy Patrick Antelmi and Nicolas Bernal helped Wollongong Wolves to claim maximum points with a 3-1 win against Parramatta FC at Melita Stadium on Saturday.
Antelmi claimed a double in his PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s debut for Wollongong as the boys from the South Coast cancelled out Gosue Sama’s 67th minute strike for the home side.
Wollongong will prove to be a difficult team to beat in season 2017 if the performance against Parramatta FC is an early indication.
The first shot of the evening arrived in the 1st minute of play when Brendan Griffin fired over the crossbar from outside the box for the visitors.
Two minutes later, a cross from the left by Joshua Macdonald was met by new Japanese import Tashiro Yuzo. Yuzo headed towards goal, but goalkeeper Christopher Moore pulled off a beautiful diving save to turn the ball around the post for a corner.
In the 5th minute a flat ball across the field reached Patrick Antelmi who fired on target and forced Moore into yet another early save.
Parramatta FC’s best early chance arrived in the 15th minute when Howard Fondyke picked up the scraps and forced a save from Wolves ‘keeper Justin Pasfield with a powerful shot.
Parramatta FC came close again in the 27th minute when a nice assist found Marco Sama. Sama cleverly weaved his way into the corner of the box before curling his shot just wide of the far post.
A few minutes later a cross from the far left by Parramatta FC skipper Ibrahim Hayder reached Jacob Ott in the middle of the area. However, his flick-on just missed the intended target.
If the Wolves had the better of the early play, the momentum had well and truly shifted in favour of the home side. Only poor finishing was denying Parramatta FC the breakthrough.
However, in the 40th minute, it was the Wolves again through Tashiro Yuzo.
The former Japanese international dazzled his way past defenders and into the box, only to be denied by another outstanding save by Parramatta’s shot stopper.
In the second half the first shot in anger arrived in the 48th minute when the Wolves hit the back of the net courtesy of a low and hard strike from Antelmi.
Wollongong doubled their lead in the 58th minute when an accurate cross from Christopher Price, after a fast breaking move down the left, reached Nicolas Bernal.
Positioned inside the 18-yard box, Bernal’s side-foot volley was sweetly hit and ended up in the back of the net.
Parramatta FC were back into the fray with a goal in the 67th minute.
A long ball forward was met by Gosue Sama’s header and it trickled past an outstretched Pasfield.
In the 82nd minute Wollongong Wolves made it three with another fast breaking move.
Yuzo played a ball to Antelmi who showed a clean pair of heels and charged towards goal before he fired past Moore with a beautiful diagonal shot.
After the game Wollongong Wolves coach Jacob Timpano was delighted to get three early season points.
“We were fairly confident going into tonight’s game but you never quite know.
“Early on in the season it’s very difficult to predict how things are going to go,” he said.
“I thought we totally deserved to win today because we played some good football and scored some nice goals.
“We probably should have had some first half goals too but overall three points early in the season is fantastic.”
Over in the Parramatta FC’s dressing sheds, coach Franco Cosentino was disappointed that his side’s lack of concentration early in the second half cost them the game.
“We lost the game in 13 minutes,” he said.
“we knew that we had to be careful in that first 15-minute block (of the second half) and it hurt us.
“We got back into the game but credit to Wollongong as they took their chances and were lethal in front of goal.
“It’s a matter of having patience and working hard and results will come our way.”
Match Stats
Parramatta FC 1
(G. Sama 67’)
Wollongong Wolves 3
(Antelmi 48’ and 82’, Bernal 58’)
Saturday 11th March 2017
Melita Stadium, South Granville
Referee: Kris Griffith Jones
Assistant Referees: Andrey Giev and Patrick Teleki
Fourth Official: Toby Plasto
PARRAMATTA FC: 21. MOORE Christopher, 4. FONDYKE Howard, 5. MIJIC Tomislav, 8. REZO Daniel (19. HANNA Lawrence 86’), 9. SAMA Gosue, 10. SAMA Marco, 15. CRIGHTON Jordan, 16. OTT Jacob, 17. GERSBACH Joshua, 18. MALLETT Tom (11. JOHNSTONE Ryan 86’), 20. HAYDAR Ibrahim
Substitutes not used: 3. CARBONI Christopher, 12. DONATIELLO Marcus, 40. FINCH Corey,
Yellow Cards: M. Sama 89’
Red Cards: Nil
WOLLONGONG WOLVES: 1. PASFIELD Justin, 4. MORTON Hayden, 5. BALDACCHINO James, 7. PRICE Christopher, 8. GRIFFIN Brendan, 9. ROBINSON Michael, 14. MacDONALD Joshua, 16. ANTELMI Patrick, 18. BERNAL Nicolas (11. TANOSKI Hristian 80’), 23. HAYES Steven (10. STOJIC David 78’), 30. TASHIRO Yuzo
Substitutes not used: 6. HRISTOVSKI Steven, 12. KAIRIES Luke, 21. WILSON Brett
Yellow Cards: Griffin 86’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Patrick Antelmi (WW)
2 – Tashiro Yuzo (WW)
1 – Chris Moore (PFC)
-by Joe Russo, PlayStation®National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Reporter, at Melita Stadium