Points shared in thrilling midweek encounter
Wollongong Wolves and Sydney Olympic were unable to be separated at WIN Stadium in an entertaining 3-3 draw on Wednesday night.
The visitors took a lead into half time as goals to Oliver Puflett and Darcy Burgess cancelled out Wolves’ defender Banri Kanaizumi’s diving header.
Two goals within the space of two minutes courtesy of Leroy Jennings and Lachlan Scott midway through the second period saw Wollongong in front as they headed into stoppage time.
Burgess stole a point at the death for Olympic in the third minute of second-half additional time with a deflected shot to scrape a point from the clash.
Within the first three minutes of the match, Wollongong was on the offensive as Peter Simonoski picked the ball up on the right side of the box but rolled his shot into the keeper Nicholas Sorras’ gloves.
A couple of minutes later, the hosts were again productive down the right; this time Darcy Madden shifted the ball inside on the edge of the box but dragged his effort wide of the right post.
Despite the Wolves looking promising in the opening 10 minutes, it was Sydney Olympic who found the first goal of the match in the 13th minute.
Puflett moved the ball onto his right foot inside the box centrally and lashed a fierce strike over Hayden Durose into the roof of the net.
The visitors were encouraged forwards by the opening goal with Puflett continuing to cause problems for Wollongong.
Midway through the half, Puflett slid a ball into the left channel of the box for Fabio Ferreira, but Durose was equal to the attacker’s effort.
The Wolves found the equaliser just after the half-hour when a corner from the right was cannoned back towards the taker Josh Macdonald by Kanaizumi.
Macdonald’s second cross into the middle of the box found Kanaizumi who skilfully directed a diving header into the goal.
In the final 10 minutes of the half, Wollongong carved out numerous openings.
Jennings came close from a freekick with his effort tipped round the right post by Sorras, before Simonoski drew a vital save from the keeper to his right with a shot from inside the box.
In the last minute of regular time in the half, the side had the ball in the net when Scott slid in to volley home, but it was ruled out for offside.
The Wolves would be left to rue missed opportunities as in the final moments of the half, Sydney Olympic’s Burgess gave his side the lead.
Burgess fizzed his shot from the left side of the box through bodies and into the net to put the away side in front for the second time on the night.
The hosts’ strong finish to the first half failed to provide them with a go-ahead goal and Burgess’ late strike had given Olympic a valuable lead at the break.
Sydney Olympic retained possession high up the field at the start of the second half and 52 minutes in, Roy O’Donovan’s bouncing shot on the turn was held securely by Durose.
Wollongong pulled back into the match in the 66th minute when a Macdonald free kick from the right was kept alive at the back post by Nikola Djordjevic, who had only just been introduced.
The defender’s ball back across dropped to Nicholas Duarte a few yards out whose shot was blocked but it fell to Jennings who made no mistake side-footing home.
Only a couple of minutes later, the side took the lead as another Macdonald freekick from a similar position to the Wolves’ second equaliser found Scott in the middle who glanced his header into the far corner.
A remarkable quickfire double from the home side had turned the game on its head, with Macdonald’s quality of delivery contributing to all three goals so far for the side.
It was a frantic finish to the match, with both sides having chances.
With 11 minutes to play, O’Donovan could have equalised for Olympic when a cross from the left found the striker at the back post who couldn’t find the target from very close range with his header.
The visitors pressed on in pursuit of a goal to restore parity and in the 87th minute, Burgess had two attempts blocked from inside the box before a minute later when Sam Mcillhatton skied his shot.
The last minute of regular time saw Wollongong striker Scott’s volley hit the right post from the right edge of the box before bouncing off the back Sorras for a corner.
Deep into stoppage time, a throw-in for the visitors made its way to Burgess centrally outside the box whose deflected effort wrong-footed Durose and rolled into the net.
Olympic could’ve nicked the three points right at the death with Marley Peterson having time to wind up a shot on the left, but Durose batted the ball away.
In the end, the points were shared in this six-goal thriller at WIN Stadium.
Match Stats
Wollongong Wolves 3 (Banri Kanaizumi 31’, Leroy Jennings 66’, Lachlan Scott 68’)
Sydney Olympic 3 (Oliver Puflett 13’, Darcy Burgess 45’ 90+3’)
Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
Referee: Sebastian Andrews
Assistant Referees: Cameron Wright and Harriet Gee
Fourth Official: Matt Staples
Wollongong Wolves: 1. Hayden Durose, 3. Darcy Madden, 5. Banri Kanaizumi, 6. Senna Stevenson (4. Nikola Djordjevic 63’), 9. Peter Simonoski (14. Nicholas Duarte 56’), 10. Takumu Tsujimura, 11. Josh Macdonald (19. Jake Lavalle 90+3’), 15. Nick Littler, 16. Guy Knight, 22. Leroy Jennings, 24. Lachlan Scott
Substitutes Not Used: 12. Harrison Taranto, 13. Tomas Butkovic, 25. Nav Darjani
Yellow Cards: Lachlan Scott 63’, Josh Macdonald 90+1’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic: 1. Nicholas Sorras, 2. Thomas Whiteside (17. Marley Peterson 74’), 3. Nikola Ujdur, 4. Benjamin Van Meurs, 5. Michael Glassock, 7. William Angel (6. Matthieu Cordier 9’), 8. Sam Mcillhatton, 9. Oliver Puflett (10. Brendan Cholakian 88’), 19. Darcy Burgess, 22. Fabio Ferreira (23. Daniel Dias 74’), 99. Roy O’Donovan
Substitutes Not Used: 24. Hagi Gligor, 30. Jeremy Pollard
Yellow Cards: Sam McIllhatton 29’, Benjamin Van Meurs 34’, Matthieu Cordier 77’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Josh Macdonald (WW)
2 – Darcy Burgess (SO)
1 – Leroy Jennings (WW)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Reporter Timothy Gibson
