National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Round 9 saw Marconi Stallions defeat Wollongong Wolves 2-0 at Marconi Stadium on Saturday evening, and in the process obtain a valuable nine points from their last three games.
A penalty to captain Marko Jesic in the first half and a rare goal to defender Roberto Speranza in the second stanza of play was what the Stallions needed to put the visitors to the sword on a cold night at The Palace.
The early chances of the encounter fell to Wollongong Wolves, with Josh Macdonald curling the ball into the box from distance in the 2nd minute starting the action, but it sailed narrowly past the post.
Shortly afterwards Banri Kanaizumi, totally unmarked, received a long floating ball from the right and drilled it towards goal only to find that Nenad Vekic was able to turn it wonderfully around the post.
In the 15th minute Marconi’s first real chance arrived when Jesic fed the ball into the box for Charles Lokolingoy, but somehow an alert Wollongong defender managed to squeeze in behind and knock it away for a corner.
In the 23rd minute Macdonald fired a rocket from some distance but, unfortunately for the visitors, the ball sailed narrowly over the crossbar.
In the 37th minute a cross from the right by Lokolingoy was met by the hand of a Wollongong defender in the box and referee Christian Verdicchio jogging on the spot immediately awarded a spot kick to the Stallions.
Jesic stepped up to the mark and dispatched the penalty with aplomb sending ‘keeper Hayden Durose the wrong way.
The Stallions had the lead but a minute later a quick flowing movement by the visitors ended up with Kanaizumi hitting the side netting from close range and it could have been all square once again.
The first stanza of play ended though with the home side holding the narrow one-goal advantage.
In the second half Wollongong had the first real chance when Macdonald shot from outside the box in the 54th minute but Vekic was able to make the save, even if he needed two attempts.
It was Leroy Jennings shortly afterwards who tried his luck but his finish was thwarted by some nice Marconi defence and lacked power to trouble Vekic.
In the 67th minute Marconi replied with a cross from the right by Lokolingoy, but his effort finished on the top netting of the box.
It was Marconi at their best in the 80th minute when Jesic had a beautiful shot only to see ‘keeper Durose produce a truly wonderful save, and the rebound reached Thomas James whose shot was also well blocked by a Wollongong defender.
In the 82nd minute a header by James from close-range produced another great save by Durose only for Wollongong to reply at the other end when a Lachlan Scott drive from close was also beautifully saved by Vekic with his feet.
Marconi doubled their lead in the 85th minute from a corner and although the ball bobbled around a bit it eventually reached defender Roberto Speranza, who drilled it home.
After the game Marconi coach Peter Tsekenis was extremely pleased with his team.
“It was very important that we got a clean sheet today,” he said.
“It was our first for the year and even though we talked about it a lot, today I said that I was not going to ask for it.
“I am very proud of the boys as they fought well and both sides battled away.
“We played some really good football and handled their long balls quite well.
“We probably should have won by a bit more but their ‘keeper made some really good saves.
“We are now finishing our chances, we are working hard and things are dropping our way.
“We never lost our confidence and the boys have always played well.
“We have Lane Cove in the Australia Cup game in midweek and then after that we’ll worry about APIA, who we play next week.”
His counterpart at Wollongong Wolves Luke Wilkshire was obviously somewhat disappointed to come away empty-handed.
“Yes it is also disappointing to lose because their goals were from a contentious penalty and then a set-piece,” the former Socceroo said.
“I think in the second half we started to play a lot better because sometimes you can get sucked and not play your way.
“Our team still has a lot of character and a lot of belief, and especially in the second half we still showed some good combinations and played well.”
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions 2 (Jesic 38’, R. Speranza 85’)
Wollongong Wolves 0
Saturday 30th April 2022
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Referee: Christian Verdicchio
Assistant Referees: Matthew Staples and Amber Morris
Fourth Official: Haydon Langholz
Marconi Stallions: 1. Nenad Vekic, 2. Nathan Millgate, 3. Giorgio Speranza, 4. Roberto Speranza, 6. Domenic Costanzo (7. Chris Hatfield 75’), 8. Connor Evans, 9. Thomas James, 10. Marko Jesic (17. Martin Fernandez 89’), 11. Charles Lokolingoy, 13. Sam Gulisano (23. Brandon Vella 65’), 22. Taylor McDonald
Substitutes Not Used: 14. Jarrod McKinley, 19. Zac Cairncross, 20. Dion Shaw
Yellow Cards: G. Speranza 62’, Costanzo 71’, R. Speranza 82’
Red Card: Nil
Wollongong Wolves: 1. Hayden Durose, 3. Darcy Madden (6. Senna Stevenson 17’), 4. Nikola Djordjevic, 5. Banri Kanaizumi, 9. Peter Simonoski (8. Brendan Griffin 86’), 10. Takumu Tsujimura, 11. Josh Macdonald, 15. Nick Littler, 16. Guy Knight, 22. Josh Macdonald (14. Nicholas Duarte 73’), 24. Lachlan Scott
Substitutes Not Used: 12. Harrison Taranto, 13. Thomas Butkovic, 19. Jake Lavalle
Yellow Cards: Kanaizumi 33’, Macdonald 47’, Djordjevic 48’
Red Card: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Marko Jesic (MS)
2 – Roberto Speranza (MS)
1 – Hayden Durose (WW)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo