Sydney United 58 finally found themselves on the right side of a seven-goal thriller at Ian McLennan Park with a 4-3 victory against Wollongong Wolves on Sunday night.
Patrick Antelmi’s brace gave the visitors an early lead however, goals to Leroy Jennings and Lachlan Scott saw the South Coast side go into the break level.
Scott scored his second early in the second half to put the Wolves in front, but two goals to Christopher Payne in the remainder of the game ensured Sydney United 58 took the points.
It was an action-packed opening 10 minutes with Sydney United 58 finding the opening goal just three minutes in.
Antelmi capitalised on Wolves’ keeper Hayden Durose not holding onto the ball to poke it into the vacant net.
Two minutes later Wolves’ midfielder Josh Macdonald got on the end of a cross from the right but couldn’t get sufficient contact on the ball, with it bouncing into the gloves of Danijel Nizic.
In the seventh minute, the away side nearly added a second with a persistent Payne finding Jordan Roberts in the right channel of the box, who flashed an effort just wide of the far post.
Twenty minutes in, United 58 doubled their advantage.
Tariq Maia drove into the middle of the box before the ball arrived at the feet of Antelmi whose deflected shot found the bottom left corner.
The hosts almost pulled one back four minutes after this when some good link-up on the right saw fullback Darcy Madden take on a shot from inside the box that was saved.
With 10 minutes to play in the first half, Wollongong halved the deficit.
Scott weaving his way into the left channel of the box before sending a composed left-footed finish into the bottom right corner.
The home side took the ascendancy in the final minutes of the half.
In the 40th minute, Scott powered two low shots towards the United goal that Nizic held on to.
In the last two minutes, the side restored parity through Jennings.
The midfielder stormed through the middle of the pitch before taking aim from outside the box with the ball bouncing over Nizic into the far-left corner despite getting a touch on it.
The away side nearly retook the lead in the last seconds of the half with Antelmi drawing an agile save from Durose before another shot just fell past the right post.
Two goals in the last 10 minutes of the first half had seen the Wolves go into halftime level with Sydney United 58.
Wollongong created a couple of chances within the opening five minutes of the second period.
A minute in, Darcy Madden’s cross from the right dropped to Jennings on the edge of the box who skewed a shot well wide.
Three minutes later, some neat footwork on the edge of the box from Jennings prompted a volley that went just wide of the right post.
In the 51st minute, the Wolves found the go-ahead goal as another Madden cross from the right eventually dropped to Scott in the middle who made no mistake from close range.
Just before the hour mark the side went forwards again, this time Peter Simonoski was played in behind the left channel but was unable to find the target with his shot.
Sydney United 58’s Payne drew a save from Durose in the 65th minute after turning well inside the box, forcing the keeper to bat the ball away.
Just two minutes later Payne got his goal, reacting the fastest to a shot from range that was parried into his path allowing him to tap the ball home.
Just seconds later, both sides had opportunities to retake the lead with Sydney United 58’s Adrian Vlastelica and Wollongong’s Scott seeing efforts saved.
In the 73rd minute, Roberts struck the crossbar for Sydney United 58 shifting the ball inside from the right before unleashing an effort that rattled the woodwork.
With nine minutes to play, United carved open another opening as Roberts once again found space in behind the right channel this time forcing Durose to make the save.
A minute later, Payne capitalised on a turnover at the back for Wollongong though his lobbed effort didn’t challenge Durose who held onto the ball.
However, with 84 minutes played, the side was awarded a penalty.
Payne stepped up and powered an effort into the roof of the net to put United back in front.
Payne’s late penalty proved to be the winner as Sydney United 58 went on to secure a 4-3 victory against Wollongong Wolves.
Sydney United 58 coach Miro Vlastelica noted the difficult conditions with the consistent rain during the game, but was impressed with the impact of the team’s substitutes.
“The conditions didn’t help, the pitch didn’t help,” he said.
“Our problem was I think we just stopped playing. We scored the two goals and we just turned that first half into a transition game. We just couldn’t settle.
“When we started to play football and our game, we got back into it and credit to our boys that came on as well. That’s what your interchange is there for. They made an impact and it did change the game for us.”
Match Stats
Wollongong Wolves 3 (Lachlan Scott 35’ 51’, Leroy Jennings 43’)
Sydney United 58 4 (Patrick Antelmi 3’ 20’, Christopher Payne 67’ 84’)
Sunday 22 May 2022
Ian McLennan Park, Kembla Grange
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: Matt Staples and Brodie Merchant
Fourth Official: Hadi Al-Nakeeb
Wollongong Wolves: 1. Hayden Durose, 3. Darcy Madden, 5. Banri Kanaizumi, 6. Senna Stevenson (20. Kuot Maliet 70’), 9. Peter Simonoski (14. Nicholas Duarte 75’), 10. Takumu Tsujimura, 11. Joshua Macdonald, 15. Nick Littler, 16. Guy Knight, 22. Leroy Jennings, 24. Lachlan Scott
Substitutes Not Used: 4. Nikola Djordjevic, 12. Harrison Taranto, 13. Tomas Butkovic, 19. Jake Lavalle
Yellow Cards: Josh Macdonald 32’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United 58: 1. Danijel Nizic, 3. Jordan Roberts, 4. Adrian Vlastelica, 6. Christopher Payne, 9. Patrick Antelmi (8. Kyle Cimenti 53’), 10. Devante Clut (21. Mihael Marcic 61’), 11. Yianni Perkatis, 15. Tariq Maia (16. Jacob Poscoliero 53’) (13. Jordan Ivancic 90’), 17. Matthew Bilic, 18. Glen Trifiro (5. Anthony Tomelic 61’), 22. Yianni Fragogiannis
Substitutes Not Used: 94. Joel Bartley
Yellow Cards: Adrian Vlastelica 34’, Mihael Marcic 77’
Red Cards: Nil
*Player Ratings have now been hidden
By National Premier Leagues NSW Reporter Timothy Gibson