Wollongong Wolves and Sutherland Sharks were unable to be separated in a 3-3 draw at WIN Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
It was an exhilarating opening half in Wollongong with the home side bursting into a two-goal lead inside the first 10 minutes courtesy of a Banri Kanaizumi brace.
Jeremy Cox scored Sutherland’s first before Chris Lindsay scored from the spot to see the scores level at the break.
Mitch Smith put the Sharks in front early in the second period before Leroy Jennings restored parity for the Wolves later in the half.
The hosts got off to the best of starts finding the opening goal within 60 seconds.
Leroy Jennings’ right-sided corner found Kanaizumi in the middle who headed into the left side of the goal.
Wollongong doubled their advantage in the eighth minute with Kanaizumi getting on the end of another Jennings’ corner this time from the left.
The defender headed beyond Sutherland keeper Jacob Cremen-Cowan to add his second goal of the game.
Sutherland almost halved the deficit three minutes later, with James Andrew wriggling into the right channel of the box before the ball rolled to Cox.
Cox’s shot from close range forced Wollongong keeper Hayden Durose into a save before the ball was cleared away from danger.
Cox eventually scored in the 19th minute as a shot from the right edge of the box was parried by Durose into the path of the forward at the back post who made no mistake facing an open goal.
The home side continued to threaten from set pieces and midway through the half Nikola Djordjevic got his head on a corner, but it bounced straight to Cremen-Cowan.
The Sharks restored parity just after the half-hour mark when Lindsay side-footed a penalty into the left side of the net with Durose diving the other way.
Buoyed by the equalising goal, Sutherland continued to pursue further goals before the break.
With six minutes to go, Andrew was played in behind the right channel and saw his shot from inside the box saved, before he skied the follow up.
Cox had another chance in the final minute of the half turning well centrally inside the box, but the shot was straight at Durose.
The visitors went into halftime level after coming from two goals down.
The Wolves almost retook the lead four minutes into the second half as Lachlan Scott, who had come as a substitute at half time, sent a first-time shot from the middle of the box over.
However, it was Sutherland who found the go-ahead goal three minutes later with Mitch Smith receiving a ball over the top into the right channel before accurately sliding a right-footed effort into the far corner.
Sutherland carried on with their attacking impetus with the side coming close again in the 57th minute.
A well-constructed move from left to right enabled Andrew get a cross in from the byline that Wollongong defender Nick Littler nearly diverted into his own goal with the ball rolling past the right post.
The away side came close again 65 minutes in with Andrew driving into the right of box before passing across to Lindsay whose first-time effort was tipped over the bar by Durose.
Despite a run of good chances for Sutherland, Wollongong found the equaliser a couple of minutes later.
Josh Macdonald swung a delivery towards the right side of the box for Kanaizumi who played it back across goal with the ball dropping to Jennings who smashed it home from close in.
The Wolves nearly jagged a late winner with two opportunities in the final 10 minutes.
In the 81st minute, a right-sided corner fell at the feet of Kanaizumi in the middle who shovelled it over the bar.
Two minutes after, a determined run across the top of the box from Jennings allowed the midfielder to play Nav Darjani into the right channel who drew a sharp save from Cremen-Cowan.
Neither side was able to find a winner in what remained of the game despite Durose pulling off an impressive save in stoppage time with the sides sharing the points in a 1-1 draw.
Wollongong Wolves player Jennings explained how it had been a tough year for the side despite an entertaining match against Sutherland.
“It was a pretty exciting game – six goals is fun for the spectator, but it was tough. It was end-to-end, both teams wanted to go out on a high after a long season,” he said.
“It’s another season, another year of experience for me – always trying to be better.
“It wasn’t the best season for the team performance, but you take positives and move on to next season.”
In what was coach Luke Wilkshire’s last game following a wonderful journey, the former Socceroo reflected on his four years at the Wolves.
“It’s [Wollongong] my hometown,” he said.
“I’ve learnt a lot, obviously coming outside of playing.
“I’ve learnt a lot about man-management, I’ve learnt a lot about myself, about players, about a lot of different things I’ve got to say.
“I take away a lot of great memories. Fantastic life-long friendships that I’ve made here.”
Sutherland co-coach Steve Gordon was pleased with the way the side performed especially after conceding two goals so early in the game.
“I think it was a good entertaining game. Obviously a couple of set pieces hurt us early,” he said.
“We seemed to again respond when we’re behind but credit to the boys we played some really good football in there, it’s just the inconsistency and that’s probably been our season.”
Match Stats
Wollongong Wolves 3 (Banri Kanaizumi 1’, 8’, Leroy Jennings 67’)
Sutherland Sharks 3 (Jeremy Cox 19’, Chris Lindsay penalty 32’, Mitch Smith 52’)
Sunday 31 July, 2022
WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Referee: Brodie Merchant
Assistant Referees: Maggie Price and Harrison Fisher
Fourth Official: Hadi Al-Nakeeb
Wollongong Wolves: 1. Hayden Durose, 4. Nikola Djordjevic, 5. Banri Kanaizumi, 6. Senna Stevenson, 8. Brendan Griffin (25. Nav Darjani 79’), 10. Takumi Tsujimura (12. Nicholas Kalule 79’), 15. Nick Littler, 17. Marcus Beattie, 19. Jake Lavalle (24. Lachlan Scott 46’), 20. Kuot Malliet (9. Joshua Macdonald 57’), 22. Leroy Jennings
Substitutes Not Used: 13. Tomas Butkovic, 2. Daniel Goni
Yellow Cards: Senna Stevenson 90+2’, Leroy Jennings 90+3’
Red Cards: Nil
Sutherland Sharks: 26. Jacob Cremen-Cowan, 6. Pat O’Shea (8. John Fotopoulos 79’), 7. Evan Ball, 9. Jeremy Cox, 10. Lachlan Everett,14. Chris Lindsay, 17. James Andrew, 18. Mitch Smith (25. Luke Sauer 79’), 22. Nick Sullivan, 23. Mark Rodic, 99. Lachlan Macdonald
Substitutes Not Used: 16. Samuel Smith, 32. Tye Mcgowan, 33. Matthew Jackson
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
By National Premier Leagues NSW reporter Timothy Gibson
-Photo credit Pedro Garcia