Wolves home comfort bags victory over Manly
Wollongong Wolves ended Manly United’s strong run in the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition with a 3-1 win at WIN Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Goals to Samuel Riak and Lachlan Scott had the team 2-0 up by halftime before Matthew Sim turned the game back in Manly’s favour heading into the final half hour.
A crucially converted penalty from Christopher McStay on 75 minutes re-established Wollongong’s two-goal buffer, which they held onto.
It was an action-packed start to the match with plenty of chances falling both ways.
Wollongong’s Jake Trew creating two good chances that went begging inside the first three minutes.
Manly returned fire in the 10th minute when Connor Rose forced a top reaction save from Tomas Butkovic inside the box.
The hosts took the ball down the other end as Takumi Ofuka’s effort was deflected just over the bar before he headed over from the resulting corner.
Former Wolf Bilal Belkadi then had a couple of great opportunities to score, firstly in the 12th minute when he skewed a shot wide from outside the box.
Three minutes later, some intricate play saw the fullback pick the ball up in the left of the box, with his tight-angled blast batted away strongly by Butkovic.
United were left to rue what they had missed as Wollongong snatched the lead midway through the half.
Manly goalkeeper Levi Kaye spilled Ofuka’s original shot into the path of a pouncing Riak, the midfielder making no mistake from close range.
They bagged their second in the 35th minute when a sensational curling cross from Darjani off the right found Scott, who performed a backward header that beat Kaye.
Wollongong took their two-goal lead into the break as they pursued another good result at home.
The Wolves started the second half brightly as striker Trew could’ve had a hat-trick starting two minutes in when he couldn’t convert on the goal line.
Trew then had a goal ruled out for offside a few seconds later before his cross from the left took a wicked deflection that Kaye managed to catch just before it went over the line.
It was looking bleak for Manly before the introduction of the experienced Sim off the bench, who helped the side get some control back in the match.
Just after the hour point, Harry McCarthy’s in-swinging cross from the left met the head of Sim, the creative attacker guiding the ball past Butkovic to halve the deficit.
This put the pressure back on the Wolves as their commanding position looked to be being wiped out.
However, a determined run from Trew saw him scythed down in the box and a penalty awarded with a quarter of an hour to play.
McStay stepped up and rolled it down the middle, with Kaye diving to his right as Wollongong regained control of the game.
There was more good fortune for the Wolves three minutes later as they awarded another spot kick after Alex Masciovecchio was deemed to have been fouled.
This time captain Scott took responsibility, but he rattled the bar as the ball went out for a goal kick.
However, it didn’t matter for the home side as they saw out the remaining minutes to secure victory over Manly United.
Coach David Carney signed a one-year extension with the club recently and was delighted with what his Wollongong Wolves team offered in the match but noted the fall away in parts of the second half.
“I thought first half we were excellent, thoroughly deserved to go 2-0 up. Second half, I thought we started unbelievably, we probably should’ve went three up, four up,” he said.
“I’m really happy with the performance, but to let them in to 2-1, we shouldn’t let that happen.”
Manly have been on a flying run in the last few weeks, but forward Connor Rose said the performance against the Wolves wasn’t up to scratch.
“We seemed just a little bit flat, Rose explained.
“It was a bit disappointing because we’ve been on a good run for the last couple of weeks, so today’s obviously a disappointing result but I’m sure we’ll pick ourselves back up next week.”
Wollongong Wolves FC 3 (Samuel Riak 23’, Lachlan Scott 35’, Christopher McStay 75’ penalty)
Manly United FC 1 (Matthew Sim 63’)
Sunday, 6 August 2023
WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: Cameron Wright and Ethan Zvargulis
Fourth Official: Brodie Merchant
Wollongong Wolves FC: 13. Tomas Butkovic (GK), 5. Banri Kanaizumi, 7. Marcus Beattie, 8. Samuel Riak, 9. Takumi Ofuka, 11. Nav Darjani (25. Alex Masciovecchio 66’), 14. Jake Trew, 21. Ethan Beaven, 23. Walter Scott, 24. Lachlan Scott (6. Senna Stevenson 90+3’), 88. Christopher McStay
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Nenad Vekic (GK), 4. Dax Kelly, 10. Damon Gray, 99. Sebastian Hernandez
Yellow Cards: Alex Masciovecchio 75’
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United FC: 3. Jesse Piriz, 7. Seiya Kambayashi, 9. Benjamin Koop (11. Matthew Sim 56’), 10. Bruno Mendes, 14. Connor Rose (12. Kristian Santich, 19. Alen Aganovic (18. Lucas Rainbird 56’), 20. Levi Kaye, 22. Bilal Belkadi, 23. Harry McCarthy, 29. Hunter Elliott (2. Kieren Paull 56’), 32. Saxon Hillyer (8. Dominic Ferguson 72’)
Substitutes Not Used: 93. Montgomery Partington (GK)
Yellow Cards: Lucas Rainbird 74’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Samuel Riak (WW)
2 – Ethan Beavan (WW)
1 – Jake Trew (WW)
Report by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_
