Entertaining draw as Saints and Wolves share the points
Ilinden Sports Centre saw a thriller take place as St George FC and the Wollongong Wolves played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in a classic game of two halves on Saturday evening.
St George FC were clearly the better side in the first stanza of play and deservedly led by 2-0 at the break but Wollongong Wolves reversed the fortunes in the second half and, they too, deservedly scored a brace to equalise and earn a fair point in really enthralling game of football.
The game was sliced open in the 6th minute when Justin Poon made a great run down the right side before firing a cross to Nikola Skataric who, unmarked in the box, duly slotted home without any trouble to give St George FC the lead.
In the 11th minute the home side was presented with a good chance when a corner reached Connor Quilligan in prime position in the box, but his header was cleared off line by Samuel Riak for the Wolves.
There was more pressure from St George FC in the 17th minute when a cross from the left by club skipper Troy Danaskos was headed towards goal by Quilligan, but the ball ended up only a fraction wide of the target much to the frustration of the home side.
St George FC then doubled their lead in the 42nd minute in rather fortuitous circumstances. An earlier shot at goal had been blocked by the Wolves defence but the ball then fell perfectly for Quilligan who drove his volley home off a deflection from Dylan Ryan.
The first stanza of play finished shortly afterwards with the home side marching confidently into the sheds. However, it must have been Wollongong Wolves coach David Carney’s rev up at the break that had the men in white and black fired up, as a different side strode back onto the Ilinden Sports Centre.
So, early in the second half, Wollongong did indeed strike back. It was the 48th minute when a cross from the right reached Japanese ace Takumi Ofuka on the left and he neatly curled his shot in off the post to bring the visitors back into the encounter.
In the 67th minute the ledger was then evened by the Wolves in really simple fashion. A Chris McStay corner was headed in by Ryan with the home side’s defence caught napping. Both goals in reality can be categorised as conceding too much space in defence to the opposition.
A few minutes later McStay went driving into the box with some determination before unleashing his shot which Nicholas Kalogerou in a beautiful slide tackle knocked away for St George FC.
In the 70th a McStay cross from the left was met by a header from Ryan but goalkeeper Andrew Di Blasio turned it nicely over the crossbar with a brilliant save.
St George FC replied a few minutes later when a free kick by Peter Grozos was just a fraction over the crossbar but the Wolves persisted and, in the 88th minute, a corner from McStay was met by Ryan at the far post whose header was over the bar and on to the top netting in another close call.
The last real opportunity of the encounter belonged to the Wolves with Lachlan Scott driving just wide from outside the box with a powerful shot right at the death.
St George FC coach Jane Talcevski post-match was satisfied with his side’s display.
“We had a disrupted week this week,” he said.
“We had a Australia Cup game on Thursday, some players then only trained twice and so there may have been a carry-on effect from that.
“We were really good in the first half but in the second half they stepped up further in the line and created some trouble for us.
“We conceded our second goal from a set piece but, when the opposition has someone like Dylan Ryan who is very strong aerially, we needed to cover that. “Overall we keep growing as a group and as a team. I am proud of the boys and we’ll keep working to improve”.
Wollongong Wolves coach David Carney knew his troops started poorly but was proud with how they reacted in the second half.
“Definitely two halves as we didn’t start well at all especially in the first 15-20 minutes,” he stated.
“It wasn’t what we were all about.
“We conceded a second goal which was sloppy and that wasn’t us at all. I just changed a couple things at half-time and then it was just desire from the boys.
“Tactics can only go so far but you need desire and we showed that in the second half, as they didn’t get out their half too many times and we deserved to come back.
“It was a great attitude from the boys to come back.”
Match Stats
St GEORGE FC: 2 (Skataric 6’, Ryan o.g. 42’)
WOLLONGONG WOLVES: 3 (Ofuka 48’, Ryan 67’)
Saturday 13th April 2024
Ilinden Sports Centre, Rockdale
Referee: Craig Fisher
Assistant Referees: Matthew Harris, Isaac Riggs
Fourth Official: Joshua Kermond
St GEORGE FC: 1. Andrew Di Blasio, 3. Troy Danaskos, 5. Nicholas Kalogerou, 6. Patrick O’Shea, 8. Connor Quilligan (16. Sebastian Cerecedo 79’), 9. Peter Grozos, 10. Harry Jones (23. Evangelo Souris 79’), 18. Mark Rodic, 19. Nikola Skataric, 27. Jayden Seeto, 30. Justin Poon (2. Caio De Goday 69’).
Substitutes not used: 7. Jesse Spang, 11. Anthony Mortabito, 20. Daniel Axford.
Yellow Cards: Rodic 38’
Red Cards: Nil
WOLLONGONG WOLVES: 20. Vedran Janjetovic, 2. Harrison Buesnel, 4. Dylan Ryan, 5. Banri Kanaizumi, 6. Samuel Riak, 7. Takumi Ofuka, 8. Andre Takami, 9. Jake Trew (25. Alex Masciovecchio 46’, 27. Damon Gray 57’), 10. Yagoub Mustafa, 24. Lachlan Scott, 88. Chris McStay.
Substitutes not used: 3. Darcy Madden, 13. Max Cunial, 15. Dax Kelly, 29. Thomas Dunn
Yellow Cards: Ryan 72’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Dylan Ryan (WW)
2 – Connor Quilligan (STG)
1 – Chis McStay (WW)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
