10-man Wanderers shutout hapless Hills in professional win

965 x 634

A 10-man Western Sydney Wanderers turned out a composed showing to down Hills United on a pouring Saturday afternoon at Wanderers Football Park. 

Aydan Hammond gave the Wanderers the lead before the half-hour mark. Not long after this, they were reduced to 10 players when Hammond saw red.

They took this slender advantage into the break, and they were rarely troubled by Hills in the second period with Marcus Younis adding a second 57 minutes in.

After the Wanderers held off an early press from their opponents, they started to get a better hold of the ball. They funnelled it down the right to Zachary Sapsford on a couple of occasions in the first 10 minutes, but his final ball missed the mark.

At the other end, Hills remained persistent with their pressing, forcing Western Sydney goalkeeper Taiga Harper to play a few risky passes out of the back. However, again the final pass eluded the game as shots were proving hard to come by.

As the game looked to be stuck in a stalemate, the hosts sprung forward with one of their characteristic counter-attacks in the 27th minute. Sapsford released Younis down the right in behind, where the winger’s cutback was behind Awan Lual, but found Hammond who blasted a first-time effort in.

Younis and Sapsford combined a minute later when the former rolled the ball back for the latter in the right of the box; Sapsford’s shot rolled to Hills goalkeeper Ryan Wood.

Just as the Wanderers were starting to build momentum, the team had Hammond sent off four minutes after scoring the opener. He battled for the ball in the Hills back third and slid in to snatch it. However, he was deemed to have gone in high and was shown a red card.

Despite being down to 10, Western Sydney did not rest on their laurels and had a golden chance for a second in the 34th minute. Sapsford slid another clever ball in behind this time for Lual to race in on goal. The forward opened up his body to place a shot towards the far right corner, but Wood pulled off a superb finger-tip save to see the ball fly just wide of the right post.

The hosts kept their lead intact at the break and went into the sheds looking to continue holding Hills out well in the second half.

United started the second half with purpose, keeping possession in the Wanderers’ half.

In the 53rd minute, Anthony Frangie took on a volley from the edge of the box that bounced to Harper.

Second later, Western Sydney responded through Marcus Fernandez whose swerving effort was tipped over by Wood.

The side showed their quality in transition again in the 57th minute when substitute Phillip Gigliotti was played in behind the right channel. He got an early ball into the box for Younis who showed great composure to roll his defender and guide a left-footed effort into the bottom left corner.

The Wanderers nearly added their third goal soon after the hour mark as Sapsford found himself in behind, but Wood blocked the shot with his feet.

Opportunities continued to trickle through for the home even though Hills committed more numbers forward to try and get something from the match. Western Sydney saw shots go wide from Ryley Hollingdale and Gigliotti as the game entered the final 10 regular minutes.

With nine regular minutes to play, Younis ran onto a cutback and should have sealed the match, but he skied his shot over the bar.

Hills had struggled to consistently threaten the Wanderers’ goal throughout the match, however, 84 minutes in, a corner came out to Wade Giovenali who side-footed the ball narrowly over.

That was the final action of the game as it fizzled out with the hosts taking all three points in a professional performance playing with 10 players for most of the game.

This victory was Western Sydney’s fifth clean sheet of the season which includes shut-outs away to Wollongong Wolves and at home to Blacktown City. However, the side have also suffered defensive drubbings such as a 6-0 defeat to APIA Leichhardt and a 5-2 loss at the hands of Marconi Stallions.

Wanderers coach Andrew Christiansen said the contrast in goals conceded from match to match for the team reflects the maturity of the group.

In light of this, he also said that the most pleasing aspect of the win was the way his team reacted to going down to 10 players.

“It’s probably an attribute of younger players that can affect their own performance,” Christiansen said.

“We’ve seen where we’ve not been able to manage our emotions and help each other, and that’s where we’ve lost games. But today I think we saw leadership on the pitch from everyone.

“I saw a controlled performance from the group that didn’t lose focus or think that because we’re a man down we just have to defend.

“I thought the boys responded really well to it and managed not only that 10-15 period before halftime but also that second half.”

Western Sydney’s goals against Hills came from quick movements down the flanks in transition and such goals have been a feature of the squad in 2024.

Christiansen said this is something the team are consciously working on.

“The boys are very good at it, and their attributes lend to being able to transition forward quickly. It’s a part of our playing style,” he said.

“We want to have that attack-first mindset, and there are moments in games where it is from our back third or a middle third, when we win the ball we can go forward quickly.”

Match Stats

Western Sydney Wanderers FC 2 (Aydan Hammond 27’, Marcus Younis 57’)

Hills United FC 0

Saturday 1 June 2024

Wanderers Football Park, Rooty Hill

Referee: Stephen Lucas

Assistant Referees: Matthew Harris and Thomas Aalders

Fourth Official: Mitchell Renton

Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 1. Taiga Harper, 3. Anthony Pantazopoulos, 6. Dylan Scicluna, 7. Marcus Younis (36. Dallo Sandy 83’), 13. Aydan Hammond, 14. Zachary Sapsford, 16. Roman Culina, 18. Awan Lual (77. Phillip Gigliotti 55’), 24. Antony Barbic, 25. Ryley Hollingdale, 99. Ryan Devine (23. Marcus Fernandez 45’)

Substitutes Not Used: 20. Lucas Sinnott, 27. Julian Cop, 47. Edmun Haddad,

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Aydan Hammond 31’

Hills United FC: 1. Ryan Wood, 5. Daniel Petkovski, 9. Yu Okubo, 11. Anthony Frangie, 12. Jordan Lane (24. Sunday Yona 46’), 15. Noah Casserly (14. Samuel O’Connor 78’), 17. Caleb Jackson-Brown (13. Cameron Philp 29’), 19. Glen Kelshaw, 20. Thomas Lopez (10. Jamal Belkadi 63’), 26. Thomas Makko (7. Wade Giovenali 29’), 27. Nicolai Muller

Substitutes Not Used: 21. Emlyn Cross

Yellow Cards: Jordan Lane 45+1’, Noah Casserly 72’, Nicolai Muller 73’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings: 

3 – Zachary Sapsford (WSW)

2 – Dylan Scicluna (WSW)

1 – Marcus Younis (WSW)

Report by Tim Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_