St George City undone by clinical Wolves
Wollongong Wolves recorded a 2-0 victory against St George City at Penshurst Park thanks to a goal in each half in what was a highly tactical and tight encounter.
St George City dominated possession but full credit must go to Wollongong Wolves for some clever defending and for two really good goals.
The first was to Jake Trew in the first half, while the second came right at the death through Yagoub Mustafa who had worked tirelessly all night.
The first piece of real action started in the 7th minute when a volley by Jason Romero was deflected by a defender over the crossbar for a corner as the early pressure in the game came from the home side.
St George City then came close in the 13th minute when Kosta Petratos fired a rocket into the side netting from the right and the home side was definitely dominating possession at this stage of the encounter.
Halfway through the first stanza of play Presley Ortiz found himself at close range but had his attempt blocked by the resolute Wollongong Wolves defence, as St George City were unable to convert their chances.
However, as often happens in encounters the side that was against the ropes took the lead against the run of play.
It was the 27th minute when Trew put Wollongong ahead with a delightful goal from the centre after receiving a great ball from Takumi Ofuka. Trew then with a wonderful touch, after creating some space for himself, beat goalkeeper Jack Kenny with this shot.
Romero in the 32nd minute shot just wide as St George City tried to even the ledger shortly afterwards in what was the last real chance of the first half.
The opening salvo of the second half belonged to St George City in the 48th minute when a corner was fisted away by Wollongong’s experienced goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic, but only as far as Cameron Fong who hit a nice shot from just outside the box that was deflected by a defender for another corner, and it was another frustrating close call for the home side.
Both sides were not giving each other an inch in a highly engrossing and tactical encounter and thus St George City had to wait until the 68th minute for their next chance.
A cross from the right reached Solomon Monahan-Vaiika in the middle, but when he came to pull the trigger he was surrounded by a swarm of white-shirts from the Wollongong defence and another opportunity was thwarted.
A minute later Nathan Roberts, who had only just entered the arena as a substitute, had a diagonal shot that was unfortunately lacking the necessary power to do any real damage.
When St George City had the ball in the back of the net in the 80th minute thanks to a beautiful chip by Fumoto Kamada over ‘keeper Janjetovic, he was ruled offside by the assistant referee much to his frustration.
Wollongong Wolves scored again right at the death and it was definitely a goal worth waiting for. St George City had now pressed forward in an attempt to desperately even proceedings but on transition Ofuka, who had set up Wollongong’s first goal, found Mustafa on the right channel and he slammed the ball into the back of the net with a powerful drive.
After the game the coach of Wollongong Wolves David Carney was happy with the win but wasn’t getting too carried away as he praised his defence.
“Look, they [St George City] are a very good side and not many teams can come here and get three points,” said the former decorated Socceroo.
“They controlled a lot of the game but we played a disciplined, defensive away style.
“I thought defensively our structure played its part and everyone was really organised as well. However, we still need to be better because we want to go further and need to be better on the ball. Overall discipline-wise we were great and it was a good away performance.”
Over in the St George City dressing room coach Mirko Jurilj was wondering how that game got away from his side.
“We knew what they would come with and their two players up front caused us mayhem,” he said. “They pretty much had two shots on goal and scored two goals and I am not sure how many we had.
“We needed to take the opportunity tonight given today’s earlier results but that was a smash and grab raid. Kudos to them as they executed a simple game plan and took the points, and we’ll have to regroup and face APIA on Wednesday night.”
Match Stats
St GEORGE CITY FA: 0
WOLLONGONG WOLVES: 2 (Trew 27’, Mustafa 93’)
Saturday 8th June 2024
Penshurst Park
Referee: Danny Horstead
Assistant Referees: Aaron Bloch, Mitchell Renton
Fourth Official: Charbel Geha
St GEORGE CITY: 1. Jack Kenny, 2. Cameron Fong, 4. Solomon Monahan-Vaiika, 5. Fumoto Kamada, 6. Tarik Ercan, 8. Dominic Cox, 10. Jason Romero (7. Nathan Roberts 62’), 11. Kosta Petratos, 14. Paolo Mitry, 25. Brodie Clarkson (88. Mohammed Khamis 62’), 30. Presley Ortiz
Substitutes not used: 3. Joshua Hong, 19. Jesse Photi, 21. Ryan Reid, 23. Andrew Vlahadamis.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
WOLLONGONG WOLVES FC: 20. Vedran Janjetovic, 2. Harrison Buesnel, 4. Dylan Ryan, 5. Banri Kanaizumi, 6. Samuel Riak, 7. Takumi Ofuka, 8. Andre Takami, 9. Jake Trew (27. Damon Gray 74’), 10. Yagoub Mustafa, 11. Sebastian Hernandez (25. Alex Masciovecchio 74’), 24. Lachlan Scott (3. Darcy Madden 87’).
Substitutes not used: 13. Oliver Yates, 15. Dax Kelly.
Yellow Cards: Janjetovic 92’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Yagoub Mustafa (WW)
2 – Kosta Petratos (StG)
1 – Tarik Ercan (StG)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo