Wolves show no fear in thrilling draw at APIA
A six-goal thriller saw the points shared at Lambert Park as a gutsy Wollongong Wolves clawed back a 3-1 deficit to draw 3-3 with APIA Leichhardt to open their 2025 seasons.
The Wolves tried very early to get one up on the home team but the effort from Lachlan Scott went wide of goal. APIA followed up with two chances of their own soon after, with the first ruled offside while Presley Ortiz’s header flew over the crossbar.
The stalemate was broken at the quarter hour mark with a penalty called following a foul on APIA’s Eddie Caspers from Darcy Madden forcing referee Danny Horsted to point to the spot. Jack Stewart showed no hesitation in front of the keeper and an expert conversion put APIA up 1-0.
Stewart tried for another goal in the following minute but the shot went wide. The Wolves showed some scrappy defence and their offensive pressure finally paid off midway through the first half as Sebastian Hernandez went down in the box from a rough Themba Muata-Marlow tackle, forcing another penalty. Keeper Oliver Kalac dove the right way, but Wolves captain Lachlan Scott’s shot found the back of the net to level the scores 1-1.
Frustrations boiled over late in the half with the Wolves’ Raphael Le’ai recording the first booking of the game thanks to a tripping tackle on Michael Kouta.
Wollongong carried most of the momentum into the break with a final chance in the 42nd minute from Le’ai, but the opportunity was quickly stopped by Franco Farinella.
APIA came out of the sheds firing as Jordan Segreto kicked a bullet past Oliver Yates minutes into the half, capitalising on a free kick given just outside the box.
The home side doubled their advantage in the 72nd minute with a scrappy goal courtesy of Dredon Kelly, after an initial shot at goal was blocked by the Wolves’ Harrison Buesnel.
Going 3-1 down seemed to only ignite the Wolves and not even a minute after the restart following Kelly’s goal, Hernandez brought it within one.
Another quick attack from the Wolves and a scrambling APIA defence resulted in a yellow card for Joel Bertolissio and yet another penalty, easily converted by new recruit Nicholas Olsen to level the scores 3-3 with 15 minutes of regulation time remaining.
Either side could have taken all three points but despite good chances the score remained level 3-3 with the Wolves proving to be a major headache for a much fancied APIA line-up away from home.
New Wollongong Wolves coach Warren Grieve said the result is a testament to his team’s resilience.
“I said to the boys first up that today was a day to make a statement,” Grieve said.
“Our preseason has really worked for us and I think that’s clear from the performance today.
“We’re always going to be a threat going forward and now we go back, we review and we’ll work on those one-percenters ahead of our home game next week.”
Match Stats
APIA-Leichhardt 1 (Jack Stewart (pen) 16′, Jordan Segreto 54’, Dredon Kelly 72’)
Wollongong Wolves 1 (Lachlan Scott (pen) 27′, Sebastian Hernandez 73’, Nicholas Olsen (pen) 75’)
Saturday 8th February 2025
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Danny Horstead
Assistant Referees: Lachlan Hines and Joshua Eiser
Fourth Official: Nick Gela
APIA-Leichhardt: 2. Seiya Kambayashi, 5. Dredon Kelly, 7. Jack Stewart, 8. Joel Bertolissio (18. Adrian Ucchino 75’), 9. Presley Ortiz, 15. Themba Muata-Marlow (C), 17. Jordan Segreto, 21. Michael Kouta (6. Anthony Sparacino 90’), 22. Eddie Caspers, 80. Oliver Kalac (GK), 99. Franco Farinella (30. Alex Denmead 75’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Anthony Bouzanis (GK), 14. Max Court, 41. Nicholas Azzone
Yellow Cards: 99. Franco Farinella 49’, 8. Joel Bertolissio 75’
Red Cards: Nil
Wollongong Wolves: 1. Oliver Yates (GK), 2. Harrison Buesnel, 3. Darcy Madden (6. James Anagnostopoulos 45’), 4. Dylan Ryan, 5. Banri Kanaizumi, 11. Sebastian Hernandez, 17. Marcus Beattie, 21. Nicholas Olsen, 24. Lachlan Scott, 29. Ben Giason (15. Dax Kelly 67’), 77. Raphael Le’ai (25. Alex Masciovecchio 87’)
Substitutes Not Used: 8. Sebastian Duarte, 9. Damon Gray, 13. Daniel Solsky (GK)
Yellow Cards: 77. Raphael Le’ai 31’, Ben Giason 54’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Lachlan Scott (WW)
2 – Jordan Segreto (AL)
1 – Dredon Kelly (AL)
-By Katrina May
