10-man Wolves shine in Sutherland victory
Wollongong Wolves demonstrated sheer grit and determination as they earned a comprehensive 4-0 win over hapless Sutherland Sharks outfit at Macedonia Park on Sunday despite playing with 10 players for most of the second half.
After a tedious first half, Lachlan Scott opened the scoring for the hosts soon after the break before the side were reduced to 10 players as Raphael Le’ai was sent off.
The Wolves were not deterred by going down a player and grabbed their second goal in the 82nd minute through a Nicholas Olsen penalty.
Scott grabbed his second six minutes later before Alex Masciovecchio scored deep into injury time to round out a special afternoon of football for Wollongong and a result that embarrassed the Shire squad.
The first half began slowly, with Sutherland holding most of the ball while Wollongong waited for opportunities to pounce.
Richard Shoueiki had an early chance for Sutherland when he latched onto a ball in behind, but his effort was straight at Wollongong goalkeeper Oliver Yates.
Soon after, Peter Grozos had a good opportunity for visitors, forcing Yates into a low save with a strike from the edge of the area.
Le’ai had a late chance for the Wolves when he received a short-taken corner on the right edge of the box, flashing an effort wide of the left post.
A chance-shy first half concluded with the scores still locked at 0-0 at Macedonia Park.
Just three minutes in the second half, the match burst into life as Wollongong took the lead.
Masciovecchio found space in the right of the box and pulled the ball back for Scott, whose finish hit the left post before going in.
The opening goal buoyed Wollongong in the match, and they gained confidence by putting together intricate interplay as another goal looked imminent.
In the 55th minute, Le’ai had a golden chance when Olsen found him in the right of the box with a clever reverse ball, but he skied the shot from point-blank range.
Only a few minutes later, Le’ai received his marching orders when his swinging boot struck the head of Lachlan MacDonald, leaving the Wolves with a challenging task to claim victory.
However, the red card did not slow the Wolves down. They carried on with their attacking impetus, grabbing their second goal in the 82nd minute.
Sebastian Duarte – who had been superb defensively – mazed his way into the box before being bundled over, seeing a penalty awarded.
Olsen took the responsibility and slotted the ball past Sutherland goalkeeper Danijel Nizic to give Wollongong breathing room.
It got better for the hosts six minutes later, when Lachlan Scott managed to get onto the end of a long ball forward, reacting to the ricochet from Jacob Garner’s tackle for an easy goal.
Wollongong added further gloss to the result in the sixth minute of additional time.
Substitute Ben Giason played the ball to his right for Masciovecchio, who passed an effort into the goal past Nizic.
The goal was just reward for Masciovecchio, whose composure on the ball had been a significant asset for Wollongong in getting up the field.
The Wolves saw out the remaining moments to secure a confidence-boosting victory at home.
Captain Scott said seeing the side go down to 10 players forced them to step up in their application, which was key to winning.
The forward also said he is eager to carry on his scoring form, after picking up back-to-back braces for the Wolves.
“When you get a red card, usually everyone has to lift a little bit more, so I think we all took that on and tried a bit harder and things went our way,” Scott said.
“Hopefully, I can just keep building on that [back-to-back braces] and in the next couple of weeks it might fall my way a little bit.”
Match Stats
Wollongong Wolves FC 4 (Lachlan Scott 48’ 88’, Nicholas Olsen 82’ penalty, Alex Masciovecchio 90+6’)
Sutherland Sharks FC 0
Sunday 13 April 2025
Macedonia Park, Berkeley
Referee: Jackson Mackie
Assistant Referees: Aaron Bloch and Hayden Michlmayr
Fourth Official: Sophie Allum
Wollongong Wolves FC: 1. Oliver Yates, 2. Harrison Buesnel, 5. Banri Kanaizumi, 6. James Anagnostopoulos, 7. Woon Sub Sim (10. Liam Ball 88’), 8. Sebastian Duarte (15. Dax Kelly 88’), 17. Marcus Beattie, 21. Nicholas Olsen (29. Ben Giason 88’), 24. Lachlan Scott (4. Lucas Trajcevski 90+1’), 25. Alex Masciovecchio (9. Damon Gray 90+8’), 77. Raphael Le’ai
Substitutes Not Used: 13. Daniel Solsky
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Raphael Le’ai 63’
Sutherland Sharks FC: 1. Danijel Nizic, 2. Lachlan MacDonald, 4. Lachlan Fields, 6. Mohamed Ahmed, 7. Peter Grozos, 15. Matthew Moric, 17. Richard Shoueiki, 21. Jerry Skotadis, 22. Kotaro Katsuta, 23. Mason Fernandez, 26. Jacob Garner
Substitutes Not Used: 3. Jordan Roberts, 8. Nicholas Sullivan, 12. Ikko Ehode Arimoto, 14. Dylan Susovic, 30. Sebastian Arranz, 58. Daniel Wong
Yellow Cards: Mohamed Ahmed 38, Jacob Garner 60’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Lachlan Scott (WW)
2 – Alex Masciovecchio (WW)
1 – Sebastian Duarte (WW)
Report by Tim Gibson
