St George City and Wolves share the spoils
St George City after two consecutive defeats managed to secure a point at home in a 1-1 draw with the Wollongong Wolves at Penshurst Park on Saturday evening.
The game was overshadowed by an incident in the 77th minute after an accidental clash between Nathan Grimaldi and Darcy Madden saw the game held up for almost an hour but, in the end, it was the way in which Madden landed that caused a serious leg injury and an ambulance was required.
Both teams and Football NSW wish Darcy Madden all the very best.
Wollongong Wolves were leading at that point thanks to a first half goal from Alex Masciovecchio but St George City equalised after the resumption with a stunning goal from substitute Gonzalo Agrelos.
St George City had a free-kick in the 8th minute that was taken by Nathan Roberts, but there was a deflection off the wall and the ball finished comfortably into the hands of goalkeeper Daniel Solsky.
Wollongong Wolves however was the team that opened the scoring in the 17th minute. The ball drifted into the middle from the left to Masciovecchio who found himself fortuitously unmarked with the ball at his feet and he then simply had to slot it home from close range.
In the 34th minute Fumoto Kamada sent forward a nice ball down the left channel to Marc McNulty, but his header had a fraction too much weight on it and Solsky came out to claim the spoils and neutralise the situation for the Wolves.
There wasn’t much more to write home about in the first stanza of play which proved to be a fairly bland affair. The second half’s opening salvo arrived in the 52nd minute when a powerful drive from outside the box by Brodie Clarkson was beautifully punched away by Solksy.
A minute later Wollongong required Solsky’s intervention again when St George City came very close. McNulty fed a nice assist to Louis Khoury on the run towards goal, but his shot on target was well turned away for a corner by the Wolves custodian.
In the 64th minute St George City should really have equalised when a precise corner found Caio De Godoy in the middle who sent a powerful header goal-bound that brought out the best in Solsky who down low had to make a great save.
In the 77th minute the game was held up for almost an hour as an ambulance was required to attend Penshurst Park for Darcy Madden
Once the game resumed it was very late indeed and St George City pushed the ball over the crossbar with McNulty from close range in the first minute after the resumption.
St George City equalised late in the contest via a stunner of a goal to Gonzalo Agrelos. He received the ball from the left and with a wonderful shot from outside the box found the top corner of the net past an outstretched Solsky. There was little anyone could do to stop that one, but it was no more than St George City deserved because to have come away empty handed from such an even contest would have been harsh.
After the game St George City FA coach Manny Spanoudakis was very concerned about Darcy Madden and satisfied with the overall result.
“First of all, I hope that young Darcy is okay as that’s the most important thing because it looked bad,” he said.
“I am a little disappointed with our first half as they caught us off guard and scored a goal. We really didn’t compete in the first half as well as we wanted to but we definitely made a difference in the second half.
“We changed the formation at halftime and then we played with a lot of energy after the resumption from the stoppage.
“We had three or four really good chances in the second half which we could have done a bit better with but, at the end of the day, I’ll take a point and we will build on that.
“I think a point is the minimum that we deserved out of that game and most definitely in the second half we dominated for long periods without taking full advantage of some sharp chances, and these games come down to those chances.”
Match Stats
St GEORGE CITY FA: 1 (Agrelos 89’)
WOLLONGONG WOLVES FC: 1 (Masciovecchio 17’)
Saturday 31st May 2025
Penshurst Park
Referee: Casey Reibelt
Assistant referees: Hayden Kaye, Ethan Zvargulis
Fourth Official: Jasper White
St GEORGE CITY FA: 1. Jack Kenny, 2. Matthew Wahby, 3. Caio De Godoy, 7. Nathan Roberts (16. William Kounnas 72’), 8. Dominic Cox (10. Paolo Mitry 71’), 9. Marc McNulty, 11. Fumoto Kamada (19. Jesse Photi 62’), 15. Nathan Grimaldi, 23. Dakota Askew (4. Solomon Monahan-Vaiika 46’), 25. Brodie Clarkson, 33. Louis Khoury (18. Goncalo Agrelos 77’).
Substitutes not used: 13. Cameron Kemp.
Yellow Cards: Kamada 29’, Monahan-Vaiika 70’
Red Cards: Nil
WOLLONGONG WOLVES: 13. Daniel Solsky, 2. Harrison Buesnel, 4. Dylan Ryan, 6. James Anagnostopoulos, 7. Woon Sub Sim (3. Darcy Madden 67’, 9. Damon Gray 77’), 10. Liam Ball (77. Raphael Le’ai 67’), 14. Banri Kanaizumi, 17. Marcus Beattie, 21. Nicholas Olsen, 25. Alex Masciovecchio, 29. Ben Giason.
Substitutes not used: 1. Oliver Yates, 8. Sebastian Duarte, 15. Dax Kelly.
Yellow Cards: Kanaizumi 21’ Giason 60’, Solsky 88’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Marc McNulty (StG)
2 – Caio De Godoy (StG)
1 – Alex Masciovecchio (WW)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
