10-man APIA downed by battling Wolves

Wollongong Wolves returned to the winners circle with a hard fought 1-0 win against a ten man APIA Leichhardt Tigers in its PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s clash at Lambert Park on Sunday.
Sam Matthews first half strike was enough for Jacob Timpano’s side to secure all three points away from home.
APIA started the match in fine style as Tasuku Sekiya flashed a shot across the face in the 4th minute.
Wollongong keeper Pasfield was called into action early when he smothered the ball at the feet of Jordan Murray before Sekiya blasted a good chance over the top in the 9th minute.
Visiting skipper Chris Price was cautioned in the 12th minute for what appeared a clean tackle on Hasegawa just outside the box before Sean Symons blasted the resulting free kick over the cross bar.
The Wolves’ attacks were sporadic but were unlucky not too see themselves in the lead after 26 minutes when Peter Simonoski’s strike was called back for offside.
An unlucky bounce caught APIA defender Themba Muata-Marlow off guard and struck him on the hand with the referee immediately awarding a free kick just outside the penalty area for Wollongong after 36 minutes.
David Stojic’s dead ball effort clipped the wall but deflected to Matthews who pushed the ball past APIA shot stopper Ryan Norval to give the visitors an unlikely 1-0 lead.
With no further addition to the score at the break it left the match finely balanced for the second 45-minutes.
No changes were made by either on the resumption and APIA kicked off with plenty of purpose.
Tigers Skipper Franco Parisi played in Sekiya in the 50th minute but the Japanese import couldn’t hit the target.
Wollongong required all their resilience as APIA took the game to them.
Muata-Marlow was given an early shower after her took down a Wollongong defender in the box.
Simonoski took the spot kick however Norval parried and was able to dive on the loose ball to thwart the visitors from doubling their lead.
A flurry of cautions followed as tempers began to fray.
A 10-man APIA were now battling uphill and Wollongong  made it no easier for there opponents as it happily sat back and to protect its lead.
APIA peppered the box with long balls in the stoppage period but could find no way through leaving a battling Wolves to take all three points.
APIA coach John Carnevale rued his side’s missed opportunities
“I thought the first 20-minutes we were pretty decent and created four or five opportunities and we should probably have been two up,” he said.
“Their goal was a free-kick that was brought back which I am still struggling to understand.
“While we lost Themba in the second half we still had three or four chances to take something from the match but we failed to capitalise.”
Wollongong gaffer Jacob Timpano felt luck finally went his side’s way.
“The first 20-minutes we were under the pump and Sekiya caused us all sorts of trouble but then we worked our way back into the match with some hard work in the middle of the park,” he said.
“We got a bit of a lucky goal I suppose but we haven’t been getting that sort of luck previously so I suppose it evens out in the long run.
“I thought we dominated the latter stages of the first-half and came out well for the second.
“The boys dug deep and it’s a just reward for the effort they put in.” 
Match Stats
APIA Leichhardt Tigers 0
Wollongong Wolves 1  (Matthews 36 )
Sunday, April 10 2016
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Ben Abraham
Assistant Referees: Sarah Ho & Thomas Lee
Fourth Official: Anthony Mansour
APIA Leichhardt Tigers: 92. NORVAL Ryan, 2. MILLGATE Nathan, 3. FSADNI Matthew (6. AUSTIN Luke 62’),  10. PARISI Franco ©, 11. MURRAY Jordan, 16. SYMONS Sean, 18. UCCHINO Adrian, 19. HASEGAWA Kenta (4. BARTELS Bradley 67), 20. SEKIYA Tasuka, 21. MUATA MARLOW Themba, 23. OLSEN Nick,
Substitutes Not Used: 1. LIIBRAND Tony, 5. Hooper Brendan, 12. COX Dominic
Yellow Cards: Parisi 24’, Millgate 48’, Murray 58’
Red Cards: Muata-Marlow 60’
Wollongong Wolves: 1. PASFIELD Justin, 2. KAWASE Kota, 3. MADDEN Darcy, 5. BALDACCHINO James, 6. MACKENZIE Zac, 7. PRICE Chris ©, 8. GRIFFIN Brendan (20. HRISTOVSKA Steve 90+4’), 9. SIMONOSKI Peter (11. WILSON Brett 70’), 10. STOJIC David,  16. ZUCCO Ben,  23. MATTHEWS Sam
Substitutes Not Used: 12. COLLISON Daniel, 17. ZUCCO Ricky, 19. MCGINN Blake
Yellow Cards: Price 12’, Baldacchino 23, Austin 69’, Madden 71’, Griffin 73’, Wilson 87’
Red Cards:
Player Ratings
3 – Sekiya ALT
2 – Mackenzie WW
1 – Norval ALT
-By PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Micky Brock.