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Wolves teach APIA a lesson

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APIA Leichhardt Tigers fell to their first defeat of the season on Sunday afternoon as Wollongong Wolves’ Thomas James ran rampant on a slick surface at Lambert Park hitting a hat-trick with a 3-0 victory.

The hosts started slowly, and were ultimately undone by individual mistakes which were duly punished by a striker in form.

James opened the scoring midway through the first half, before adding a second and a third to complete his hat trick with twenty minutes remaining.

APIA pushed in the closing stages but couldn’t apply a finishing touch to encouraging build-up work, and are left with work to do at the end of the second week of the season.

APIA’s Chris Payne had the first shot of any real note after a tentative opening few minutes, with both sides struggling to find their rhythm in challenging conditions at Lambert Park.

The rain which had held up earlier in the afternoon returned soon after the first whistle, but didn’t prevent Payne from slipping through on the left flank before hitting a curling ball towards the inside corner for Justin Pasfield to claw away.

Payne was given another opportunity to open the scoring a moment later when he was played through the middle by Sam Mcillhatton, but the forward was held up and closed down by good pressure from the visitors.

A clever pass from the midfield suddenly had Wollongong clean through on goal, with Thomas James drifting between two defenders before taking a touch around the onrushing Ivan Necevski to give himself a clean shot at the lead.

His side trailing, Corey Biczo might have helped pull a goal back for APIA when he slalomed down the right wing before touching the ball across the face of the goal, but Wollongong were able to clear for a corner.

The visitors had two terrific chances to push further in front with a second goal before the break; Takeru Okada drawing a sharp save from Necevski after good work from James, and James snapping a volley over the crossbar after a blocked Okada shot bounced his way.

APIA showed little intention to take the fight to their opponents in the second half, and soon found themselves behind by two when James nicked the ball from a clumsy Themba Muata-Marlow, before driving a shot past Necevski to double his tally for the afternoon.

Biczo let fly after a strong run down the right, but his wayward shot seemed to sum up a frustrating outing for the home side. With twenty minutes remaining, Okada pushed across the top of the box and cut a ball back for James, who swiped a first time finish under the goalkeeper.

APIA took control of the ball for a fifteen minute spell at the end of the half, and might’ve scored a late consolation goal but Mcillhatton could only mishit his volley in space at the back post.

By the final whistle, they might’ve considered themselves lucky to have got away with a 3-0 defeat; Stefan Dimoski closed down by Necevski before Brendan Griffin hit the post in added time.

A lacklustre display had APIA’s John Calleja shaking his head at the final whistle.

“We started poorly, made too many silly errors, had no cohesion going forward, our defensive shape was all over the shop,” he said.

“It was a performance I can’t put my finger on at the moment.

“Is it hunger? Is it desire? Did we think we were better than what we were? We know Wollongong are a tough side, we talked about that.

“We were out-enthused, they were first to every ball. They wanted it more and they got what they deserved.”

Wollongong’s Luke Wilkshire was pleased with his team’s performance, and another three points in 2019.

“I’ve got no complaints winning three-nil away from home,” he said.

“It’s not easy. I had people telling me that Wollongong don’t win away from home, but I think we’ve shown that we can.

“I’m excited about this group of players and it’s a tough place to come, so to pick up all three points is fantastic.”

Match Stats

APIA-Leichhardt Tigers 0

Wollongong Wolves 3 (James 20’, 56’, 69’)

Sunday 17th March, 2019

Lambert Park, Leichhardt

Referee: Michael Weiner

Assistant Referees: S. Edeling, M. Price

Fourth Official: M. Riedy

APIA-Leichhardt Tigers: 8. BICZO Corey, 7. DIAZ Tynan, 14. HUGHES Lachlan (18. UCCHINO Adrian), 21. KOUTA Michael, 12. MCILLHATTON Sam, 15. MUATA-MARLOW Themba, 1. NECEVSKI Ivan, 10. PARISI Franco (13. D’APUZZO David), 6. PAYNE Christopher, 4. SYMONS Joshua, 16. SYMONS Sean

Substitutes Not Used: 17. GULISANO Samuel, 19. NASRABADI Dominion, 22. TUXFORD Blake

Yellow Cards: Joshua Symons 61’, David D’Apuzzo 68’

Red Cards: Nil

Wollongong Wolves: 14. CALLAHAN Harry (23. KOLOVSKI Jordan), 4. DJORDEVIC Nikola, 9. JAMES Thomas, 16. KNIGHT Guy, 15. LITTLER Nick, 2. MCDONALD Taylor, 11. OKADA Takeru, 1. PASFIELD Justin, 24. SCOTT Lachlan (13. DIMOSKI Stefan), 17. STOJCEVSKI James, 6. TOSI Benjamin (10. GRIFFIN Brendan)

Substitutes Not Used: 12. KAIRIES Luke, 7. PRICE Christopher

Yellow Cards: James Stojcevski 83’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings

3 – Thomas James (WW)

2 – Takeru Okada (WW)

1 – Harry Callahan (WW)

-By Max Grieve

Wolves kick-off season with a bang!

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A new-look Wollongong Wolves kicked off their 2019 National Premier League NSW Men’s campaign off in the best possible way with a 2-1 win over Manly United at Albert Butler Memorial Park on Sunday.

In coach Luke Wilkshire’s first competitive game in the Wollongong dugout, the Wolves netted all three points thanks to goals from Thomas James and Jordan Nikolovski, while an early goal of the season contender from Manly’s Sam Gallagher gave the travelling fans something to cheer for.

The Wolves dominated the opening motions of the match, with Japanese import Takeru Okada creating numerous chances for the hosts to take the lead through a number of free-kicks outside the Manly box, but the visitors showed resilience in their defence, limiting the Wolves’ chances to loose headers and efforts from outside the box.

However, Wollongong finally found themselves on the scoresheet in the 34th minute, after another dangerous play down the left side of the field from Okada allowed the Japanese debutant to send in a pinpoint ball to an incoming Thomas James. James was able to make the most of the loose ball in the box, tapping the ball past Manly’s Dylan Mitchell and netting the first goal of the 2019 National Premier League NSW Men’s competition.

Things continued to run against Manly in the 41st minute when a knock to the head of Dom Ferguson forced the Manly midfielder off the field early, with the side having to change their formation to adapt to the situation.

As the second half got underway, both sides began to tire due to the warm weather, but Wollongong almost managed to double their advantage in the 55th minute through Lachlan Scott, with the former Western Sydney Wanderer managing to dig the ball out of a tough challenge and fire a curling effort at goal that required a top-drawer save from Mitchell to deny the Wolves striker and tip the ball over the bar.

Despite struggling to create many meaningful chances for most of the match, the visitors were unwilling to call the match quits and in the 72nd minute their persistence was rewarded with a stunner of a strike from Manly’s Sam Gallagher. The Manly defender fired a powerful effort goalward from over 30 yards out and the shot managed to weave its way past a leaping Justin Pasfield and bury itself in the top left corner to level the scores and give Gallagher an early contender for the goal of the season.

However, the score remained level for only two minutes, with the Wolves quickly retaking the lead after a great show of control from Harry Callahan allowed him to retain the ball in the Manly box and lay the ball off to a waiting Jordan Nikolovski, who calmly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner and restored the hosts lead.

A tense final period ensued with Manly attempting to throw everything they had at the Wolves to try and secure a point, but the hosts managed to stay firm and secure a winning start to their 2019 campaign.

Wollongong coach Luke Wilkshire was pleased with the effort shown by his squad to secure the win, noting the strength shown by several Wollongong debutants.

“The reaction from the boys to come back and get the second goal was fantastic,” he said.

“We want to win and at home, especially with the first game of the season, it’s important.

“I think there was probably around six or seven players who had never played at this level who were starting for us and I thought they were fantastic, they took it in their stride and we played some fantastic football and created numerous opportunities.”

Meanwhile, Manly coach Paul Dee was disappointed by the final result, but took solace in how his team came out firing in the second half.

“We had an unfortunate concussion that forced a bit of a structural change for us, but I think the response after the first half, we were disappointed and tried to change a few things at half time and I think the response that they came out with in the second half was quite good,” he said.

“We came down here with a game plan to win, but Wollongong did really well. I think, if I look at their side and some of the new talent they have brought in, I think they are gonna be a handful for teams.”

The Wolves will be hoping their winning start to the season continues when they travel to face last season’s runners-up APIA Leichhardt Tigers next Sunday while Manly will play host to Sydney FC.

Match Stats

Wollongong Wolves 2 (Thomas James 34’, Jordan Nikolovski 74’)

Manly United 1 (Sam Gallagher 72’)

Sunday 10th March, 2019

Albert Butler Memorial Park, Kemblawarra

Referee: C.Fisher

Assistant Referees: M. McOrist and N. Wotton

Fourth Official: B. Merchant 

Wollongong Wolves: 1. Justin Pasfield, 2. Taylor McDonald, 4. Nikola Djordjevic, 6. Benjamin Tosi (10. Brendan Griffin 71’), 9. Thomas James, 11. Takeru Okada, 14. Harry Callahan (13. Stefan Dimoski 78’), 15. Nick Litter, 16. Guy Knight, 17. James Stojcevski, 24. Lachlan Scott (23. Jordan Nikolovski 63’)

Substitutes Not Used: 7. Christopher Price, 12. Luke Kairies (GK)

Yellow Cards: Thomas James 84’, Jordan Nikolovski 91’

Red Cards: Nil

Manly United: 1. Dylan Mitchell, 2. Kieren Paull, 4. Travis Oughtred, 5. Sam Gallagher, 6. Joseph Fox, 8. Dom Ferguson (3. Jamie Lobb 41’), 10. Brendan Cholakian, 11. Adam Parkhouse, 13. Scott Balderson (14. Dejan Pandurevic 72’), 17. Lewis Miccio, 22. Jamie Glover (9. Nikola Taneski 60’)

Substitutes Not Used: 18. Luca Kmet, 20. Sam Benton

Yellow Cards: Scott Balderson 50’, Sam Gallagher 61’

Red Cards: Ni

Player Ratings

3 – Takeru Okada (Wollongong Wolves)

2 – Thomas James (Wollongong Wolves)

1 – Harry Callahan (Wollongong Wolves)

-By NPL NSW Reporter Cal Behrendt (Twitter handle @CalBehrendt)

Wilkshire believes in Wolves fight for silverware

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Wollongong Wolves will be out to break free of their underachievers tag in 2019 with a new coach and new look squad hopefully the perfect formula to catapult them to the top. 

Former Socceroos star and Wollongong product Luke Wilkshire replaces Jacob Timpano in the hot seat at WIN Stadium this season after calling an end to his playing days last year.

It will be a trial by fire for the veteran defender who has played in some of Europe’s top leagues during an 18-year career.

“It’s completely different to any preseason I have done before but I feel like I’ve settled in to the role pretty well so far,” Wilkshire said.

“It is incredible how much more work goes into being a coach than what it does as a player. When you leave the training paddock the work doesn’t stop and you don’t get the same opportunity to switch off as you do when you’re playing.

“It’s a really honour for me to get the chance to be in charge at Wollongong as it is the club where it all began for me.

“I just hope I can do a good job and give many more young players from the South Coast a chance to break through like I did.”

While he may not have the coaching experience of some of his NPL NSW Men’s rivals, Wilkshire is confident he can help transform the Wolves into a team which can challenge for the title.

It has been back to back seasons of big investment and little return for the club who have gone without finals football for the past four campaigns.

Wilkshire has returned to a local talent focused approach this season as they attempt to end their playoffs  drought.

“I’m not too worried about the past. You could say it is a new era at the club,” he said.

“We’ve brought in some new faces and plenty of young blood to help us go in a new direction.

“I’m really excited about the group of players we have assembled.

“I want to play attractive football and show off our player’s talents and from what I’ve seen so far I think that vision can come to fruition.”

Wilkshire’s move from the playing field to the dugout is only one of a few big changes to the playing roster this season with striker Peter Simonovski, veteran Japanese star Takuya Nozawa and hardworking midfielder Steven Hayes departing the club.

Japanese Striker Yuzo Tashiro will also move into the coaching set up in Wollongong after announcing his retirement.

The club has brought in Japanese midfielder Takeru Okada who joins Wollgonong after stints in Poland and the J-League.

The side has also signed former Sutherland Sharks defender and skipper Nick Littler as well as Illawarra Premier League standouts Guy Knight and Harry Callahan.

English born striker Thomas James has also been brought in from Canberra Football Club.

“I’m really happy with everyone we have signed as they each bring extra quality to the side and I’m sure will go on to play a big role in the team,” he said.

“I really wanted to find some hidden gems in the local competition here in Wollongong and I feel like i’ve done that with Guy (Knight) and Harry (Callahan) who have really impressed since coming on board.

“I’m really confident in the squad we have and believe we will be able to achieve the results we are working towards.”

Wollongong Wolves open their season at their spiritual home of Albert Butler Park on March 10 against Manly United.

Key player movements

Arrivals: Takeru Okada (Corrimal), Nick Littler (Sutherland Sharks), Guy Knight (Bulli FC), Harry Callahan (Bulli FC), Thomas James (Canberra FC)

Departures: Luke Wilkshire (Coaching), Yuzo Tashiro (retirement), Takuya Nozawa (Japan), Peter Simonovski (Sydney United 58), Steven Hayes

-By Nick Houghton

Wolves recruit new Japanese star

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National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s side Wollongong Wolves have secured the services of former J-League star Takeru Okada for the 2019 season.

The 24-year-old who hails from Kobe, made his way through the J-League system and was on the books of J-League outfit Cerezo Osaka, along with former Wolves striker Yuzo Tashiro.

After sustaining a knee injury, Takeru fought his way back through the Japanese leagues and also spent a year at GKS Betchatow Football Club in the Polish First Division.

On his return to Japan, he signed for FC Tiamo Hirakata in Osaka.

In 2018, Takeru decided on a trip to Australia to play football and to learn English.

He spent the 2018 with Corrimal Rangers FC in the Illawarra Premier League.

Takeru has been signed after impressing Luke Wilkshire in a number of IPL matches and was arguably the man of the match in our trial against the Central Coast Mariners in October 2018.

Wolves coach Luke Wilkshire was rapt with what he saw in Takeru.

“I was impressed by Takeru the first time I saw him play. My opinion of him has only grown since. He is very quick, direct, works hard, is dangerous from set pieces and will prove a real attacking weapon. In fact, I think he has the quality to play A-League football.”

Takeru’s signing has been facilitated by the third year of support from UOW College at the University of Wollongong.

Following on from Yuzo Tashiro and Takuya Nozawa, UOW College has continued its valuable support of the club by providing Takeru with a scholarship to participate in its General English Language course over a period of 48 weeks.

Through an interpreter, Takeru said, “I am very honored to be given this opportunity to play football and learn English. I am looking forward to helping the Wolves win and to also learn English at UOW College. It is a very nice campus. Learning English is very important to my future. I am very grateful for the opportunity.”

 

Wolves sign IPL stars

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The Wollongong Wolves have added some local Illawarra Premier League talent to its 2019 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s roster with the signings of former Bulli FC players Guy Knight and Harry Callahan.

Both players played instrumental roles in Bulli FC’s successful 2018 season in the local IPL as they guided their side to a memorable Premiership.

Knight coincidentally returns to the Wolves having spent a few years in the club’s youth setup

New Wolves coach Luke Wilkshire felt the timing was right to secure the dynamic duo.

“I watched both players a number of times last season.

It is great to see local talent stepping up into the NPL NSW Men’s top tier competition and challenging themselves.

“It shows that if a player works hard, there is a pathway up the football chain.

“Knighty has consistently been one of the best local players for the past few years and I am confident he will add significantly to the depth of our squad.

“Harry is a lively talent and a real prospect for the future, provided he continues to adopt a professional attitude and works hard in training.”

Knight will offer the squad options across a range of positions, while the speedy Callahan operates primarily in wide and high positions.

Proud Bulli FC President Paul Connery wished both his star players the best of luck in NSW’s top tier NPL football competition.

“Bulli FC is delighted to see both the boys take the step up into the Wolves program.

“Our club is all about developing players and giving them the opportunity to improve and to be the best player they can be. Our club and supporters look forward to watching them on WIN Stadium this season.”