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Wolves make light work of Sharks

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Wollongong Wolves are on the precipice of claiming the 2019 National Premier League NSW Men’s Premiership after a 4-0 win over Sutherland Sharks at WIN Stadium on Saturday evening.

Two goals in each half was enough to secure the result for the Wolves, who move within one point of claiming the Premiership with only three rounds remaining.

Despite both sides seeing solid opportunities go begging in the opening exchanges, it was the hosts who finally broke the deadlock in the 30th minute thanks to a goal from in-form striker Lachlan Scott.

Scott fired home his 12th goal of the season with style after Darcy Madden allowed the ball to roll to the striker, with Scott tapping the loose ball past Sharks keeper Anthony Bouzanis and extending Scott’s scoring streak to five games.

Wollongong doubled their lead five minutes later through Madden, who made the most of a quick break down the middle of the field, rounding Bouzanis and sliding the ball into the back of the net.

The Wolves furthered their lead in the 49th minute through Takeru Okada, with the Japanese midfielder taking advantage of a Scott through ball down the left flank to fire the ball into the bottom right corner.

The hosts completed their rout in the 69th minute with a stunning strike from league top-scorer Thomas James, who produced a top-drawer effort from the edge of the box to beat Bouzanis into the top-right corner – it was the Englishman’s twentieth goal of the season.

Sutherland came close to nabbing a consolation goal several times in the final twenty minutes, but the Sharks were unable to get past the league-leaders, with Wollongong holding on to claim a 4-0 result.

Wollongong assistant coach Yuzo Tashiro – who held the reins for the match due to head coach Luke Wilkshire’s absence – was pleased with the result, noting the side did well to quickly change gears.

“The contest was very good, we had a quick transition for the full 90 minutes,” he said.

“[It was a] good performance, good goals [and] good attitude.”

Wolves defender Taylor McDonald agreed with Tashiro’s statements, also noting that the side still needs to focus to ensure they claim the Premiership.

“It was a good result by the boys, everyone put in a good shift and it was such a crucial point at such a crucial time of the year,” he said.

“We’ve still got a bit of work to do but it’s a good feeling knowing that you’ve got that cushion [of points], but we’ll keep going for next week and make sure we get the job done.”

Meanwhile, Sutherland Sharks coach Terry Palapanis was disappointed by the result, but noted the side was missing a few key players which could have helped reshape the outcome.

“One of those games. Fair play to them, they’ve got some quality up top, their front three is the best in the league by a country mile and they came out today and punished us,” he said.

“We’ve lost some good players – Charles [Lokolingoy] missing, Harry Skotadis overseas, Liam Mcging last minute going to the A-League with Wellington – I’ve had to rebuild this team three, four times this season and when your coming up against firepower like [Wollongong], that’s what you get.

“We’ll look at it again on Monday and go to the videos and try and make something of the season in the last three games.”

Wollongong can claim the Premiership as early as Sunday if A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers fail to grab a point against Sydney Olympic, but the Wolves can secure the Premiership with a point against Blacktown City at Lily Homes Stadium next Sunday. Meanwhile Sutherland will attempt to return to winning ways and remain in the finals hunt when they host Mount Druitt Town Rangers next Saturday at Seymour Shaw Park.

Match Stats

Wollongong Wolves 4 (Lachlan Scott 30’, Darcy Madden 35’, Takeru Okada 49’, Thomas James 69’)

Sutherland Sharks 0 

Saturday 20th July, 2019

WIN Stadium, Wollongong

Referee: C. Fisher

Assistant Referees: N. Wotton and J. Bell

Fourth Official: S. Andrews

Wollongong Wolves: 1. Justin Pasfield, 2. Taylor McDonald, 3. Darcy Madden (14. Harry Callahan 66’), 4. Nikola Djordjevic, 7. Christopher Price, 9. Thomas James, 11. Takeru Okada, 15. Nick Littler, 16. Guy Knight, 17. James Stojcevski (10. Brendan Griffin 74’), 24. Lachlan Scott (13. Stefan Dimoski 83’)

Substitutes Not Used: 12. Luke Kairies (GK), 23. Jordan Nikolovski

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

Sutherland Sharks: 1. Anthony Bouzanis, 2. Quentin Cheng (19. Harry Sutherland 59’), 3. Marc Warren, 4. Patrick O’Shea, 7. Bai Antoniou, 8. Mateo Poljak, 9. Jeremy Cox, 10. Raul Beneit Romero, 11. Jordan Morfitis (32. Alexander Lopez 53’), 12. Blair Brown, 21. Tarik Ercan (25. Brodie Clarkson 66’)

Substitutes Not Used: 18. Mitchell Evans, 30. Thomas Aquilina

Yellow Cards: Tarik Ercan 57’

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings have now been hidden due to the second half of the season commencing.

-By Cal Behrendt

Wolves to face Sydney FC in friendly hit-out

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Sydney FC will face NPL NSW Men’s frontrunners the Wollongong Wolves at WIN Stadium, Wollongong on Wednesday 14th August (kick off 7pm AEST).

In the latest pre-season fixture to be confirmed for the Sky Blues, Head Coach Steve Corica’s charges will continue preparing for their title-defending season by facing off against a Wolves side coached by former Sydney FC Premiership winner Luke Wilkshire.

The clash comes off the back of Sydney FC’s FFA Cup Round of 32 encounter against Brisbane Roar and will prove another vital step in the build up to season 2019/20.

“Wollongong Wolves are a good team and this match will be a great test in the lead up to the new season.” Head Coach Steve Corica said.

“Preparations are coming along well for us, we’re pushing the players to ensure they’re at their peak for Round 1 and this game will be a great way to work on what we’ve been doing in training.

“It’ll be great to see Luke again as well, we enjoyed some memorable times together at Sydney FC and it’s pleasing to see him excelling as a coach now.”

Wollongong Wolves Head Coach Luke Wilkshire said he was excited for the game.

“As a player you want to test yourself against the best, and this will be a good hit out for the boys,” he said.

“It’s going to be interesting taking on my former club but I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again and I look forward to seeing my players measure themselves against the best team in the A League.”

Wolves celebrate NAIDOC Week with special edition home strip

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National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s league leaders Wollongong Wolves threw its support behind NAIDOC Week as the first team squad wore commemorative jerseys in their 1-0 round 18 victory over Hakoah Sydney City East on Sunday at WIN Stadium.

The jerseys were designed by Trent Duffy of ‘Artistic One Indigenous Art’ and were a huge hit as the Wolves faithful got behind what was a great day for football in the South Coast.

Wreck Bay Sharks’ Bernie McLeod was thrilled with the Wolves’ Indigenous engagement at WIN Stadium.

“I am extremely proud that coach Luke Wilkshire and the Wollongong Wolves FC embraced the idea to acknowledge the First Nations Peoples of Australia by wearing an indigenous jersey to commemorate this leading into NAIDOC Week.

“The artist for the shirt was Trent Duffy (Artistic One Indigenous Art) who did a fantastic job.”

Bernie McLeod and the Wreck Bay Sharks have been massive advocates for Indigenous Football in NSW.

Keep a look out for information surrounding the annual National Indigenous Football Championships held in South Nowra in November.

Please contact Charlotte Ercil for more information – [email protected] 02 8814 4459

Wolves inch closer to Premiership title

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A first-half strike from Wollongong’s Lachlan Scott helped the Wolves beat competition strugglers Hakoah Sydney City East 1-0 at WIN Stadium on Sunday afternoon. 

Scott’s 34th minute strike helped the league leaders go seven points clear at the top of the National Premier League NSW Men’s ladder with just four rounds remaining.

It was the hosts who dominated most of the early play, with early chances from the league-leading goal scorer Thomas James and Japanese dynamo Takeru Okada troubling travelling Hakoah gloveman Ryan Norval to no avail.

However, the Wolves finally broke through in the 34th minute after Okada was able to slide a ball out to Taylor McDonald on the right-hand flank.

McDonald quickly swung in a pinpoint cross aimed at former A-League striker Lachlan Scott, who was able to deftly nod the ball past Norval, squeezing the shot into the back of the net and handing the hosts the lead.

Despite going behind, the bottom-placed Hakoah side refused to count themselves out of the fixture and the side almost levelled the scores in the 57th minute thanks to a quick break from Adrian Vranic. Vranic was able to slide a quick ball past a rushing Justin Pasfield and find Dominic Cox on the right-hand side of the Wolves box.

However, Cox was unable to level the scores, mis-hitting his shot past Pasfield, causing it to be swept up by the Wollongong backline.

The visitors continued to prove problematic in the second half as Wollongong attempted to stamp their authority on the encounter, but neither side was able to add to the match’s goal tally, with the Wolves holding on for a 1-0 win.

Wollongong coach Luke Wilkshire was slightly disappointed in his side’s performance despite the result but noted the side still did well to earn a clean sheet and put themselves in a strong position for the final stretch of the season.

“People say that it’s a cliché that there is no such thing as an easy game, but they fight for their lives, they make it difficult and they [Hakoah] did,” he said.

“I think for me we didn’t reach the levels that I know this team can play at, so in that respect it’s disappointing.

“It’s not bad when you come after another victory and another clean sheet and feel a little bit disappointed. It shows what’s expected of us and expected of ourselves but it’s another three points, we’ve got four games left to go and we’ve got a couple of weeks now to prepare for the next one.”

Meanwhile, Hakoah Sydney City East coach Gavin Rae thought his side played well against the league leaders but noted the side continues to lack a fatal quality in the final third.

“We came here with a game plan, we know they’re [Wollongong] a good team [and] try and stifle them as much as we could and limit chances,” he said.

“I thought overall, we did ok at that and we made a couple of half chances ourselves and that’s what we are aiming for, to try and get something out of the game.

“That’s probably what has let us down all season to be honest. Little bits like that and its’ been very disappointing, getting in good positions and we’re just not taking advantage of it.

“We’ve got a good team that has just fell a bit short at times this season and that’s disappointing, but hey, that’s football and you’ve got to take it.”

Match Stats

Wollongong Wolves 1 (Lachlan Scott 34’)

Hakoah Sydney City East FC 0 

Sunday 7th July, 2019

WIN Stadium, Wollongong

Referee: H. Jomaa

Assistant Referees: M. McOrist and J. Park

Fourth Official: S. Quinn

Wollongong Wolves: 1. Justin Pasfield, 2. Taylor McDonald (14. Harry Callahan 62’), 3. Darcy Madden, 4. Nikola Djordjevic, 7. Christopher Price, 9. Thomas James (23. Jordan Nikolovski 78’), 11. Takeru Okada, 15. Nick Littler, 16. Guy Knight, 17. James Stojcevski, 24. Lachlan Scott (8. Bul Juach 88’)

Substitutes Not Used: 6. Benjamin Tosi, 12. Luke Kairies (GK)

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

Hakoah Sydney City East FC: 1. Ryan Norval, 2. Connor Shaddock, 4. Bradley Walker, 5. Steven Katsionis, 6. Dominic Cox (24. Amaury Marie Gauthier 73’), 8. Oliver Green, 11. Jack Green, 12. Joshua Swadling, 13. Robert Ezekiel (14. Jordan Koton 61’), 17. Harry Jones, 23. Adrian Vranic (9. Shohei Okuno 87’)

Substitutes Not Used: 10. Nathan Roberts, 25. Max Ephraim

Yellow Cards: Nil

Red Cards: Nil

Player Ratings have now been hidden due to the second half of the season commencing.

By National Premier Leagues NSW Reporter Cal Behrendt

Wolves celebrate NAIDOC week

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Current National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s league leaders Wollongong Wolves will be celebrating NAIDOC Week with the senior squad set to wear a commemorative strip in their round 18 clash against Hakoah Sydney City East this Sunday at WIN Stadium. 

NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life.

In January this year the Wolves hosted a series of multi age group clashes between the Mariya (Australian Indigenous teams) and various opponents, including ourselves, which served as preparation for the National Indigenous Football Championships.

‘The Wolves’ have a close association with the Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council and Mr Bernie McLeod of the Wreck Bay Sharks FC who has been instrumental in providing opportunities for indigenous footballers.

To celebrate NAIDOC week, the club will wear a special commemorative jersey designed by Trent Duffy of ‘Artistic One Indigenous Art’. The jersey is courtesy of our apparel supplier GIOCA.

Various other cultural ceremonies will take place during the day.

The Wolves see this as one way of supporting our local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

Wolves coach Luke Wilkshire was full of praise of the club supporting such a week.

“Over the past few years the club has developed a strong relationship with indigenous leaders on the South Coast and we look forward to the day when indigenous players are prominent in our teams. Indigenous footballers are very talented athletes and our game needs them. Celebrating NAIDOC week with the commemorative shirt and other activities is our way of showing our respect to the traditional owners of our land.”

Bernie McLeod of the Wreck Bay Sharks FC stated his delight with seeing the Wolves respect the Indigenous community with this unique gesture.

“I am extremely proud that Luke Wilkshire and the Wollongong Wolves FC embraced the idea to acknowledge the First Nations Peoples of Australia by wearing an indigenous jersey to commemorate this leading into NAIDOC Week. The artist for the shirt was Trent Duffy (Artistic One Indigenous Art) who did a fantastic job.”

Paul Knight, CEO of the Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council echoed McLeod’s thoughts.

“The Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council is excited by the collaboration with the Wollongong Wolves and the development potential for Aboriginal athletes in the region. We see the opportunity for celebrating NAIDOC week with the Wolves as another exciting aspect of this developing partnership.”