Eleven goal thriller as Tigers defeat Wollongong in final match for 2009
Last versus second-last on the TeleChoice Premier League table says it all really, but for the hardy and loyal supporters who turned up to Leichhardt Oval an entertaining game was provided.
In the end, the Tigers ran out 6-5 winners against the visitors but the result was really academic given their respective positions on the ladder.
2009 will soon be forgotten for both clubs for essentially the same reason ? disappointing displays on the park.
After the game Luke McGuire, the affable Sydney Tigers coach who has just re-signed for another season with the Leichhardt-based club, summed up the match as follows:
?I thought we were very good in attack; I mean scoring six goals in any game against good opposition is a good effort, but we did concede five goals which was the third time this year, so that?s something we?ll need address next year,? he said.
It didn?t take the Sydney Tigers too long to open their account. A long ball from Bishara Stephan found Franco Parisi on the right who delivered a precise cross into Robert Younis in the box and the former Adelaide United striker easily beat Alex Augusto in goal. It was to be the first of his four goals.
Only a matter of minutes later the Tigers should have been further ahead when a Stephen Kayes cross from the right reached Parisi, but somehow the normally reliable striker shot over the bar from close range.
In the 18? minute the Tigers doubled their lead when a long throw in from Michael Hawrysiuk reached Younis in the box and all he had to do was head the ball home past Augusto who appeared to be glued to his goal line.
3? minutes later James Monie put Wollongong on the board for the first time in the game against his former club.
A nice ball from Jimmy Lawrence found Monie in excellent position and all that was left for him to do was thread the ball past debut goalkeeper Giancarlo Papaianni who experienced a real baptism of fire.
In the 27? minute Wollongong equalised: Monie headed the ball forward for Steve Hayes who created some space and fired in a rocket that gave Papaianni no chance.
After the game Hayes, arguably his side?s best player, said that he was pleased to score in what could easily be his last game in Australia given that a move to Singapore seems very imminent.
?I am always happy to get a goal because I don?t get too many opportunities to score,? he stated.
?I am not too sure what the team will be doing next year, but for myself I am hoping to move on to bigger and better things and I?ll be trying my hardest to do that,? he said in a cryptic reference that indicates that Singapore is on his radar.
In the 37? minute Wollongong hit the lead for their first and only time of the game when Ilija Prenzoski scored the first of his two goals.
It was all too simple as a Brendan Kearns pass split the Tigers defence and Prenzoski doesn?t miss too often from that range – his chip over the out-coming ?keeper was sufficient and sent the visitors to the sheds at the break leading by a goal.
Something must have been said in the Sydney Tigers dressing room at the break by coach Luke McGuire because after just 23?? seconds from the kick off Younis had scored both his own, and his team?s, third goal.
A Parisi cross from the right was met with a flying volley from Younis who equalised the ledger for the Tigers. For a striker who has had an indifferent season, it was a welcome return to the goal-scoring charts. Perhaps some reported interest from an A-League club based in NSW ? but not Sydney ? was his real motivation.
3? minutes later and the Tigers roared back into the lead when a Michael West cross from the left was deflected by Parisi into the feet of Hawrysiuk who scored from close range in front of an open goal.
It was a dream start for the Tigers in the second stanza of play but it was really no more than they deserved.
In the 58? minute the Sydney Tigers scored again when Parisi brilliantly set up a charging Hawrysiuk who, with the outside of his foot, blasted the ball into the top right hand corner of the net for the best goal of the game.
In the 67? minute Mark Byrnes brought Brian Vanega down in the penalty box and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty.
Jamie McMaster, released by the Tigers only six weeks ago, stepped up to the mark against his former club to glide the ball past an outstretched Papaianni who had guessed the correct direction of the kick.
Younis scored his fourth and his side?s sixth goal of the game in the 75? minute when he simply out-muscled Corey Horner in the penalty box and very cleverly slotted the ball home.
Wollongong sent hearts beating and certainly didn?t rest on their laurels when three minutes later they scored their fifth when Prenzoski, from seemingly an innocuous position, was given far too much space and fired home a shot that beat all and sundry to end up in goal.
Afterwards Steve Hayes summed up the mood from the Wollongong players? point of view going into the game.
?Yes, bring back the crowds in the last game of the year but obviously it was the last game and it didn?t really mean much in terms of points on the ladder,? he said
?I think everyone was pretty relaxed and had fun out there today.?
Meanwhile, McGuire stated that 2009 was a poor season for the Tigers and that he looks forward to better things in 2010.
?We would be kidding ourselves if we didn?t say it was a very disappointing season,? he said.
?I think we underachieved as a squad, but there are some positives from this year with the young boys that came out and pushed their way up to the first grade squad.
?The coaching staff has re-signed and we should keep most players in the squad. With a few additions we should be a lot stronger than we were this year.?
Meanwhile, in the Grade-20s division the Tigers beat Wollongong Community FC 2-1.
Match Stats
Sydney Tigers 6 (Younis 3?, 18?, 46? and 75?, Hawrysiuk 48?, 58?)
Wollongong Community FC 5 (Monie 21?, Hayes 27?, Prenzoski 37? and 79?, McMaster (pen) 68?)
Sunday 9th, August, 2009
Referee: Brett Hookham
Assistant Referees: Allyson Flynn and David Lockeridge
Fourth Official: Lee Pigram
Sydney Tigers: 1.Giancarlo Papaianni; 2.Mark Byrnes, 7.Stephen Kayes (17.Joseph Cartisano 78?), 3.John Kelso, 6.Shane Lyons, 16.Michael Hawrysiuk, 18.Bishara Stephan (24.Jason Trifiro 46?), 12.Michael West, 22.Nick Rizzo, 9.Robert Younis, 10.Franco Parisi.
Substitutes Not Used: 99.Phillip Zabaks, 8.Marino Musumeci, 11.Carlo Musumeci
Yellow Cards: Hawrysiuk 82?, Rizzo 87?
Red Cards: Nil
Wollongong Community FC: 1.Alex Augusto; 2.Kieran Deane, 6.Ilija Prenzoski, 9.Steve Hayes, 11.James Monie, 12.Brendan Kearns (8.Peter Simonovski 63?), 15.Jimmy Lawrence (13.Jack Keating 68?), 16.Jamie McMaster, 17.Chris Nathanuel (14.Nick Littler 78?), 18.Brian Vanega, 19.Corey Horner.
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Adam Di Pietro
Yellow Cards: Lawrence 49?, Vanega 85?
Red Cards: Nil
-By Joe Russo
