Late Winner for Marconi seals victory in Wollongong

The Wolves took a deserved lead on 20? minutes when David Abel?s textbook header found the top corner after Marconi failed to clear from a corner.
Marconi turned the game around in the second half with a penalty to Nahuel Arrarte and late winner by Nathan Jagelman sealing the contest.
After a cautious opening period the match sprung into life after 12? minutes as Trevor Morgan?s Wolves showed their strength at set pieces. David Abel?s powerful header from Tayfun Buyukkopru?s corner was saved by the well-positioned James Chronopoulos.
Buyukkopru?s corners continued to cause havoc in the Marconi box as the defence?s failure to clear from the set piece forced Chronopoulos into a reflex save from Alex Mansueto?s low shot.
The ensuing corner resulted in the opener for Wolves. Buyukkopru?s corner from the right hand side fell to Ken Chun on the left wing. The former Sydney Olympic midfielder?s pinpoint cross found the unmarked David Abel, whose excellent header found the back of the net, much to the delight of the South Coast crowd.
Marconi responded quickly, with Arrarte firing straight at Brody Crane, before Erick Anabalon missed a glorious one-on-one chance to level the scores, placing his shot harmlessly wide after breaking through the Wolves backline.
After great lead-up play at the other end from Andrew Paine on 30? minutes, Nicolas McInerney?s deflected shot sailed inches wide with Chronopoulos well beaten. The Marconi goalkeeper was again called into action minutes later, racing off his line to intercept McInerney?s through ball, denying Andrew Keep a golden opportunity.
The Wolves began the second- half shakily as Matthew Gordon found space on the left wing, crossing dangerously only for Jarod Lum to squander his header six yards from goal. Anabalon scuffed his follow up shot, letting the Wolves off the hook once again.
Buyukkopru forced a top class save from Chronopoulos in the 49? minute, with his creative long-range effort tipped over the crossbar.
Marconi again failed to deal with the following corner, allowing Lisandro Berbis to force Chronopoulos into another fine diving save.
Despite their set piece frailties, Marconi found themselves level minutes later. A shot in the 57? minute struck the arm of an unfortunate Mansueto, with the Wolves defender conceding a penalty and receiving a booking for his protests.
Arrarte stepped up to the spot and send Crane the wrong way, slotting home to the shot-stopper?s left.
Buyokkopru again tested Chronopoulos with successive long-range efforts in the 64? and 72? minutes. The Marconi goalkeeper was equal to the first attempt, as the second sailed harmlessly over the crossbar.
The home-side was unlucky not to restore their advantage between these efforts as Paine beat Chronopoulos to a defence splitting through ball, only for his weak finish to be cleared off the line by Adel El Jamal.
Marconi coach Lee Sterrey substituted Nathan Jagelman into his attack in the 74? minute, and the injection of the 17-year old brought immediate impact.
The Stallions fired narrowly wide on multiple occasions, with Aleksandar Canak, Anabalon, and Jagelman unlucky not to find the target.
The Wolves should have restored their advantage in the 80? minute, but substitute Kieran Deane?s poor finish in a one-on-one situation was well saved by Chronopoulos, capping off the goalkeeper?s exceptional performance.
South Coast Wolves were made to lament the missed chance as they fell behind to a swift Marconi counterattack on 86? minutes.
Arrarte?s cross from the right wing found Anabalon, who cleverly drew the defenders with his run and touched off first time for the unmarked Jagelman to fire home from close range to seal a dramatic late victory for Marconi.
Again, Wolves coach Trevor Morgan was left to rue missed chances after seeing a lead slip through their fingers for the second week running:
?Both goals came from us not getting tight enough defensively,? said Morgan.
?We have to be ruthless in those situations,? Morgan added.
?We need to be more composed and better at our defending, particularly in the middle four.
?You can harp on the mistakes at the back but it?s a team effort and we missed an opportunity to take all the points.?
After a mixed display from his squad, Marconi boss Lee Sterrey was notably happy with the fighting spirit of his weakened squad.
?We need to strengthen up in set piece areas, no doubt about that,? he said
?We can?t give away soft goals like we gave away tonight.
?The other disappointment for me tonight was our execution in the front third. The 3 or 4 shots we had from the edge of the box should be finding the target.
?Overall I?m happy that we fought our way back and we showed some character when we are nowhere near our best squad? ended Sterrey.
In the Grade-20 division, the South Coast Wolves triumphed 2-1 over Marconi Stallions.
Match Stats
South Coast Wolves 1 (David Abel 20?)
Marconi Stallions 2 (Nahuel Arrarte (pen) 57?, Nathan Jagelman 86?)
Saturday, March 6, 2010
WIN Stadium, Wollongong
Referee: Sandro Perticarini
Assistant Referees: Chris Young and Paul Faithfull
Fourth Official: Matthew Samson
Crowd: Approx 1000
South Coast Wolves: 1.Brody Crane; 17.Tynan Diaz, 2.Alex Mansueto, 4.Dave Abel, 5.Nick McInerney, 6.Lisandro Berbis, 7.Andy Keep (15. Chris Nathaniel 75?), 8.Tayfun Buyukkopru, 19.Ken Chun (16.Kieran Deane 56?), 10.Jason Trifiro, 11.Andrew Paine
Substitutes Not Used: 22.Hayden Durose, 3.Greg Valic.
Yellow Cards: Abel 45?, Mansueto 57?, Berbis 66?
Red Cards: Nil
Marconi Stallions: 22.James Chronopoulos; 2.Brenton Rhodes, 4.Umut Tokdogan, 5.Adel El Jamal, 7.Nahuel Arrarte, 8.Aleksandar Canak, 9.Erick Anabalon, 11.Matthew Gordon (34.Nathan Jagelman 74?), 23.Christopher Nunes (25.Dominic Trimboli 81?), 18.Jarod Lum (14.Daniel Ott 63?), 42.Giorgio Speranza
Substitutes Not Used: 44.Damien Travis, 21.Jose Bello Amigo
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? James Chronopoulos (MS)
2 ? Nahuel Arrarte (MS)
1 ? David Abel (SCW)

By Michael Shoolman