Hungry Wolves too strong for Stallions

The Wolves overcame a one goal deficit in the first-half to prevail 2-1 at Marconi Stadium on Saturday night.
Despite conceding the last two goals of the match, it was the Stallions who had the first opportunity of the match courtesy of some lovely lead up work from the back. It was Laurence Braude who set up Alex Canak with a through ball into the penalty-area, but Canak was unable to beat an advancing Brody Crane and was denied by the goalkeeper?s desperate efforts.
The opportunity in the 15? minute opened the door for several attacking raids from the ensuing plays. Tim McGowan and Canak tried their hands at slipping one past the Wolves? shot stopper, but were unable to find the break through.
The Wolves looked unlikely to break the shackles in the opening 25? minutes, but Tayfun Buyukkopru was posing a threat up-front and found himself in space on several occasions.
Nicolas McInerney brought Marconi goalkeeper James Chronopoulos into the match when he charged forward, but his shot trickled in the direction of goal and was easily taken care of.
At the opposite end, Canak was proving difficult to contain and unleashed a powerful drive in the direction of goal, but Crane?s diving effort denied the No.8.
But there was very little Crane could do to deny the Stallions when they were awarded a corner in the 33? minute. Brenton Rhodes got a shot away after the ball fell to him at the edge of the penalty area, but a Jason Trifiro deflection deceived the goalkeeper and gave Marconi a 1-0 lead.
The Wolves didn?t have to play catch up for too much longer, hitting back in similar fashion in the 38? minute to equalise. From a corner, Chris Nathaniel was able to get himself into a position to guide the ball past Chronopolous and give his side a much-needed confidence boost heading into half-time.
Marconi came out of the sheds with intent to control the tempo, and in the first 15? minutes of the second-half, were unfazed by anything the Wolves threw at them.
Canak was creating havoc up the middle and turned the defence inside out to muster the Stallions? best chance of the second-half. The midfielder made his way into the penalty-area and managed to get a left foot shot away, but despite his brilliant efforts, was denied by the woodwork.
With the crowd behind the home-side, the Stallions continued to push forward in search for goals, allowing Braude to join the of Marconi players to narrowly miss the target.
However, the Wolves? perseverance was rewarded when Mark Picciolini headed home a Tynan Diaz cross to hit the lead in the 79? minute.
Arrarte had a chance to salvage a draw in the dying moments when the ball fell to his feet, but the captain?s shot went sailing into the stands and ended any hope of a comeback.
Wolves coach Trevor Morgan, who admitted he would have been happy with a point, said he was thrilled to come away from Marconi Stadium with a win:
?When we got in the lead you could see how nervous the guys were because we?re not used to winning,? he said.
?Although Marconi were coming at us, it was pretty obvious where they were going to play the ball, so if we defended well we could cope with it.?
Despite the victory, Morgan is under no illusions of a fairytale run into the semi-finals:
?We are 100 per cent very much concerned on getting our game consistent and getting in positions to win games,? he said.
?We certainly don?t have those lofty ambitions, we?re just trying to improve each game.?
A disappointed Lee Sterrey wasn?t impressed with some refereeing decisions but was reluctant to blame his side?s shock loss on the officials:
?I?m not going to blame the referee because we took two very bad goals,? Sterrey said.
?It?s a disappointing result because we didn?t expect to lose here.?
After escaping with a win against the Berries last week, Sterrey said he didn?t see any signs of complacency.
?I didn?t see it coming because our character?s been first class all season,? he said.
?We?ve got to take more of our chances and play into the right areas.?
In the Grade-20 encounter, the Stallions defeated the Wolves 3-1.
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions 1 (Brenton Rhodes 33?)
South Coast Wolves 2 (Chris Nathaniel 38?, Mark Picciolini 79?)
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Crowd: Approx 350
Marconi Stallions: 22.James Chronopoulos; 2.Brenton Rhodes, 5.Adel El Jamal (18.Jared Lum 85?), 7.Tim McGowan, 8.Alex Canak, 9.Erick Anabalon, 11.Matt Gordon (15.Matthew Hall 79?), 17.Laurence Braude (31.Mitchell Mallia 79?), 23.Chris Nunes, 26.Nahuel Arrarte, 42.Giorgio Speranza
Substitutes Not Used: 26.Domenic Trimboli, 21.Jose Bello
Yellow Cards: Adel El Jamal 34?, Giorgio Speranza 36?, Alex Canak 39?
Red Cards: Nil
South Coast Wolves: 1.Brody Crane; 4.Nick Littler, 5.Nicolas McInerney, 6.Lisandro Berbis (11.Andrew Paine 62?), 8.Tayfun Buyukkopru, 9.Mark Picciolini (16.Kieran Deane 82?), 10.Jason Trifiro, 13.Sean Van Rooyen, 14.Andres Gomez, 15.Chris Nathaniel, 17.Tynan Diaz
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Greg Valic, 40.Nikodin Matic, Cameron Littler 11.Andrew Paine
Yellow Cards: Nicolas McInerney 62?, Tynan Diaz 67?
Red Cards: Nil
*Note – Player Ratings will now be hidden until the end of the NSW Premier League season with the overall standings to select the 2010 NSW Premier League All-Stars line-up
-By Michael Chammas