Wolves add Lions? scalp en-route to Quarter-Final

The Round Four encounter at Jensen Park had the Lions as the hot favourites, though the Wolves had other ideas as Tayfun Buyukkopru scored a sensational, ?Beckhamesque? free-kick in the 89? minute to send the Lions packing.
The Lions were quick out of the blocks as Hussein Akil skillfully dribbled his way into the penalty-area on 5? minutes before unleashing an effort goalwards ? denied by a last-ditch challenge by a Wolves defender.
The resulting corner was poorly dealt with by the visitors as Hussein Salameh was on the edge of the penalty-area to pick up the loose ball, though his effort finished well over the crossbar.
Tallan Martin was then presented with a half-chance from an acute position, released by Chris Godoy Bascur, though the striker?s effort was well saved by Brody Crane in the Wolves goal.
Despite conceding the better chances, South Coast Wolves did manage to get forward ? initiated time-and-time again by Jason Trifiro out of midfield, though the Wolves failed to test Zlatko Joseski early.
Bankstown City created two chances in quick succession between the 13? and 15? minute mark. Richard Luksic saw his header deflect wide of the mark, before an individual effort by Bill Tsanidis saw the right-sided defender beat his marker though his final effort finished over the crossbar.
The visitors? first real chance of the night arrived in the 17? minute via affine counter-attacking move. Mark Picciolini got in behind the Lions defence before playing an exquisite low pass across the face of goal and into the path of Kieran Deane at the back post. The unmarked Deane took the shot first-time, and with the goal at his mercy, blasted his effort off target.
The Lions continued to dominate in the attacking third with chances falling to Tsanidis and Godoy-Bascur, though both efforts failed to reap reward.
On the half-hour, South Coast Wolves had a shout for a penalty when Andrew Paine was played through on goal. Paine appeared to be brought down by Joseski in the Lions goal, though the referee was on the spot to wave play on.
Despite finishing the half with a strong hold on possession, the visitors conceded two immense chances to the Lions. First, Robbie Mileski failed to dip his free-kick from the edge of the penalty-area enough to finish on target, before Hussein Akil squandered a late chance from close-range, shooting his effort well over the crossbar from an inviting position.
The Wolves had to with-do without Trifiro for the second 45? minutes ? the talented midfielder picking up a knock to his right knee, meanwhile the Lions too were forced to replace Hussein Akil due to injury.
Hussein Salameh tried his luck from distance to open proceedings in the second period, though Crane was well-positioned to parry for the Wolves.
On the hour, Scott Thomas disposed Buyukkopru deep in the Wolves half and created the yard of space to unleash an effort on goal. Crane, in the Wolves goal, was again well-alert and punched the ball away to safety.
On the counter-attack, the Wolves nearly snatched the lead. Chris Nathaniel was sent through on goal on the counter-attack, and from a slightly decentralised position to the left of goal hit a diagonal effort across the face of goal, only just finishing wide of Joseski?s left-hand post.
At the other end, a scramble in the Wolves penalty-area saw the ball fall to Luksic, though the defender?s first-time shot on goal finished over Brody Crane?s crossbar.
Nathaniel was again in the thick of the action for the visitors when he dispossessed Joseski of the ball on the left byline. With the goal at his mercy, Tsanidis produced a tremendous tackle to take the ball away from the Wolves? attacking midfielder.
With extra-time only minutes away, the Lions lost Scott Thomas in a moment of madness. Thomas picked up successive yellow cards in the space of 30?? seconds, leaving the Lions to fend with 10-men.
South Coast took full advantage of the extra man as they won a free-kick on the edge of the penalty-area. Buyukkopru stepped up to the spot and curled his set-piece over the Lions wall and into the back of the net ? adding Bankstown City to a list that already includes Bonnyrigg White Eagles as scalps in the McDonald?s Cup for 2010.
Following the match, Wolves coach Trevor Morgan expressed his content:
?Very happy with the boys tonight, because we stuck at it and we fought until the end.
?I am happy because we are just starting to pick up some results now, which is great for the team morale.
?Bankstown City is a fantastic team, and even though they are struggling a little at the moment in-terms of results, we have really achieved something tonight,? ended Morgan.
Bankstown City?s Peter Tsekenis despite being disappointed with the result, couldn?t question the effort of his men:
?I am disappointed that we have lost another match, and we are out of the Cup, though the players all put in a great effort tonight.
?It is one of those moments for us where things are not going right. We created enough chances to win a few matches tonight, though we didn?t score.
?I feel for the boys because everyone is working hard ? perhaps sometimes working even a little too hard ? though I am confident in the ability of all the players I send out onto the field, so we will keep challenging this season, hoping that we can start picking up some wins,? concluded Tsekenis.
Match Stats
Bankstown City 0
South Coast Wolves 1 (Tayfun Buyukkopru 89?)
Tuesday, 25th May, 2010
Jensen Park, Sefton
Referee: Sandro Perticarini
Assistant Referees: Leigh Pigram and Alex Goodhew
Crowd: 150 Approx.
Bankstown City FC: 1.Zlatko Joseski; 2.Scott Thomas, 4.Brett Studman, 5.Richard Luksic (C), 3.Shannon Burgin, 20.Hussein Salameh (87.Adam Hussein 83?), 99.Chris Godoy Bascur (16.Damien Brosque 69?), 23.Tallan Martin, 12.Bill Tsanidis, 9.Hussein Akil (18.William Angel 46?), 10.Robert Mileski
Substitutes Not Used: 21.L.Thomas, 15.J.Castronandro
Yellow Cards: Hussein Salameh 63?, Scott Thomas 87?, 87?, Richard Luksic 88?
Red Cards: Scott Thomas 87?
South Coast Wolves: 1.Brody Crane; 17.Tynan Diaz, 2.Alex Mansueto, 4.Nick Littler, 15.Chris Nathaniel, 10.Jason Trifiro (8.Tayfun Buyukkopru 46?), 13.Sean Van Rooyen, 7.Andrew Keep (6.Lisandro Berbis 46?), 9.Mark Picciolini, 16.Kieran Deane (14.Andres Gomez 46?), 11.Andrew Paine (5.Nic McInerney 67?)
Substitutes Not Used: 40.Nikodin Matic
Yellow Cards: Lisandro Berbis 49?, Sean Van Rooyen 59?, Nic McInerney 90?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 ? Chris Nathaniel (SCW)
2 ? Bill Tsanidis (BC)
1 ? Tayfun Buyukkopru (SCW)
-By Joseph Carlucci