Howling Wolves dismantle Manly United
Before anyone in the crowd could get comfortable in their seats South Coast Wolves were in front, a cross from Nick Littler was fired into the back of the net from a Sasho Petrovski header.
Petrovski grabbed the headlines as the former A-League and Socceroo marksman missed out on the Wolves first match but got things going with a fantastic start to the 2012 season.
Minutes later a run from the other wing gave Peter Simonovski a goal and South Coast were 2-0 ahead. The goal came from a quick break by Sean Robertson who unselfishly squared across for Simonovski to drill the ball home.
Manly struggled to get into the flow of the game early and their main threats were coming from corners – the best of these came through Marc Richards who was denied by Wolves goalkeeper Daniel Collison.
Michael Daly began to show his quality for Manly and off the back of a great dribbling run though middle he played a pass out wide which led to a dangerous cross almost finding Chris Payne alone on the back post.
Both teams looked very closely matched as they battled to try to win control of the midfield. Even with the scoreline at 2-0 in favour of the home side, Manly’s pace upfront gave the impression that they were not out of the game.
As half-time approached, Manly exerted pressure though a series of free-kicks and corners, but the Wolves back line were winning the crucial challenges.
A Manly attack saw Mathew Sim play a superb through ball to set Justin Hayward through on goal but he was denied by a solid save by Collison.
Hayward was at it again minutes later as his glancing shot glanced past the post. After these two near misses South Coast were relieved to reach the half-time whistle with their lead in tact.
South Coast were quickly under pressure after the restart as Manly came out flying. Manly were pressing everyone forward in an attempt to get themselves their first goal that would put the pressure on. Michael Daly had a header saved and Mathew Sim saw his long shot parried away by the South Coast goalkeeper who was beginning to impress everyone at the venue.
He was brought into action again shortly after as a cheeky lobbed effort from Scott Balderson forced Collison to demonstrate his aerial abilities.
Manly were throwing everything at South Coast as Michael Daly skimmed the crossbar with another headed effort. The chances were coming thick and fast and it seemed only a matter of time before the deficit was halved as the Wolves were being hemmed in their own half and restricted to rare counter attacks.
Sasho Petrovski started to get back into the game in an effort to spur on his team mates. His efforts seemed to work as eventually South Coast weathered the storm and the game turned back into a midfield battle. South Coast had a nice chance shortly after as Samuel Jacob hit the post with a long curling shot from a wide position.
The game then went into a sloppy period where substitutions and tiredness began to affect the quality of the football. South Coast seemed happy to slow down the play and sit back, and they made it very hard for Manly to break them down. The last real effort from Manly was a pinpoint cross from Mathew Sim which Chris Payne headed over the crossbar.
The Manly attack continued to look dangerous but as time slipped away it became obvious that it just wasn’t going to be their night. In the end it was South Coast’s desire to make tackles and win headers in defence that won them the game.
South Coast Wolves coach Trevor Morgan was delighted with his squad?s performance.
“I told the boys they would keep coming at us and that?s what they did. The way Manly played, by bypassing the midfield with long balls, it forced us to sit very deep in defence.
?But I’m pleased with the individual efforts of each player tonight, they all got in the tackles when they needed and our goalkeeper was also top class.?
Manly United’s central midfielder Darren Grant stated that missed chances ruined the clubs push for three points.
“We created enough chances to win this game but we weren’t critical enough. The start let us down and so we made some changes. From then on I thought we dominated possession but we just couldn’t score.?
Match Stats
South Coast Wolves 2 (Sasho Petrovski 7′, Peter Simonovski 14′)
Manly United FC 0
Saturday April 7th, 2012
John Crehan Park, Wollongong
Referee: Alex Glasgow
Assistant Referees: Nick Backo and Darren Richard
Fourth Official: Gareth Williams
South Coast Wolves: 1.Daniel Collison; 2.Jack Keating, 4.Michael Robinson, 6.Nick Littler, 5.Samuel Jacob, 8.Chris Nathaniel, 9.Mark Picciolini, 10.Sasho Petrovski, 12.Sean Robertson, 13.Peter Simonovski (14.Fabian Iaccovelli 67′), 26.Jacob Timpano (3.Joseph Savor 46′)
Substitutes Not Used: 7.Cameron Littler, 11.John Martinovski, 20.Hayden Der
Yellow Cards: Michael Robinson 57′,
Red Cards: Nil
Manly United FC: 1.Dylan Mitchell; 2.Sean Bowden, 5.Marc Richards, 6.Michael Daly, 7.Scott Balderson, 11.Mathew Sim (14.Mitchell Macedo 75′), 12.Colin lley, 15.Jordan Edward (8.Daniel Grant), 20.Chris Payne, 21.Leigh Egger, 23.Damir Prodanovic (9.Justin Hayward 23′)
Substitutes Not Used: 17.Todd Bamber, 24.Kang Ho Lee
Yellow Cards: Jordan Edward 70′
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Daniel Collison (SCW)
2 – Sean Robinson (SCW)
1 – Michael Daly (MUFC)
-By Josh Watt
