Stallions score first win against ten-man Wolves
An overcast day at Marconi Stadium saw the Stallions secure its first win of the season against South Coast Wolves.
An intriguing encounter that posed many questions for both sides, that have not endured a great start to the season, were answered perfectly for the Stallions who scored a 3-1 win over the Wolves.
Marconi kicked off, though from the outset it was apparent this was to be a tough uncompromising game. The first opportunity fell in the way of the home side on 2’ minutes. Damien Travis beat the defence and centred for Anthony Proia who appeared beaten to the ball but a goal-kick was awarded.
The Stallions did get a corner 2’ minutes later that was floated over by Sean O’Connell, however Wolves’ defender Jack Keating headed powerfully clear as the Stallions made the early running.
Milorad Simonovic then had what he thought was the lead. The midfielder’s powerful strike with 11’ minutes on the clock had Daniel Collins between the Wolves sticks beaten, though the ball cannoned off the underside of the bar, to the ground, and away from danger as the visitors were forced to soak up the pressure in what had been a constant early barrage.
James Chronopoulos had nothing to do in the Marconi goal apart from the occasional back-pass in the opening quarter hour until Keating powered through the home defence and unleashed a shot that the Stallions custodian got down early to keep the effort out.
A long-range attempt by Stallions captain Nahuel Arrarte didn’t have enough sting to trouble Collison midway through the half as still the majority of play was camped inside the Wolves half, although the resilience they showed in stemming the tide had been sorely lacking in portions of previous games this term with Jacob Timpano, Michael Robinson and Sam Chapple holding firm alongside Keating.
Timpano stood firm when blocking a point-blank goal bound shot by Simonovic inside the box in the 28’ minute, but saw a straight red card less than 30’’ seconds later when diverting the ball over the bar with his hands.
The resulting penalty was twice taken by Tadhg Purcell, sending Collison the wrong way with both attempts, opening the flood gates for the home side.
The opening goal was quickly followed by Anthony Proia who netted a second for Marconi 2’ minutes later as the ten-man South Coast were still readjusting.
Just as was the case last weekend, the Wolves found themselves down to ten-men and with a mountain to climb, the pleasing aspect being the way they kept their heads up and were able to carve out a few half-chances.
The best being both Chronopoulos and Umut Tokdogan diving full length to prevent John Martinoski from reducing the deficit in the 40’ minute.
Simonovic attempted to curl the ball around Collison in the 41’ but succeeded only in bending it into the Wolves goalkeeper’s grateful arms as another chance went begging for the home side who, for all their dominance, could, and perhaps should, have been further ahead but for the dogged style of their visitors.
They did add a third, they believed, with 2’ minutes remaining in the half when Proia side-footed home but the effort was ruled out for offside with the same player blasting well wide from the edge of the box shortly after.
The final action of the opening period came when Arrarte again tried his luck from distance and once more hit it straight at Collison who by far had been the busier of the two goalkeepers.
Sam Chapple replaced James Baldacchino at the interval as Wolves coach Richard Lloyd rang the changes in an attempt to salvage something from the fixture but it would be a tall order indeed with Marconi having their tails up and bossing play.
Zach Mackenzie needed to make a pinpoint challenge in the box to prevent Simonovski breaking through once more as the Stallions threatened to pick-up where they left off.
Chronopolous sprinted hard off his line to prevent Martinoski from reaching the ball with a sliding tackle that took him over the sideline.
At the other end, Collison had to stand tall when Simonovic sprinted free down the right and into the box, only for the Wolves shot-stopper to block. The resulting corner had Ali Haydar holding his head in his hands when first to the ball his cushioned header grazed the crossbar before slipping over.
Marconi did add a third goal the dominance deserved when Anthony Proia netted his second of the game to give the score line a fairly comfortable look for the home team.
It was so nearly four in the 68’ when substitute Chapple was forced to block Sean O’Connell at full stretch with the goal gaping and just 8-yards out.
Joseph Lavalle made a sojourn forward and unleashed a shot from distance that had Chronopoulos scrambling and unable to hold in the greasy conditions after light rain, however Marconi went up the other end and had Collison at full stretch to punch clear from Purcell who was having a sensational match.
Arrarte was denied again by Collison and the rebound fell to Proia who instinctively belted it goalward only for a deflection to carry it over.
Proia should have completed his hat-trick in the 75’ minute by burying the ball in the back of the net when arriving late to side-foot wide a delightful cut back from O’Connell.
The Stallions had the luxury of bringing on Shane Webb with 10’ minutes to go when replacing Mitchell Thompson at left back.
A Wolves free-kick some 25-yards out was taken by Matthew Floro but he was unable to get the ball over the wall as the effort was cleared away comfortably.
Marconi resumed the attacking options they began the game with until the 86’ minute when Proia was replaced by Steven Ilic meaning he would not complete his hat-trick in this game although he more than had the chances to do so.
Mitchell Del Turco did reduce the deficit for the visiting Wolves when the ball rebounded to him some distance out and he chipped it into the net with some style, but it was only to be scant consolation in a game they were well beaten in after playing three quarters with ten-men.
Jean Paul De Marigny was obviously happy with the win when stating afterwards:
“It was pretty comfortable for us today, particularly when they went down to ten-men but we could have made better decisions at times and made life even easier for ourselves.
“In the attacking third we made some poor choices with our options when we should really have done a lot better but it’s a learning process.
It was a big game for both clubs and De Marigny reflected:
“It was vital we got the three points here, as it was for both teams, and I am very happy with the result if not the amount of opportunities we had too.
“Anthony Proia is a work in progress and is doing extra training to work on his fitness and mentally he hasn’t been quite right in games the last couple of weeks so we had a good chat with him and he has responded magnificently. To his credit, the lad has recognised that and wants to get to the next level with his game and he looked very good today and the reason he came off is his fitness isn’t quite there yet.
“The result was obviously important but I feel we dominated today and that will not do our confidence any harm at all as we head into next week’s game.”
Stand-in skipper Michael Robinson responded for the Wolves:
“We were playing well up until the send-off, and it was a send-off, everyone saw it so there can be no arguments about it, and from there we copped two quick goals that changed the context of the match and from there on in it was always going to be a hard battle against Marconi, especially when they are at home.
“We have a lot of young guys in the side and obviously I don’t know what it looked like from the sidelines but I felt we held the ball well even when we were down a man and coped with the early pressure they put on us and that is a credit to the lads out there today.
“On a different day it may have gone our way but you know what it’s like sometimes.”
On picking up the armband he added:
“I would have preferred to get it any other way as Jacob (Timpano) is our captain and is doing a terrific job for us and hopefully that will be for a long time to come.”
With Timpano missing next week it is likely Robinson will retain the arm band in the interim, however this is certainly one game that got away from them.
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions 3 (Purcell 30’ (pen), Proia 32’, 64’)
South Coast Wolves 1 (Del Turco 90’)
Sunday 6th April, 2013
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Referee: Khodr Yaghi
Assistant Referees: Valerio Bertuccioli and Tim Turner
Fourth Official: Gareth Williams
Marconi Stallions: 22.James Chronopoulos; 2.Mitchell Thompson (6.Shane Webb 80’), 3.Ali Haydar, 4.Umut Tokdogan, 7.Sean O’Connell, 8.Jared Lum, 10.Milorad Simonovic, 12.Anthony Proia (20.Stevan Ilic 86’), 17.Tadhg Purcell, 19.Damien Travis, 26.Nauel Arrarte (C)
Substitutes Not Used: 21.Stefan Giglio, 28.Grant Lynch, 42.Daniel Collins
Yellow Cards: O’Connell 36’, Purcell 59’
Red Cards: Nil
South Coast Wolves: 1.Daniel Collison; 2.Jack Keating, 4.Michael Robinson, 5.James Baldacchino (3.Sam Chapple 46’), 6.Chris Nathaniel, 11.John Martinovski (15.Matthew Floro 70’), 12.Joseph Lavalle, 14.Mitchell Del Turco, 17.Zac Mackenzie, 21.Sam Matthews, 26.Jacob Timpano (C)
Substitutes Not Used: 7.Dusan Kolonja, 8.Josh Bingham, 20.Thomas Hamilton
Yellow Cards: Del Turco 26’
Red Cards: Timpano 28’
Player Ratings:
3 – Anthony Proia (MS)
2 – Tadhg Purcell (MS)
1 – Daniel Collison (SCW)
-By Micky Brock
