Wolves push for Finals Series berth

The South Coast Wolves continued their push towards an unlikely PS4 National Premier League NSW Men’s 1 finals berth with a 4-2 victory over Parramatta FC at WIN Stadium, Wollongong on Sunday.

Doubles from Peter Simonoski and Jordan Murray sealed the win in a game that keeps the team’s chances alive.

The first real chance of the game came in the 4th minute when Parramatta FC goalkeeper, Luke Turnbull, was forced into a good save.

He backed it up two minutes later when a shot from the right of the box from Brendan Griffin came right at him.

The Wolves were piling on the pressure and on 14 minutes almost had the opening goal of the game courtesy of a David Stojic free kick, but his shot just went over the bar.

The Wolves had their deserved goal three minutes later when a back pass went wrong allowed striker Simonoski to put the ball away.

Another chance for Simonoski midway through the first half was deflected, with Jordan Murray’s shot from the resulting corner going wide.

It was not until the 35th minute that the Wolves were able to fashion another good chance at goal.

Murray found some space in the box but couldn’t beat Turnbull from an acute angle.

A minute later Simonoski was one-on-one with the goalkeeper after a great ball from Murray, but he could only force a save.

From the following corner, he would get his second of the afternoon with a nice finish.

The first real chance for the visitors came in the 42nd minute when Josh Symons was found unmarked from a free kick but he could only put the ball straight at Thomas Manos.

After having plenty of chances Murray got his goal right before half-time when he was allowed some space and put the ball in the back of the net.

A deflection in the 52nd minute from the Wolves had Parramatta goalkeeper wrong-footed but lucky for the visitors, the ball went wide of the post.

Two minutes later Simonoski looked destined to seal his hat-trick but his shot from just inside the box ran along the ground and past the left upright.

Parramatta forced Manos into a good save in the 55th minute after a free kick near the left touchline.

A rare moment of disaster struck the home side on 57 minutes when Dhari Alsaad put a cross from Daniel Rezo into his own net as the visitors brought the score back to 3-1.

The goal gave Parramatta some confidence and almost pulled another goal back in the 70th minute when Blade Richards’ shot went across the face of goal.

Before that, with just over 20 minutes to play Simonoksi had another one-on-one chance, this time after receiving the ball just on half way.

Rushing forward, he got to the goalkeeper but could only spray the shot wide.

From the resulting goal kick, the Wolves move the ball down to the other end of the field but a curling effort from Simonoksi went just wide.

Murray had a chance to get his second but was again denied.

He was back on the scoresheet just a minute later after being given too much space by a struggling Parramatta defence.

With five minutes remaining, the Eagles had a chance from outside the box when a smartly worked corner saw the ball fall to the dangerous Richards who again failed to find the required finish, sending the ball wide.

Richards’ teammate Josh Symons would not be so accommodating in the 87thminute when he scored his side’s second goal with a neat finish into the bottom right-hand corner.

With the full-time whistle looming, Simonoski had one last chance to get his hat-trick but found a worth foe in Parramatta’s Turnbull, who wasn’t going to let it happen as he pulled out a miraculous save.

South Coast Wolves head coach, Jacob Timpano, was not pleased with the performance despite scoring four goals.

“To be honest at 3-0 up at half-time I was disappointed and I told the boys what I thought of the first half. Even though we were 3-0 up, the way Parramatta were playing we really should have put them to bed even more,” Timpano said.

“I wanted a response in the second half and unfortunately I didn’t get it but at the end of the day three points is three points and that’s what we came away with today.”

The Wolves return to the road next weekend when they face Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC on Saturday night, while Parramatta is at home against Blacktown Spartans.

Match Stats
South Coast Wolves 4 (Simonoski 17’, 37’, Murray 44’, 77’)
Parramatta FC 2 (Alsaad OG 57’, Symons 87’)
Sunday 12th July 2015.
WIN Stadium, Wollongong.
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referee: Andrej Giev & Joon Park
Fourth-Official: Matthew Mcorist
South Coast Wolves: Dhari (Madden 57’), Baldacchino,Griffin (Zucco 82’), Mackenzie, Manos, Matthews, Murray (Lavalle 79’), O’Rourke Price (C), Simonoski, Stojic
Substitutions not used: Hamilton, Welch.
Parramatta FC: Chavez (73’), Clowes, Gatt, Martey (Gersbach 81’), Rezo, Sama, Symons, Tayebi, Tsironis (Grima), Turnbull, Gullo (Richards 50’)
Substitutions not used: Vais, Mallet.
Yellow Cards: Symons 90’, Luke Grima 90+2’
-By Jake Bull, PS4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 1 Reporter, at WIN Stadium, Wollongong.