Waratah Cup Play-Off: Stallions power past Wolves
A late Marko Jesic penalty has guided Marconi Stallions into the semi finals of this year’s Waratah Cup on a cold night at Sydney United Sports Centre defeating PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s outfit Wollongong Wolves.
The PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s 2 side dominated the contest and if they had their shooting boots on the margin could’ve been much greater.
Stallions got into their rhythm early with striker Mirjan Pavlovic, a commanding presence up front and a constant nuisance for the Wolves defense, rattled the bar early with his 6th minute shot.
Sam Perre bombed down the left wing to spur on the Stallions attack and the winger stung the palms of Wolves custodian before Pavlovic had the follow chalked off for offside.
Marconi were well on top now and looked only a matter of time before they opened the scoring but they were kept at bay by keeper Daniel Collison in the first half.
Pavlovic had several chances, the best of them came in the 26th minute when Stallions skipper Christopher Nunes found the striker with a diagonal ball but the striker failed to finish it off. He also had a chance right on halftime but the Wolves defense hooked it clear.
The Wolves, despite being pegged back for most the first half, were able to attack on the counter through Joshua Macdonald and Brett Wilson. They combined well but neither could test the Stallions keeper.
Stallions broke the Wolves resolve ten minutes into the second half and it was game on.
Perre waltzed into the box and fired into the corner to make it 1-0.
The top tier men’s side responded almost immediately though.
A quick release gave Ben Zucco room to lay a delightful cross for Nicholas Bernal to sweep home for the equalizer.
Wolves’ best opportunities came at using the quickness of their wingers to catch out the tiring Marconi defense and if not for Kristian Sekutkoski between the sticks, the Stallions might have bowed out.
He produced a magnificent double save in the 84th minute from a quick break which must’ve crushed the spirits of the Wolves players as they were battling for that elusive winner.
This spurred on the Stallions as they immediately went down the other end and were centimetres away from their second goal but Nunes’ shot struck the post.
The post was the Wolves best friend, as Perre once again drove into the box but was denied by the woodwork.
Marconi took until the final minute to finally finish off the Wolves, as Steven Drewery was cut down in the box for a penalty. Jesic coolly stepped up and duly smashed it home to send the historic club into the semi finals.
It was heartbreak for Jacob Timpano’s men who failed at the last hurdle.
The Stallions will meet 2015 Waratah Cup Winners Sydney United 58 FC on Wednesday June 22nd at Sydney United Sports Centre.
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions 2 (Perre ’54 and Jesic ’93)
Wollongong Wolves 1 (Bernal ’61)
Wednesday 8th June 2016
Sydney United Sports Centre
Marconi Stallions: COLETTA Raimond(VELLA ’70), PAVLOVIC Mirjan, ROONEY Sean, JESIC Marko, PERRE Sam, MARKOVIC Peter, DREWERY Steven, SEKUTKOSKI Kristian, GIANNAROS Emmanuel, NUNES Christopher and MAKRYS Phillip
Subs not used: APPIAH Bright, MARKOVIC Ante, PELEKANOS Peter and TAYLOR Chad
Wollongong Wolves: KAWASE Kota, BALDACCHINO James, MACKENZIE James, WILSON Brett, COLLISON Daniel, LAZAREVSKI Danny(GRIFFIN ’62), ZUCCO Ben(R. ZUCCO ’74), BERNAL Nicholas, MACDONALD Joshua, HRISTOVSKI Steven and ALLPORT Boden
Subs not used: DIMOSKI Stefan and ARCABA Daniel
-By Justin Davies
