Berries and Wolves finish scoreless
A tough and gritty game left fans furious as neither side managed to hit the back of the net in the 90? minutes.
The West Sydney Berries showed their intent to get back into the winners circle from the first whistle with Dimitri Zakilas showing attacking flair on the right hand side, pestering the Wolves defence.
In the 6? minute a great run by Zakilas led to him cutting back to Sash Tirovski, but the attacking midfielder shun his shot just wide.
South Coast were not prepared to let the Berries run all over them and in the 8? minute they produced a great cross from the left only for Lisandro Berbis to volley over the crossbar.
A minute later the Berries moved the ball forward and could have had the lead. Good work by Kosta Lagoudakis on the right hand side led to Stefan De Jesus? shot to be blocked. The ball fell to the feet of the returning Fadi Ghosson, with the striker cleanly hitting the ball just wide of the left-hand side of the post.
The match continued with an up-and-down pace with the both teams turning to poor long-range shots to open the scoring.
In the 23? minute the Wolves were gifted with a great opportunity to score. A great back heel through ball by Andrew Keep sent Berbis in on goal, only to cross with Mark Picciolini half-volleying over the crossbar with an open goal in his sights.
South Coast continued their long-range efforts with Tayfun Buyukkopru volleying from 35-yards in the 29? minute just over the bar.
In the 31? minute Buyukkopru placed a great through ball for Keep to be one-on-one with Hamish McLean, but the goalkeeper was out well to thwart the chance.
Frustration began setting in the Berries line up with several players complaining about the Wolves tough tactics when losing the ball.
In the 39? minute West Sydney went close to scoring as captain Kosta Lagoudakis struck a beautiful free-kick, only for the ball to curl over the bar in the last chance of the half.
The Wolves started the second-half moving forward wanting to open the scoring.
In the 48? minute a clear hand ball by David Gardiner in the box was missed by all match officials leaving the Wolves? players furious.
West Sydney seemed to have crept into a shell after the break with the Wolves pushing forward in numbers, winning the ball in all areas of the field.
Finally, in the 57? minute the Berries were awoken and began attacking the Wolves right-hand side.
A corner, a minute later, had Zakilas heading on goal but not able to direct the ball into the net.
Zakilas again opened up South Coast?s defence in the 64? minute but the Berries continued to fail to nail their chances.
Pinto began to find inroads on the right hand side, with a great cross having Brody Crane scramble backwards to grab the ball as Tirovski challenged the goalkeeper.
As the time wore on, the game turned into a scrappy affair with both sides attempting to gain the advantage and break the deadlock.
Limited chances made it harder to score but the Berries continued to push for a goal. In the 74? minute great work by De Jesus put Zakilas in on goal but Crane again came out early to keep it at 0-0.
Minutes later Crane was at it again, as the ball was almost slipped in between the keeper?s legs only for him to sit on it and thwart the chance.
With the Wolves staggering, Trevor Morgan turned to his bench and brought on Andres Gomez and Adrian Karakolevski to spark his side in the attacking third.
To their credit the Berries were not giving up and in the 81? minute a poor clearance by South Coast fell to Ryan Jones to strike from range, but unluckily straight to the waiting Crane.
Their attacking raids flowed came quicker in the final minutes, but West Sydney could not find the final touch to hit the back of the net.
South Coast went for the jugular in the final 5? minutes, throwing several players up front to take the three points back to Wollongong, but could not find what they wanted with the match finishing at 0-0.
Following the match, West Sydney Berries coach John Calleja said a draw was a suitable result.
?I thought it was an ugly game of football. It lacked quality and could have gone either way.
?The Wolves had chances and so did we but we just couldn?t hit the back of the net. In the end I thought the draw was a fair result.?
South Coast Wolves coach Trevor Morgan agreed the match lacked flair throughout:
?That was a pretty awful match to watch I would imagine. I guess that?s what happens when two teams are fighting for anything they can get.
?There was a lot of fighting and scrapping and none of the beautiful game on show today.?
In the Grade 20 encounter, South Coast Wolves scored a 3-1 victory over a hapless West Sydney Berries.
Match Stats
West Sydney Berries 0
South Coast Wolves 0
Sunday 2nd, May, 2010.
Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Field
Crowd: 200 Approx.
West Sydney Berries: 1.Hamish McLean; 2.David Gardiner, 3.Omar Saadi, 7.Peter Peralta, 8.Jesse Pinto (4.Daniel Clifford 83?), 9.Fadi Ghosson (15.Ryan Jones 65?), 12.Stefan De Jesus, 16.Kosta Lagoudakis (C), 17.Sash Tirovski, 19.Dimitri Zakilas, 29.Marc O?Donell
Substitutions Not Used: 24.Brad Bartels, 23.Alexander Sopina
Yellow Cards: Ryan Jones 88?
Red Cards: Nil
South Coast Wolves: 1.Brody Crane; 2.Alex Mansueto, 3.Greg Valic, 5.Nick McInernery, 6.Lisandro Berbis (C) (14.Andres Gomez 78?),7.Andrew Keep (19.Ken Chun 39?), 8.Tayfun Buyukkopru, 9.Mark Picciolini, 10.Jason Trifiro, 11.Andrew Paine (Adrian Karakolevski 78?), 17.Tyron Diaz
Substitutions Not Used: 12.Jack Keating, 40.Nikodin Matic (GK)
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Peter Peralta (WSB)
2 – Mark Picciolini (SCW)
1 – Kosta Lagoudakis (WSB)
-By Christopher Georges
