Wollongong Wolves earned their third victory of the season with a high scoring 5-3 win against Sydney FC at Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday
A brace to Marcus Beattie, as well as goals to Lachlan Scott, Nav Darjani, and Daniel Loe helped a youthful Wollongong Wolves side claim a vital three points on the road.
Patrick Wood nabbed a brace for the home side but it wasn’t enough for Sydney FC who remain slumped at the bottom of the ladder.
The win moves Wollongong up to eighth place on the competition ladder, four points outside the top five
It was a fast-paced start to the match with plenty of opportunities for both sides and it didn’t take long to break the deadlock as just 10 minutes in, the hosts opened the scoring.
Some positive play down the right-hand side saw Patrick Yazbek get into the box before squaring the ball to Jordan Swibel who moved it onto Patrick Wood who from six yards out slid the ball into the net.
Four minutes later, the Wolves found an equaliser through Marcus Beattie.
A corner on the left-hand side was whipped into the area and via a couple of deflections found the head of Beattie at the back post who headed the ball in from close range.
The Wolves began to assert some dominance in the match holding the ball for long periods.
In the 36th minute, this paid off as Lachlan Scott picked up the ball on the edge of the box centrally playing it into the right-hand channel for Nav Darjani who made no mistake sending his effort into the roof of the net.
The hosts’ problems were compounded a couple of minutes later as Wollongong added a third.
Scott steering the ball into the bottom left-hand corner from inside the box.
Wollongong Wolves went into the break with a 3-1 lead.
The Wolves started the second half off strongly adding a fourth goal just seven minutes in.
Daniel Loe heading home at the back post following a corner from the right-hand side.
However, it was an instant response from the home side with Wood picking up his second goal of the match from the kick-off.
Half-time substitute Aiden Simmons marauded down the right-hand side cutting the ball back at the byline for Wood who made no mistake from inside the box finishing into the bottom left corner.
In the 70th minute, the Wolves restored their three-goal buffer as an intelligent switch of play from Scott found Darjani on the right-hand side who put a ball in towards the back post for Beattie who squeezed a header in at the post.
Sydney FC pulled a goal back with two minutes to play when Wolves’ defender Darcy Madden converted the ball into his own net following a Swibel cross from the left-hand side.
Wollongong Wolves went on to secure an important win against Sydney FC.
Wolves’ coach Luke Wilkshire expressed that he felt there were a lot of positives in the match for his side despite the sluggish start – singling out Nav Darjani’s performance as one which stood out.
“We need to go a goal down before we got going,” he said.
“There were a lot of positives there and obviously the result was important for us today but also disappointed to give away the goals that we gave.
“Nav Darjani is a young fella who has come through the ranks and he’s taken his opportunity, he played well last week and again today with a great goal and some good deliveries.
You need to win to build confidence… It’s important we got the three points today and we’ll build and go on from there.”
Sydney FC coach Jim Van Weeren believed his side created enough chances to win the game, but was critical of the side’s defensive display, particularly from set-pieces.
“We score three goals, probably could’ve had two or three more as well and that’s probably enough to win you a game most times,” he said.
“That’s kind of the story of our season a little bit, we’re giving away goals from our own turnovers.
“We’re giving away set plays that we potentially don’t need to and then they’ve punished us off of some of those set plays.”
Match Stats
Sydney FC 3 (Patrick Wood 10’ 52’, Darcy Madden O.G. 88’)
Wollongong Wolves 5 (Marcus Beattie 14’ 70’ Nav Darjani 36’, Lachlan Scott 38’, Daniel Loe 52’)
Sunday 2nd May 2021
Ilinden Sports Centre, Rockdale
Referee: M. Bailey
Assistant Referees: M. Staples and A. Hosnani
Fourth Official: A. Bloch
Sydney FC: 40.Adam Pavlesic, 3.Aaron Gurd, 8.Patrick Yazbek, 16.Stevan Stanic-Floody, 17.Jayden Trenkoski (15.Scott Browning 46’), 21.Patrick Wood, 23.Callum Talbot (2.Cameron Fong 62’), 24.Luke Ivanovic, 26.Harry Van Der Saag, 27.Jordan Swibel, 33.Corey Hollman (7.Aiden Simmons 46’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Levi Kaye, 14.Aiden Mostofi, 18.Oscar Priestman
Yellow Cards: Patrick Wood 31’
Red Cards: Nil
Wollongong Wolves: 23.Hayden Durose, 2.Taylor McDonald, 3.Darcy Madden, 7.Marcus Beattie (17.Jake Lavalle 84’), 8.Brendan Griffin, 10.Nav Darjani (9.Jarvis Patterson 78’), 11.Leroy Jennings (13.Stefan Dimoski 84’), 15.Daniel Loe, 16.Fletcher McFarlane (12.Harrison Taranto 68’), 19.Evan Ball, 24.Lachlan Scott (20.Liam Wille 78’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1.Aidan Munford
Yellow Cards: Nav Darjani 76’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Nav Darjani (WW)
2 – Patrick Wood (SFC)
1- Marcus Beattie (WW)
