Wollongong Wolves capped a fine season in the NSW Premier League when they
defeated Premiers, Sutherland Sharks, 4-2 at CUA Stadium Penrith on Sunday
afternoon in front of over 4,000 fans.
John Turner's Wolves had reached the Grand Final ahead of Sutherland when
they beat their adversaries in the Major Semi-Final two weeks earlier and
the affable coach felt that the extra week worked in his team's favour.
"We had some injuries after that hard game against Sutherland," he revealed,
after his captain, Ben Blake, had lifted the Championship trophy, "and we
needed these two weeks to recover.
"You saw the two best teams in the Premier League today and it was fitting
that we won one trophy each," he said.
Yet it was Sutherland who began the game the better, with a goal after only
seven minutes.
"We definitely did not want to have to come from behind again," said Turner.
"I'd much prefer to have been in front first.
Sutherland took full toll of a lethargic Wollongong defence early on to
inflict the first damage when the nippy Brendan Gan burst through the middle
with Nick Stavroulakis in support, on his left.
When Wolves' keeper, Justin Pasfield, could not hang onto a stinging
close-range shot from Gan, the ball ran free and Stavroulakis tidied up with
a simple finish to put Sutherland 1-0 up.
It must have heartened Sharks' skipper, George Souris, who had recovered
from some nasty knocks over the weeks leading up to the match to see that
early goal go in and as a former Wolves man he could have sensed victory at
that stage.
But Souris admitted after the game that it was his mistakes that let the
South Coast side back into it.
"Brian Brown (coach of the Sharks) was kind not to mention it, but two of
their goals were my fault." said the Sutherland captain.
Sutherland were on fire early on and could have stretched their lead to 2-0
had Gan been able to get his 24th minute shot on target, after a lay off
from Brad Boardman, following good lead-up work by David Reid, but the
youngster dragged his shot just wide.
"After that we stopped playing for a while," said Brown.
Seven minutes later that lack of application came back to haunt the Sharks
when a loss of concentration allowed Matt Bailey to deflect a header past
Phil Zabaks in the Sutherland goal.
Zabaks was left helpless when a long throw from the left by Michael
Hawrysiuk was nodded on by Chris Price in the centre and then nodded towards
the right of goal by Bailey whose slightest of touches was enough to send
the ball beyond the defence and into the net.
Tynan Diaz, who had a fine game on the right for the Wolves, had sent over a
dangerous-looking free kick that had to be hastily cleared for the throw
that ultimately led to the goal.
By the 38th minute Diaz had even more cause to celebrate.
With Hawrysiuk, a noted free kick specialist, beside him and looking the
most likely to send the ball goal-wards, Diaz himself stepped up and struck
a superb effort that found the top right corner of the net.
"It was a super goal," said Brown after the game. "There was nothing we
could do about that one," he added admiringly.
Sutherland might have leveled again in the 42nd but a free kick from Jim
Bakis cleared the bar by a decent margin.
After the break Wollongong were able to extend their lead when Souris
tangled with Ilija Prenzoski, who had sprung the offside trap and then
loomed up on the right hand edge of the box before getting past the skipper
and preparing to shoot.
While Chris Price took the penalty and planted the spot-kick high into the
roof of the net, Wolves skipper, Ben Blake, making his final appearance for
his side, stood facing the sideline as he could not bear to watch.
Later he explained that he had earlier decided to finish his career with the
team he had served so well over many years going back to the days of the NSL
when he was a young player.
"Winning the (NSL) Grand Final (against Perth Glory) with the Wolves was a
great experience and winning as captain on my last appearance in this match
was also very satisfying," he declared after the match.
That penalty kick from Price had made it 3-1 to the Wolves, but the Sharks
were not finished yet as they threw on substitutes Matt Hall and Jim NIkas
to try and get back into it.
Stout Wolves defending, however, including point-blank saves from Pasfield,
after a rasping shot from Reid in the 61st and a header from Boardman in the
64th gave the Wolves a few scares; but the hard work of defenders Steve
Hayes, Danial Cummins and Blake proved enough to keep Sutherland at bay.
Hall was also denied by Pasfield in the 90th minute before the usually
defensive-minded Neil Jablonski pushed forward and scored with a fine
turn-and-shot from 20 yards that beat Pasfield, at last, after stoppage time
had already begun.
The Wolves' schemer, Turner, did not flinch and sent on another striker in
an effort to make the game safe.
Seconds after leaving the bench Samat Kaynak sprinted through to face a
completely exposed Zabaks, after Prenzoski had nodded the ball forward and
given his team mate the chance to go one-on-one with the keeper.
Kaynak has had few opportunities this season and had not scored before, but
he kept his composure well to slot the ball past Zabaks and make it 4-2,
deep into four minutes of stoppage time.
Post match beaten captain, George Souris, announced that he would be back
for another season and Brian Brown complimented his players on a fine
season.
"What we have done is earned respect from all the other clubs as nobody gave
us a chance before the season began and we have won the Premiership.
"We have had to contend with losing players to injuries and to the A League
but I would never stand in the way of anyone wanting to go further," he
declared.
Turner and Brown had locked horns many times before, when coaching
successfully at Bonnyrigg and Blacktown, respectively, in the past and they
hold each other in high regard.
"We got one trophy each which I think is quite fair," said Turner.
"They played their Grand Final last week when they beat Sydney Olympic and I
think our week off gave us the edge.".
"I like winning Finals' matches," laughed Turner, before leaving the
stadium.
"We won the Tiger Turf Cup at the start of last season and now we have
won the Grand Final this year. These players have worked tremendously hard
all season and deserve their success today".
GRADE 20: Marconi Stallions took out the Grand Final for the fourth year running with Daniel Ott and Graziano Trimboli scoring in their 2-0 win over 2008 Premiers Sydney Olympic.
NSW Premier League - Grand Final
3:00pm, Sunday 7 September 2008 - at CUA Stadium, Penrith
Wollongong Wolves FC 4
(Matt Bailey 31', Tynan Diaz 38', Chris Price pen 58', Samet Kaynak 90'+)
defeated
Sutherland Sharks 2
(Nick Stavroulakis 7', Neil Jablonski 90'+)
