WOONONA SHARKS v WOLLONGONG UNITED | IPL ROUND 9 | MATCH REPORT
Wollongong United continued their unbeaten start to the league season with a comprehensive 4-0 win against Woonona at Ocean Park on Saturday in the first meeting between the two sides since last year’s grand final.
It was a fast start for the visitors who took the lead after just three minutes when Danny Lazarevski headed past David Booth.
A Maty Brennan brace saw United head into the break with a three-goal advantage.
Dinko Terzic converted a penalty early in the second period, ensuring United continued their perfect record against the Sharks since the beginning of the 2020 campaign.
Two minutes in, a Maty Brennan cross from the left-hand side was turned behind for a corner.
From the resulting set-piece, Danny Lazarevski found space at the back post to head the ball beyond Booth to give United an early goal.
Wollongong United continued to put pressure on the Sharks and six minutes after the opener, a clever ball played in behind the right-hand channel of the box found Dinko Terzic who saw his low drive into the corner saved by the Woonona goalkeeper.
In the 19th minute, the side would have their second goal through Brennan, who found himself face-to-face with Booth inside the box centrally before poking the ball beyond the onrushing keeper.
United continued to put Woonona under pressure and 37 minutes in they added a third; Brennan finding himself in a similar position to his first goal, but on this occasion, he had more time which allowed him to send a more composed finish into the bottom-left corner.
GOAL 37’ United make it three!
Maty Brennan sending a smart finish into the bottom corner.
Woonona 0 WU 3— Football South Coast (@FSC_Official) May 22, 2021
Eight minutes into the second half, United were awarded a penalty which Terzic opted to take, confidently passing the ball into the bottom-right corner as Booth dived in the opposite direction.
Wollongong United remained relatively untested for the remainder of the match to run out 4-0 winners.
United coach Oliver Vrtkovski believed the desire shown and an impressive first-half showing were the key positives in his side’s victory.
“I think we were much more hungry than our opposition today and I think that showed with the scoreline,” he said.
“We kept a clean sheet, we did the damage in the first half.
“Credit to the boys, they delivered.”
Vrtkovski also praised the display of double-getting Maty Brennan highlighting him as the side’s most consistent performer this year.
“Maty B has been our most consistent this year,” Vrtkovski said.
“Credit to him, he hasn’t scored many but today I think he deserved the goals.
“He got himself into some good positions.”
Woonona coach Dan McGoldrick stated a poor first 30 minutes and mistakes leading to goals as the main reasons for the Sharks’ fourth scoreless defeat in a row against Wollongong United.
“I think we were still in the sheds for 30 minutes and we conceded within the first two minutes,” McGoldrick said.
“It took us till about the 35th minute of the first half to actually start playing and by that stage, the game was already a fair way away from us.
“We gifted them the goals and we were second best by a long way in the first half.”
The Sharks have a daunting challenge next weekend with a doubleheader against local rivals Bulli on Saturday and league-leaders Wollongong Olympic on Sunday.
As for Wollongong United, they could make massive strides in the league title race in the coming fortnight as they host third-placed Albion Park before going to rivals Olympic in round 11.
Woonona Sharks 0
Wollongong United 4 (Danny Lazarevski 3’, Maty Brennan 19’ 37’, Dinko Terzic PENALTY 53’
Woonona Sharks: 1. BOOTH David, 23. HAINES-GROSE Corey, 35. ISHII Tomohiro, 4. REGAN WILLIAMS Taro, 36. LEE Richard, 6. TOOHEY Luke, 15. ASHTON Max, 8. BROMHAM-FULLER Tyler, 33. GAUDIOSI Robbie, 22. BESGROVE Cameron, 13. LOPEZ Jeremy
Substitutes: 54. MCCALL Eden, 11. WEBSTER Jake (ASHTON), 16. CHILTON Liam, 21. GROOM Brandon, 3 LENDRUM Sammy (LEE)
Wollongong United: 70. MITREVSKI Justin, 25. BRENNAN Maty, 26. KAWAKAMI Seiji, 5. LAZAREVSKI Danny, 44. MCLAREN Zac, 10. TERZIC Dinko, 2. THOMAS Sean, 4. VESCIO Rene, 23. YAMADA Mitsuo, 19. BROOKS Ben, 27. BARBAROVSKI Bailey
Substitutes: 7. CORREIA Josh (BRENNAN), 14. FLANAGAN Jeremy (TERZIC), 49. GUTIRREZ Jamie, 29. SEKUTKOSKI Klime (LAZAREVSKI), 32. STOJANOVSKI James
Date: 22 May 2021
Venue: Ocean Park
Referee: Bobby Mazevski
Assistant Referees: Anna Phipps and Byron Lawler
Report by Timothy Gibson
Photo by Richie Wagner
