The first home game of the season was always going to be a big event, esp. with the old foe - Wollongong Wolves - coming up, and with the final sealing of the buy-out by David Hall last week the media speculation (and that of the new owner was for a big crowd). In the event a pretty good crowd 'filled' the ground well before kick-off but under perfect conditions even my estimate of 7K plus did not meet the hype. The official crowd of 6,023 saw a very pumped up Wolves, fresh from their win of the pre-season charity cup, using size, speed, and agression (and some skill) to put Newcastle on the back foot.
After 10 mins the Breakers got their balance back and with Andy Harper battling up front they took the lead to the Wolves surprise with a close range slot away by Shane Pryce. As is so often the case Wollongong faught back quickly and Esala Masi forced the ball passed Catlin, who had been doing a fine job but looked a bit unfit. Some agressive play led to Simon Micaleff finally bringing out the yellows for Wollongong. They went in at half-time 1-1 but rather than Newcastle taking control in the new half the Wolves looked stronger.
Perhaps against the run of play Newcastle took the lead though some fine work by Buonovaglia, but the Wolves kept up the pressure and the Breakers had to concentrate of keeping them out. Finally at the 87th min mark Petrovski was given too much room on the edge of the box and will an overhead strike he slotted it home. On this performance Newcastle need much more work but do show a fair bit of promise nevertheless.