The first win for the Cosmos in 1996 finally came at the expense of the bottom team. The win,
although not overly convincing, was what the team really needed to get themselves back into
the right frame of mind after a number of draws. It is probably interesting to note that
it took the Cosmos a number of draws to register their first actual win, and then they won a
number of games on the trot. Could this happen again, especially with both Olympic and Marconi
coming up?
This match saw the introduction of the 4th goalkeeper for the Cosmos. Anthony Giannasca, a
local, was obtained on loan from Juventus in the ACT League, who obtained him from West
Adelaide. Giannasca played for Juventus last season and has also played for the Canberra
Deakin side in the NSW Premier League.
The first half saw most if not all the real action down in the Wollongong half. Not only
were Marko Perinovic, Alex Castro and Lachlan Armstrong causing a lot of problems, but
Jason Dunn was moving up with the set pieces and using his head. It was not until right
before half time that Wollongong had a shot that needed to be saved.
It was in the 27th minute that after the ball was cleared by Wollongong to the half-way line,
that John Koch sent a through ball to an unmarked Castro on the right. Alex was able to get a
cross in just before the ball went out. As it was crossing in front of the goal, Wollongong
keeper, Brett Hughes tried to palm it away. Unfortunately for him, it went straight to
Perinovic at the far post, and he put away what was really just bread and butter for him.
There were a number of other close shots by the Cosmos during this first half, but most
went over the bar. The second half saw Wollongong coming out and trying a lot harder. They
were definitely the better side in this half and gained more control of the midfield as the
half went along. Their real problem was that the final ball was, well, obnoxious could best
describe it.
The best chance of the second half actually fell to the Cosmos after some great lead-up work
by Norman Kelly. A pass to Armstrong and a chip over Hughes saw the ball bounce back off the
cross bar. Although Wollongong had a number of shots, they were all from a long way out or
soft enough for Giannasca to save.
The win was a great boost in confidence for the Cosmos prior to three tough games coming up.
A trip to South Melbourne will be different to the last time they played this team. A win would
be good, especially as Olympic are next.