After having scored only 4 goals in 4 outings since the beginning of the season, the Wolves side doubled that statistic in one foul swoop, destroying a lacklustre Marconi at WIN Stadium on Sunday. Spearheaded by midfield captain Matt Horsley the Wolves dominated the match for nearly the full 90 minutes and fully deserved the 5-1 scoreline.
The rot started early for Marconi when in the second minute of the match, defender Alvin Ceccoli pounced on a clearance from a corner to give the Wolves the lead. Marconi then fought back magnificently. Playing a strong possession game at the back the Marconi midfielders started to find a little space and a great through ball from Maloney after great lead up from Zoric enabled Christian Care to equal the scores after 16 minutes.
Playing the possession game for the 90 minutes Marconi, quite simply fell asleep for long periods of the game and in a seven minute burst the Wolves had taken the score from 1-1 to 4-1 at halftime with the game run and won. All the Wolves goals came from carefully waiting for the Marconi players to make a skill error while playing possession football from where Wollongong was pounce often with disasterous consequences. Three quick goals saw Scotty Chipperfield nail two and Jason Connelly get the third to see the Wolves into halftime in complete control.
After seeing 5 goals in the first half the second was an anti-climax. Wollongong created numerous chances up front but poor finishing or good defending from sweeper Paul Souris saw Marconi out of danger. However it was Paul Souris that proved to be the devil to his own side when the referee awarded a penalty kick after Souris had deliberately hand balled a goal bound shot. The very cool Anthony Surjan strode up to take the shot leaving the score at 5-1 which saw out the game.
For Wollongong the midfield were terrific - Sonny Sevin, Anthony Surjan and Matt Horsley all were lively and creative. After looking a little sloppy in the first half they tightended up after the Marconi goal and were giving the forwards Perenich and Chipperfield plenty of quality ball. Jason Connelly played well as did Alvin Ceccoli at the back while goalkeeper Brett Hughes had a reasonably easy day at the office. For Marconi Paul Souris worked hard as did Vlado Zoric in midfield. Brad Maloney was good early on but faded in the second half. In front of just under 5,800 happy Wollongong fans the Wolves can feel well pleased with their game and turn their attentions to West Adelaide next week. While for Marconi, an out of character performance will definately need to be addressed before they host the Perth Glory side next week.