A rainy and windy Wednesday night did not stop supporters from both teams coming out to Macedonia Park Berkeley to watch Wollongong United defeat Warilla Wanderers 5-3 in a high scoring and entertaining MCR Rail Bert Bampton Cup Semi-Final.

It took only seven minutes for the first goal of the match to be scored. Wollongong United’s Karouna Micheal avoided an offside trap and took a shot towards the goal. Bradley Hunter managed to get his hand to the ball however it deflected in off the post to give United a dream start.

Just four minutes later, Warilla Wanderers equalised. A Bojan Caric corner looked to be flicked on causing confusion in the Wollongong United defence resulting in a tap in for Ryan Hunter on the far post who restored parity.

With Warilla Wanderers on the attack. Toni Anastovski made a good pass to team mate and former United player Chris Smith who ran up the sideline, dummied, before taking a wicked shot at goal which was well saved by Sam Nastic to his left.

Chris Smith again was causing United problems after snapping a shot a shot which seemed to take a deflection and beat Nastic however unfortunately for Warilla, it struck the upright and bounced back into play.

Warilla were playing with great confidence at this time and were pressuring the United defence. There forward pressure was rewarded when Chad Keating dispossessed the United defence before breaking away to tuck the ball away nicely and give Warilla what perhaps was a deserved 2-1 lead after 18 minutes.

Minutes later Wollongong United were almost level again. John Martinoski’s free kick from just outside the penalty area forced Hunter into a very good save.

This seemed to spur United and a quick break down the middle allowed John Martinovski to take a shot however it sailed over the bar as the weather conditions deteriorated.

John Martinoski was in the thick of it. He then set up a neat through ball to team mate Jinya An who probably should have done better than hitting the side netting from an acute angle.

Martinovski and An teamed up again shortly after and An again wasn’t able to find the target with the goal beckoning. One sensed that this was frustrating Wollongong United and their vocal supporters.

Martinovski continued to menace the Warilla defence who was having a torrid time keeping his quiet. A long ball to Klime Sekutkoski on the wing found him in space before the ball was cut back towards goal. Sekutkoski found some space before unleashing a shot that deceived Hunter and put the teams back on level terms 2-2 with 10 minutes left in the first half.

In an absorbing first half just when you’d think you’ve seen it all, Warilla Wanderers took the lead after a hand ball infringement gave Warilla Wanderers a penalty. With what was virtually the last kick of the first half, Bojan Caric send Nastic the wrong way to put Warilla ahead for the second time in the match.

Straight after the break, Warilla Wanderers’ Ryan Hunter had a good chance to score after zig zagging his way past two Wollongong United defenders before being able to centre himself right in front of the goals however he failed to hit the target when it looked like Warilla might just go two up.

Soon after, Warilla Wanderers’ Bojan Caric and Chris Smith combined well, allowing Smith a shot at goal but a low dive by the Nastic kept United in the game and within touching distance.

With Warilla perhaps having the better of the chances to this point, the game changed once again on 67 minutes when a corner by John Martinoski was not cleared by the Warilla defence. Karouna Micheal was on hand to smash home from inside the goal area to level the scores yet again.

An injury to Wollongong United’s Jinya An saw him replaced by Zachary Mazevski midway through the half as the momentum looked like it was starting to turn.

On 74 minutes, Wollongong United hit the lead. Good lead up work by Mazevski allowed space for Yuzawa whose turn and shot found the roof of the net sending the home crowd into raptures.

With Warilla pressing high and going for broke, they were caught on the break after another long ball by Mazevski in the rain found Brooks who finished well on 80 minutes to put United 5-3 up and in control of the game.

Warilla seemingly had no more fight left and put up a determined effort. They were left ruing some of their chance however it was Wollongong United who advanced to the MCR Rail Cup final for the fourth time in five years.

 

 

Wednesday 6th of July, 2016.

Macedonia Park, Berkeley.

Wollongong United VS Warilla Wanderers

 

Wollongong United Team:

Sam Nastic, Daisuke Yuzawa, Benjamin Brooks, Shannon Burgin, Angelo Hajittofi, Motoki Kinjo, Karouna Micheal, Nathan Scicchitano, John Martinoski, Jinya An, Klime Sekutkoski,

Replacements: Tim Wylie, Jackson Brooks, Steven Dimitrievski, Nick Ristevski, Zachary Mazevski.

 

Warilla Wanderers Team:

Bradley Hunter, Nicholas Del Turco, Ryan Hunter, Toni Anastovski, Jason Goldsmith, Luke Everingham, Adam White, Chad Keating, Bojan Caric, Javier Ovando, Chris Smith

Replacements: Paul Gaffney, Luke Greathead, Martin Castelli, Adrian Montalbano, Blake Pusell

 

Main Referee: Greg Reid

Assistant Referees: Caleb Blanch and Stuart Belt

 

Report by Emma Gilly

Photo: Pedro Garcia (Library Archive)