Wollongong Wolves, 5pm Sunday 24th March 2019 (home)
- philipkeegan
- Mar 26, 2019
- 4 min read
Wollongong were founded in 1980 in an effort by the then Australian Soccer Federation to expand the old NSL, and competed in the NSL from 1981 until its demise in 2004. Unlike Croatia they did not attempt to enter the A-League and went into the state league in 2004. They are currently coached by former Socceroo Luke Wilkshire and assisted by former Kashima Antlers striker Yuzo Tashiro. They come into today’s game top of the table having won both of their opening games.
Edensor Park, way out in Sydney’s west, is the home of Sydney Croatia and the stadium is attached to the Croatian Club called King Tom. The club itself was built by Croatian immigrants in 1973 and the team moved to the site in 1979, after playing at numerous sites in the city. The ground originally comprised of two end hills behind the goals and one side of concrete terracing. The side on Edensor road backed onto the club and was part concreted and housed the sheds. The first major change took place in 1989 when the hill and the corner were terraced and concreted. Seats were not installed initially around the whole ground, only on the Edensor Road side, with the other half left as grass for families (the Hill). The ground today is probably one of the best football specific stadiums in the country. Seats were fitted onto all the terracing in the late 1990s when the grandstand was built, using the funds from the sale of Zeljko Kalac to Leicester City. Its current capacity is 12,000.
I headed from Marrickville at around 2pm to meet a mate in Parramatta and from there we got an Uber to King Tom. The temperature out at Edensor Park had already 33 by midday. As is the pre match ritual, beers were had in the club beforehand and familiar faces greeted as the latest in club news was shared. The big news pre-game (for me anyway) was that the club shop was open again after years closed. It was a great job by the boys at Stand United For Sydney United to get the shop back up and running and it has a great selection of jerseys and club wear. Having spent the last 2 years begging for a jersey it was great to finally get one!
As we left the club for the short walk down the side to the stadium a queue was forming at the ticket office and at the turnstile. One of my mates, who used to go to games when anything up to 10,000 could turn up, remarked “it’s like the old days!” Indeed, and this is why it has to be one of the best game days in Australian football - it’s like football should be. The faded sign on the gates banning nationalist symbols seems from another time altogether. Today’s crowd must be around the 1,000 mark and as we enter the ground the SUS are already banging drums and singing.
A minutes’ silence is observed before kick off due to the recent passing of club stalwart Zeljko Jurin. By the time the game kicks off clouds have been forming and a light drizzle begins to fall. The opening exchanges are of misplaced passes as both teams try to adapt to the conditions. In saying that Patrick Antelmi should have perhaps scored after just a few minutes, but his effort went just wide. The former Western Sydney Wanderers man, Lachlan Scott, headed over for Wollongong as the game ebbed from end to end midway through the first half. The rain had become heavier by this point and me and my mates took shelter by the club shop, while many went to the upper tier of the Boka Stand. A real measure of the club was seen when the two elderly gents sitting in front of us went into the club shop to get out of the rain, were given seats and everybody standing against the window moved out of the way so they could see the game.
Wollongong were looking the more dangerous as the half wore on and it was not a surprise when they took the lead around 10 minutes before half time. It was a cracker as well by the English import and new signing, Thomas James, who let fly from just inside the area. I was on the way back from the bar and almost missed it in an effort not to spill any VB from those plastic trays – I can never seem to carry them on the hill. Another import, Takeru Okada, almost added a second but was denied by Manos and Croatia saw out the remainder of the half without falling further behind.
Croatia coach Miro Vlastelica made a double change at the break bringing on Glen Trifiro and Luke Vlastelica. The change had an almost instant effect as Antelmi almost scored the equalizer within a few minutes of the restart, but his effort was just off target. However Croatia did equalize around 10 mins into the second half through Jordan Roberts, who smashed home a fine finish from a Sam Perre lay off. It was great timing and while we were still celebrating, Antelmi shot at goal again and found the net. He thought he had given us the lead (cue pandemonium) until the linesman put a stop to it with the bloody flag. Croatia then conceded a soft goal from an indirect free kick less then 3 minutes later. The celebration from Nikola Djordjevic, a Serb by birth, was nothing short of disgraceful. He ran into Gilligan’s Corner and spat on the SUS flag. I sincerely hope that he is punished, as it was evidently planned and intended to offend.
Chasing the game, Okada almost finished the game as a contest but could only find the side netting with around 15 minutes left. He and the Wolves were left to rue this as Croatia levelled the game with less than 10 minutes to play. The ball was deflected past the Wollongong keeper (I think it was Djordjevic, I hope it was, that’s karma Nikola) at his near post from a Tariq Maia shot, much to the delight of the majority of the large crowd. The bar on the hill had run dry of VB by this point, and as the final whistle sounded on an entertaining game we made our way to the club bar to discuss the game, and football in general, over a few Karlavachko’s. Next week is another big game in the shape of APIA at King Tom, Sydney Croatia Ole Ole Ole….
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