Wolves Close Gap On Top Four
- Report and photos: Ian Judd
- Jul 8, 2017
- 4 min read
Acacia Ridge 1 (Jaimes 47') Wolves FC 4 (Dykman 5'; Sugaya 71', 76'; Foran 73') HT 1-0 Played at: Ron Proud Field
Wolves FC completed a league double over Acacia Ridge in the space of a week, following up last week's come from behind 4-3 success with a resounding 4-1 victory on Saturday evening in this RD6 catch-up game. Three unanswered Wolves goals in the space of five second half minutes proving too much for the hosts as Wolves closed the gap on the top four above them. Ridge's makeshift defence, a result of a number of first choice players on the injury list, were soon put under pressure in just the 4th minute following a corner. Scott Dykamn's header forced Ridge stopper Roki Samardzija into an initial finger tip save and Samardzija recovered superbly to steer away the follow up effort. A minute later though and Dykman made no mistake when put through on goal from Tsubasa Sugaya and slipping the ball calmly past Samardzija for the opening goal. A strong penalty shout for Wolves followed what appeared to be a trip on Wolves winger Chang Shin Park and despite the assistant referee's flag going up, Referee Trent Sleeman waved away Wolves' appeals. It took until the half hour before the hosts got a sniff at goal with top goal scorer Juan Jaimes played into a space but he dwelt too long on the ball and the Wolves defence recovered to deal with him. Impressive Johnny Moncada-Palacios had a good chance moments later but blasted his effort well over when in a good position to hit the target and the mercurial midfielder linked up with Jaimes to create another good chance a minute later but Jaimes could only direct his effort straight at Wolves keeper Andrew Houghton. The half however belonged well and truly to the visitors and they should have entered the break with further goals to their tally. Sugaya was guilty of butchering two guilt edged chances. His first coming from a neat ball from Dykman to play him into the box but he skied his shot high over Samardzija's bar and towards the end of the half, a free kick played in near the penalty spot fell to Sugaya who again managed to clear the crossbar, this time from close range in front of goal. Wolves did have the ball in the back of the net from a header from Dykman but the assistant's flag coming to Ridge's rescue as somehow they went into the break only a goal down. Shortly after the break, Ridge got themselves back on level terms. A fortuitous indirect free kick inside the box, following a pass back to Houghton who picked the ball up, was drilled in to the bottom corner by Jaimes despite the Wolves players occupying Houghton's goal. Both sides had chances to go in front but with twenty minutes left on the clock, the visitors put the game to bed with three goals coming in five minutes. Sugaya made amends for his first half indiscretions when Ridge switched off defensively from a Wolves throw. The Wolves number eight finding the ball at his feet just on the edge of the box, firing a fierce low drive across Samardzija who despite getting a hand to the ball, could only watch on as it went in off his far post. Oliver Foran extended the visitors lead when substitute George Kumano did well to hold the ball up out wide before laying a pass in to Foran who was unmarked on the edge of the box and who's shot left Samardzija stranded as it too, struck the inside of the post before going in. Sugaya secured his double and Wolves fourth when a corner fell kindly to him and his snap shot, lacking real power, was fumbled in by Samardzija who perhaps should have saved it. The hosts were unable to find a way back into the game and could have fallen further behind were it not for some poor finishing and the condition of the Ron Proud field. The win for Wolves ensures North Pine in second down to Ridge in fourth, look nervously over their shoulders with Wolves closing the gap on them on the Capital League 1 table. It was a deserved victory for Mark Dykman's side who now seem to look settled and coherent together as they press for a top four berth.
Coaches Remarks:
Zoran Siminovic - Acacia Ridge: "The result is fair. We're missing six regular first team players. Our defence was made up of reserve players. We did have best defence in the league, but we must deal with the injuries. Wolves is a good team. They played strong and came here to win the game and they deserved their win. I'm just disappointed with the situation we have our injured players. We had a big effort and what else can we do." Mark Dykman - Wolves FC: "It's always hard to play football here but I said to the guys to shorten the passes and keep hold of the ball. Every time we did that we looked dangerous and should have scored a few more. We had some tough calls go against us but overall the officials did a good job. I thought we were by far the better team. It's always been the objective to keep the ball and move them around to disorganise them. They've got some dangerous players up front but we contained them nicely today. Everybody chipped in today, the team, the bench."
FB Media Player of the Match: Oliver Foran - Wolves FC.
Ever lively throughout the contest and lightning quick which caused Ridge issues all night.
FB Media Match Stats:
Possession: 46% - 54% Shots on target: 4 - 10 Shots off target: 4 - 11 Corners: 4 - 9 Free Kicks: 10 - 15 Offside: 4 - 2 Yellow Cards: 1 - 2 Red Cards: 0 - 0
Team Line-ups
Acacia Ridge: Samardzija (gk), Alsallakh (Murcia 45'), Dattanie, Jaimes, Manzi (Perez-Vargas 45'), Moncada-Palacios, Navarro-Falcon, Santamaria (Ilic 51'), Simunovic, Yoshimura, Zirojevic.
Subs: Ilic, Murcia, Perez-Vargas, Bohorquez.
Wolves FC: Houghton (gk), Dykman, Ferreira, Foran, Grillo (Davis 45'), Irving, Ismail (Dos Santos 76'), Park (Kumano 61'), Stevens, Sugaya, Tanner.
Subs: Dos Santos, Kumano, Monjok, Davis. Referee: Trent Sleeman
