There was to be no ‘Magic of the Cup’ moment for Wollongong, who fell 3-0 to Sydney FC in front of an 8,000 plus crowd.
Matt Simon scored two goals while David Carney scored the third and final sealer. Wolves had opportunities in the second half but were unable to take them.
Wollongong Wolves
Justin Pasfield – 6: Had an excellent first half between the posts, made a number of great saves and also saved a penalty from Ninkovic. Was let down by the back line in the second half.
Kota Kawase – 5: Made some strong tackles in the first half to deny Sydney some opportunities but tired in the second half.
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Darcy Madden – 6: Had a decent outing and outmuscled the Sky Blues several times, making some decent runs and nearly setting up a goal.
James Baldacchino – 4: Struggled against the Sky Blue attack and was overrun in the second half. Not a good outing for the defender.
Zachary Mackenzie – 6: Was all over the midfield but was unable to create anything decent for the forwards.
Christopher Price – 6: The captain did his best in the midfield to keep the tempo up and keep the Wolves in the match. Made an excellent goal-saving tackle in first half.
David Stojic – 5: Struggled to get anything going in the midfield and was substituted in the 67th minute for Steven Hristovski.
Brett Wilson – 5: Struggled due to hamstring injury and was replaced by McGinn in the first half. Was not expected to last the whole match but toiled when he was on.
Ben Zucco – 6: Tried to create but was well contained for much of the match.
Nicholas Bernal – 5: Kept under wraps for most of the game. Did not receive much ball and found it hard to get into the game. Had a couple of shots blocked towards the end.
Joshua MacDonald – 6: Almost scored a cracker of a goal from outside the area that had Danny Vukovic beaten. Did some good things elsewhere.
Substitutes
Jake Trew – N/A: Came on for 10 minutes but was unable to make much of an impact.
Steven Hristovski – 5: Substituted on in the 68th minute after the first goal.
Blake McGinn – 2: Had a terrible match after coming on for the injured Wilson. Gave away a penalty (that was saved), earned a yellow card and was generally outplayed. Was substituted himself in the 82nd minute for Trew.
Sydney FC
Danny Vukovic – 7: Was not terribly troubled by the Wolves attack, made some decent saves but generally a quiet night for the goalkeeper.
Seb Ryall – 5: Was quiet throughout the match which is perhaps testament to Sydney’s dominance.
Matthew Jurman – 6: Like Ryall, not much to do but tidied up nicely when called upon.
Joshua Brillante – 6: Steadfast in the midfield for much of the match but could have performed better against a poor Wolves side.
Michael Zullo – 7: Found some space early on in the match but sent some crosses wayward. Was one of the more energetic players in the match for Sydney
Milos Ninkovic – 4: Missed a penalty and should have scored a few times. Had some other missed opportunities.
Brandon O’Neill – 5.5: Nearly scored in stoppage time, otherwise had a relatively quiet night in the midfield.
David Carney – 7: Was not impressive for much of the match, making some poor choices early on. Scored in the 90th minute to give Sydney a 3-0 lead.
Matthew Simon – 7: Scored two of the goals for Sydney in the second half. Earned yellow, could have been red.
George Blackwood – 8: Energetic throughout the match. Nearly scored himself in the first half and set up Simon’s second goal in the second half.
Rhyan Grant – 6: Did well to create some chances and controlled the midfield.
Substitutes
Alex Wilkinson – N/A: Subbed on in the 79th minute but did not have much time to make an impact.
Charles Lokoli Ngoy – 5: Replaced Simon in the 90th minute and nearly earned an assist.
Bai Antoniou – N/A: Late, late sub in the 87th minute for Blackwood.
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