The Wollongong Wolves may have been left disappointed when crashing out of the NSW finals, but their ruthless streak has returned in the NPL knockout series, after beating Perth on Sunday at Albert Butler Memorial Park.

And it was Thomas James, the Englishman who has swept all before him this year, who sent the Wolves to the decider.

Gathering the ball just past the half-way line in the 29^th minute, James used his blistering pace to race into the box, his deflected shot from defender and goalkeeper regathered to deliver the Wolves the lead.

The tension built in the second half, before Darcy Madden forced the ball clear into space on the right wing in injury time, his wonderful cross finding James, who then put Takeru Okada in a position to deliver the killer blow.

Okada's shot fired low into the corner of goal in the 94^th minute, sealing Wollongong's 2-nil win and ticket into the decider against Queensland's Lions FC, from Brisbane's south. Lions outclassed Northern NSW NPL winners Maitland to progress.

The Wolves won the NSW NPL league title by nine points, with an impressive goal differential of +35 to qualify for the knockout finals series and have the better results to earn the right to host the final.

The time and date is yet to be confirmed, but it is likely to be at Albert Butler Memorial Park on Saturday, with WIN Stadium expected to be unavailable.

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