Wollongong Wolves left to rue leaky defence in eight-goal thriller against St George

Five goals were scored in a scintillating first half before the goals continued in the second. The Wolves had the lead in the match on two occasions before St George fought back to win the match.

In a big week for the club off the field - with Wolves CEO Strebre Delovski assuring fans that potential A-League expansion is on the horizon for the 2025-26 season after Canberra and Auckland were confirmed as the next two teams entering the professional competition - the side were looking to rectify their 3-1 loss to Rockdale at home last round.

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A knee injury to left-back Walter Scott meant Senna Stevenson was deployed in the role away from his usual midfield duties and captain Lachlan Scott remained out of the side due to his long-term hamstring layoff.

Despite injury troubles to key players, coach David Carney was given a massive boost up top with the return of previously suspended striker Jake Trew to lead the line.

Speedy winger Alex Masciovecchio was brought into the starting 11 with Josh Macdonald dropping to the bench.

Both sides were looking to get back to winning ways following losses last round, with St George going down 2-0 to Manly after winning three on the trot before that fixture.

It was a pacey start to the match but almost a horror start for Carney's men, when City right-back Pedro Ferrari found some space out wide and cut a cross back into Aiden Mostofi who put his shot wide and really should have scored.

Despite the early warning sign, the Wolves took the lead through Masciovecchio for his third goal of the campaign in what was a stellar goal. The former Unanderra junior took on his defender on the right hand side and was not closed down by St George, meaning he was able to unleash a shot into the top left corner.

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City were given the opportunity to equalise almost immediately midway after Ferrari was fouled in the box. New acquisition Dean Pelekanos made no mistake, tucking the ball away into the bottom right corner and the scores were level.

The match was pretty even until Trew capitalised on some poor St George defending in the 30^th minute.

A ball over the top from young centre-back Harrison Buesnel caused problems for City goalkeeper Nicholas Burke and captain Tarik Ercan and the former Wollongong Olympic IPL striker was left with an open net to finish the ball off.

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No sooner than they had scored however the Wolves' lead was extinguished. Poor defending allowed a ball to be played to Presley Ortiz and he showed composure to tuck the ball past Nenad Vekic in goals for Wollongong.

And following St George's second goal, the side took the lead for the first time in the match. This time it was Mostofi - who made up for his earlier miss - to put City in front with 10 minutes to go in the first half.

The game settled slightly as both teams headed into the break, with the Wolves on the wrong side of a five-goal thriller in the opening 45 minutes.

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The scoring continued after the break and it was St George that went up 4-2 just two minutes into the second period.

This time it was Nathan Roberts who netted his second goal in consecutive weeks following a neat assist from Ortiz.

The Wolves were not out of this one and hit back in the 51^st minute following a set piece. Masciovecchio whipped in a corner onto the head of captain Banri Kanaizumi and the Japanese import made no mistake.

In the 65^th minute Paulo Mitry almost added an eighth goal for the match with a screamer from outside the box but the ball clattered against the post.

Second half substitute Nav Darjani tried to level the scores as the game got more frantic in the final 15 minutes, but curled his left-footed shot just wide of the goal.

Masciovecchio then missed a golden chance to square the ledger after another miscommunication at the back from St George but his shot went over the crossbar. He then had another chance shortly after, but City goalkeeper Burke stood strong to make the save.

The match was all but secured for St George after they were awarded another penalty in the 86^th minute. Uruguayan Franco Maya made no mistake from the spot.

But despite trying desperately, the Wolves ran out of time and St George won the match, 5-3.

The Wolves will look to bounce back from two losses on the bounce when they return to WIN Stadium next Sunday against the Mariners. Kickoff 3pm.

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