A stunning first goal for Sydney FC international marquee Filip Holosko, a brace from in-form Kiwi forward Shane Smeltz and a strike from new arrival Andrew Hoole was enough to earn the Sky Blues a comfortable 4-0 win over South Coast Wolves in a behind closed doors practice match at WIN Stadium.
Sydney FC 4 (Hoole 5’, Smeltz 55’, 80’, Holosko 82’) South Coast Wolves 0
Head Coach Graham Arnold started the game with a youthful line-up as Hoole opened the scoring in the 5th minute. The Sky Blues dominated the half creating a number of chances but had to wait until early in the second half before adding a second through Smeltz who finished neatly.
Sydney FC’s overseas players were introduced for the final 30 minutes to give them valuable game time ahead of the new season and they made a difference as Smeltz added his second and Holosko scored a fabulous 25 yard strike.
Arnold’s men will have further chances to improve their match fitness against Wellington Phoenix on Friday night when WIN Stadium hosts the South Coast Football Challenge. Kick off is at 7.30pm with the Sydney FC Westfield W-League team playing the Illawarra Stingrays in a 5.15pm curtain raiser.
What They Said
Filip Holosko: “I am happy to have scored a nice goal and every goal is good for me. I felt good playing right wing but came inside and got the ball from either Hooley or Smeltzy, took a touch and shot and it felt good.
“Every goal is good for my confidence but it was only a friendly game and I want to score more in the Hyundai A-League. Maybe this Friday I will play more time than today, hopefully 60 or 70 minutes”.
Goals
5’ HOOLE GOAL – Naumoff is played clear down the right hand side of the pitch with only a defender to beat. He cuts it back inside to Matt Simon who flicks a backheel to Hoole on the right of the box and the former Newcastle man blasts a powerful right foot shot beyond the keeper.
55’ SMELTZ GOAL – Hoole gets the ball inside and plays in Simon who slips the ball to Smeltz in the penalty area. He cuts it past the defender, before sliding the ball past the keeper from a tight angle.
80’ SMELTZ GOAL – Burgess chips the ball to the edge of the Wolves box where the South Coast centre half heads the ball past his own keeper and into the path of Smeltz who slots the ball into the empty net.
83’ HOLOSKO GOAL – Holosko receives the ball 25 yards from goal in space, opens up and unleashes a powerful shot into the top right hand corner.
Key Moments
7’ SIMON CHANCE – A fantastic whipped in cross from Alex Mullen is met by a diving header from Matt Simon but it goes just wide.
10’ NAUMOFF CHANCE – Naumoff drives at the South Coast Wolves defence and fires a left foot shot across goal from inside the box and past the post.
19’ TRATT HITS BAR – Right back Jacob Tratt receives the ball on the edge of the box and blasts it off the top of the bar.
23’ MULLEN SHOT SAVED – Alex Mullen receives the ball on the edge of the box in space and unleashes a firesome shot which the keeper dive to push wide.
35’ GRIFFIN HITS BAR – Griffin takes a free kick from 25 yards for Wolves and curls it off the crossbar.
47’ TRATT SHOT SAVED – Tratt is played into the right hand corner of the six yard box and shoots but the keeper blocks with his legs.
63’ HOLOSKO HITS THE BAR – A chipped ball to Holosko in the box is controlled expertly by the Slovakian international before smashing it against the cross bar.
67’ RYALL BLASTS WIDE – Holosko plays the ball inside the Wolves left back to Ryall who makes the run in behind but shoots into the side-netting from tight.
85’ SMELTZ SHOOTS OVER – Ninkovic releases Smeltz who runs behind the defence to put the ball just over the bar.
Team News
Sydney FC 4 (Hoole 5’, Smeltz 55’, 80’, Holosko 82’) South Coast Wolves 0
Sydney FC Head Coach Graham Arnold gave starting spots to a number of younger players to help get minutes in their legs as pre-season continued. Necevski replaced Bouzanis between the posts at half time while Smeltz also came on for Woodcock who took a first half knock. The Sky Blues then made a host of replacements with half an hour remaining as the overseas arrivals came on, alongside Seb Ryall, to get valuable game time and improve their match fitness.
Ground: WIN Stadium
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Sydney FC: 30. Anthony BOUZANIS (20. Ivan NECEVSKI 45’), 4. Zac ANDERSON © (19. Jacques FATY 60’), 7. Andrew HOOLE, 11. Christopher NAUMOFF (10. Milos NINKOVIC 60’), 12. Jacob TRATT (2. Seb RYALL 60’), 13. Brandon O’NEILL (8. Milos DIMITRIJEVIC 60’), 16. Riley WOODCOCK (9. Shane SMELTZ 47’), 18. Matt SIMON (21. Filip HOLOSKO 60’), 25. Aaron CALVER, 28. Max BURGESS, 29. Alex MULLEN (27. Mickael TAVARES 60’) .
Subs not used: None
Yellow cards: None
Red cards: None
Sydney FC are in action on Friday night at WIN Stadium, Wollongong in the South Coast Football Challenge. See the Sky Blues Westfield W-League squad take on the Illawarra Stingrays in a curtain raiser (kick off 5:15pm) before the Hyundai A-League squad face the Wellington Phoenix (kick off 7:30pm). Follow @SydneyFC on Twitter for match updates. Get tickets by clicking here.
Sydney FC A-League Memberships are now on sale for the Hyundai A-League 2015/16 season. Click HERE to become part of the Sky Blues family
