The Western Sydney Wanderers have fallen to a 4-2 defeat against St George in their latest NPL NSW encounter in a unique match that took place over two days.
Severe weather conditions forced the game to be halted after 10 minutes on Saturday night, with the rest of the match played on Monday at Penshurst Park.
The Wanderers got off to a slow start, with Maki Petratos winning the ball high up the pitch and slotted the ball past Lawrence Caruso to give St George the lead inside the first minute.
As both sides fought to control the match, the presence of lighting forced the game to be paused at first, before the referee soon made the decision to abandon the fixture in the interest of player and spectator safety.
The match resumed on Monday night in the 11th minute, with the Wanderers having to make three changes from their original side on Saturday.
And it was one of these substitutes who found an equaliser soon after the restart.
Jarrod Carluccio had a whirlwind 24 hours, having just returned from A-League Men’s duty in Adelaide, yet he showed no signs of fatigue as he latched on to a fantastic Daniel Wilmering long ball and expertly chipped the ball over the keeper to level the scores in the 16th minute.
The rest of the half became a close battle between the two sides, but just as it looked set to be level at the break, the home side found a goal on the stroke of half-time through former Wanderers Aiden Mostofi who tapped home from close range.
Coach Andrew Christiansen introduced Teng Kuol at half-time to reinvigorate his side, and it was an inspired substitution as he found our second equaliser of the match. He made his way into the box and managed to pounce on a loose ball and just got enough power on the shot to get it beyond Nicholas Burke.
The Wanderers were unable to build on this, though, as Marley Peterson put the home side ahead in the 68th minute, before Daniel Alessi scored a powerful header from a corner four minutes from time to give the hosts a two goal lead that they kept until the final whistle.
