Soccer: New faces add zest to Kingz

By BOB PEARCE

New year, new players and at last a new result for faithful followers of the Football Kingz at Ericsson Stadium yesterday.

A 1-1 draw with the Wollongong Wolves was the first home draw of the season, which has produced just one win and three draws for the struggling team.

Another win had seemed a real possibility after the Kingz scored first in the 13th minute through Tallan Martin. They held on until the 77th minute, when Borislav Dragas equalised.

By then the match had been reduced to walking pace in the punishing stadium heat, which reached about 30C.

Kingz coach Tommy Mason was full of praise for his new recruits, Danny Hay from the English first division and Noah Hickey from the Finnish league.

"We had a very decent first half and the new boys helped our shape," he said.

"We played 4-4-2 and we looked more solid at the back and we had more options and more movement up front.

"The heat was tough on everyone and Noah nearly died on his feet before we replaced him.

"We gave away a sloppy goal but we have something to work on ... The whole club is looking forward now."

The Kingz were almost an early goal down when Nigerian striker Chimaobi Nwaogazi slipped his marker in front of goal. Keeper Michael Utting was at full stretch to save.

But Hickey showed he has added extra skill to his pace, putting the Wollongong defence under pressure twice in the opening 10 minutes.

For once, the Kingz capitalised. Wollongong failed to clear twice before Martin drilled home Jeremy Christie's speculative overhead kick.

Hay marshalled the defence and added extra height to the forceful Mauro Donoso and John Tambouras, who marked Nwaogazi out of the game.

Still, the visitors forced a series of corners and Utting saved well from Adam Hughes and Stuart Young.

Mason relished the chance to give his halftime speech with the side 1-0 up for the first time in his short reign, while his opposite demanded more from a side unbeaten for eight games.

Wollongong dominated second-half possession but the Kingz mostly retained their composure and in the 68th minute, Hay headed just over the bar from a freekick.

Minutes later, Utting had to scramble back after bungling a clearance, but he was not so lucky when he came for a ball sent into the penalty area.

It fell to Dragas unmarked 10m out and he calmly equalised.