Wolves ready for FFA Cup test against Sydney FC

Jacob Timpano got his dream draw – now the young Wolves coach has the task of engineering another FFA Cup upset when his NPL side host Sydney FC on Wednesday night.

The Westfield FFA Cup has provided extraordinary entertainment so far in the Round of 32. 

So far in 2016, PS4 NPL clubs from Melbourne and Brisbane - Green Gully and Redlands - have knocked off Hyundai A-League opposition in spectacular fashion. 

Now, in front of what’s tipped to be the biggest crowd in the Round of 32 thus far, the Wolves will hope to banish their disappointing league form and fashion another famous cup upset.

“It’ll be huge. The FFA Cup has taken Australia by storm and Wollongong and Illawarra people are definitely looking forward to it,” Timpano, a former championship winning Sydney FC defender, told www.theffacup.com.au

Jacob Timpano

To win, Timpano will need to outwit a coach with 20 years more experience than him in Graham Arnold.

And with such a young team that won’t be easy. Not to mention the fact they were second bottom on the ladder going into the weekend’s round. 

The hope is the adrenaline of the night will be the circuit breaker needed.

“They are a very fit bunch of boys who do work hard,” stressed Timpano.

“And we vary our formation depending on who we play. But mostly we have a 4-3-3 with Zac Mackenzie our holding midfielder and we like to play football.

“We have a Chilean number 9 that holds up the ball well [Nicholas Bernal] who’s played in Chilean youth teams.”

Other names to watch out for in the red of Wolves are former Sydney FC keeper Justin Pasfield, Josh Macdonald formerly of the Wanderers and Nottingham Forest and ex Sydney FC youth player Darcy Madden.

Justin Pasfield

“Arnie [Graham Arnold] coached me in the Olyroos but for me as a young coach in the NPL, it’s a dream of mine to come up against an A-League team,” said Timpano, who’s only in his second season as a senior coach starting last year at just 29 years of age.

“We actually played Sydney FC in a pre-season game at WIN last year and I did come up with Arnie," he noted. 

Having already faced A-League opposition in last season’s FFA Cup in Wollongong helps, added Timpano.

“It’s a buzz to get the Wolves back on the national stage and we think we deserve to be on the national stage.

“And we are probably within the NPL one of the most recognisable clubs.

“Obviously the Wolves are one of the most historic clubs in Australia, back to NSL days.

“And the area, it’s a great breeding ground of players, like Chipperfield, Sterjovski, Wilkshire, Federici, Santalab and others.

“Around 15,000 registered players if not more. It’s a huge area and it’s only getting bigger and we think in some time we’ll have an A-League team of our own.

“WIN Stadium has hosted the All Stars, Matildas and an A-League game so we do get a fair bit of exposure.

“And it’d be a special moment if we got a result against an A-League team.”