Wagga City Wanderers coach Blaise Fagan has appealed to the soccer community in the Riverina following another humiliating defeat in the State League 2 comp.
Fagan has urged locals to continue supporting the representative team after Western Condors thrashed the Wanderers 9-0 on Sunday.
“What we don’t need is the football community to use this as a way to chip away at our foundation,” Fagan said.
“It’s a very important character-building experience for these young men; let’s help them, let’s give them the opportunity they need to play representative football.”
The thriller match included an own goal and a controversial refereeing decision where Wagga maintain the Condors should have been called offside before an early goal in the second half.
Five of 11 Wanderers players were 16 years or younger, as the team, yet to bag a victory after four rounds, has been plagued with injuries and suspensions.
The team suffered another blow as two players Scott Dunn and Nick Psipiras were sent off the field due to minor infringements in the second half on Sunday.
With only 10 opposition players on field, and then nine in the last five minutes of the match the Condors capitalised, scoring six goals in the second half.
The Wanderers claimed the scoreboard did not reflect fairly on their performance, tweeting the full time score along with the hashtag #scorenotreflectingtruegame
“They worked as hard as they could; you can't buy experience you have keep on learning,” Fagan said.
He pledged his commitment to the future of the sport in the Riverina.
“It’s my pleasure to develop players,” Fagan said.
Next Saturday the Wanderers are in with a chance to climb the ladder as they play ninth-ranked Hurstville Minotaurs at Gissing Oval.
It should be a closely-contested match with two Wanderers players set to return from a one-week suspension and the Minotaurs being well-rested after a washout this week.
