WOLLONGONG coach Luke Wilkshire has conceded his team must learn the lessons from a tough 3-1 defeat to Sydney United 58.
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The Wolves, headlined by Milton-Ulladulla's Chris Price, were on top for the opening 25 minutes, however they were unable to capitalise on their chances.
The dominance eventually faded and it was the hosts who claimed the ascendancy. Unlike their opponents, United made the most of their opportunities, Josh Macdonald opening the scoring in the 33rd minute.
Zeljko Kalac's side controlled the remainder of the half, with Patrick Antelmi making it 2-nil in the 44th minute. Antelmi added a second to make it 3-nil shortly after the break.
Bul Juach cut the deficit to two with 20 minutes to play, however that was the last of the scoring.
"It sums up the week we've had," Wilkshire said.
"Frustrating, disappointing.
"We had chances in the first half and we didn't take them and we got punished.
"Their first goal rocked us, we didn't recover from that, that's something we need to be able to do. We need to react from that and we let them control the game, that was disappointing."
The Wolves entered the match undermanned, with Wilkshire forced to make four late changes.
They are set to be without Juach for an extended period of time, with the young striker suffering a suspected broken leg and dislocated ankle after a heavy collision in the act of scoring his goal.
While eager to see his troops return in the coming weeks, Wilkshire was pleased with the performance from the squad's rookies.
"Losing Bul is a massive loss, I'm disappointed for him to say the least. We've got a bit of an injury list, but there's some young boys there that did well."