A brisk evening in Cringila saw the Sharks come to town, with both sides seeking to make up ground on the leading pack after a missed game last week. The entirety of the game was end-to-end football, with slick passing moves and strong runs in behind the defence looking the goods before failing to deliver the crucial shot.

Leading the charge for their respective teams, Cringila's Mikal Awad and Woonona's Valentino Meryhushi saw most of the ball at each end as neither side sought to bunker down a possession-heavy game.

Awad could've had a brace inside 5 minutes as replica plays saw him afforded ample time to shoot from outside the area directly in-front, however both times powerful, curling shots were deflected away by the last defender. Moments later, a fast break from Casus Don down the right wing saw Daniel Vasilevski teed up with a pass marginally too far ahead of his stretching right boot.

Meryhushi was causing the Cringila defence a great deal of trouble from his position on the right wing, constantly pulling new tricks out of his repertoire to elude defenders. He was able to make it to the by-line on 20', however a sneaky shot at the near corner was kept out well by Cringila keeper Brynley Richards.

Cringila had Richards to thank throughout the first half, seeing shots from Trent Worthington and Cameron Banks easily safe, Worthington hit a defender, and claims possession after Scott Curran's heavy touch left his control. However Richards was beaten by a nice play from Woonona - Joshua Hutton chipping a free kick into the area, with Banks contesting Richards, only for Worthington to head over from directly in-front with nothing between he and goal.

Again Richards was beaten, but again Woonona failed to put their shot on target, this time with Worthington looping a header back against the line of the cross toward the far post, however it too drifted wide.

Cringila thought they had opened the scoring in a tight first period, producing a mirror of Worthington's golden chance from right in front. Esala Ali chipped a free kick in from midfield, only for Awad to loop a header onto the top of the crossbar.

Woonona should have grabbed a goal on the stroke of half time, with two golden chances going begging. Banks beat three defenders inside the box with an impressive turn, however his rushed shot failed to register the target and sailed harmlessly wide, before Russell muffed a three-on-two counter attack by failing to distribute. With these also not troubling the scorers, the match remained locked at 0-0 at the break.

With neither side able to establish the dominancy, both continued to play their own style of football, with Cringila patiently passing up the pitch whilst Woonona went for the lofted switches out to pacey wingers enjoying the acreage out wide.

Cringila again started the stronger of the two, with early chances given to Don on the header, Vasilevski inside the box after beating two, and Daniel Atkins on the break, however again Bradley Jardine wasn't troubled by any meaningful threats on goal.

Momentum swung the way of the Sharks in the final quarter, with the Woonona defence beginning to look solid once more. Attacks were being fizzled out, and whilst men were often forced to advance from the line, it was rare that a challange missed its mark.

Meanwhile, Russell took his turn at running offence, not able to get a shot off after a free kick routine cannot produce a shot, and having a third open header from close range going begging, however finally, on 71', it was Russell who calmly slotted home an inch perfect through ball from Curran under the onrushing Richards to open accounts.

This saw Cringila panic and change tact to desperately grab at least an equaliser, however the relentless pushing forward opened them up on the counter. Woonona exploited this time after time, with Meryhushi continuing to threaten down the right wing, setting Ryo Suzuki up to slice over from 6 yards off a low cross.

Banks then got in on the action, thundering the upright from 25-yards with a venomous left foot strike, but it was in Hutton who grabbed the second and final goal of the game, converting a penalty past Richards after Meryhushi was sliced down by Awad in stoppage time.

 

Friday 10th June - Crehan Park

Referee - S. Bozic

Assistants - E. Hayes, D. Moreira

 

Cringila Lions 0

Woonona Sharks 2 - Russell 70', Hutton 90'

 

Cringila Lions - Richards, Eldred, King, Taddeo, Don, Awad, Atkins, Ali, Kobayashi (Martin 81'), Liddle (Stojanoski 76'), Vasilevski

Subs - Gorgievski, Stojanoski, Martin, Kocic

Woonona Sharks - Jardine, Hutton, Breslin, Gibson, Besgrove, Curran, Worthington (Suzuki 65'), Russell (Pattman 90'), Banks, Nicol, Meryhushi

Subs - Booth, Suzuki, Pattman, Bay, Beezem

 

Report by David Atherton

Photo: Pedro Garcia