Top of the table Kemblawarra Fury were looking to consolidate their gap to 3rd place after Wollongong Olympic only managed a draw against Port Kembla. They now sit lone atop the ladder after Bulli threw away a 2-0 lead away at Albion Park. As the rain continued to pour down for the entirety of the match, the opening passages of play were more frantic than the conditions would suggest.

Inside eight minutes, three times the ball bulged the net. Shane Murray begun a wonderful individual afternoon in midfield with a through ball to the feet of Robbie Shields from deep in his own half, seeing the golden boot leader slide home easily under the onrushing Bryney Richards to open the scoring after three minutes. Minutes later, Sam Munro got down the left wing with ease to set up David Hartas at the far post for a first-time volley powering into the far post and in.

The Lions replied immediately though, with Cringila captain Daniel Atkins snatching the ball on halfway and dribbling to the edge of the area before rolling it into the bottom corner across David Poeira. Once again, Cringila clawed it back from Joel Taddeo's scuffed shot. A deep cross beat all the players in the middle, and his low shot skidding unpredictably past Fury keeper Poeira to bring scores level once more. From there, Cringila failed to register a shot on target for the rest of the half. Murray was running the game from midfield, with Cringila only able to constantly foul him to contain the threat.

Fury were peppering the Cringila box with crosses going begging, with Munro unable to head an over-hit ball on target, Cameron Morgan unable to slide under Richards and Hartas having multiple shots blocked in quick succession.

The conditions saw each pass skidding on unpredictably, players sliding around and the ball occasionally. Neither defence appeared particularly assured in closing down those threats, opting instead to stand off and wait for the offence to make a mistake. This nearly ended up with a Fury goal, after Morgan shoots weakly at goal, but for the slipperiness to see the ball go through Richards' gloves. He was able to recover it in time, however he made a noticeable change to ensure his body was behind every shot from there on in.

The combinations began to appear for Fury, with lovely interplay tearing apart the Lions' defence. Munro headed a looping pass over a defender to Shields, who returned a chip into the Munro's path, however Richards was on hand to pluck the ball from his boot as he shot.

Murray was again threatening through the central corridor, allowed to control a Hartas cross before having a shot blocked, before running down the right wing and finding Shields who can only head wide from a near post run. He was robbed of a golden chance, dribbling in on goal before play was called back for a foul in their favour, advantage deemed to not have been maintained. He finally got on the scoresheet, heading across the line of a Shane Lyons cross and wrong-footing Richards for 3-2 to finish the first half action.

The second period opened like the first, with Kemblawarra grabbing two early goals. Shields turned his marker inside out to curl past Richards from close range after two minutes, before Hartas also grabbed his second with an instep from the top of the box with Cringila unable to clear effectively.

Richards was on hand to ensure it remained only 4-2, getting behind a low drive from Alvin Ceccoli, and reacting to acrobatically save a flashing header from Murray. Substitute Fabian Iacovelli wasn't allowed to make his first touch, instead being fouled in the box and setting up Shields for his hat-trick from the spot, sending Richards the wrong way on the hour.

Fury were playing so well that they were nearly scoring without trying, a deflection off the body of Tyson Rhodes barely scraping over the bar without him knowing about it.

Cringila were resorting to dire tactics with the score at 6-2, playing huge long balls for the Fury defence to easily pick off. Atkins nearly chipped Poeira from halfway, but failed to put enough behind the shot as it was caught easily.

It was still Kemblawarra who threatened goal, as substitute McNab teed up Munro on the quick break. The pass was behind him and he had to stretch to effect the shot onto the crossbar, with Jagelman beaten to the rebound.

Play finished with Kemblawarra grabbing a late seventh, with Jagelman nearly tracking down a back-pass, and McNab taking possession of the rushed clearance, knocking it home with a 1-on-1 with Richards.

In what was an emphatic afternoon in front of goal, Kemblawarra showed their quality over a Cringila side who didn't offer much resistance aside from early on.

 

Sunday 19th June - Crehan Park

Cringila Lions 2 - Atkins 8', Taddeo 14'

Kemblawarra Fury 7 - Shields 3' 47' 60'(pen), Hartas 6' 50' Murray 36', McNab 89'

 

Cringila Lions - Richards, Wagus (Liddle 67', Don 71'), Ramirez, Eldred, Craig, Sparks, Awad, Taddeo , Ali, Vasilevski (Kobayashi 59'), Atkins

Subs - Liddle, Kobayashi, Don, Gorgievskick, Kocic

Kemblawarra Fury - Poeira, O'Connor, Rhodes, Lyons (Iacovelli 59'), Rhoors, Hartas, Murray, Ceccoli (Jagelman 79'), Morgan, Shields (McNab 67'), Munro

Subs - Zufic, McNab, Iacovelli, Jagelman

 

Report by David Atherton

Photo by Pedro Garcia (Library Archive)