Ocean Park was the setting for the battle of the bottom between Woonona Sharks and Picton Rangers. The two sides have only secured one win each and share the same -24 goal differential with a game in hand the only thing keeping the Rangers off the bottom.

Within a minute, the Rangers nearly got off to the perfect start when Ben Roberts cut into the right of the box before firing it into Woonona goalkeeper Jacob Madden.

The two sides shared spells of possession in their attacking halves but neither side was able to produce a major chance until the Sharks produced two in the space of two minutes. The first came in the 24th when Caleb Russell pivoted in the middle of the Picton box before shooting for the bottom right with Brad Jones producing a fine save. In the next passage of play, a cross came in for an unmarked Joel Beattie inside the left of the box, he fired across Jones who pulled off another smart stop.

The home side enjoyed a slight majority of the ball in the final twenty minutes of the first period but the score remained nil all when the teams left the field at halftime.

The Sharks continued their bright spell at the start of the second half with 40th-minute substitute, Brendan Pattman looking lively on the left-hand side. Despite this, Picton had the first big opportunity of the second half with Roberts playing the ball into Jesse Kennedy in the middle of the box, as he went to shot, Cameron Besgrove put in a last-ditch tackle to block the shot.

In the 69th minute, Woonona had the best chance of the match. Luke McCosker played a penetrating pass which put Beattie one on one with Jones, the young forward took two touches before his shot was smothered by the Picton number 1.

The Rangers had a solid ten-minute spell with a number of corners and with six minutes remaining, they had a massive opportunity to grab the three points when Roberts played Mitchell Hall on goal but Madden closed down the forward.

In the last minute of play, Woonona had another massive opportunity when Pattman charged into the right of the box. The versatile attacker, who was now operating from right back slammed his shot to the right of the goal with just the keeper to beat. This led the match to stumble to its conclusion with neither side managing to trouble the scorers.

The result leaves the two sides locked at the bottom of the ladder at the halfway point of the season. The Sharks’ next opponents are South Coast United, who defeated them 2-1 in the opening round. As for Picton, they travel to Tarrawanna Oval to face the in form Blueys who beat them 4-0 a fortnight ago in a round 1 makeup match.

Woonona Sharks - 0

Picton Rangers - 0

 

Saturday the 3rd of June 2017 at Ocean Park, Woonona

 

Woonona Sharks - Jacob Madden, Cameron Besgrove, Aidan Breslin, Christopher Gibson, Luke Foster, Jai Mellor, Joel Beattie, Trent Worthington, Caleb Russell, Luke McCosker and Valentino Merxhushi

 

Subs - Brendan Pattman (on for Merxhushi), Daisuke Sahashi, Dion Avouris (on for L.Foster), Kye Foster (on for Worthington) and Lachlan Ahling

 

Coach - Geoff Foster

 

Picton Rangers - Bradley Jones, Connor Dymond, Liam Storkey, Daniel Goodhew, Dale Nicol, Jesse Kennedy, Key Mitchell, Benjamin Roberts, Ben Realph, Dayne Morley and Scott Miranda

 

Subs - Mitchell Hall (on for Dymond), Brendan Berkeley (on for Kennedy), Matt Tesoriero, Hayden Berkeley (on for Nicol) and Lachlan O’Bree

 

Coach - Brett Morley

 

Referee - Nathan Wotton

 

Assistant Referees - Jay Walpole and Nathan Wallace

 

Report by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela

 

Photo credit: Woonona Sharks