After collecting four points from five goals down in their past two matches, Corrimal came into their Round 17 clash with renewed optimism. A win for the Rangers would move them above the bottom three for the first time since Round 2 while their opponents, the Albion Park White Eagles travelled to Memorial Park knowing anything less than three points would have devastating consequences on their top five hopes.

The White Eagles’ dominance was clear the outset and after a dozen minutes, they opened the scoring. Mitch Del Turco was on the edge of the box and he played the ball to Vaughan Patterson who thumped the ball at goal with a deflection of Nathan Belsito leading the ball into the bottom right corner.

Corrimal came close to levelling the game ten minutes later through Tim Wylie who attempted to chip Bryce Daenell on the half volley but the keeper was able to back track and tip it over the bar.

In the 27th minute, Corrimal goalkeeper Jason Bleakley forced a corner off a Shohei Okuno free kick but from the resulting set piece, the away side was able to double their lead. Okuno’s whipped-in corner was nodded on to Del Turco in the 6 yard box who managed to bundle the ball into the bottom left corner. An opportunistic goal by the number 9 after some ordinary set piece defending.

Corrimal was able to stem the flow for the remaining 18 minutes of the half but struggled to make any impact going forward with Mark Picciolini often left isolated up front.

Any chance of third straight Corrimal turnaround was all but gone within a minute of the second half when Bleakley’s misplaced pass found Del Turco in the box, he cut the ball to Yosuke Tashiro near the penalty mark who side volleyed the ball into an open net.

Within two minutes of the restart, Albion Park had a chance for their fourth when Karouna Micheal fouled Tashiro in the box, Okuno made no mistake from 12 yards and buried the ball into the bottom left corner. A catastrophic start to the second half for the Rangers with two horrendous errors sealing the match for the White Eagles.

In the 59th minute, Bleakley was able to make a strong block off a Mark Every strike but ten minutes later he was beaten for the fifth time as Patterson let rip from the edge of the box, the ball took a couple of deflections before rolling into the left of the goal. Within a minute of the restart, Hikaru Kawasakiya had an attempt on goal but this time Belsito was able to hoof the ball out for a corner.

Gavin O’Brien substituted himself into the game and with a quarter of an hour remaining he hit a speculative 30 yard half volley which had Daenell momentarily anxious before sailing just over the bar. Two minutes later Daenell was out jumped by the diminutive Picciolini with his header just cleared off the line by Peter Prandalos - saving the keeper’s clean sheet and his blushes.

The rout was rounded off in the 83rd minute when O’Brien lost his bearings and passed the ball to Kawasakiya on the edge of the box, he feigned out before touching into the area and smashing the ball into the right of the net. The match finished 6-0 to the reigning Champions who looked a lot like their former selves although they were aided by some poor Corrimal play.

The win keeps Albion Park within striking distance of the top five and with Tarrawanna and Port Kembla still to play, their fate is almost in their own hands. For now, they turn their attention to their Bert Bampton Cup semi final against Wollongong United. Along with putting them into the final, a win on Tuesday night would maintain the positive energy at the club as they look to keep their title defence alive.

As for Corrimal, they have now lost 6-0 on two occasions this season and any momentum picked up from their two miraculous comebacks has been washed away. They remain four points off the bottom, they face Wollongong United next week before a crunch clash with Picton.

 

Post match interview with Albion Park White Eagles coach, George Antoniou - https://soundcloud.com/dylanarvela/white-eagles-boss-george-antoniou-after-6-0-win-over-corrimal

 

Corrimal Rangers - 0

Albion Park White Eagles - 6 (Patterson 12’ 69’, Del Turco 28’, Tashiro 46’, Okuno 50’, Kawasakiya 83’)

 

Sunday the 16th of July, 2017 at Memorial Park, Corrimal

 

Corrimal Rangers - James Bleakley, James Walker, Robert Brown, Nathan Belsito, Tyrone Maclou, Aden Wade, Dominic Magill, Karouna Micheal, Mark Picciolini, Kazuya Yamamoto and Tim Wylie

Subs - Yasuto Onishi, Gavin O’Brien (on for Maclou), Aiden Gallo (on for Yamamoto), Ellisseo Chiodi, Rylan Kiklolovski

 

Albion Park White Eagles - Bryce Daenell, Lee Gilroy, Luke Debrot, Peter Prandalos, Steven Hristovski, Shannon Fielding, Robbie Delbanco, Vaughan Patterson, Mitch Del Turco, Shohei Okuno and Yosuke Tashiro

Subs - Mark Every (on for Gilroy), Hikaru Kawasakiya (on for Del Turco), Hayden Waples (on for Okuno) and Jacob Hufton

 

Referee - Bobby Mazevski

Assistant Referees - Brodie Merchant and Gareth Jenkins

 

Report by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela

Photo courtesy of Kiah Hufton