In one of the surprise results of the round’s fixtures, Tarrawanna Blueys put four past a usually high scoring Cringila Lions side. History was with the home side as in both of last season’s fixtures in the Illawarra Premier League, Tarrawanna put 5 past Cringila with no reply. Cringila would’ve been hoping to rectify this unwanted record against Tarrawanna, but it wasn’t to be.

After an uneventful start, the 15^th minute brought about the first real opening with Stefan Dimoski finding space on the right-hand-side, only to find the hands of Adam Rodriguez. Dimoski found himself with another opportunity to open the scoring 4 minutes later but his effort from just outside the box clearing the cross-bar.

Tarrawanna responded within a minute with Samuel Chapple being teed up on the penalty spot after a cross from the right-hand-side. Valuing power over placement, his side-footed strike went over the crossbar much to the crowd’s displeasure. Just one minute later, Bradley Acev also fired over the bar with the goal beckoning with wasted chances featuring early.

Cringila created the best chance of the game 25 minutes in when a free-kick from Dimoski was played to the edge of the box, dummied by a Cringila player to find Nuno Pires whose spectacular effort looked destined for the top corner but a heroic save from Rodriguez denied Pires of a worthy opener.

Sloppy play from Tarrawanna in the 30^th minute had Dimoski one-on-one with the defender, cutting inside, and reluctant to take the shot on with his left foot. He elected to take it on with the outside of his right foot, but the shot ended up not worrying Rodriguez. Two minutes later, Cringila continued their assault on the Tarrawanna goal with Josiah Sherwen taking aim from outside the box, but his powerfully drilled hit lacked accuracy and the chance was gone. Cringila really should have been ahead after Pires found himself face- to face with Rodriguez and chose to try and loft the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper. A wrong choice as the ball ended up wide of the goal.

Three minutes later Tarrawanna’s Kouryo Kubota missed the chance of the half winning a 50-50 with Cringila keeper Alex Boullosa. The deflection forced the ball near to goal line, Kubota flicked it back over the goalkeeper. He was facing an open goal from 6 yards out, but he inexplicitly missed with the header - the majority of Tarrawanna supporters already celebrating the goal.

In one of the last plays of the half, Tarrawanna won a free-kick on the right-hand-side. The ball was whipped into a good area and Jake Morlando put Tarrawanna ahead against the run of play. The sides went into halftime with Tarrawanna one-nil up although it really could have been anything such were the chances.

The chances flowed in the second half. In the 51^st minute, Dimoski took on a strike from a tight angle outside the box. On the half volley, the ball dipped just wide of the post.

It was deja vu for Cringila, as a set piece wasn’t dealt with and Kubota headed a ball uncontested into the back of the net to double the Bluey's lead. Just 3 minutes later, Tarrawanna added to their lead when Acev made up for his earlier miss by delicately lifted an effort over Boullosa to throw the game wide open.

Tarrawanna weren’t done yet as Daniel Goodhew added a 4^th to the scoreboard when a series of deflections left him with the simple task of tapping in from just outside the 6-yard box. It was clear to see that the wind had been taken out of the sails of the Cringila team after that late first-half goal.

With Tarrawanna’s tails up, Goodhew tried to again chip the ball over the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation but this time the crossbar prevented it from adding to Tarrawanna’s tally. Just a couple of minutes later, Takumi Machida somehow managed to lift the ball over the crossbar from point-blank range after a driven cross into his feet which was the last chance of the game.

This result lifts Tarrawanna above their opponents Cringila in the table and puts them in a much better position to begin an assault for a finals place. As for Cringila, they were left to rue their missed chances early in the game and will no doubt hope to get back to winning ways in their next game when they face a struggling Woonona side at Crehan Park.

 

Saturday 14 April 2018 at Tarrawanna Oval

Tarrawanna Blueys – 4 (Morlando 42’, Acev 60’, Goodhew 62’, Kubota 68’)

Cringila Lions – 0

 

Tarrawanna Blueys: Adam RODRIGUEZ, Matthew NAYLOR, Bradley DURRANT, Corey HORNER, Jake MORLANDO, Daniel GOODHEW, Daniel CHAPMAN, Samuel CHAPPLE, Bradley ACEV, Kouryo KUBOTA, Liam UNICOMB

Substitutes: Jared FISH (KUBOTA), Rick GOODCHILD (MORLANDO), Takumi MACHIDA (UNICOMB), Joshua BROWN

 

Cringila Lions: Alex BOULLOSA, Jordan SEIB, James RALSTON, Anthony ROMEO, Tyren MACLOU, Josiah SHERWEN, Mitchell ARCOSA, Mitchell DI PIETRO, Stephan DIMOSKI, Nuno PIRES, Mitchell HALL

Substitutes: Takao TERAMOTO (DIMOSKI), Todd SPARKS, Ibrahim SESAY (PIRES), Kyle BOOTH

 

Referee – Peter ILCEVSKI

Assistant Referees – Matt HARDY and Leon CUMMINS

 

Report by Tim Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_

Photo by Noel Wynn