South Coast Flame made the most of a return to home soil by recording a perfect nine points across the three grades. First Grade produced a solid 2-0 victory over FC Gazy Auburn. Flame took a goal to nil lead into the break thanks to a Dion Sterjovski goal in the 25th minute before the three points were sealed when Caleb Grace pounced on a defensive error before tucking the ball home. The under 20s hit the six past the visitors in a 6-1 win while the under 18s won 3-0 due to a forfeit.

Both sides managed to get the ball into the respective penalty areas in the opening two minutes with Matt White being forced into a decent block off a Rosario Ochipati effort after 90 seconds.

The first real chances for Flame came in the 7th minute when Bojan Caric’s header was saved by the Gazy goalkeeper with the ball coming out to Dion Sterjovski but he couldn’t hit his shot on target. South Coast continued to build pressure and they were rewarded with a goal in the 25th minute with Dion Sterjovski controlling the ball in the box, jinking around a defender before burying the ball into the bottom left corner.

The goal reassured the side who began playing with a little more confidence in search of a second. The second nearly came in the 37th minute when Caric’s pass deflected over the Gazy backline for Matt Mazevski to run on to but his volley cleared the crossbar. Flame managed to play out the half and maintain their one-goal advantage heading into the sheds.

The visitors came close to a equalising three minutes into the second half after a lapse in concentration allowed Cristiam Chavarro to go through on goal but White pulled off another crucial save.

Flame managed to rid themselves of any earlier second-half nerves and regain control of the match with three decent chances. Sterjovski forced the Gazy goaltender into a block in the 69th minute and two minutes later Grace made him pull off another save - neither convincing but effective nevertheless. The best of the three chances came for Mazevski whose thunderous strike from the 18-yard line smashed off the middle of the crossbar.

The result was shored up in the 82nd minute with Flame scoring a well deserved second goal. Grace caught out a Gazy defender and disposed him before going through and goal and finishing with aplomb. The visitors had a couple of set pieces in the final stages of the match but Flame held out to keep a clean sheet and record a 2-0 win.

After the match, First Grade coach Paul Robaard was pleased with his side’s ability to deliver a 90-minute performance, “Another solid performance in the first half, then we took it out and played a great second half to lock the game out.” The result sees Flame jump into 9th ahead of Balmain who they host next weekend.
The under 20s recorded a comprehensive 6-1 win over FC Gazy with Cameron Hanson netting a hattrick, Johnny Vicoroski scoring a brace and Abdullah Al Okla also getting on the scoresheet. The score was 3-0 at the break before Flame converted another three chances in the second half with Takudzwa Mandigora scoring the only goal for the away side. The win leaps the side into 5th and they will stay there if Bankstown United don’t beat Hurstville FC next weekend. The under 20s will look to solidify their position in the top five next weekend when they played 8th placed Balmain.

The visitors, unfortunately, had to forfeit the under 18s match which saw Flame rewarded with a 3-0 win. The three points lifts the side to 7th which they will remain in if Balmain failed to win on Sunday. Balmain, of course, are the opponents next weekend in a match with significant implications either side’s chances of making the top five.

 

Saturday 9 June 2018 @ Crehan Park

 

South Coast Flame FC - 2 (STERJOVSKI 25’, GRACE 82’)

 

FC Gazy Auburn - 0

 

South Coast Flame FC lineup - Matt WHITE, Andrew BOVA, Bojan CARIC, Andrew CHRISTIE, Caleb GRACE, Darren JONES, Matt MAZEVSKI, Julio MUSHABA, Dion STERJOVSKI, Martin THOMSON, Wade WILTON

 

Subs - Brendan GROOM, Cameron HANSON (on for MUSHABA), Doug WOODIWISS (on for CARIC), George SOURIS,

 

Coach - Paul ROBAARD

 

Report and photo by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela