South Coast Flame suffered a frustrating 2-1 defeat against Hurstville FC at Seymour Shaw Park on Saturday evening. The hosts were ahead 2-0 after 18 minutes after a couple of top-notch finishes before Matt Mazevski netted a free kick midway through the first half. The score would remain the same for the next hour despite each side have a few decent opportunities. The defeat in First Grade came after two strong results in the younger age groups with the under 20s winning 5-2 and the under 18s getting up 4-2.

 

While there was no clear side on top in terms of possession, the hosts found themselves two goals to the good within 18 minutes. In the 13th minute, a cheap turnover led to Cristian Di Meglio breaking through on goal with the nuggety number 18 burying the ball into the bottom left corner. Five minutes later, it was Paul Gagro through on goal and he also picked out the bottom left corner - with the help of the inside of the post.

 

Hurstville could have had their third in the 22nd minute when a hurried Flame clearance came off another Flame player before falling to Gagro who forced Matt White into a reaction save to push the ball out for a corner. White was back in action three minutes later, his saved slowed down another Gagro effort with the rolling ball cleared away from inside the six-yard box.

 

South Coast would pull themselves back into the match via a Mazevski set piece in the 33rd minute. The makeshift centre-back lined up from just outside the box and his drive penetrated the wall before beating the goalkeeper. This would see the score set at 2-1 to the hosts at the break.

 

Both sides would have a crack at goal in the opening five minutes of the second half. In the 47th minute, Mazevski picked out Dion Sterjovski with a 40-metre pass with the winger cutting inside before he blasted the ball for the top right corner only for James Drahalivas to make a top-class save. In the 49th minute, Gagro switched the play to Mitchell Harding who was through on goal but his volley went well over the bar.

 

Hurstville would go on to have a 15-minute passage of dominance with a couple of decent chances. In the 58th minute, Di Meglio had a shot from a tight angle which flashed across the goal and five minutes later Raul Carrizo had a solid effort from range which deflected out for a corner.

 

Flame probably edged the final period of the game, however, they couldn’t mount enough pressure to pull level. In the 70th minute, Sterjovski had another attempt from distance with the ball pulling to the left. Moment before full time, Mazevski had another close-range free-kick which he looked to place in the top left corner only for Drahalivas to make another stunning stop to see his side claim a 2-1 win and keep their finals hopes alive.

 

The defeat does not impact Flame in terms of their League position with the side remaining in ninth. The side finishes their inaugural season against Hurstville City Minotaurs at Crehan Park next Sunday with the match kicking off at 3 pm along with the other five State League fixtures.

 

The under 20s secured a vital three points on their quest for finals football courtesy of a 5-2 result. Striker Johnny Vicoroski was the star man for Flame with the League’s top scorer finding the back of the net on no less than four occasions to take his season tally to 18. The score was 3-0 at the break with Vicoroski already completing his hattrick before scoring his fourth early in the second half. The hosts pulled two goals back which put the result on edge but Aoto Saito scored a nice goal with 10 minutes remaining to ensure victory. The result puts Flame in fifth position ahead of results on Sunday. Next weekend Flame host the Minotaurs, who are the other side vying for fifth spot. The required result to guarantee finals football for Flame won’t be clear until Minotaurs play FC Gazy Auburn on Sunday, however, Neil Mineeff’s side will be gunning for the win to put it beyond any doubt.

 

The under 18s kicked off the day with a fairly convincing 4-2 victory. South Coast led 3-0 at halftime before moving to a four-goal lead in the second half - there were four different scorers as well in Ethan Lehn, Harry Lloyd, Kyle Paull and Michael Sitnikoski. Hurstville pulled two goals back but couldn’t prevent Flame from taking the three points which sees them move into seventh pending results on Sunday.

 

Saturday 11 August 2018 @ Seymour Shaw Park

 

Hurstville FC - 2 (DI MEGLIO 13’, GAGRO 18’)

 

South Coast Flame FC - 1 (MAZEVSKI 33’)

 

South Coast Flame FC lineup - Matt WHITE, Kenny JAMES, Andrew CHRISTIE, Matt MAZEVSKI, Julio MUSHABA, Wade WILTON, Andrew BOVA, Caleb GRACE, Dion STERJOVSKI, Louis CONNELL, Bojan CARIC

 

Subs - Brandon GROOM, Jayden SMILESKI, Martin THOMSON (on for BOVA), Daniel LUCAS (on for CHRISTIE), Johnny VICOROSKI

 

Coach - Paul ROBAARD

 

Report and photo by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela