Warilla Wanderers picked up their first victory of their 2019 Peoplecare Illawarra District League campaign with a slim 1-0 win over Shell Cove FC at King Mickey Park on Saturday afternoon. In extremely windy conditions, the hosts managed to nab a goal through Jack Fowler in the 33^rd minute in what proved to be the only goal of the match in an encounter where neither side was truly able to make the most of their chances.

Neither side made the best start to their season in the opening round – with Warilla going down 3-0 to Bellambi and Shell Cove being pumped 7-1 by a rampant Helensburgh – but with three points on the line it was the hosts who made the first attempt at grabbing the lead in the 3^rd minute when Warilla’s Daniel Atkins managed to intercept a loose Shell Cove pass just outside the visitor’s box. However, Atkins was unable to quickly etch his name onto the scoresheet, his hastily taken effort sailing just over the top of the crossbar and out of play.

As the wind began to pick up, both sides struggled to create chances with most opportunities limited to long range speculative strikes, including Shell Cove’s first real attempt of the match in the 29^th minute when a long-range strike from Jordan Haddow found itself just scraping past the left-hand post and out of bounds thanks to a strong push from the wind.

Two minutes later Warilla had another chance of their own to fire into the lead when a fantastic flick pass from Daniel Atkins wormed its’ way past the defence and to a rushing Reece Mcintosh. Mcintosh had limited time to produce a shot, opting to fire a volley goal-ward. However, his effort was denied by a powerful save from Shell Cove gloveman Brandon Groom, who rushed out to meet Mcintosh on the edge of the box and shut down the attempt.

But Warilla found the back of the net shortly after in the 33^rd minute of play thanks to a deep free-kick out of defence which found Adrian Montalbano in the box. Montalbano was able to slot a loose ball past the defence to the left-hand post, where a waiting Jack Fowler was able to tap the ball into the back of the net and score the opening goal of the encounter and the only goal of the opening half.

Now a goal down, Shell Cove came out in the second half seeking an equalizer, but a lapse of concentration in the 56^th minute almost gifted the hosts their second goal of the afternoon after Warilla’s Daniel Atkins picked up a poor pass from the Shell Cove defence and fired a curling shot from range that – due in part to the strong wind – curled just over the top of the crossbar, much to the relief of the visiting side.

With neither side able to provide splitting through balls due to the wind, both sides were no doubt pleased when the wind began to fade away in the final 15 minutes of the match and this allowed Shell Cove to push further forward in an attempt to seek an equalizer and this plan almost paid off in the 80^th minute after Jordan Haddow was released onto goal down the right-hand side of the pitch thanks to a splitting through ball from Dusan Kolonja. However, Haddow was unable to direct his effort goalward despite beating Warilla shot-stopper Brad Hunter with the chance, his shot sliding across the goal-mouth and past the left-hand post.

The visitors had one final chance to level the scores in the 85^th minute with their best opportunity of the match. Once again, it was another perfectly placed through ball from Dusan Kolonja which found Jordan Haddow down the right-hand side of the field, allowing the Shell Cove forward to cut into the box. However, Haddow opted to cross the ball into the center of the box rather than shoot himself, with his pass finding the feet of a waiting Marko Bubanja. However, Bubanja was unable to write his name into the headlines, his tap misplacing the ball and firing it past the post, handing Warilla a slim 1-0 victory.

Warilla’s victory sees the side sitting comfortably in mid-table with one win and one loss from their two opening fixtures but the side will be facing one of the early form sides of the competition next when they travel to Unanderra Oval to take on the undefeated Unanderra Hearts. Meanwhile for Shell Cove, the result sees the side drop to the bottom of the ladder on virtue of goal difference, but the side will be looking to turn things around in the upcoming week as they travel to take on Unanderra Hearts in the opening round of the 2019 Bert Bampton Cup mid-week before hosting another side yet to pick up any points this season in Thirroul Thunder next Saturday.

Saturday 30 March 2019 at King Mickey Park, Warilla.

Warilla Wanderers FC – 1 (Fowler 33’)

Shell Cove FC – 0

Warilla Wanderers FC: Brad HUNTER, Drew SHAW, David BECOS, Martin CASTELLI, Nathan PEGLER, Brenton GERIBO, Stewart ROBERTSON, Jack FOWLER, Daniel ATKINS, Adrian MONTALBANO, Reece MCINTOSH

Subs: Daniel PEREZ (MONATLBANO 85’), Russell CRIGHTON (MCINTOSH 74’), Sasa CUGALJ (BECOS 88’), Blake PUSELL

Shell Cove FC: Brandon GROOM, Jacob MILLER, Ljupco NAUMOVSKI, Savo SEKULIC, Nikola RUSIC, Goran NIKOLOVSKI, Daniel TOSKOVSKI, Kazunori MASUDA, Jordan HADDOW, Tatsuya SATO, Ren YOSHIOKA

Subs: Marko BUBANJA (YOSHIOKA 72’), Dusan KOLONJA (MILLER 37’), Aleksandar ANGELKOSKI, James PETRESKI, Blake FRANKS

Referee – Jay WALPOLE

Assistant Referees – T. AHLING and A. THOMASON

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Photo courtesy of Noel Wynn