Port Kembla continued their winning start to the season with a 2-1 win over Corrimal Rangers at Memorial Park on Sunday afternoon. The visitors netted all three goals in the encounter, with a double from Brad Acev enough to offset a late own goal from Luke Boersma and the dismissal of Sandy Lowcock in the final moments of the match.

With Corrimal postponing their opening fixture of the 2019 campaign against Bulli due to a waterlogged pitch at Balls Paddock, the Rangers quickly fell behind in their first league match of the season, with Port Kembla taking the lead within the opening two minutes after a strong run from Jason Perez down the left-hand side of the field allowed the Port Kembla player to level a cross towards the edge of the box where a waiting Brad Acev was able to slot home an effort past Corrimal keeper Nic Loe and kick-start the match in favor of the visitors.

The visitors almost doubled their advantage in the 13^th minute after Fabian Iacovelli forced a turnover in a dangerous position on the edge of the Corrimal box, before opting to string the ball to Jason Perez, who fired off a ferocious shot at the Corrimal goal, the effort requiring a top-drawer save from Nic Loe to parry the ball over the crossbar and keep the Rangers in the match.

Despite the early strike going against the side, Corrimal were unwilling to lie down easily and the side came dangerously close to levelling the score in the 34^th minute after Port Kembla gloveman Daniel Farina held onto the ball for a moment too long, allowing Daniel Carreno to poach the ball off the feet of the keeper. However, before Carreno could tap home an easy strike, Farina snapped into action and smothered the ball to stop the opportunity cold.

The Rangers continued their assault on Port Kembla’s goal as the first half closed and the hosts came within inches of netting an equalizer in the 42^nd minute after a deep cross from Tomoki Wada down the right-hand side of the park found the head of a rising Banri Kanaizumi. Kanaizumi was able to direct a bullet header goalward but his effort was denied by the fingertips of Port Kembla shot-stopper Daniel Farina, producing an athletic leap to tip the ball over the bar and ensure the visitors entered the break holding the lead.

As the second half began, the Rangers continued to push forward in search of an equalizer and the gap between the Corrimal midfield and defence was exploited expertly by Port Kembla in the 58^th minute after a deep ball to Corrimal’s Alvin Ceccoli saw the experienced defender immediately under pressure from Brad Acev, with Ceccoli eventually losing the ball to a strong Acev challenge. Once Acev won the ball, no one was able to catch the speedy forward, with the Port Kembla striker pouncing forward and firing an effort past Nic Loe and into the bottom left corner of the goal, doubling the visitors lead.

With both sides making tactical changes to seek a match-changing goal and a change to more end-to-end football, it was Corrimal who finally found the back of the net next, with the Rangers netting in the 87^th minute to set up a tense end to the match. Corrimal was greatly helped by their opposition, with a deep cross from Ben Zucco finding the head of Port Kembla’s Luke Boersma in the box, with the Port Kembla midfielder firing a powerful header towards his own net, beating Daniel Farina and pulling Corrimal back into the match.

Having now conceded, Port Kembla went out seeking a third goal to secure the victory, only for their situation to become a little more difficult with substitute Sandy Lowcock dismissed in the 90^th minute after receiving his second yellow card of the match. However, Corrimal was unable to make the extra man advanateg count in the final moments of the match, Port Kembla holding on to secure a 2-1 win.

Port Kembla’s win sees them continue their perfect start to the 2019 league campaign and the side will be hoping they can go three from three when they host Woonona next Saturday at Wetherall Park. Meanwhile for Corrimal, the side will be hoping to quickly bounce back from the result over the next week, which sees them travel to Balls Paddock on Wednesday to play Bulli in a rescheduled Round 1 fixture as well as hosting Wollongong United next Sunday at Memorial Park.

Sunday 31 March 2019 at Memorial Park, Corrimal

Corrimal Rangers FC – 1 (Boersma (OG) 86’)

Port Kembla FC – 2 (Acev 2’, 58’)

Corrimal Rangers FC: Nic LOE, Dean PENDER, Jason ZUFIC, Alvin CECCOLI, Banri KANAIZUMI, Lukas STERGIOU, Matthew GALANTI, Sam MATTHEWS, Daniel CARRENO, Timothy WYLIE,

Subs: Kyle KIRKLAND (STERGIOU 53’), Ben ZUCCO (CARRENO 53’), Paul GUIDO, Jake GATES (PENDER 71’), David ZUFIC

Port Kembla FC: Daniel FARINA, William MOBBS, Nathan BELSITO, Karouna MICHEAL, Nobuaki MOCHIZUKI, Luke BOERSMA, Fabian IACOVELLI, Joshua CRAPIS, Bradley ACEV, Jason PEREZ, Mitchell DI PIETRO

Subs: Jayden SALUCCI (DI PIETRO 56’), Sandy LOWCOCK (CRAPIS 63’), Toni MUSUMICCI (ACEV 89’), Bailey FLEMING, Chris FUENTES

Referee – Blake HERBERT

Assistant Referees – Mick AGIM and Patrick HUTTON

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Photo courtesy of JC Sports Photography