Port Kembla’s perfect start to the 2019 Illawarra Mercury Premier League campaign ended on Saturday afternoon, falling to a 2-0 defeat to Woonona at Wetherall Park. The Sharks struck twice in the final 20 minutes to secure all three points, with goals to Jesse French and substitute Lachlan Newman enough to push Woonona over the line and secure the side’s second victory of the season.

The Sharks had not beaten Port Kembla in Premier League play since April 2013 and the opening stages of the match appeared to suggest that history was going to repeat itself, with Port Kembla showing an aggressive intent to fire home the opening goal and the side came dangerously close to breaking the deadlock in the 17^th minute after a corner from Luke Boersma managed to weave its way into the box without being dealt with by the Sharks defence, successfully finding an open Bradley Acev near the right post.

However, Acev – who netted a brace last week to guide Port Kembla to victory over Corrimal – was unable to find the back of the net with his first real chance of the game, his tapped attempt rolling straight into the grateful arms of Woonona gloveman Ben Wunsch.

Port Kembla’s corners provided a strong point of attack for the hosts in the opening exchanges and it was another corner in the 24^th minute that provided another real chance for Port Kembla to take the lead. A deep Luke Boersma corner from the right-hand side of the park found an open Fabian Iacovelli on the edge of the box and the Port Kembla midfielder opted to fire a first-time volley at goal. However, Iacovelli’s speculative effort was unable to find the back of the net, his powerful shot just whisking past the left-hand post and out of play.

With Port Kembla controlling most of the play and forcing Woonona to take only minimal chances and counter-attacks in the opening half, both sides came out in the second half with a more aggressive play-style, aiming to breakthrough and take the lead and Port Kembla fans could be forgiven for thinking that moment had happened in the 59^th minute after a lovely Bradley Acev through ball found Fabian Iacovelli on the edge of the box.

Iacovelli made no mistake of the effort, firing a low ball past Woonona shot-stopper Ben Wunsch and into the bottom left corner of the net but just as the Port Kembla player wheeled off in celebration, the play was pulled back for offside, with Iacovelli moving past the defence just a little too early and ensuring the match remained deadlocked at 0-0.

However, as the match started to move into the final half-hour, the Sharks began to press their dominance over a Port Kembla side that was quickly tiring in the warm afternoon heat and the visitors almost took the lead in unusual circumstances in the 72^nd minute after a Corey Haines-Grose free-kick found the head of Port Kembla’s Luke Boersma in the box. Boersma – who netted an unfortunate own goal in almost identical circumstances last week against Corrimal – was able to direct the header over the crossbar and out for a Sharks corner, keeping the score locked at 0-0.

But the deadlock only lasted another minute before the visitors found the back of the net, with a quick counter-attack down the left-flank from Corey Haines-Grose quickly separating the Sharks forward from the Port Kembla defence. The amount of space created by Haines-Grose allowed the Woonona player to level a simple low-ball into the middle of the box, where an incoming Jesse French was the first to reach the ball, tapping a simple effort past Port Kembla keeper Daniel Farina and into the back of the net to give Woonona the lead.

Despite going down, Port Kembla continued to press forward in search of an equalizer and the hosts came agonizingly close to pulling the scores level in the 85^th minute after a great ball from Fabian Iacoveli found substitute Jayden Salucci on the edge of the box. Salucci was able to show a tremendous amount of skill to fire off a volley directed at the bottom right corner of the Woonona goal and his strong effort was only denied by a top-drawer save from Woonona gloveman Ben Wunsch, who made a diving save to push the shot away and keep the Sharks in front.

Port Kembla’s continued attacking mindset saw the side become very open in the backline and the Sharks managed to take advantage of this two minutes from full-time after Aden Wade found himself bursting down the left-hand side of the field with minimal opposition. Wade was able to find Corey Haines-Grose with a splitting cross-field ball, allowing the former Thirroul striker to face a rushing Daniel Farina with the chance to fire Woonona two goals ahead.

However, Haines-Grose decided not to fire an effort at Farina, instead opting to roll the ball left to substitute Lachlan Newman, who tapped home one of the easiest goals of his career, pushing the ball into an open net to secure a 2-0 win and all three points for the Sharks.

The Sharks’ victory sees the side moving to within one goal of their downed opponents on the Premier League ladder, a position they will no doubt be hoping to improve on when they host Wollongong United at Ocean Park next Saturday. However, Dan McGoldrick’s side also have a mid-week challenge ahead of them in the 4^th round of NSW FFA Cup qualifying when they host NPL 2 side GFHA Spirit at Ian McLennan Park on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the defeat for Port Kembla means their perfect start to the 2019 league campaign comes to an end at the third hurdle, but Steven Dimitrievski’s squad will be hoping to return to winning ways quickly when they host South Coast United – who went down 3-0 to Bulli on Saturday at Balls Paddock - next Saturday at Wetherall Park.

Saturday 6 April 2019 at Wetherall Park, Primbee

Port Kembla FC – 0

Woonona FC – 2 (French 73’, Newman 88’)

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 45’), Toni MUSUMICCI (MOCHIZUKI 82’), Dylan NIKOLOSKI, Kenta HARA (CRAPIS 60’), Chris FUENTES

Woonona FC: Ben WUNSCH, Tyren MACLOU, Tyler BROMHAM-FULLER, Jeremy LOPEZ, Christopher GIBSON, Jai MELLOR, Jesse FRENCH, Kota ODAKURA, Aden WADE, Jarred MORELY, Corey HAINES-GROSE

Subs: Trent WORTHINGTON, Bradley STRUDWICK, Lachlan NEWMAN (French 74’), Cameron BESGROVE (LOPEZ 84’), Chris WEARING

Referee – Nicholas RYAN

Assistant Referees – Brendan FOTHERINGHAM and Muttaz MOHAINN

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Photo courtesy of JC Sports Photography