Corrimal Rangers grabbed their first win of their 2019 Illawarra Mercury Premier League campaign in style, with a 4-0 thumping of Wollongong United at Memorial Park on Sunday afternoon. The hosts were two goals up within the opening five minutes after Matthew Galanti and Banri Kanaizumi found the back of the net before a 33^rd minute Van Elia goal had Corrimal cruising by the half-time break. A final goal to Tomoki Wada on the stroke of the full-time whistle rubbed more salt into the wounds of Wollongong United, who drop past the Rangers on the Premier League ladder as a result of the loss.

Corrimal defeated Wollongong United both times when these two sides faced off in the league in 2018 and within two minutes of the fixture starting, it appeared that the Rangers again had the dominant hand over their opponents when the hosts found themselves in front after a deep ball from the left-hand side of the park found the head of Timothy Wylie in the box. The Corrimal captain was able to nudge the ball towards an open Matthew Galanti, who was then able to open the scoring with a simple shot into the back of the net, giving Corrimal an early lead.

But Corrimal’s quick start was not yet over, and the hosts found themselves doubling their advantage only three minutes later after the side was awarded a free-kick on the left-hand side of the Wollongong United box. Corrimal’s Tomoki Wada stepped up and fired a curling effort into the box that skimmed off the head of Banri Kanaizumi and past a leaping Sam Nastic to dig itself into the bottom right corner, giving Corrimal a two goal lead and making sure anyone who arrived to Memorial Park late would regret not showing up before kickoff.

With the shock of conceding two quick goals at the start of the match, Wollongong United came to their senses and began to seek out a goal to bring the match back towards level and in the 8^th minute the visitors almost had their first goal of the afternoon after a run down the left flank from Naoki Ogawa forced a scramble in the box, allowing the ball to fall to Zac Nicholas at the Corrimal penalty spot. Nicholas was able to craft a powerful shot goalward but his effort was denied by a strong save from Corrimal gloveman Nic Loe, rising to the shot and getting enough of a hand to the ball to tip the effort over the crossbar and out for a corner, keeping Corrimal’s two goal lead intact.

As Wollongong United began to come back into the match, Corrimal began to take advantage of the gaps forming between the United midfield and defence and this strategy paid off in the 33^rd minute when Tomoki Wada released a piercing through-ball past the Wollongong United defence and reaching Corrimal’s Van Elia. Elia was able to time his run perfectly, keeping himself onside and moving into a one-on-one battle with Wollongong United shot-stopper Sam Nastic. However, it was Elia who won the battle between the two, producing a shot that just beat a rushing Nastic and curled into the left-hand side of the net, moving Corrimal’s lead to three and shocking the travelling Wollongong United support.

The visitors had one last chance to pull a goal back in the opening half in the 43^rd minute after Hikaru Kawasakiya received the ball near the left corner flag. The former Albion Park forward was swift with his movements, moving into the box and bounding past three Corrimal defenders before turning and firing an effort goalward. However, his chance was not to find the back of the net, instead opting to sail wide of the left post and out of play, ensuring Corrimal entered the half-time break with a healthy 3-0 lead.

As both sides came out for the second half, it was the Rangers who came out trying to match the intensity they showed at the start of the match and they came very close to adding a fourth goal to their total in the 46^th minute after Timothy Wylie made a bursting run down the left-hand flank before sending a low-drilled cross into the box where it found the feet of Tomoki Wada in the box. However, Wada was unable to find the back of the net with his quick tapped effort, his shot going the wrong side of the right-hand post and out, giving Wollongong United a brief reprieve.

But after the initial few attacks in the second half, the hosts began to rest on their laurels and let Wollongong United come searching for a goal, and the visitors almost found their first of the afternoon in the 53^rd minute when the side was awarded a free-kick directly in front of goal. Shane Murray - who had two rounds ago been lethal with his set pieces – stepped up and fired off a curling effort that beat the Corrimal wall and almost nestled its way into the bottom left corner of the net had it not been met by a good diving save by Corrimal keeper Nic Loe, smothering the shot and keeping Wollongong United from opening their account.

The visitors had another chance at pulling a goal back in the 77^th minute after a deep corner from Matt Gordon found substitute Nathan Jagleman alone on the edge of the box, with the Wollongong United player opting to fire off a first-time volley that forced a top-drawer save from Loe to tip the ball over the crossbar and keep Corrimal’s clean sheet.

With time running out and United running out of chances to pull back into the match, Corrimal put the match entirely beyond doubt in the third minute of second-half stoppage time when the side was awarded a free-kick in front of the goalmouth. Tomoki Wada, who had earlier set up Corrimal’s second goal with a well-placed free-kick, decided to go one better for the final kick of the match, firing a curling shot that beat an outstretched Sam Nastic and flew into the top left corner of the goal, securing an emphatic 4-0 win for Corrimal in style.

Corrimal’s victory sees the Rangers move to four points from their opening three fixtures, enough to move the side to sixth on the ladder, two points outside the top five. The Rangers will be hoping the strong result hands them some momentum heading into their next fixture, a tough challenge against undefeated Wollongong Olympic – who also picked up a win on Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 win over Albion Park White Eagles - next Sunday at Memorial Park.

Meanwhile Wollongong United will need to quickly get back to winning ways when they travel to Bill Anderson Reserve in Western Sydney to face Southern Districts side Kemps Creek United SC in the FFA Cup 4^th Qualifying Round on Wednesday night before travelling to Ocean Park to take on Woonona Sharks in the IPL next Saturday.

Sunday 7 April 2019 at Memorial Park, Corrimal

Corrimal Rangers FC – 4 (Galanti 2’, Kanaizumi 5’, Elia 33’, Wada 90’)

Wollongong United – 0

Corrimal Rangers FC: Nic LOE, Dean PENDER, Jason ZUFIC, Alvin CECCOLI, Banri KANAIZUMI, Matthew GALANTI, Lukas STERGIOU, Tomoki WADA, Sam MATTHEWS, Van ELIA, Timothy WYLIE

Subs: Daniel CARRENO (PENDER 79’), Paul GUIDO (WYLIE 87’), Nic GROZDANOU (ELIA 88’), Yiani MAVRIKIS

Wollongong United: Sam NASTIC, Maty BRENNAN, James O’ROURKE, Kane WRIGHT, Matt GORDON, Billy TSOVOLOS, Zac MCLAREN, Shane MURRAY, Hikaru KAWASAKIYA, Naoki OGAWA, Zac NICHOLAS

Subs: Ben BROOKS, Nathan JAGLEMAN (MCLAREN 45’), Jake LEIGHTON (OGAWA 67’), Charbel HADDAD (NICHOLAS 45’), Zak BEDELOVSKI

Referee – Bobby MAZEVSKI

Assistant Referees – Lachie MCREA and Patrick HUTTON

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Photo courtesy of Dana Guthrie