Neither Fernhill nor Cringila Lions were able to secure their first win of the 2019 Illawarra Mercury Premier League campaign when the two sides faced off at Ray Robinson Field on Saturday afternoon, with a hard fought 0-0 draw the result. Fernhill had arguably the best chance to secure the three points late in the match with a chance from substitute Yoji Ogawa, but neither side was able to find the back of the net and secure the result.

Fernhill had the mental advantage heading into the fixture - with the Foxes victorious over the Lions both times in the 2018 league campaign – but the visitors were keen to grab their first points of the season and this desire shone through in the opening twenty minutes as Cringila attempted to strike early, only to be denied by the strong defence of a Fernhill side that had only conceded six goals in their opening three fixtures.

However, it was the hosts who had the first real chance of the match in the 22^nd minute when Fernhill was awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Cringila box. Foxes midfielder James Kerr stepped up and fired a curling effort towards the bottom right corner of the net, forcing a top-drawer save from Cringila shot-stopper Nikola Ristevski to deny the effort. But the Foxes had an immediate chance to follow up after Ristevski’s save fell to the feet of Elias Ayoub, but the first-touch effort from the Fernhill player left much to be desired, sailing high and wide across the face of goal, failing to trouble the Cringila keeper again.

The hosts had another chance to fire into the lead five minutes later after a corner from Alexandar Rooke rolled through the box to a waiting Blake Friedrich, but the Foxes were unable to make the chance find the back of the net, Friedrich’s effort mis-timed and floating wide of the goal.

With neither side really making the match their own in the opening half, both sides came out firing in the second period of action, with Cringila coming close to opening the scoring in the 49^th minute after Alex Mojsoski received a great through ball from Ryoga Uemoto before firing an effort directed towards the Fernhill goal. But Cringila were denied by a strong diving save from Fernhill custodian Bryce Daenell, who smothered the effort and ensured that the match remained deadlocked.

Cringila had another chance to fire in front nine minutes later after Todd Sparks opted to craft a long-range strike from the middle of the Fernhill half. But once again the Lions were denied by a great save from Fernhill’s Daenell, who made an athletic save to push the ball around the right-hand post and keep the hosts on level terms.

With neither side yet to break the deadlock, play began to open up in the final 10 minutes as both sides pushed forward seeking a match-winning strike and it was Fernhill who came dangerously close to finding that strike in the 82^nd minute after a scramble in the box saw the ball fall to substitute Yoji Ogawa. Ogawa was able to utilizes his control of the ball to fire an effort at the Cringila goal, beating keeper Nikola Ristevski but unable to beat the right-hand post, Ogawa’s strike ricocheting off the post and back into play.

This missed effort allowed a quick Cringila counter-attack which was saw Ryoga Uemoto craft a great through ball to Aleksandar Najdoski, allowing the Cringila player a chance to fire his name into the headlines. However, much to the dismay of travelling Lions supporters, the strike was not to be, with Najdoski sending his effort just right of the Fernhill goal.

But Cringila were not done with their attacking threats yet and just two minutes later the Lions had another chance to push in front after Ryoga Uemoto found himself with enough space to craft a shot aimed at the Fernhill goal. Uemoto’s effort would have managed to work its way past Foxes keeper Bryce Daenell had it not been for a deflection off Fernhill’s Kurt Foulger, who managed to redirect the shot just enough to send the ball out of play past the left-hand post and keep the score level.

Fernhill had one last chance to snatch a result from the match in the 85^th minute after a quick counter-attack saw Elias Ayoub release a smart through ball to an open Yoji Ogawa, allowing the Foxes substitute to move into a one-on-one chance with Cringila shot-stopper Nikola Ristevski. However the pressure was too much for the substitute, with Ogawa firing a powerful chipped effort over the head of Ristevski and over the Cringila crossbar, ensuring the match remained a 0-0 deadlock.

The result sees both sides fail to move away from the foot of the table, with Fernhill moving to two points alongside South Coast United – who picked up a point in a 1-1 draw with Port Kembla on Saturday afternoon – while Cringila break their 2019 points duck with the draw, remaining at the bottom of the ladder.

The Foxes will have a short break before travelling to Balls Paddock to take on one of the early leading sides of the league in Bulli on Thursday night, while Cringila will be travelling to Terry Reserve on Good Friday to take on Albion Park White Eagles, a side that picked up their second win of the season on Saturday afternoon with a 5-2 victory over Coniston.

Saturday 13 April 2019 at Ray Robinson Field, Towradgi

Fernhill FC – 0

Cringila Lions – 0

Fernhill FC: Bryce DAENELL, Rhys WILSON, Rob WATSON, Kurt FOULGER, Thomas POTTS, Ben RIACH, Elias AYOUB, James KERR, Alexander ROOKE, Blake FRIEDRICH, Jordan HUGHES

Subs: Alexander JOSIPOVIC, Dean MOROSIN (AYOUB 87’), Yoji OGAWA (FRIEDRICH 62’), Tatsurori NAKAGAWA, Liam CHILTON (HUGHES 80’)

Cringila Lions: Nikola RISTEVSKI, Aidan BRESLIN, James RALSTON, Jackson BROOKS, Aleksandar PRENTOSKI, Todd SPARKS, Jake WEBSTER, Alex MOJSOSKI, Aleksandar NAJDOSKI, Ibrahim SESAY, Ryoga UEMOTO

Subs: Anthony OLIVER, Takao TERAMOTO (MOJSOSKI 65’), Alexander BRBEVSKI, Kristoper STEFANOVSKI, Rory BILLINGTON

Referee – Jarrod THOMPSON

Assistant Referees – Michael THOMPSON and Jacob STERJOVSKI

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt