Coniston kept themselves in the Illawarra Mercury Premier League finals hunt with an important 1-0 win over an in-form Cringila at Crehan Park on Saturday afternoon. The sole goal of the match came midway through the first half when Matt Tschentscher flicked home a corner from the left-hand side to hand the visitors a crucial three points.

After a slow start to the match, Cringila began to search for an opener in the ninth minute as Ryoga Uemoto darted from the left-hand side into the box. However, he took too heavy of a touch, which allowed the Coniston keeper Blake Horton to smother the ball before he could get a shot off. A minute later, Coniston earned a corner with the resulting inswinging delivery met by the head of Kohei Enokido, whose flicked header needed to be cleared off the line by the Lions defence.

In the 12th minute, the Lions’ Ryoga Uemoto threatened again as he fired a freekick from range goalwards but the ball sailed well over the bar. Three minutes later, some good buildup from the hosts resulted in Todd Sparks picking the ball up at the top of the box. He beat his man, but his shot went straight down the throat of the keeper.

Coniston responded to this pressure in the 16th minute when an optimistic long ball fell back to Brad Moreira who lofted a ball into the danger area. The loose ball caused havoc in the Cringila defence and a series of deflections nearly saw the ball dig itself into the bottom corner.

Cringila’s Ryoga Uemoto had another chance to pull the hosts ahead in the 17th minute with a free-kick from the right-hand side of the park. This attempt proved more fanciful for the hosts, with Coniston gloveman Horton needing to tip the ball over the bar to keep the scores level.

However, Cringila would be left ruing their missed chances as in the 23rd minute, the visitors opened the scoring. An inswinging delivery from the left-hand side found Matt Tschentscher who was able to guide the ball inside the near post.

Coniston continued their momentum a minute later, with Dinko Terzic making a lung-bursting run down the left-hand side before his deflected cross fell to Kody Maude on the edge of the box. However, Maude was unable to send the visitors two goals in front, with his shot sliced wide of the goal.

Terzic continued to have an influence in the game and in the 31st minute he latched onto a ball on the left-hand side before shaping a shooting opportunity and firing goalwards, but it was a weak effort with Cringila gloveman Nikola Ristevski holding onto the effort with ease.

Five minutes later, Cringila had a good chance to end their search for an equaliser before the break after Alex Mojsoski took his man on while heading down the line, beating the Coniston defender convincingly before rifling a shot at goal which was deflected out of play. The resulting corner saw another chance for the Lions as Anthony Romeo rose highest in the box to meet the cross, but his effort failed to find the target.

In the 42nd minute, Cringila created another opening when Alexander Brbevski received the ball on the edge of the box. He volleyed a right-footed shot goalwards but it just flew over the top.

Two minutes later, the hosts were awarded a freekick in a dangerous position on the edge of the box right in front of goal. Ryoga Uemoto took responsibility for the free-kick again but his effort went wide of the goal.

Despite Cringila’s last flurry of chances, they went into the break a goal down. Coniston had been good value for their lead having dominating spells of the game and consistently causing problems for their opponents from set-piece situations.

It took a while for the second half to burst into action with neither side able to get control of the ball and create a meaningful chance until the 62nd minute when Cringila’s Jake Webster was played in behind the Coniston defence, going one-on-one with Horton. The Coniston keeper did well to stand tall and block the attempted shot and keep his side in the lead.

Three minutes later, the hosts came forward once more when Takao Teramoto showed great skill to beat his marker on the left-hand side; however, he was left with a tight angle to work with and his strike was easily blocked at the near post by Coniston keeper Blake Horton. In the 68th minute, Coniston showed attacking impetus with Kody Maude putting a cross from the right-hand side into the box. His cross found Takayuki Kayano who was unable to muster his headed effort on target.

With three-quarters of the game played, Takao Teramoto caused issues again for the Coniston defence when he picked the ball up on the left-hand side of the box. He cut inside and unleashed a shot which was blocked at the last second by a Coniston defender. The remainder of the game saw Coniston take control of the ball, seeing the game out as 1-0 winners.

Cringila will be left disappointed in the result as it sees them go seven points behind their opponents. The result also ends Stuart Beedie’s side’s four-game unbeaten run. The Lions next week face a difficult encounter with a Fernhill side who will be hoping to return to the winner's circle after a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Tarrawanna on Saturday, with a Foxes victory potentially seeing Fernhill go above the Lions.

Meanwhile, Coniston will be very pleased with the result as it means the side are now just five points off fifth-placed Woonona. The side will play their game in hand on Tuesday night against Wollongong United at Macedonia Park, with a win in that fixture seeing the gap between Coniston and a top five place cut to just two points.

 

Saturday 23 June 2019 @ Crehan Park, Cringila

Cringila - 0

Coniston - 1 (Tschentscher 23’)

 

Cringila Lions: Nikola RISTEVSKI, James RALSTON, Aidan BRESLIN, Anthony ROMEO, Alexander BRBEVSKI, Jackson BROOKS, Takao TERAMOTO, Jake WEBSTER, Alex MOJSOSKI, Todd SPARKS, Ryoga UEMOTO

Substitutes: Ibrahim SESSAY (MOJSOSKI), Steven UGINOVSKI, Jonathan LIDDLE, Rory BILLINGTON

 

Coniston FC: Blake HORTON, Rory EVANS, Takayuki KAYANO, Boden ALLPORT, Kohei ENOKIDO, Robert BROWN, Bradley MOREIRA, Yuki SAMOTO, Matthew TSCHENTSCHER, Dinko TERZIC, Kody MAUDE

Substitutes: Franc PIERRO (TERZIC), Michael CIMINO (EVANS), Dasham YOULLEY, Mitch PRESKSKY, James STEWART’

 

Referee: S.BOZIC

Assistant Referees: G.FREEME and J.TYSSEN

 

Report by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter, @Timg123_

Photo by Pedro Garcia