Albion Park White Eagles have produced a stunning second-half comeback to nab a point in a 3-3 draw against fellow finals hopefuls Woonona in their Illawarra Mercury Premier League Round 18 clash on Saturday afternoon at Ocean Park.

The Sharks fired to a three-goal lead in the opening half thanks to goals from Luke McCosker, Corey Haines-Grose and Khalid Alali, but a second half brace from Albion Park substitute Valentino Merxhushi and a goal from Robert Delbanco deadlocked the scores. Albion Park had a late chance to win it with a Hristijan Tanoski penalty, but a Ben Wunsch save ensured both sides shared the spoils.

Both sides shared the spoils when they last faced back in Round 7 in a tight 1-1 draw at Terry Reserve, but Woonona quickly made sure the match was an exciting one, with the hosts taking the lead only six minutes into the match. An early corner was the catalyst for the Sharks’ opening goal, with a Jarred Morely corner finding the head of Luke McCosker in the White Eagles box. McCosker took full advantage of the ball, nodding his effort past a diving Brad Jardine and opening the scoring for the hosts.

The hosts doubled their lead six minutes later through rather odd circumstances after a quick through ball from Kota Odakura got the better of the Ocean Park pitch and Albion Park keeper Brad Jardine – with the ball slipping out of the keeper’s grasp and into the path of a chasing Corey Haines-Grose, who simply tapped the ball into the open net to extend Woonona’s lead.

The Sharks added their third of the afternoon in the 25^th minute thanks to another Jarred Morely corner, with a deep ball into the box finding Woonona defender Khalid Alali, who produced a strong header that flew into the back of the net and handed the Sharks a convincing lead.

Despite the shock of going three goals down in the opening half-hour, Albion Park have managed to comeback from such a deficit previously in the campaign and the side came dangerously close to pulling a goal back ten minutes later through Cody Waller, who fired off a curling free-kick that was only denied by a top-drawer save from Sharks custodian Ben Wunsch, who managed to get a hand to the effort and tip the ball over the crossbar – preserving the Sharks three goal lead heading into the half-time break.

Needing goals to pull back into the match, the opening exchanges of the second half went entirely the way of the visitors and Albion Park’s attacking persistence finally paid off for them in the 54^th minute with a quick break down the left flank finding substitute Valentino Merxhushi. Merxhushi – who came on for Cameron Morgan midway through the opening half – showed some great skill to quickly beat Woonona’s Tyler Bromham-Fuller before curling a shot across the face of goal and into the back of the net, handing the White Eagles a potential lifeline.

Albion Park’s comeback continued six minutes later with the side grabbing their second of the match with Merxhushi again central to the goal. However, much like Corey Haines-Grose’s first half strike, Merxhushi’s second goal arose as the effect of a long through ball getting the better of Sharks shot-stopper Ben Wunsch, with the keeper unable to hold on the ball – allowing Merxhushi to simply tap the loose ball into an empty net.

Stunned by the strong fightback from the White Eagles, Woonona attempted to put the result beyond all doubt and the side came agonizingly close to nabbing their fourth goal of the afternoon in the 69^th minute with a fantastic Corey Haines-Grose free-kick from the left hand side of the park. However, Haines-Grose was denied by a top-drawer save from Albion Park’s Brad Jardine, who reached the curling effort and managed to tip the shot over the bar to keep Albion Park in the match.

The White Eagles’ comeback was completed only a minute later, with a quick Cody Waller cross from the left flank finding Robert Delbanco in the Sharks box. Delbanco showed a deft touch to the ball – knocking it with his heel while looking away from goal – and his touch was enough to sneak the ball past Sharks keeper Ben Wunsch, levelling the scores and completing a good Albion Park comeback.

With the scores now level, both sides flew into the final twenty minutes in search of a match-winner and it was the visitors who had the best chance of the final moments, with Albion Park awarded a penalty in the 81^st minute after Hristijan Tanoski was brought down in the Woonona box. Tanoski stepped up to take the spot-kick but his effort was denied by a great save from Sharks gloveman Ben Wunsch, who dove to his right, pushing away Tanoski’s effort with ease and ensuring that neither side takes the three points – with an exciting 3-3 draw the final score.

The result keeps Albion Park in second for the moment, but Paul Carter’s side can be overtaken by Corrimal Rangers if the Rangers can beat Cringila Lions on Sunday at Crehan Park. The White Eagles’ next challenge will see them hosting a South Coast United side - who extended their unbeaten streak to seven games with a 1-0 win over Coniston – next Saturday at Terry Reserve.

Meanwhile, Woonona remains in fourth place thanks to the result, with the Sharks travelling to Memorial Park next Sunday to take on Corrimal Rangers in another match between two top-four sides as both teams attempt to finish as high up the ladder as they can as we enter the final few rounds of the campaign.

Saturday 20 July 2019 at Ocean Park, Woonona

Woonona FC – 3 (McCosker 6’, Haines-Grose 12’, Alali 25’)

Albion Park White Eagles – 3 (Merxhushi 54’, 60’, Delbanco 70’)

Woonona FC: Ben WUNSCH, Jack SCOTT, Tyler BROMHAM-FULLER, Jeremy LOPEZ, Khalid ALALI, Kota ODAKURA, Jesse FRENCH, Jarred MORELY, Jai MELLOR, Corey HAINES-GROSE, Luke MCCOSKER

Subs: Bradley STRUDWICK (MORELY 64’), Damien GREW, Lachlan NEWMAN, Ryan SUTCLIFFE, Chris WEARING

Albion Park White Eagles: Brad JARDINE, Blake MCGINN, Shannon FIELDING, Kyle SENIOR, Eiki FUKUSHIGE, Cody WALLER, Robert DELBANCO, Hristijan TANOSKI, Naomichi ARAKI, Cameron MORGAN, Joel BEATTIE

Subs: Yuki UNO (WALLER 83’), Valentino MERXHUSHI (MORGAN 30’), Cody WEHMEYER (TANOSKI 89’), Rene VESCIO, Jacob HUFTON

Referee – Peter ILCEVSKI

Assistant Referees – Ethan ZVARGULIS and Stuart DERBRIDGE

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Photo courtesy of Kiah Hufton