CONISTON v WOLLONGONG UNITED | IPL ROUND 7 | MATCH REPORT
A goalless second half between Coniston and Wollongong United left the sides to share the points with a 2-2 draw in a late Saturday afternoon fixture at JJ Kelly Park.
Wollongong United were dangerous in the early stage, taking a 2-0 lead in the first 25 minutes of the match.
However, Coniston turned up their intensity before the half-time break with a stirring comeback.
United came out firing and the action started almost as soon as the whistle blew with a neatly placed finish from Klime Sekutkoski to take the lead.
Just minutes later a chance for Coniston came with a clean ball into the head of Matthew Tschentscher saw it parried by Sam Nastic into Anthony Krsteski’s feet whose shot at goal missed the target.
Sekutkoski was the focus of United’s attack once more in the 27th minute when he found Dinko Terzic in the centre of the six-yard box before ex-Coniston striker slotted the ball past goalkeeper Kaydin Harrison.
United continued to have a flood of chances but it was a scuffle in defence that saw Coniston’s centre-back Takayuki Kayano slide in and push the ball past Nastic in the 34th minute.
Both sides were giving their all going forward with Krsteski having an effort denied by the post and Sekutkoski forcing a save out of Harrison at the other end.
Deep into added-on time in the first half, Lukas Stergiou knocked in a pin-point free-kick for the head of new recruit Ekoue D’Almeida to score on his Coniston debut.
The vocal crowd spurred on the match going into the second half and it wasn’t loon before Coniston carved out another chance with a one-two between Tschentscher and Krsteski finishing with the former being denied by the United custodian.
Wollongong United fought back with a few chances of their own from the likes of Terzic and substitute Mason Versi but they couldn’t breach Harrison’s goal for a third time.
The last goal scoring opportunity came from Coniston substitute Nikolas Miceski when he received the ball just outside of the 18-yard box before taking a long-range strike that went narrowly wide of the post.
Ultimately, both sides had to settle for the point after an eventful clash which leaves Coniston in fifth and sees United drop to third.
Coniston will travel to sixth-placed Bulli next Saturday afternoon whilst Wollongong United will host South Coast United.
Coniston: 2 (Takayuki Kayano 34’, Ekoue D’Almeida 45+3’)
Wollongong United: 2 (Klime Sekutkoski 5’, Dinko Terzic 27’)
Coniston: 1. HARRISON Kaydin, 3. KAYANO Takayuki, 4. GROZDANOV Nicholas, 5. PERLOWSKI Dylan, 6. STERGIOU Lukas, 7. FUJIEDA Tomohito, 8. O’NEIL Connor, 9. TSCHENTSCHER Matthew, 10. MATTHEWS Samuel, 18. KRSTESKI Anthony, 32. MENDES Michael, 34. D’ALMEIDA Ekoue
Substitutes: 12. ZUFIC David, 19. UGRINOVSKI Steven (MENDES), 23. MICESKI Nicholas (FUJIEDA), 33. SACCO Gian, 54. BENTEN Sami
Wollongong United: 80. NASTIC Sam, 25. BRENNAN Maty, 19. BROOKS Ben, 3. DIAS Andre, 26. KAWAKAMI Seiji, 5. LAZAREVSKI Danny, 29. SEKUTKOSKI Klime, 32. STOJANOVSKI James, 10. TERZIC Dinko, 2. THOMAS Sean, 23. YAMADA Mitsuo
Substitutes: 7. CORREIA Josh, 14. FLANAGAN Jeremy (BRENNAN), 44. MCLAREN Zac (STOJANOVSKI), 11. VERSI Mason (DIAS), 4. VESCIO Rene
Date: 8 May 2021
Venue: JJ Kelly Park
Referee: Andrew Naylor
Assistant Referees: Reece Edwards and Helmut Lux
Report by Alison Dinh, on Twitter @alisondinh_
Photo by Richie Wagner
