WOONONA v CONISTON | IPL ROUND 14 | MATCH REPORT
Coniston secured an impressive 2-0 win against Woonona at Ocean Park on Saturday afternoon.
Anthony Krsteski gave the visitors the lead 11 minutes in before Matthew Tschentscher doubled it just seconds after half time.
Coniston started the stronger of the two teams creating a couple of openings with the first three minutes as both Tomohito Fujieda and Adam Voloder came close.
A minute later, the Sharks could’ve equalised with Corey Haines-Grose’s shot from inside the box narrowly missing.
With 11 minutes played, the away side scored their first when a Fujieda cross from the left found the head of Krsteski at the near post, whose effort crept into the far corner.
The goal was a just reward for a commanding opening 20 minutes to the match from Rob Jonovski’s men, with the side pushing on for the remainder of the half, looking to find a second.
Gian Sacco saw his central shot saved in the 22nd minute, and three minutes later, Tschentscher was unable to squeeze the ball home from inside the box.
With five minutes to play in the half, Krsteski nearly had his second receiving the ball inside the box, however, a deflection on his shot took the sting out of it.
Two minutes later, a corner caught by Kaydin Harrison was distributed quickly up the field, finding Voloder face-to-face with Groom.
However, his strike was cleared off the line.
Coniston’s convincing display in the first half was nearly wiped away just before the break.
A defensive mix-up allowed Brendan Pattman to go one-on-one with Harrison, but the keeper managed to hang onto the ball as the winger tried to round him.
Irrespective of a late scare, Coniston headed into the halftime break leading 1-0.
It didn’t long in the second period for the side to double their advantage, with Tschentscher slamming an effort past Groom from the right-hand edge of the box only seconds in.
Coniston continued to probe, with Groom forced into a double-save in the 68th minute, denying both Voloder then Fujieda from very close range.
Three minutes later, Voloder’s ball driven across the box from the left found Tschentscher at the back post, who fired a shot goalwards which was batted away by Groom.
In one of the few ventures forwards for the home side, with a quarter-of-an-hour to play, the side was awarded a corner on the left.
The set-piece found the head of Tomohiro Ishii, whose effort was cleared off the line before the rebound was rammed into Harrison by Haines-Grose.
Coniston went on to record a comfortable 2-0 victory over Woonona.
After Coniston dropped points against South Coast United last weekend, this was a significant win for the side.
It pushes them into second place for now although Wollongong United do have a game in hand in third.
This result compounds the Sharks’ troubling form this season now without a win for eight matches.
In the time since the round-seven win against Albion Park, the side has accumulated the same amount of points as South Coast United.
Woonona Sharks 0
Coniston FC 2 (Anthony Krsteski 11’, Matthew Tschentscher 46’)
Woonona Sharks: 21. GROOM Brandon, 23. HAINES-GROSE Corey, 4. REGAN WILLIAMS Taro, 35. ISHII Tomohiro, 6. TOOHEY Luke, 7. GREW Damien, 9. FRENCH Jesse, 22. BESGROVE Cameron, 10. PATTMAN Brendan, 33. GAUDIOSI Robbie, 11. WEBSTER Jake
Substitutes: 32. DELLA VEDOVA Jordyn, 12. LOZENKOVSKI Jordon (WEBSTER), 3. LENDRUM Sammy (GAUDIOSI), 15. ASHTON Max (FRENCH)
Coniston FC: 1. HARRISON Kaydin, 2. MATTHEWS Samuel, 3. KAYANO Takayuki, 5. PERLOWSKI Dylan, 7. FUJIEDA Tomohito, 8. O’NEILL Connor, 9. TSCHENTSCHER Matthew, 19. VOLODER Adam, 18. KRSTESKI Anthony, 33. SACCO Gian, 34. D’ALMEIDA Ekoue
Substitutes: 12. ZUFIC David, 17. ZUFIC Jason (SACCO), 32. MENDES Michael (FUJIEDA), 47. BRADFORD Ash (TSCHENTSCHER)
Date: 26 June 2021
Venue: Ocean Park
Referee: Brodie Merchant
Assistant Referees: Stuart Derbridge and Lachlan Davidson
Report by Timothy Gibson
File photo