WOONONA SHARKS V CONISTON | IPL ROUND 6 | MATCH REPORT
Two first-half goals were enough for the Woonona Sharks to edge past Coniston, taking home a 2-1 victory at Ian McLennan Park on Saturday afternoon.
Coniston looked the stronger in the first 10 minutes of the match with their first chance coming after an outstanding run from Sam Matthews who released Ekoue D’Almeida with the fullback finding Tyson Black centrally, who knocked his shot wide.
Three minutes later, D’Almeida looked dangerous once more with a long-range shot at goal, but could not get past the hands of goalkeeper Brandon Groom.
A one-two combination between the Sharks captain Brendan Pattman and Hassan Abudareb in the centre of the park saw a potential attacking opportunity but could not get past the Coniston defence line.
Woonona would soon have a goal-scoring opportunity with Abudareb taking a strike at goal just inside the 18-yard box, before goalkeeper Harrison Matias made an exceptional save.
From there, Jesse French received the rebound ball and found the back of the net for what was immediately called an offside goal.
However, it wasn’t long until the Sharks came firing back with French displaying great skill taking on his defensive line and getting another shot at goal before another rebound ball fell into the feet of Robbie Gaudiosi who was able to find the back of the net in the 18th minute.
Coniston began to assert their dominance, creating several chances with just 15 minutes to go in the first half.
A terrific free-kick from captain Lukas Stergiou found the head of D’Almeida on the edge of the box, before heading the ball into the goal post and instantly cleared by the Sharks defence line.
Two minutes later, Adam Voloder took the line with pace, crossing a precise ball into Black who would soon take a high strike at goal.
With just three minutes to play, the Sharks doubled their lead through Luke Toohey who received a deflected ball off the referee, before taking a low shot at goal and into the back of the net.
Woonona went into the break with a 2-0 lead after an intense performance from both sides on the pitch.
Matthews was at the centre of the action once more in the 60th minute of the game with a clean through ball into Tobias Norval who attempted to round Groom but was unsuccessful.
Stergiou was eager to find Coniston’s first goal, as he would soon pick the ball up inside the left-hand channel of the box seeing his effort fly top corner before Groom put a stop to it.
Just minutes later, the Sharks responded with a smart play between Abudareb and Max Ashton who would later take a powerful shot at goal before young gun Matias showed nothing but absolute class with another phenomenal save.
In the 73rd minute, D’Almeida was once again involved in the play alongside Matthews who found space behind the defensive line, taking a shot at goal just inches away from the crossbar.
It wasn’t long until Woonona would concede their first goal of the match with an own goal by their very own defender Taro Regan Williams, setting the score at 2-1 in the 72nd minute.
With just four minutes to go, the Sharks looked to become threatening once more with a counterattack run from Abudareb before squaring the ball into the feet of substitute Jordan Lozenkovski who was denied a goal by Matias.
Woonona went on to secure a 2-1 win over Coniston FC at Ian McLennan Park.
The Sharks will travel to Crehan Park next Friday weather permitting for an evening fixture against the Cringila Lions while Coniston will host Port Kembla next Saturday afternoon.
Woonona Sharks 2 (Robbie Guadiosi 18′, Luke Toohey 42′)
Coniston FC 1 (Taro Regan Williams OG 72′)
Woonona Sharks: 1. GROOM Brandon, 4. REGAN WILLIAMS Taro, 5. BRESLIN Aidan, 6. TOOHEY Luke, 7. FRENCH Jesse, 10. PATTMAN Brendan, 12. ABUDAREB Hassan, 24. TAKAHASHI Shin, 25. ASHTON Max, 33. GAUDIOSI Robbie, 34. PAULL Luke
Substitutes: 2. WILTON Wade, 11. LOZENKOVSKI Jordan (FRENCH), 13. RICHMOND Thomas (GAUDIOSI), 22. TANAKA Junya (TAKAHASHI), 21. CHURCHWOOD Jack
Coniston FC: 20. MATIAS Harrison, 2. MATTHEWS Samuel, 3. KAYANO Takayuki, 4. BLACK Tyson, 5. LOE Daniel, 6. STERGIOU Lukas, 7. VOLODER Adam, 17. ZUFIC Jason, 19. NORVAL Tobias, 34. D’ALMEIDA Ekoue, 50. FLORO Matthew
Substitutes: 9. TSCHENTSCHER Matthew (VOLODER), 10. ELIA Van (BLACK), 11. MORLANDO Jake (FLORO), 12. ZUFIC David, 14. SACCO Gian
Date: 2 April 2022
Venue: Ian McLennan Park
Referee: Bobby Mazevski
Assistant Referees: Tim Gibson and Damien Dennelly
Report by Alison Dinh, on Twitter @alisondinh_
Photo by Pedro Garcia
