Cringila and Albion Park have played out an entertaining one-all draw at Crehan Park overnight, in round 11 of the Illawarra Premier League.
Both sides haven’t tasted too much football action in 2022 with the Lions picking up four points from two games and the White Eagles winning their only game against Tarrawanna.
The visitors came out of the gates firing when a Mitch Cooper header forced a diving save out of Lions shot-stopper Nikola Ristevski inside 60 seconds.
They then took the lead in the fourth minute when Julian Minutillo headered home following an accurate cross by Kotaro Katsuta.
Cringila took some time to get into the match but soon had momentum going forward and in the 23rd minute Michael Mendes’ shot curled narrowly wide on the counter.
Then, two minutes later, Jake Levy should have found the back of the net when the ball popped up for him in the box, but a stray foot from White Eagles goalkeeper Mohamed Krishban kept it out.
There was no further action in the opening 45 as the visitors went into the break a goal up.
The end-to-end play continued into the second stanza and shots from distance by Cooper and Adrian Viggiani flew beyond the goal.
In the 64th minute, Cringila nabbed their equaliser. It was Mendes dancing his way through several defenders up the right wing that saw him curl an effort towards the far post. After the save by Krishban, the rebound fell kindly to Anthony Krstevski who tapped it into an empty net.
Next it was Albion Parks turn to attack. Viggiani’s long range attempt saw Ristevski parry the ball in front of him. The loose ball attracted several Cringila defenders but it was Cooper getting to it first, only to see his shot blast over the bar.
In the 76th minute, a corner threated the home-sides goal when Munitillo leaped the highest, but a miraculous reflex stop from Ristevski kept the scores level.
Ben Zucco had one last chance for the Lions in the dying stages, almost curling his corner directly into the net, something he had done just a few weeks prior. Although, a well-placed Sam Munroe at the back post cleared it away.
The game ended 1-1, with both sides sharing the points, an accurate representation of how the match played out for Cringila and Albion Park.
Both sides are on the road next weekend when Cringila travel to Coniston and Albion Park play Bellambi at Elizabeth Park.
Cringila: 1 (Anthony Krstevski 64’)
Albion Park: 1 (Julian Munitillo 4’)
Cringila: 1. RISTEVSKI Nikola, 2. CARLI James, 3. DIAS Andre, 5. RALSTON James, 7. MENDES Michael, 8. MATIAS Keegan, 16. ZUCCO Ben, 17. KRSTEVSKI Anthony, 21. LEVY Jake, 22. KALMANIDIS Jonah, 28. SAKASHITA Mitsuru.
Substitutes: 4. CARBO Christian (KRSTEVSKI), 10. URGRINOVSKI Steven, 18. HIGH Nick (SAKASHITA), 20. TOLNAY Kurtis, 24. AKHURST Ryan.
Albion Park: 31. KRISHBAN Mohamed, 2. MARTIN Jacob, 4. SUZAKI Kohei, 5. VIGGIANI Adrian, 7. MORGAN Cameron, 8. MUNITILLO Julian, 10. MUNROE Sam, 11. KATSUTA Kotaro, 13. NATHANIEL Chris, 16. COOPER Mitch, 21. FORDHAM Brendan.
Substitutes: 3. SAVERINO Dean, 6. KAMBISIOS Ethan (VIGGIANI), 9. LEIGHTON Jake (MARTIN), 12. SEADON Riley (COOPER), 27. NARONHA Ryan.
Date: 6 May 2022
Venue: Crehan Park
Referee: Greg Reid
Assistant Referee: Bobby Mazevski & Hayden Michlmayr
Report by Nathan Turner, on Twitter @nathanturner23_
Photos courtesy of Graham Brown
