Shellharbour FC completed a sensational turnaround, coming from three goals down to defeat Corrimal Rangers 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Park.
The hosts burst into a two-goal lead courtesy of Tory Musumeci and Shunjiro Shibuya before Shellharbour’s Woon Sub Sim was sent off just ahead of the break. Liam Mavridis added a third for Corrimal after halftime, and the Rangers look set for a Rout.
However, a quickfire doubled from Jayden Branovski and Matthew Floro soon after the hour mark gave Shellharbour a chance of a comeback. This was compounded by Mason Mavridis’ red card for Corrimal levelling the personnel heading into the final 15 minutes.
Taylor McDonald restored parity two minutes after the red card, and then Branovski notched his second to complete a remarkable turnaround for the visitors.
The Rangers created a chance five minutes in through Ryan Emerton, whose long-range shot rolled past the left post.
Shellharbour came into the game five minutes later with a good spell, seeking the opening goal. Zachary Mazevski fired a first-time effort over the bar and seconds later, the forward’s squared right-sided ball found Sub Sim in the middle, but his shot was cleared off the line.
Three minutes later, Tommy Markovski received a right-sided corner at the back post, attempting a bouncing volley that Corrimal goalkeeper Blake Coad tipped over.
Despite the away side’s recent positive football, they went behind midway through the half. Tory Musumeci turned well on the edge of the box and sent a looping, deflected striker into the top left corner.
Corrimal added a second in the 38th minute. Shunjiro Shibuya was slipped into the right of the box and turned well, allowing him to fire an accurate effort into the bottom left corner.
It got better for the Rangers a minute before halftime when Sub Sim saw red for his second yellow card of the match.
The home side almost made it three in first-half stoppage time; Elvir Catovic forced Cristofer Fuentes into a superb save from a left-sided free-kick otherwise destined for the top left corner.
Regardless, Corrimal walked into the sheds at halftime in a commanding position, two goals up with a player advantage.
Corrimal scored their third goal 11 minutes after the break. Liam Mavridis found space in the left of the box and slotted the ball past Fuentes.
The Rangers continued to pursue more goals, and just after the hour mark, Cody Wehmeyer mazed into the right of the box and curled his shot onto the left post.
Shellharbour were given a glimmer of hope in the 65th minute when Jayden Branovski reacted fastest in the box to side home what looked to be a mere consolation.
Two minutes later, though, the side grabbed a second through Matthew Floro, who made the most of a fortunate rebound against Coad to convert into an empty net.
Shellharbour’s comeback was given further hope when Mason Mavridis was sent off for Corrimal. This made it a level playing field as the visitors attempted to restore parity.
That equaliser came in the 77th minute through former Wollongong Wolves star Taylor McDonald who directed a bullet header from a right-sided corner past Coad.
And only two minutes after that, Shellharbour went in front. Jayden Branovski raced in on goal from halfway and kept his composure to slip it into the goal.
The points were safe for Rod Williams’ side, yet. With seven regular minutes to play, fullback Nathan Cario saw his effort from the right cleared away from the goal line.
In the end, Shellharbour held onto their lead and secured an incredible comeback in their second game back in the Illawarra Premier League.
The side could make it three wins in a row next Saturday when they host Cringila Lions, while Corrimal will hope to pick themselves up against Wollongong Olympic at the same time.
Report by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_
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