Coniston FC and Cringila played out an enthralling 3-3 draw in Round 16 of the Illawarra Premier League. Cringila taking a 3-0 lead before Coniston stormed home.
There were early signs there were goals in this one when as early as the second minute, Ben Zucco tried an audacious shot from a free kick 40-yards out that nearly caught Luke Genua off his line.
Cringila got off to a flying start after just six minutes when Michael Mendez played Peter Simonoski in behind and the league top scorer made no mistake with his first opportunity as he tucked it past Genua.
The Lions were dominating the early stages with several half chances wasted with stray shooting.
On 13 minutes, Coniston were again undone by a ball over the top. Tyson Black’s shot was collected comfortably by Nik Ristevski who quickly launched a ball long. Simonoski latched onto it and volleyed it into the net with aplomb judging the bounce perfectly. It was a wonderful finish and in the blink of an eye, Cringila were two goals to the good.
Coniston started to get themselves back into the game midway through the first half. They were probing both flanks however they failed to have any real threatening moments.
On the half hour mark, Riki Koyanagi rounded the defender and thundered a shot to the near post however Genua was equal to it smothering his effort.
Just a few minutes later, Koyanagi put in a delightful chip over the top and found Tyler Fuller flying through. His volleyed effort when across goal. Simonoski chased it down and still managed to get a shot away that forced Genua into a save.
Cringila’s forward pressure forced a turnover in midfield with Zucco playing to Fuller. He had some work to do to beat a defender before slicing the defence with a deft pass that found Anthony Krstevski inside the box. He placed the ball into the corner with the outside of his foot to put Cringila 3-0 up and firmly in control.
Zucco whipped in a corner just before half time that had Coniston scrambling. The ball fell to Simonoski ten yards out however he uncharacteristically skied his shot well over the bar.
Just moments before the break, Harrison Anagnostopoulos managed to create a yard of space and deliver a pin point cross to the far post. Adam Voloder headed into the cross bar from just a few metres out. Cringila failed to clear the danger and James Anagnostopoulos side footed a shot from the edge of the box that found the bottom corner and gave the home side some hope heading into the break.
Just two minutes after the break, a swift counter saw Simonoski play through Mendez however he blasted over from a good position wasting a good opportunity.
Just before the hour, a neat free kick from Zucco found Krstevski but he was unable to get his header on target from a good position.
Just a minute later and almost out of nothing, Black who started 35 metres out cut inside and burst through the Cringila midfield, he played the ball into Voloder who returned the pass and Black managed to chip the ball beyond Ristevski to all of a sudden reduce the deficit to just one.
On 64 minutes, James Anagnostopoulos intercepted a pass in midfield, laid it off to Harrison Anagnostopoulos who had Ristevski beat with the square pass. Just as Voloder was surely going to tap in for the equaliser, Ekoue D’almeida nipping in to clear to safety.
Coniston were all of a sudden clearly in top as the game ebbed and flowed with momentum.
A wonderful cross from Harrison Anagnostopoulos found Voloder just metres from goal and he wasted the opportunity by heading over.
On 70 minutes, James Anagnostopoulos chipped over the Cringila defence and Christopher Arditti slid the ball past Ristevski to square the ball game.
Just moments later, Jonah Kalmanidis had a header off a corner tipped over the bar as the chances kept coming.
On 77 minutes, Jordan Prentoski found Krstevski on the edge the box, his first touch put his in open space however he was unable to pass Genua who got a strong hand to his shot to the far post.
On 86 minutes, Temma Nomura had a chance as the ball was floated into the box. He failed to make good connection with his volley from just ten yards out.
Moments later, he had another chance when Arditti chipped one to the far post however his flying volley when high and wide.
In injury time, Prentoski let rip a shot from 25 yards that was a little to hot to handle by Genua however Coniston just managed to clear the ball ahead of the lurking Simonoski.
In what was an open and end to end game, the final chance fell to Harrison Anagnostopoulos who shot straight at Ristevski from the edge of the box.
Both teams probably will look back at this match and wonder how they failed to take the three points however on the balance of chances and momentum, this was perhaps a fair result.
The two sides ironically meet again in a deferred fixture in two weeks.
Report by Bobby Mazevski
Photo courtesy of Robert Peet (Illawarra Mercury)
