Shoalhaven’s fairy tale cup run fell agonisingly short after they were beaten 2-1 in extra time by Coniston FC.
We got off to a dramatic start when Coniston took the lead inside 90 seconds. A corner from the right was only partially cleared by Shoalhaven. Josiah Lewis-Dunkley was lurking on the edge of the box. He slid the ball through a crowd of players past Josh Janszan to give the Premier League outfit the perfect start.
Just a minute later, Harry Connell nearly capitalised on a Coniston error. Having forced a turnover, Connell chipped Coniston goalkeeper Joshua Higginson however the breeze appeared to just take the ball offline enough for it to swing across goal.
Shoalhaven were looking dangerous and just seconds later, Tyler Cooper managed to create a yard of space just on the edge of the box. His left foot crack forcing Oliveira into a save.
On 13 minutes, Coniston’s Ty Emerton made a darting run on the left before cutting inside the byline. His effort from a narrow angle brushing against the cross bar.
After a frantic start, the game settled down somewhat and chances were a little less frequent.
Midway through the first half, Payton Skurtevski managed to elude a defender and thunder a shot from just outside the box however, it was safely gathered by Janszen.
Shoalhaven continued to take it to their Premier League rivals with Thomas Van Oploo presented a strong chance on 40 minutes from just ten yards out however, he toe poked it wide.
Both teams come out of the break a little cold as neither team was able to muster up any earlier opportunities.
In fact, the only real chance in the opening 30 minutes of the second half fell to Chisholm Brown. Some neat lead up play from Skurtevski saw his lay the ball through to Brown who took his opportunity first time with Janszen blocking his shot.
The game started to open in the last 15 minutes as Shoalhaven threw caution to the wind. They were nearly rewarded when Cameron Luton tried an ambitious lob that nearly caught Higginson napping.
Venturing in the last ten minutes, Brown zigzagged through several defenders before managing to get a shot away however he found Janszan in good form as he smothered his effort.
With time virtually up, Shoalhaven launched one last attack. Cooper drove into the box from the wing, and he was clipped and brought down. The referee pointed to the spot. Up stepped Connell, dispatching the penalty ever so well to give Shoalhaven a lifeline.
The game forced into extra time.
Coniston’s Emerton penetrated the Shoalhaven defence as he squared to Aleksandar Dulevski who blasted over from 10 yards.
Coniston got the breakthrough albeit rather fortunate just seconds before the extra time half time break. Dulevski’s shot from a tight angle appeared to clip a defender as it lobbed over and beyond Janszens and into the net.
With just the second half of extra time to save the final, Shoalhaven had it all to do again.
Cooper having his free kick saved and in the dying minutes, Cooper’s first time effort from outside the box went wide.
It wasn’t to be for Shoalhaven as Coniston saw out the game and recorded their first Youth Cup win in the club’s history.
Player of the Final – Payton Skurtevski
Report by Bobby Mazevski
Photos courtesy of Graham Brown (@gragrapix)
