The top two sides in the Illawarra Premier League Youth Grade were only split by four points at the end of the regular season, but there was a gulf in class on grand final day with Cringila downing Wollongong United 3-0.
The Lions’ afternoon to remember began just three minutes into the match when Jackson Nolan scored.
The defender was allowed the space in the box to control Roman Kalmanidis’ free kick before slotting the ball past United goalkeeper Tion Tolevski.
Striker Yoan Ciugureanu had a solid chance to double the Lions’ lead five minutes later, but Tolevski was able to tip the shot wide.
United had a couple of decent opportunities in the middle of the first period through Alex De Santis and Oliver Robinson.
The second was the better of the two with Sebastian Stanojevic delivering a tantalising cross which Robinson was unable to head on target.
In the closing stages of the first half, Cringila doubled their lead after an error from their rivals.
United defender Lewis Kaminski played a loose pass across the back which was intercepted by
Isaac Kostovski composed himself before slotting the ball past the goalkeeper.
Wollongong United looked like they could work themselves back into the contest with a spell of possession yielding two chances in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
The first saw Brock Cummins latch onto a half volley which blasted into Cringila goalkeeper Ben Manevski.
A few minutes later Stanojevic latched onto a ball over the top, but the no.42 could not direct his effort on target.
Cringila thought they had their third in the 75th minute when Noah Crapis forced a mistake from Tolevski only for the Lions player to be ruled offside.
However, Cringila eventually had their third through Christian Vujic who powered a shot past the goalkeeper in the 82nd minute.
United forward Adam Vrtkovski turned the ball in with a few minutes remaining, however, the goal was ruled out for offside which put an end to any chance of a comeback.
Report by Dylan Arvela
Photos courtesy of Graham Brown
