Cringila Lions survived a late scare to edge past Port Kembla 3-2 on a cold Thursday night at Crehan Park.
Cringila went into the sheds with a three-goal lead as Sam Gulisano’s fantastic free-kick was added to by a Peter Simonoski brace. Port Kembla fought back in the second half with Ryan Chard and Nic Tomasiello making it an interesting finish.
The visitors had a great chance to open the scoring within five minutes. Ryan Chard raced in behind one-on-one with Nikola Ristevski, but the goalkeeper got enough on the ball before it was cleared.
Cringila took the ball down the other end soon after with a couple of nice passages of play, yet the scores remained locked level.
Port came close again, nine minutes in, through Michael Mendes. The winger weaved his way into a shooting position in the left of the box, before firing narrowly wide of the right post.
Port Kembla were finding plenty of space in the early stages as they worked the ball forward into wide areas regularly.
However, they fell behind in the 17th minute as a result of a superb free-kick. Cringila’s Gulisano unleashed a curling effort from a central position that nestled in the left side of the goal.
The Lions nearly doubled their advantage three minutes later. Jason Pappas’ right-sided cross dropped to Josh Correia, whose acrobatic effort was tipped behind by Adam Rodrigue.z
The side managed to score from the resulting set piece. The aftermath of the corner came to Simonoski in the right of the area, and sent a well-struck volley under Rodriguez.
Port’s defence continued to crumble as they went three behind in the 22nd minute. Simonoski, this time, steering a header that spun into the goal despite Rodriguez getting a hand to it initially.
Cringila got another shot off 28 minutes in when Gulisano lined up a volley from the edge of the box, but Rodriguez was equal to it.
Simonoski could have had his hat-trick with 10 regular minutes to play. The striker latched onto a ball lofted into the box, prodding narrowly wide of the right post.
Mendes proved Port’s most lively attacker in the first half as he created opportunities with his pace in behind. In the 38th minute, he sent an effort dipping just over the bar from the right edge of the box.
The hosts took their commanding lead into halftime.
The game got off to a chance-shy second half as neither team created anything of substance in the first 10 minutes before Cringila kicked into gear.
In the 56th minute, Ben Zucco’s left-sided cross met Simonoski’s head, the forward’s effort going straight to Rodriguez.
Four minutes later, Simonoski took aim again, this time with a right-sided volley that bounced just past the left post.
In the 62nd minute, the side struck the woodwork when Pappas headed Zucco’s cross from the right onto the crossbar.
Eight minutes later, Port turned the momentum in their favour as they pulled a goal back. Ryan Chard receiving the ball in the box, with Ristevski down, and picking out the right of the goal.
The visitors then added even further drama to the conclusion of the game as they scored their second goal in the 80th minute. Tomasiello’s header from a right-sided corner looping in.
The Lions nearly responded five minutes later when Simonoski’s cross found Danil Romanov, who headed over.
Port Kembla had a couple of promising moments in the closing stages, but they could not find an equaliser as Cringila earned victory in a tight match.
Report by Tim Gibson
