An action packed first half of football left fans on the edge of the seat before a lacklustre second half sat them down again.
A quick attack from Coniston’s John Martinoski and Jayden Branovski almost saw the deadlock break within a minute. A through ball from Martinoski split the backline and fell to Branovski in the penalty area. Off the outside of his right foot, the ball was fired toward the bottom corner before being palmed away by Adam Rodriguez.
Port Kembla were quick to reply after a scramble in the area from a corner. The ball fell to Dane Corolla who struck the ball into the crowded space and, from the rebound shot, the ball at the near post forcing Jair Fernandez into action.
The game was back and forth, both sides could not string a decent chance together until the 21st minute. Gibraltar national James Coombes pulled an over the top through ball down and struck the ball on the half volley from a tight angle over the near post.
A few minutes later, Michael Mendes had a chance to put Port Kembla into the lead. He rolled the ball across the face of the goal with his left foot.
In the 37th minute, a Coniston corner taken by Coombes fell to the feet of Branovski who toed the ball into the right post.
In the 41st minute Coniston had another great chance through Temma Nomura. The ball was floated to the back post by Martinoski onto his head and the left post.
In the closing seconds of the half Port Kembla burst through in a counter attack. A controversial build up as Elijah Howe was taken down leaving Jason Perez unmarked in the penalty area as he placed the ball past Fernandez.
Coniston came out of the sheds and put Port Kembla on high alert levelling the game in just five minutes. Howe was unmarked at the back post as Martinoski found him from a deep set piece. He headed the ball into the ground, bouncing it into the back of the net.
A slow half with a lack of any solid chances picked up in the closing minutes of the game.
Martinoski charged forward on a counter attack before finding substitute Tobias Norval, playing a through ball. Norval ran forward and on the edge of the penalty area fired the ball across the face searching for the bottom left and three points.
The final minutes of the game saw both sides throwing everything they had at each other as they searched for a goal to win the match. Coniston kept possession trying to find a break while Port Kembla bombed the ball forward for the frontline to run onto.
An intense and great first half of football followed up with a poor second half lead to the match ending 1–1 as points were shared.
Report by Jack Naumovski
