Match of the Round
Corrimal Rangers FC-1, Warilla Wanderers FC-3 @Memorial Park
Corrimal almost got a surprise result against Warilla, who made a comeback in the second half.
In the 10th minute, Warilla struck an attempt to put themselves in the lead as Farshad Valadkhani arrived on the edge of the box.
He decided to try his luck with a finesse shot, but it rattled the crossbar.
In the 22nd minute, Dylan Di Cesare took on the Corrimal fullback and zipped past him with his step overs and pace.
The winger then crossed the ball to find a player, but it was thumped clear in the 22nd minute.
Four minutes later, Corrimal turned the game on its head with a ball from midfield through the two centre-backs.
Scott Weston reached for the chance with an acrobatic volley into the right side of the net, catching the keeper off guard.
Warilla had a lot of ground to cover coming into the second half, as they were a goal down away from home, and poor weather conditions were against them.
The Wanderers turned their luck around in the 59th minute, however, with a free kick by Stewart Robertson.
The midfielder curled the dead ball in, and all the players in the box were unable to clear it as it hit the net at the far post.
Both teams are now levelled just before the hour mark.
Valadkhani swung a deadly cross from the flank in the 65th minute.
The keeper got a hand to it and stopped the ball in its path; however, it went into the space of Jack Murray, who smashed the ball in the net before the keeper could properly get hold of it.
2-1 to the away side.
Andrew Wierenga turned a long-distance free kick into a golden chance as the winger struck the ball with ferocity.
It almost snuck past the keeper at the far post, but the keeper was able to make a big save to keep it out of harm’s way.
In the 83rd minute, Warilla closed off the scoring to make it 3-1 in their favour.
A ball from out wide found Valadkhani at the back post, who tapped a first-time volley to the wrong side of the keeper, where it went through the bottom right bin.
Corrimal has yet another fixture against a large opposition with league leaders, Shellharbour.
The Rangers travel away for this against-all-odds tie.
Warilla take on Figtree at home, where an expected win is on the Wanderers’ agenda.
Bellambi Rosellas FC-1, Woonona Sharks FC-8 @Elizabeth Park
Bellambi was demolished at home by 8 goals at the hands of the Sharks.
Woonona got up in front in the 10th minute by Tom Brown to make it 1-0.
The Rosellas bounce back in the 23rd minute as Christian Baade-Mortimer levelled the scoring with his strike.
Brown comes back again with a goal for himself to double his tally and also the lead in the 33rd minute.
Ian Hollis put the third in with his finish in the 45th minute to increase the deficit before the half-time whistle.
Brown opened the second half with his third goal of the game, a completed hat-trick in the 56th minute.
Six minutes later, Ryley Jans extended the lead to 5 goals to the good just over the hour mark.
In the 67th minute, Emerson Peardon made his mark after his substitution to make it 6-1 to the Sharks.
Peardon again fired his effort in the opposition net to make it a double in the 77th minute.
In the 83rd minute, the riot came to a close as Peardon finished the game off with a second-half hat-trick from the bench.
Bellambi will need the three points against Highlands in the next game if they want to get back into the top six, but they have a disadvantage with a long trip away from home.
Woonona have a tie away against Coledale, a win would be vital in rocketing the Sharks up into a potential third-place position.
Figtree FC-0, Albion Park FC-7 @Harry Graham Park
Boden Allport fired on all cylinders with a double in under 20 minutes for Albion Park, with goals in the 9th and 16th minutes.
Conor Edenden follows up his teammate with his own brace in the span of seven minutes as he fired his goals in the 22nd and 29th minutes, respectively.
In the second half, the goals by Albion Park don’t dry up as Allport added another goal to his account to make it a hat-trick on the hour mark of the game.
Reece Mcintosh was able to put his name on the score sheet in the 65th minute to make it 6-0 to Albion Park.
Matthew Cignarella sank another for his side. His converted chance concludes the score in the 80th minute.
Figtree versus Warilla in the next round away from home.
As for Albion Park, they walk into the next round with a bye but have a challenging tie to look forward to ahead with an away game against Woonona just afterwards.
Highlands FC-2, Shellharbour City FC-3 @David Wood Oval
All action and drama in a thrilling tie with first-place, Shellharbour had to take it down to the wire to attain a victory.
Shellharbour set the mood for the game with an early goal in the 11th minute by Edvard Grujevski, the forward struck first blood for his team.
Grujevski was opportunistic again and put another goal to his name to make it 2-0 for City in the 42nd minute.
With the backs against the wall coming into the second half, Highlands pulled a goal back with Braden Egan with a late goal in the 80th minute.
Egan wasn’t finished with his earlier finish as he drew a blow against Shellharbour with an equalising goal in the 87th minute.
The late comeback party was quickly nullified in the added time by James Sekuloski in the 91st minute to crush the hopes of his opposition.
Sekuloski sealed the game with his decisive winner at the death.
Highlands will need to move on from the tragic defeat and look to obtain points at home against Bellambi.
The Victors, Shellharbour, host a favourable game against Corrimal, who sit at the bottom of the ladder.
All games are must-win for City as Warilla are on their heels with one point below them in second place.
By Thomas Panayiotou
