Late goals for Daniel Swinton and Keegan Beringer sealed victory for Kiama Quarriers on Saturday afternoon, the three points taking Kiama into the coveted fifth place in the WGC Cranes District League ladder as most of their rivals for Finals spots were washed out this weekend.

The Falcons fought hard and twice pegged the home side back, Brenton Lloyd equalising James Donlan’s early goal in the first half, and Josh de Gouveia cancelling out Donlan’s second with five minutes remaining. But the two late strikes downed the Falcons and the visitors were left to rue missed opportunities of their own, including a first half penalty which should have sent them in at the break with a 2-1 lead.

Speaking after the game, Quarriers coach James Spence said he was pleased with his side’s overall effort, but singled out his ‘quality attacking players’ for leading the fight and taking their chances well: “At the start of the season, we set ourselves a target of a top five finish, and we haven’t really been outclassed by any side in the league. We just need to keep our noses in front now we’ve reached fifth.”

With all other District League games scheduled for Saturday falling victim to the weather, today’s game provided a chance for both these teams to gain some lost ground over rivals who were sitting the weekend out. A draw wouldn’t have suited either team, but until the final goal flurry at the finish, it was looking the most likely result for much of this match.

Kiama started the brighter with a Beringer run forcing Ben Wunsch out of his box to keep the Quarriers’ top scorer at bay and the Falcons keeper almost getting lobbed by Donlan in the process.

It didn’t take long for the home side to take the lead, though. The game was less than ten minutes old when Donlan picked the ball up on the byline, and instead of laying it off for others to have a crack, he spotted the narrowest of gaps at the near post and forced the ball into the back of the net from a very tight angle.

Kiama might have doubled their lead in the 20^th minute, when Donlan flicked the ball onto Beringer, who ran wide to find the best angle for a shot, but then fired across the face of the goal and wide of the upright.

The Falcons were barely in the contest early on. But in the 25^th minute, they began to show some promise. Sam Bosowiec burst through on the left and pulled the ball back, looking for Christian Cappetta in front of goal, but Kane Rowe got back in time to clear.

Just a minute later, the visitors found their way through. It was a defence-splitting pass from Oak Flats captain Jamie Stevenson, which landed perfectly for Lloyd just inside the box. The Falcons striker still had work to do, though, and he finished the move off with a perfect strike to bring the scores level after 26 minutes.

When Lloyd was tripped inside the area just before half time, Oak Flats must have been thinking they could inch ahead before the break, but Dylan McDonald got down superbly to keep Jason Murdzevski’s spot kick out.

1-1  was probably a fair score from a lively but balanced first half.

The home side again came out the stronger for the second stanza, forcing a series of corners straight after the restart, but without any real threat to the Falcons’ goal.

Again, once the visitors had settled, they too began to press for a second goal, but for the first twenty minutes of the second half, neither keeper had much to do.

Chris Christodoulou was starting to find his range from the right for the Quarriers, feeding dangerous balls into the area. Swinton came close from 12 yards out, though he saw his half volley take a deflection and fly wide for yet another Kiama corner. And in a carbon copy move minutes later, Christodoulou again found Swinton on the penalty spot and again the shot was off target.

With fifteen minutes remaining, the game suddenly opened up with attacks at either end as both sides went in search of a winner.

First Cappetta put de Gouveia through for the Falcons, but Daniel Sigmund dashed back to make a brave tackle from behind to deny the Falcons striker a shot.

And then, with eight minutes remaining, the Quarriers regained the lead.

Beringer and Swinton saw efforts blocked from inside the area, but the ball flew free straight to Donlan waiting by the far post who had the simplest of tap-ins for his second goal of the afternoon.

Seconds later, Swinton almost finished it off for the home side, but Wunsch pulled off a marvellous fingertip save to keep the score at 2-1.

In the 85^th minute, Lorri Mandredi was brought down right on the edge of the area. There were appeals for a penalty, but de Gouveia had no need for a spot kick, curling his free kick away from the wall and into the back of the net out of McDonald’s reach, to set up a grandstand finish.

Just two minutes later, the home side again took the lead. This time, it was Aaron Buzinki who charged down a clearance and set up Swinton inside the area. The Kiama forward made space for himself and dispatched the goal of the game with a superb right foot shot that gave Wunsch no chance.

And still there was time for more drama, when Christodoulou sent in another corner from the right and after a bit of pin ball inside the box, the ball came free to Beringer, who prodded home for his tenth goal of the season, ensuring it was Kiama who came away with the three points.

Kiama Quarriers FC – 4 (Donlan 8’, 82’, Swinton 87’, Beringer 90’)

Oak Flats Falcons – 2 (Lloyd 26’, de Gouveia 85’)

Saturday 9 July 2016

Kiama Sporting Complex

Referee: John Ruscica

Assistant Referees: J. Higgins, J. Spain

Kiama Quarriers FC: Dylan McDonald, Daniel Sigmund, Dean Land, Chris Hill, Kane Rowe, Todd Wade, Chris Christodoulou (Jye Marks 90’), Aaron Buzinki, James Donlan, Keegan Beringer, Daniel Swinton, (subs not used Tom Cunliffe, Colin Studman, Phil Bitterlin)

Oak Flats: Ben Wunsch, Andrew Sloss, Mathew Cesta (David Kiss 79’), Stephen Jovanovski, Jason Murdzevski (Brenton Burke 86’), Jamie Stevenson, Christian Cappetta, Sam Bosowiec, Josh de Gouveia, Brenton Lloyd, Lorri Mandredi (subs not used Chris Jarman, Daniele Pisani, Brady Eagleton)

 

 

Report by Simon Duffin

Photo: Pedro Garcia (library archive)