After road trips to Wagga Wagga and Auburn over the previous seven days, South Coast Flame returned to Crehan Park to take on fourth-placed Prospect United. The side managed to produce perhaps their best defensive showing of the season but an unfortunate own goal late in the piece saw the First Grade side go down 1-0.

Flame had the first jab of the match after 10 minutes through Martin Thompson whose effort from distance was easily saved by Mario Farias. Shortly after Caleb Grace had a crack from distance which blazed over the bar.

With 27 minutes played, Prospect had their first big chance of the match with a defensive misread allowing Josh Roffaell to get through on goal. However, Matt White was up to the task and pulled off a solid save by pushing the ball out for a corner.

South Coast had the last two opportunities of the first half. The first came through Matt Mazevski playing Bojan Caric down the right of the box, the striker cut the ball back across the mouth of the goal for a Julio Mushaba who couldn’t get a toe on the ball. Three minutes from the interval Mazevski made a 20 metre run down the centre of the park before firing from the edge of the box but Farias made a smart save low to his right.

The home side looked to assert themselves early on in the second half with two good chances in the opening 10 minutes. In the 48th minute, Mazevski cut the ball back for Mushaba who took a touch in the six-yard box before being shut down, the ball went back to Cameron Hanson but his shot flew over the bar. In the 54th minute, Caric stormed into the left of the box before smacking the ball towards the inside of the far post but the strike took a deflection and went out for a corner.

Prospect’s Nicholas Valjak had two good chances either side of the hour mark. In the 58th minute, he dribbled into the left of the area but he hit his shot over the bar and three minutes later he had a first time effort from close range which missed the target.

In the 70th minute, a deep free-kick was knocked into the box for Efosa Amegor who headed the back goal bound but White managed to tip the shot over the bar. Amegor worked another opportunity two minutes later when he burst into the box before his strike produced another fine save from White.

In the 76th minute, United took the lead. Nathan Niski swung in a wicked cross from the right wing which evaded the primary target of Amegor before hitting Doug Woodiwiss who was desperately retreating towards his own goal causing the ball to tumble into the net,

The own goal deflated South Coast who struggled to spark a comeback in the final stages of the match with the full-time whistle sealing a 1-0 win for United.

After the match, coach Paul Robaard believed there were a number of positives to take out of the match, "This was our best 90-minute performance of the season and we perhaps deserved a lot more than what we got today." The defeat sees the side drop one spot into eighth with a tough trip to Gosford next weekend to take on Central Coast United who sit in second place.

The under 20s got back to winning ways with a 2-1 win. After a disappointing defeat to FC Gazy Auburn midweek, the under 20s raced out to a two-goal lead at the break with goals from Jayden Nikolovski and Johnny Vicoroski. Prospect managed to get one back in the second half through Kelvin Ofori-Amanfo but they couldn’t deny Flame the three points which moves the side up to third place.

As for the under 18s, they came close to putting together two wins on the spin, however, they ultimately went down in a high scoring affair. The side trailed 2-1 at halftime and while for periods in the second half they looked like mounting a comeback they ultimately went down 4-3. Joel Dowling netted a double while Ethan Lehn scored the other. Despite the defeat, the side remains in eighth place.

Hear the post-match interviews with First Grade coach Paul Robaard and under 20s coach Neil Mineeff on this week’s FSC Weekly.

 

Saturday 27 April 2018 @ Crehan Park

 

South Coast Flame - 0

 

Prospect United - 1 (WOODIWISS O/G 76’)

 

South Coast Flame lineup - Matt WHITE, Andrew BOVA, Bojan CARIC, Andrew CHRISTIE, Cameron HANSON, Matt MAZEVSKI, Julio MUSHABA, Caleb GRACE, Martin THOMPSON, Doug WOODIWISS, Wade WILTON

 

Subs - Colin HEAPY, Johnny VICOROSKI (on for MUSHABA), Kenny JAMES, Dion STERJOVSKI (on for CARIC)

 

Coach - Paul ROBAARD

 

Report and photo by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela