It was the final day of the Youth Cup as the Cringila Lions took on Port Kembla. Both sides were undefeated in the last four of their respective league encounters and the last time the two sides played each other in the Illawarra Premier League U23 competition the game ended in a 1 all draw.

The match started in typical grand final style with both sides were looking to assert their dominance. Port Kembla were a little shaky early on with their passing. This was due to the incredibly effective high pressing style from Cringila. The forward line suffocated the Port Kembla spine and prevented anything through the defensive lines.

Cringila were rewarded for their determination early on and the first chance of the game was the opening goal just ten minutes into the contest. A dangerous left-footed corner whipped in from Cringila winger Aidan Gallo caused havoc for Port Kembla. Forward Nicholas High broke free of his marker and managed to get his head to the ball first. The ball found the back of the net and Cringila had the perfect start.

Port Kembla eventually found their feet and were able to play out from the back much better. Antonio Musumeci dropped deeper to help out central defenders Kyle Senior and Bailey Fleming and they were able to counter the Cringila press.

Port Kembla’s first chance of the game came from a corner. Captain Joshua Crapis delivered a corner that was headed down by winger Adam Bassuni. The ball fell to Jacob Cordina as he put his shot into the side netting. It was a positive set play from Port Kembla and they were slowly getting back into the contest.

The final chance of the half fell to Port Kembla on the 43^rd minute. It was Crapis pulling the strings once more as he crossed in a ball from the left flank. The ball seemed to be falling to the onrushing Nobuaki Mochizuki from right-back, but he was just out of reach from finishing the ball off into the net.

Into the second half we went and Port Kembla had their equalizer. On the 49^th minute, Crapis received the ball in a dangerous area high up the pitch. With relatively little pressure, he struck the ball with his weak left foot into the top left corner.

With that goal, Port Kembla felt as though they could nab a second and they almost did. Cringila switched off from a free kick on half way as Fleming put in a pass along the ground to Bassuni, where he turned his defender and unleashed a curling strike into the top corner. Only a magnificent save from Cringila stopper Zak Bedelovski prevented a wonder goal.

In the 69^th minute, Cringila had a golden chance to take the lead back, this time off a counter attack. High laid the ball across the Port Kembla penalty area to substitute Robert Liberante who had the task of putting the ball into the net. Port Kembla left-back Cordina came to the rescue however and blocked the shot that was most certainly goal bound.

83 minutes into the contest, jubilation surrounded Port Kembla as they had their goal that put them ahead in the contest. An attacking play with pace allowed winger Jayden Salucci to lay the ball off to substitute Sandy Lowcock. From here, Lowcock held the ball up and found himself just enough space in the box to put his left-footed shot into the bottom right hand corner. It was a finish that succeeded with mass celebrations from his teammates.

Despite constant pressure from Cringila up until the final whistle, Lowcock’s goal was the last real chance of the game, and Port Kembla were then confirmed as the 2018 Youth Cup Champions.

After a high pressure match both sides now must turn their attention to the U23’s competition where both sides have ambitions to be at playing at WIN Stadium come September.

Cringila’s next match is a derby against Wollongong United this Saturday. This match has large implications for both sides in terms of finals positioning. United need the win to catch up to Port Kembla and Corrimal Rangers (who are in third and fourth position respectively), whilst Cringila need the three points to put pressure on the first places Bulli, who are four points ahead of the Lions.

Port Kembla face the toughest of tests this Saturday as they come up against the potential League Champions in waiting, Bulli. Port are very much capable of an upset in this fixture, and will feel that they can beat any opposition after this cup victory.

 

 

Sunday 28 July 2018 @ Wetherall Park

Cringila Lions – 1 (HIGH 10’)

Port Kembla – 2 (CRAPIS 49’, LOWCOCK 83’)

 

Cringila Lions – Zak BEDELOVSKI, Lee HANSEN, Jake BAILEY, Jonah KALMANIDIS, Andre DIAS, Elisseo CHIODI, Ryan AKHURST, Emmanuel KAMARA, Nicholas HIGH, Jordan PRENTOSKI, Aidan GALLO

Subs – Robert LIBERANTE (on for KAMARA), James GLIGUROSKI (on for PRENTOSKI), Kyah JOVANOVSKI, Casey GRAHAM, Kyle BOOTH, Michael GIRALDI

Coach – Jorge DE MATOS

 

 

Port Kembla – Daniel FARINA, Nobuaki MOCHIZUKI, Kyle SENIOR, Bailey FLEMING, Jacob CORDINA, Antonio MUSUMECI, Jayden SALUCCI, Daniel CARRENO, Alexei ROSSER, Joshua CRAPIS, Adam BASSUNI

Subs – Sandy LOWCOCK (on for CARRENO), Addison GILLESPIE, Brooklan FRKOVIC (on for ROSSER), Jack HAMILTON, Bradley JARDINE

Coach – Scott REGENT

 

 

Referee – Liam WEBB

Assistant Referees – Damien DONELLY, Tristan JAMES

Fourth Official – Brodie MERCHANT

 

Report by Jordan Warren, on Twitter @jwarren0817

Photop Courtesy of Pedro Garcia