Cringila Lions came from behind to take three points at South Coast United on Sunday afternoon. Liam Unicomb’s third goal in as many weeks gave the home side hope in the first half, but the Lions roared back in the second half with goals from Christian Cevenini and Daniel Atkins.

The win takes Cringila up to a mid-table position, only three points off a top half spot. South Coast, meanwhile, have their work cut out to avoid being cast adrift at the foot of the table. Results this weekend have left them three points behind eleventh-placed Woonona.

Cringila looked the livelier in the opening exchanges, with Esali Ali and Mikal Awad working to create chances up front for Atkins and Cevenini. The Lions’ best opening early on came from the left side, though, when Joel Taddeo sent in a well-weighted cross, seeking out Atkins in front of goal. Cameron Curnow got back in the nick of time to make the clearance.

At the other end, South Coast were looking most dangerous from set-pieces, with Denis Stojic rising highest to get free headers from a couple of corners, but he was unable to hit the target.

The opening goal came in the 24^th minute when Jun Lee played a superb ball through midfield which split the Cringila defence and into the path of Unicomb, who moved swiftly in from the left. The United striker took the ball left to set up his shot and placed it neatly past Brynley Richards in the Cringila goal to give South Coast the lead.

The home side had chances to increase their lead before half time, Richards keeping out a Dinko Terzic shot at point blank range, and Robbie Brown setting up Unicomb on the edge of the area. This time, the ball was on Unicomb’s weaker right side and he fired the shot well over the bar.

As half time approached, the Lions were beginning to prowl. First Atkins sent a swerving shot goalwards, forcing Jason Bleakley to push the ball aside for a corner. And then just before the break, Awad and Cevenini linked up well to set up Atkins, with Mate Nimac this time getting a foot in to block the shot, with Bleakley out of position.

So South Coast went in at half time a goal to the good, but Cringila were showing signs of things to come.

And within minutes of the restart the visitors had equalised.

It was Awad again who set up the move, feeding Atkins, who flicked the ball on to Cevenini. The Lions’s striker, recently returned from injury, wasn’t going to miss an opportunity like this and steered the ball past a despairing Bleakley.

Now, with their tails up, the Lions went on the offensive. Cevenini sent in a ball from the right, looking for the unmarked Atkins at the far post, but this time Bleakley managed to cut out the cross before it could reach the Cringila target man.

Suddenly the South Coast defence looked vulnerable, giving away possession far too easily and struggling with their distribution when they did have the ball. It was a defensive error that led to the Cringila winner just past the hour mark.

A chested clearance set the ball up perfectly for Atkins who charged in, let it bounce once and then powered a left foot strike into the back of the net, giving Bleakley no chance.

Once South Coast had gone behind, they never looked like getting back into the game, and Bleakley was kept busy between the posts.

First he got down to another Cevenini effort and then he was at full stretch to tip a beautiful free kick from substitute Daniel Ramirez over the bar.

United coach Greg Valic rang the changes and tried various formations in an effort to equalise, but it was all to no avail.

Tension did mount as the 90^th minute approached and the home side forced their way forward in a final push. Substitute Ricky Bertakis almost set up Brown, but James Eldred got back to take the ball off Brown’s toes before he could get a shot in. And Oliver Carrasco’s header from the resulting corner was on target, but crashed against a sea of legs in front of the goal.

As the light faded over Ian McLellan Park, the referee blew for time, and yet another defeat for South Coast United.

Acting coach Valic was disappointed: “I thought we deserved our one goal lead at half time and I was very pleased with how we scored. It was a clinical goal and it’s what I want to see for 90 minutes from the boys. The trouble was we let them back into it two minutes into the second half and once they’d gone ahead we struggled to get back into it ourselves, whatever changes I tried.”

In the Cringila camp, spirits were high. In the absence of head coach Jason Higgs, youth grade coach Bobby Tupanceski was in charge of the team today. After the game, he said: “Credit to the boys today. They worked really hard and stuck to their guns. We defended well and it was good to have Cevenini back up front. He’s always going to be a danger.”

South Coast United – 1 (Unicomb 24’)

Cringila Lions – 2 (Cevenini 48’, Atkins 63’)

Sunday 8 May 2016

Ian McLellan Park

Referee: Blake Herbet

Assistant referees: Stuart Bell, Trae Arnold

South Coast United: Jason Bleakley, Aden Wade, Robbie Brown, Mate Nimac (Cameron Solevski 75’), Dinko Terzic (Tommy Skara 55’), Oliver Carrasco, Jun Lee (Ricky Bertakis 75’), Frank Pierro, Liam Unicomb, Denis Stojic, Cameron Curnow Kiyohara (subs not used: Yuki Kiyohara Chris Lazarevski)

Cringila Lions: Brynley Richards, Daniel Wagus, Jarryd King, James Eldred, Todd Sparks, Caius Don Daniel Ramirez 60’), Joel Taddeo, Esali Ali, Mikel Awad, Daniel Atkins (Hironori Kobayashi 86’), Christian Cevenini (Daniel Vasilevski 79’’) (subs not used: Daichi Murashita, Joel Tinker)

Report by Simon Duffin

Photo: Pedro Garcia (library archive)