Woonona picked up their third win in seven days with a 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Picton. Goals for wingers Valentine Merxhushi and Joel Thomas secured the three points for Dan McGoldrick’s side while the Rangers struggled to create clear-cut chances on their home patch.

 

Both sides managed a couple of shots from distance in the opening quarter of an hour but the first big chances came through Trent Worthington in the 16th minute. The Woonona number 10 managed to muscle his way into the box but he scuffed his resulting shot wide to the right.

 

Woonona wouldn’t rue the miss for too long with the Sharks hitting the lead four minutes later. Merxhushi got on the end of Worthington pass before touching the ball around an onrushing Lauchlan O’Bree before finishing into an empty net. Woonona came close to doubling their lead within 90 seconds of the restart when Brendan Pattman went through on goal but O’Bree was able to produce a brave one on one block.

 

Picton would have their best chance of the opening half in the 36th minute with Ben Roberts jinking in from the right and curling an effort just over the bar from the edge of the area. The sides would go into the break with Woonona leading by a goal to nil.

 

The Sharks enjoyed a perfect start to the second half in doubling their advantage in the 51st minute. Worthington floated a ball over the Picton defence for Thomas to run on to, the teenager drove into the left of the box before knocking his shot across the goalkeeper and into the bottom right corner.

 

Worthington kept himself in the action and he worked a couple of half chances in the 56th and 64th minute. The first saw him hit the base of the right post from the 18-yard line while the second was a bustling run into the right of the box before his shot fade outside the near post.

 

Picton never really seemed like grabbing a goal back while Woonona continued to play a relatively enterprising brand of football. In the final ten minutes of the match, Khalid Alali and Kyle Del both had efforts on goal but O’Bree was able to deny the Sharks their third. Frustrations boiled over in the final minute of the match with Jarred Morley seeing red after picking up his second booking for a cynical foul on Kallin James. Woonona held on to their two-nil lead during the three minutes of injury time to secure a well-deserved win.

 

Despite the victory, Woonona remain in 10th though they now have a three-point buffer over Picton and a six-point advantage over bottom-placed South Coast United. Dan McGoldrick’s side returns to Ocean Park next weekend to play the Tarrawanna Blueys. As for the Rangers, their next match is away to 3rd placed Wollongong Olympic.

Saturday 19 May 2018 @ Hume Oval

 

Picton Rangers - 0

 

Woonona Sharks - 2 (MERXHUSHI 20’, THOMAS 51’)

 

Picton Rangers - Lauchlan O’BREE, Will MCLEOD, Scott MIRANDA, Michael HEYHORN, Brenden BERKELEY, Dayne MORLEY, Jarred MORLEY, Nathan MACGRAW, Ben ROBERTS, Alex MOJSOSKI, Connor DYMOND

 

Subs - Liam STORKEY, Lacuhlan NEWMAN, Daniel NELSON, Sebastian MYERS

 

Coach - Brett MORLEY

 

Woonona Sharks - Jacob MADDEN, Cameron BESGROVE, Kallin JAMES, Chris GIBSON, Khalid ALALI, Rocco DOMINE, Brendan PATTMAN, Kwang KIM, Joel THOMAS, Trent WORTHINGTON, Valentino MERXHUSHI

 

Subs - Jarryd MORTIMER, Thomas MINDZAS, Kyle DEL, Daniel DJUKIC

 

Coach - Dan MCGOLDRICK

 

Referee - Greg REID

 

Report and photo by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela