Woonona recorded their third win in four matches with a grinding one-nil win over bottom of the table South Coast United. A tidy Trent Worthington finish 13 minutes into the match was enough for the Sharks to claim all three points on a gloomy afternoon at Dandaloo Sports Ground.

The home side had the better of the chances in the opening 10 minutes of the match. In the 5th minute, Ivan Bratjanscak’s cross found Callum Russell but his shot went straight to Jacob Madden and three minutes later Ikumi Saito’s free kick from near the corner flag was flicked over the goal by Oliver Carrasco.

South Coast would rue the missed chances moments later when Worthington put the Sharks in front in the 13th minute. Thomas Mindzas picked out Worthington on the edge of the six-yard box and the Sharks’ stalwart was able to knock his finish across Jason Bleakley and into the back of the net.

The remainder of the half was a fairly even in terms of play, however, United were a constant threat from Saito’s dead ball delivery. In the 28th minute, Saito delivered a free kick from deep which was spilt by Madden before he managed to smother the loose ball and six minutes later a set piece in a similar position picked out Mate Nimac who couldn’t guide his header on target.

On the cusp of half-time, Saito would instigate another chance but this time from open play. The makeshift centre-back curled a ball over for Greg Valic who made a smart run in behind the Woonona backline but the United skipper wasn’t able to get a toe on the ball to knock it past the onrushing Madden. This would leave Woonona holding on to their one-goal advantage as they went into the break.

While the first period of play wasn’t a masterpiece, it seemed as if it were when compared with the second with neither side able to craft any genuine opportunities. South Coast had a half chance a couple of minutes into the half through Bratjanscak but his strike was easily saved by Madden and in the 70th minute Josh Brookes tried to lob the goalkeeper but his effort faded well to the left.

The lack of chances was by no means down to lack of effort with both sides thumping into each other for most of the second half. In total, six yellow cards were brandished as tempers flared but ultimately no more goals were scored with Woonona winning by a goal to nil.

The victory moves Woonona six points clear of the bottom two sides. Coach Dan McGoldrick concurred that “scrappy” was an accurate description of the match stating, “When you have two sides fighting it out near the bottom of the table it’s always going to be a tough affair.” This match was also the fourth clean sheet the side has kept in a row and McGoldrick believes that was the key to this result, “I thought we defended really well and limited their best opportunities to set plays, having said that, we didn’t create a lot so [Worthington] getting that goal early in the piece was vital.” The Sharks return to Ocean Park next weekend to host 2nd placed Wollongong Olympic which kicks starts a month-long run where they face each of the top three sides.

As for United, the defeat leaves them at the foot of the table, three points behind Picton. In Round 12, South Coast travel to Wetherall Park to take on Port Kembla who beat them 2-0 on the opening weekend of the season.

 

Sunday 3 June 2018 @ Dandaloo Sports Ground

 

South Coast United - 0

 

Woonona Sharks - 1 (WORTHINGTON 13’)

 

South Coast United - Jason BLEAKLEY, Chris VALIC, Greg VALIC, Callum RUSSELL, Mate NIMAC, Josh BROOKES, Yuya KOTAKI, Ivan BRATJANSCAK, Oliver CARRASCO, Ikumi SAITO, Denis STOJIC

 

Subs - Dylan MENA (on for NIMAC), Anton BATUR, Ryan BEATTIE, Brody MURRELL (on for RUSSELL), Nick ARMAND

 

Coach - Greg VALIC

 

Woonona Sharks - Jacob MADDEN, Cameron BESGROVE, Dylan NIKOLOVSKI, Chris GIBSON, Khalid ALALI, Dejan DJUKIC, Brendan PATTMAN, Kwang KIM, Joel THOMAS, Trent WORTHINGTON, Thomas MINDZAS

 

Subs - Jarryd MORTIMER (on for THOMAS), Kallin JAMES, Daniel DJUKIC, Kyle DEL, Yanni MAVRIKIS

 

Coach - Dan MCGOLDRICK

 

Referee - Greg REID

 

Assistant Referees - Gareth JENKINS, Mick AGIM

 

Report and photo by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela