Shell Cove made a winning start to the Illawarra Premier League season with a 2-1 victory over South Coast United, but Shell Cove did it the hard way, spending over an hour playing with ten men, after goalscorer Daniel Vellonio got his marching orders in the 29th minute.

Gadir Maarbani opened the scoring for Shell Cove in the 19th minute, with Vellonio getting the home sides second less than a minute before he received his second yellow card. As Shell Cove tired in the second half, it was one-way traffic and South Coast pulled a goal back with Jun Lee’s spot kick in the 79th minute. But the visitors could not find a way through a well-organised Shell Cove defence and the home team held on for the three points.

The match was played at a high tempo from the word go.
With barely two minutes on the clock, it was the visitors who had the first chance of the game, when Dinko Terzic - back in the United line-up after long term injury - drove the ball into the area from the right. Jun Lee was about to pounce, but veteran Ljupco Naumovski got his big frame in the way to stop the ball in its tracks before it could reach the United striker.

In the sixth minute, there was drama at the other end when the lively Vellonio was bundled over when racing forward into the area. Kurdvan Abduljabbar stepped up to take the spot kick but Jason Bleakley in the United goal was good enough to keep the ball out and Vellonio couldn’t quite get a touch on the follow through.

Shell Cove were pushing the ball around sweetly at this stage, with new boys Abduljabbar, Jordan Hassiem and Shohei Arakawa teaming up well before the Japanese midfielder sent a swerving shot just wide of the upright. Arakawa almost set up Maarbani in the 15th minute when he threaded a neat ball through the United defence into the path of Maarbani, but Bleakley just got a touch on the shot to push it wide.

With confidence growing, Vellonio tried a cheeky chip from the edge of the area but his effort flew just over the bar.

Shell Cove didn’t have to wait long to reap the rewards for their pressure, though. Hassiem fed the ball through to Abduljabbar, who could have shot from inside the area, but chose to lay the ball off to Maarbani, who made no mistake with his shot as United defenders looked in vain for an offside flag.

In the 24th minute, Vellonio gave the ball away inside his own half and in trying to make amends actually made matters worse by a clumsy challenge just outside the area, which earned him his first yellow card. The free kick came to nothing and within a few minutes he had really made amends by being in the right spot by the far post to fire home for Shell Cove’s second after good work from Arakawa.

But adrenalin got the better of the Shell Cove youngster, who went in for another clumsy challenge just a minute later, meaning a second yellow card and his teammates having to survive for over an hour with only ten men.

At first the dismissal seemed to do little to stem the Shell Cove tide. But as the first half drew to a close, South Coast began to create chances in front of goal. Their problem was finishing them, with Robbie Brown and Terzic in particular missing opportunities their side could ill afford.

Shell Cove went in 2-0 up at half time, but the big question was whether they would have the fitness to survive the second stanza with a man down.

It was certainly backs-to-the-wall for Shell Cove for most of the half, but somehow they held on.

Terzic, Jun Lee, Yuki Kiyohara and even Lee Gilroy up from the back four all had attempts on goal, but all were either off target or blocked by a determined Shell Cove back four. On the hour mark, Giovanni Leuzzi must have thought he had set up a certain goal with a perfect chip into the path of Terzic, but somehow Rodrigues got down low to prevent the shot.

After a poor first half, Robbie Brown was looking livelier for United, first seeing his header saved at the far post and then looking on in despair as his dangerous cross from the right found nobody in the area for that vital last touch.

Right back Aden Wade created chances as he too moved forward for United. First he set up Jun Lee, but again Rodrigues got down to smother another shot, and then Wade and Leuzzi linked up to create another chance for Jun Lee, who would have been disappointed not to make Rodrigues work harder for the stop.

With fifteen minutes left, Shell Cove had a chance to wrap the game up. Nathan Macgraw sent a long ball forward for Hassiem, who cut inside onto his left foot, but then fired the ball wide.

When a lively looking Liam Unicomb – on as substitute – was tumbled over in the area in the 79th minute, Jun Lee stepped up to dispatch the penalty and give United hope.

With legs tiring among the home side, it looked very likely that United could snatch a late equaliser. Unicomb swung a shot just wide of the upright, then paired up with the fresh legs of Kolan Hemda to almost create another chance seconds later, though both found the angle just too tight and their shots flew across the face of the goal.

Each time United surged forward, there was always a Rodrigues fist to clear the ball or a Naumovski block or a Goran Nikolovski head to keep the ball out. The visitors simply ran out of time, and Shell Cove held on for a deserved victory.

Shell Cove coach Paul Carter was very happy with his side’s performance: “The first 20 minutes were outstanding for us, and then obviously we lost a player and we had to work. But we showed we had the resilience to hold on, and I think we deserved it.”
“We’re taking each week as it comes, and next up is a big one, with the Champions Wollongong United. We want to just do as well as we can.”

South Coast coach Steve Honey said: “We shot ourselves in the foot in the first half. We made some mistakes at the back and they capitalised on them. We came back well in the second half and had enough chances to win the game twice over, but they defended well and we just couldn’t do it.”


Shell Cove – 2 (Maarbani 19’, Vellonio 28’)
South Coast United – 1 (Jun Lee, pen 79’)

Saturday 26 March 2016
Barrack Heights Sportsfield

Referee: Bobby Mazevski
Assistant Referees: Ben Kemp, Aden Crawley

Shell Cove: Rodriguez, Nikolovski, Macgraw, Wright, Obata, Naumovski, Arakawa, Hassiem (Waterman 90’),Maarbani (Rossi 46’), Abduljabbar (Vanderburg 71’), Vellonio

South Coast United: Bleakley, Gilroy (Hemda 84’), Wade, Brown, Nimac, Terzic (Unicomb 66’), Carrasco, Jun Lee, Leuzzi (Skara 75’), Stojic, Kiyohara (subs not used: Valic, Lazarevski)

Report by Simon Duffin
Photo by Pedro Garcia