Corrimal Rangers and South Coast United shared the points in a tight Round 9 fixture at Memorial Park on Sunday. Mate Nimac gave the visitors the lead just past the hour mark but Save Treneski quickly squared things up three minutes later. Chances were few and far between in a match dominated by defences, though Alex Baird between the Corrimal sticks kept his side in it with a penalty save and a reflex block from close range, while United player coach Greg Valic twice cleared off his line to keep his team level.

Valic was frustrated when he spoke after the match: “That’s four games in a row now where we had the lead and then failed to get maximum points. It’s important to stop heads dropping in those circumstances.” On the match overall he said: “I thought we were good for the first half hour, but their early substitution changed the energy for Corrimal, and in the second half it was end-to-end and could have gone either way.”

Corrimal coach Gavin O’Brien acknowledged it had been a tight game but was pleased with his side’s creativity in the second half. Only a few weeks into his role as coach – and admitting he didn’t feel able to match Valic in continuing to play at the same time as coaching – he said: “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind few weeks at the club. Morale is always low after you lose a coach so my main aim is to pick that morale up and get belief back in the squad. We know we have the ability as we showed in the pre-season cup, and the second half today gave us some positive pointers for the future.”

The game was just ten minutes old when Baird made his first save of the afternoon, acting on reflex to block Moto Kinjo’s effort from twelve yards out. The first half hour saw few other real chances, though. United had more of the ball and were pushing it about nicely in the middle of the park, but rarely posing a serious threat in front of goal.

At the other end, Corrimal’s dynamic duo from their District League days just ran into the brick wall formed by Nimac alongside Chris & Greg Valic. It wasn’t until the 36^th minute that one of those marksmen, Treneski, finally lost his marker and made space for a shot, which was not far off.

That lifted the Rangers, though, and moments later they had the ball in the back of the net, courtesy of a Mark Picciolini lob, but the linesman had already flagged for offside.

As half time approached, the home side almost grabbed the lead. Substitute Oliver Carrasco won a free kick 30 yards out. United gloveman David Valic could only punch Paul Guido’s effort straight back to the Corrimal midfielder who sent a volley goalwards. But Greg Valic was there to clear off his own line and keep the scores even at the break.

For five whole minutes after the restart the home side pressed but still couldn’t find a way round the Nimac/Valic mountain. In the 50^th minute United broke at speed, with Ricky Bertakis picking out Tommy Skara, who forced a back-pedalling Baird into a fingertip save. Then it was David Valic’s turn to keep his side in it as he reacted quickly to palm away a Mark Picciolini volley.

Suddenly the action was end-to-end with chances aplenty. A Nathan Belsito volley was blocked by Chris Valic, before Bertakis came close to finishing off a slick move down the left for United.

In the 62^nd minute the deadlock was finally broken. Greg Valic fired a bullet through a crowded area and for once Baird spilled, with Nimac waiting at the far post to stab the ball home for the opener.

The lead didn’t last long and by the 65^th minute it was 1-1. A superb ball from Magill picked out Treneski who was able to slot home from inside the box.

And there was more drama two minutes later when United won a penalty for handball inside the area. Bertakis stepped up to take, but Baird guessed right and got down to gather the ball just inside the post.

After that flurry of chances and open play, the defences tightened up and hatches were duly battened down again. Only in time added on did the home side almost grab the three points, when first Magill saw his flick graze the woodwork before being cleared, and then it was Greg Valic who cleared off his own line again with the last kick of the match to keep the scores even.

Looking ahead to United’s next fixtures, Valic acknowledged his side had tough games to come (against Wollongong Olympic and Kemblawarra Fury), but taking the positives out of this game, he said: “We are improving every week and I believe we can get some sort of result against any team we play.”

For Corrimal, Round 10 will see them travel to ladder leaders Bulli. O’Brien acknowledged Bulli are in outstanding form, but he hopes they are “due for a loss, and we’re certainly due for a win.”

Corrimal Rangers FC – 1 (Treneski 65’)

South Coast United FC – 1 (Nimac 62’)

Assists: Corrimal: Magill; South Coast: Greg Valic                     

Sunday 21 May 2017

Memorial Park, Corrimal

Referee: Nathan Wotton

Assistant Referees: Brodie Merchant, Emajen Crawley

Corrimal Rangers: Alex Baird, Tyren Maclou, Tim Wylie, Dominic Magill, Nathan Belsito, Paul Guido, James Carli, Christian Plakias, Mark Picciolini (Chris Stevanovski 89’), Luke Picciolini (Oliver Carrasco 33’), Save Treneski (subs not used: James Walker, Branislav Radmanovic, Jason Bleakley)

South Coast United: David Valic, Chris Valic, Greg Valic, Steve Dimitrievski, Mate Nimac, Jason Pappas, Josh Brookes (Denis Stojic 65’), Tommy Skara, Ricky Bertakis, Shinji Shoju, Moto Kinjo (subs not used: Abdul Lawal, Ivan Bratjanscak, Yu Takahashi, Cameron Camilleri)

Report by Simon Duffin