Neither Corrimal Rangers or Albion Park White Eagles could find the scoresheet in their Illawarra Mercury Premier League round 4 clash at Memorial Park, with both sides putting in a strong defensive effort to keep the scores level at 0-0.

Albion Park had not suffered defeat to the Rangers in 2017, winning both league matches and outscoring them ten goals to two, but it was the Rangers who started the brighter of the two sides, picking up the first shot on goal two minutes in when a good pass from Masahiko Morita to Takeru Okada allowed a smart ball to Timothy Wylie in the Albion Park box, but Wylie’s shot was dutifully saved by White Eagles keeper Christofer Fuentes Ramirez.

Neither side was willing to give up much ground in the opening moments after Corrimal’s early chance and it wasn’t until the 19^th minute that Corrimal got close to opening the scoring once again, when a loose ball floated into the box met the head of Albion Park’s Kane Wright, who redirected the ball back towards his own goal, just rolling wide of the post and denying Corrimal an opener.

Just four minutes later Albion Park would have their first real chance and the best chance of the match so far, when Shayne Ardle lined up to take a free-kick directly facing the Corrimal goal. Ardle’s thundering free-kick managed to beat Rangers gloveman Daniel Arcaba to the punch, but was denied by the left post, rocketing off the bar and giving Corrimal some breathing room.

Both sides would continue their attempts in attack, with Albion Park pushing their attacks through the middle and letting Kody Maude run onto any loose balls, and Corrimal spreading their attack out wide to Masahiko Morita and Takeru Okada, and it was Okada who helped line-up the best chance of the half in the 42^nd minute.

Okada was given the ball out on the right hand side of the field and with a smart piece of play, he threaded a ball to Matthew Galanti in the box, and Galanti fired a shot past White Eagles keeper Christofer Fuentes Ramirez, but before the ball could roll into the net it was cleared off the line with a fantastic sliding clearance from Jason Zufic, keeping the scores level.

Just two minutes later Albion Park would have a decent chance when a free-kick from Shayne Ardle would force Daniel Arcaba to rush out and make an athletic save to push the ball clear of an onrushing Albion Park offence, but unfortunately nothing would come of the pressure for the White Eagles and just sixty seconds later Corrimal found themselves with the last chance of the opening half, when some wonderful passing play on the right side of the field between the Rangers midfield allowed Takeru Okada to lay the ball off to Masahiko Morita on the opposite side of the park, but Morita’s final shot drifted wide of the post and send both teams into the sheds level at 0-0.

With both sides still seeking a goal, Albion Park was keen to get the second half off to a good start when Kody Maude found himself with the ball in the Corrimal box four minutes into the half, but his final touch went straight into the hands of Rangers shot-stopper Daniel Arcaba.

However, neither side was able to find themselves creating many shots up front, with both teams digging in to produce a strong defensive set-up, however Maude would come dangerously close to breaking the deadlock in the 66^th minute when he produced a very well-timed run onto a through ball to remain onside and put himself in a one-on-one situation with Arcaba. Maude won the battle with a clever chip over the keeper’s head, beating Arcaba but for the second time in the match, Albion Park again found themselves denied by the goal, Maude’s chip ricocheting off the crossbar and bouncing back into play, allowing Corrimal to scramble and clear the danger.

Corrimal would come the closest to scoring in the match in the 78^th minute when they were granted a free-kick on the left-hand side of the Albion Park box. From that position, Takeru Okada played a wonderfully place ball into the White Eagles box where it was met by an incoming Calum Fleming, who dutifully tapped the ball home to set the Corrimal Rangers fans off in jubilation. However, their joy was extremely short lived when the goal was not allowed due to Fleming being offside for Okada’s kick.

With both sides desperately trying to break through for a winner, Albion Park had the last chance of the match in the 86^th minute when a cross from Shayne Ardle found substitute Cody Wehmeyer, but a simple save from Corrimal keeper Daniel Arcaba ensured that neither side would take all three points, with the match ending in a 0-0 draw.

While not the ideal result for both sides, the draw sees Albion Park drop to fourth on the ladder, with the White Eagles being overtaken by a Fernhill side that picked up their third win in four matches against South Coast United on Sunday. However, Albion Park are just one of two sides still yet to lose in the league this season and they will be hoping their next clash against Picton Rangers at Terry Reserve will allow for that streak to continue for another week. For Corrimal, the draw sees them remaining in midtable with seven points to their name so far. The Rangers will travel to Dandaloo Sports Ground to face a South Coast United side that is yet to pick up a point this season, having lost all four of their opening fixtures.

Sunday 15 April 2018 at Memorial Park.

Corrimal Rangers – 0

Albion Park White Eagles – 0

Corrimal Rangers: Daniel ARCABA, Jason ZUFIC, Angelo HAJITTOFI, Josh GERSBACH, Calum FLEMING, Kyle KIRKLAND, Takeru OKADA, Karouna MICHEAL, Timothy WYLIE, Matthew GALANTI, Masahiko MORITA

Subs: Khushaba KHUSHABA (GALANTI 64’), Dean PENDER (WYLIE 71’), Carter MADDEN, Jamie WAKELING, David ZUFIC

Albion Park White Eagles: Cristofer FUENTES RAMIREZ, Blake MCGINN, Shannon FIELDING, Chris NATHANIEL, Kane WRIGHT, Luke DEBROT, Kody MAUDE, Robert DELBANCO, Nathan RALPH, Shayne ARDLE, Chris GOMEZ

Subs: Sean KENNEDY, Cody WEHMEYER (DEBROT 61’), Rene VESCIO (GOMEZ 87’), Jesse CASEY, Jacob HUFTON

Referee – Andrew NAYLOR

Assistant Referees – Liam WEBB and Tristan JAMES

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Photo courtesy of Kiah Hufton