High drama in top football clash

Feature match of the weekends Illawarra Football Association matches was undoubtedly the clash between Albion Park White Eagles and Port Kembla at Terry Reserve.

As is with the case with most weekends these days, there seems to be a game that provides some high drama and this game had more than its fair share.

At the centre of the drama for the second time in three weeks, was the Port Kembla goal keeper Kurt Van Arkkels. Van Arkkels was controversially sent off against Tarrawanna two weeks ago and suffered the same fate on Saturday.

The goalkeeper was cautioned in the 36th minute for bringing down APWE striker, Chris Smith and then saved the subsequent penalty. Only 60 seconds later he received a second caution for kicking the ball away and was sent from the field of play by Referee Dusan Rudic. Not long after this, White Eagles took the lead through Chris Smith for a halftime score of 1-0 to the home side.

Smith doubled the lead early in the second half and from this moment on there was no coming back for Port Kembla. Late goals from Jordan Lando and Adam Johnson compounded the scoreline of 4-0 and in stoppage time APWE goalkeeper, Mitchell Blowes got in on the action when he too saved a penalty kick.

Fernhill continued their assault on the Premier League and climbed to the top of the table with a convincing win against Warilla Wanderers although the scoreline was only 3-0. Matthew Keep, leading goal scorer in First Division last season is starting to find his scoring touch in the higher league, and netted twice with Ben Price also getting on the score sheet.

Dandaloo had to work hard for the 3 points against Wollongong United and despite having a number of great opportunities to score during the course of the game, they had to wait until the 94th minute before they scored the winner. Christian Cevenini was the hero for the Dandaloo, with his late, late goal, which came after Dandaloo’s Chris Jackson had equalised in the 55th minute.

Wollongong United had given stubborn resistance and had actually gone into the half time break 1-0 to the good, with a goal from Dane Treneski.

Bulli suffered a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Cringila Lions and finished the game with 9 men after Chris Lansdown and Kane Maccabei had been sent from the field. All the damage was done in the first half, with ex Bulli player Alan Lo Proto grabbing a brace.

Dapto and Coniston Lions had to settle for a share of the points in a 1-1 draw at Dapto Showground. Geoff Howarth gave the home side the lead on 75 minutes, but Pece Sobevski ensured the Lions got a share of the points with an 85th minute equaliser.

In the Sunday game South Coast United were too strong for Picton Rangers in scoring a 2-0 victory.