Kariong 2 – 1 Umina
Our match of the round took place on a sun-drenched Kariong Oval, as the locals sitting in seventh place hosted Umina in fourth in men’s division one action.
These two sides first clashed recently on July 3, and in that fixture, Kariong pulled off the upset victory 2-0.
In fact, Kariong came into this game having won four of their last five matches and are arguably one of the most in-form teams in the competition. But so are Umina, who boasted an identical record over their last five as they climbed the hill into enemy territory.
All this is to say that on paper, this looked like it was going to be a great game, and that’s exactly what we got: a competitive, fast-paced, and physical game that saw the home team win by the thinnest of margins.
From the kick-off, Umina went on the front foot, looking to show what they could do and get revenge for their loss earlier in the month; as such, they quickly settled into some beautiful football.
First, Henri Dehe down the right wing for Umina skipped past Kariong’s Toby Mielekampbefore putting in a cross that got to the feet of his striker Brandon Williams, who could only manage to put the shot wide right across the goal, not troubling Alex Muscat in the gloves for the Cougars but still showcasing how easily they could get shots off.
They didn’t stop there either, with another chance falling Williams’ way only moments later when he was played through the line by Aaron Walters; this time, coming into the box from the left, he managed to draw a strong save from Muscat to his near post but nothing more.
This onslaught continued for most of the half, and it looked like the visitors would dominate the game, with Kariong unable to find an answer.
However, every few minutes, the Eagles would slip up; the tenacious Kariong defence would then absorb the pressure and instantly send it back as a counterattack.
It was a simple plan on their part that often rested on getting the ball to James Draper in their midfield and having him play a rapid long ball to any of their front three. While it wasn’t initially creating too many high-quality chances, there were signs that Umina couldn’t quite keep up with how quickly the Cougars were managing to transition.
The clearest sign came when they earned a freekick just outside of the box after one of their counters, and the shot, taken by Kariong’s Ryan Richards, took some saving by Oscar Oconnell in the Umina net. It didn’t go in, but Kariong sent their own warning: take the counter seriously or suffer conceding.
This didn’t dissuade Umina, though. They kept up their relentless attacking pressure while keeping their defensive live high around halfway, which led to some more wonderful interplay between them.
One such moment was so good it almost deserved to be the opening goal. It came when Walters in the middle found Dehe on the right, who cut the ball back to Mason Oldfield looming around the edge of the box. From there, Oldfield played what looked to be a perfect ball into Dylan Pardey just on the 6-yard box, but when he attempted to turn his defender, Muscat just barely managed to smother the ball and keep it 0-0.
Umina was playing so fluidly that it was almost remarkable they hadn’t found a way to take the lead; the only thing more surprising was what happened next.
As another Eagles assault went forward, Kariong managed to get back and shut it down again, so the ball was recycled out to Nicholas Johnson in the holding midfield slot for Umina to switch up the play and try a new approach.
With the Cougars’ line deep and no clear path forward, Johnson attempted a ball over the top of their line, only for it to be instantly met by them. The ball ultimately fell to the feet of Draper, with no one around him halfway into his half.
From there, anyone at the game who blinked may have missed what followed. In an instant, Draper flung the ball forward in the air towards his striker Jayden Baillie. The pass was perfect, landing straight in Baillie’s path and beyond a scrambling Umina line. Eagles raced from everywhere to get to him, but none managed it, and just around the edge of the box, Baillie unleashed a rocket into the top of the net to make it 1-0 from absolutely nothing.
You couldn’t blame Umina if they were stunned after this happened, but to their credit, they weren’t. They continued to stick to their plan and push forward into the half’s closing stages, and eventually, it would pay dividends.
Walters, who was everywhere for Umina, especially in this first half, finally found himself behind the Kariong line. As the Cougars scrambled, he put in a low and slow shot across his body. Muscat got a hand to it, but not enough, as the ball rolled into the net to make it 1-1, setting the stage for an exciting second half.
When it commenced, I expected more of the same, but early on, it became apparent that Kariong wouldn’t allow Umina to dictate terms nearly as much as they did in the opening half.
Instead, the game became much more back-and-forth, and one Kariong player, their player/coach, Marcus Warwick, was at the forefront of all the action.
The first chance of the second period fell Warick’s way down the left flank for Kariong when he managed to drive it into the box, but the shot flew over the bar.
Umina followed that up with a chance of their own when Ollie Jones down their left got the ball into the box onto the head of a wide-open Dehe, but he couldn’t put the header on target, keeping things deadlocked.
At this point, it felt like the game would need a moment of brilliance to end the stalemate, and once such a moment did come from the ever-running legs of Kariong’s coach.
After successfully defending once again, Kariong cleared the ball long down their left sideline. Sprinting, as he did all game, he brought it to the feet of Warwick. Umina’s Jay De Courcy arrived to contest the ball, and after Warwick kicked it around him, it seemed like the ball would go out for a goal kick.
But Warwick didn’t give up on the play, he raced the ball all the way to the line, where he miraculously kept it in with a whipped cross to the feet of Nathan Lovegrove, who laid it off quickly to Baillie who put in another perfect shot from the edge of the box, this time along the ground to the bottom left corner to make it 2-1with another spectacular goal.
Here is where Kariong sat back again, and while they had a handful more chances, the rest of their game relied heavily on the work of their centre back’s David Smith and Mark Johnstone, who both had excellent games that shone all the brighter in the final 20 minutes of the game.
Umina, on the other hand, became increasingly desperate, throwing everyone forward to find an equaliser, and they came so close so many times.
Dehe produced more solid work down the right for Umina that resulted in a shot cannoning off the far post, and when it did, it almost felt like nothing would go the Eagle’s way, but there was one final twist in the tale.
By this stage, Warwick had received a yellow card. Despite this, he was still fighting for every ball and doing everything he could to frustrate Umina and keep his side in possession.
While continuing to do this, Warwick put in an aggressive slide tackle on Johnson, which, had he gotten the ball, would have only further frustrated Umina. However, he didn’t. He took the man down and was sent off with a second yellow card.
Now down a player and their leader at that, Kariong had to find a way to hold off a Umina side refusing to give up in the face of a rapidly declining clock.
It looked like the game was all tied when Muscat fumbled the ball from a corner, allowing it to end up at Oldfield’s feet, who struck it straight into the crossbar, remarkably leaving the game at 2-1 with almost no time left.
While Umina did continue to try, they wouldn’t get a chance that good again, and on the back of some terrific defending and a smart game plan, Kariong emerged victorious over Umina again, 2-1.
Talking to Warwick after the game, he noted how well his side was beginning to play and the fight they showed to hold on and win.
“Umina are solid, and we don’t take that lightly” Warwick began.
“We beat them last week as well, so we’ve got two wins against Umina this year, and I don’t think many other teams are going to get that from them
“The biggest thing about us is that we will battle for each other, we fight until the end, and we did that today.”
While Umina coach Cameron Stone saw respected his side’s efforts as he saw signs of fatigue set in as the fixtures pile up in this part of the season.
“We played ok in patches but struggled to find our groove and play our own style of football on that field. We also lacked a bit of quality in our final third” Stone said.
“Happy with the boy’s efforts, they kept fighting until the end, but the signs of fatigue could be seen setting in after playing our fourth game in 12 days which was seen across both grades”.
Match Official – Jasper White
Written by Mark Goodyear
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