It's been a long time between drinks, but South Coast United notched up their first Premier League win in nearly 14 months on Saturday night with a 2-1 victory over Corrimal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
SCU were reduced to 10 men within 15 minutes when Luka Kraljevic was sent off, however, a second-half double to Marco Pennisi set up the victory at Ian McLennan Park.
It was United's first league victory since May 2021, when the side defeated Cringila 2-1, and a crucial result in the context of their 2022 campaign. The win helps SCU move off the foot of the ladder, leapfrogging the Rosellas, who were thumped 8-0 by Bulli on Saturday afternoon.
"I'm really happy for everyone, particularly the players. Given it was a difficult game, we were down to 10 men early, so to get a result in such difficult circumstances is a really good feeling," SCU coach Greg Valic said.
"Luka being sent off put us in a difficult situation almost immediately and, given our position on the table, you could almost forgive the players for thinking 'it's happening again, it's going to be another tough night'. But the mentality and attitude was fantastic. They worked so hard and everyone had a part to play. It really was a great result.
"After we were down a man, we kept it to 0-0 at halftime, which I needed to tell the players what I wanted. We were able to regroup and I explained to the boys that we were going to take risks when the time comes, but for now we needed to defend. We brought some players off the bench with about half an hour to go, and we scored two goals. From there, I thought we were good enough to see it out. We conceded one goal late to make us a bit nervous, but we were good enough on the night.
"Marco Pennisi scored both of our goals. He came off the bench and had a real impact at the time we needed him to, so I'm really happy for him too. I really shouldn't single out players for a team performance, but for him to come off the bench and score two when we really needed it, it was a really good performance."
Valic said it was a crucial result for SCU, in terms of both their campaign and lifting his players' morale.
"Hopefully the players now believe what I've always known, which is that we're a good team, but unfortunately some results haven't gone our way. It's also important for the club to start getting these positive results," he said.
"So all-round it's positive, and it feels good to finally get a result. Like I've mentioned previously, hopefully this is a catalyst for us to go on a run and continue to pick up results from now until season's end."
To read more stories, download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Sign up for breaking news emails below.
Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
