Less than two days after suffering a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Olympic, Cringila responded in comprehensive style on Sunday to secure a shock 3-1 win over Illawarra Premier League leaders Tarrawanna.

A Peter Simonoski strike in the 27^th minute helped the Lions take a 1-0 halftime lead at Tarrawanna Oval, before Keegan Matias doubled their advantage just a minute into the second stanza.

The Blueys then cut the deficit to one goal when Zac Mazevski scored in the 66^th minute, however, any chance of the hosts snaring a late point was snuffed out when Michael Mendes found the back of the net in stoppage time.

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Despite the loss, Tarrawanna remain on top of the IPL ladder, but have Wollongong United, Bulli and Olympic breathing down their necks. Conversely, it was Cringila's fourth win of 2022 and keeps them in contention for a top five finish.

"We were taught a lesson by Olympic, who were just on another level. The boys needed a reaction, and for them to pull something out of the hat today was a very pleasing result, and a pleasing performance. The boys played very well," Lions coach Icko Atanasoski said. "I didn't give them a rocket, because the scoreline was enough of a rocket, so I didn't have to say too much. The boys just knew that Olympic were a lot sharper, they'd played a few games since we'd played our last game against Woonona over a month ago.

"Coming into today, the boys weren't too disheartened, they were more eager to put on a good showing. And it was an indicator of what we're capable of. We controlled possession a lot better today than we had done previously. We probably should have done a little bit better with our chances, but we scored when we needed to score. Overall, there was a hunger to do better and show that Friday night was a flash in the pan, and we can compete against the better teams."

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It was another weekend of regular Premier League round games decimated by rain, with only two round 23 matches going ahead. However, three catch-up contests were given the green light.

Bellambi cemented their position at the foot of the IPL table after falling 5-1 to Coniston, while fellow battlers South Coast United and Woonona were also defeated, losing 5-0 and 2-0 to Bulli and the White Eagles respectively.

Weather permitting, another round 23 game is set to go ahead on Tuesday night, with Albion Park set to host Bulli.

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