Simonoski steals the points in fiery IPL affair between Lions and Olympic

The Lions had the lead three times in the match, with Olympic fighting back through Jarvis Patterson, but in the end, Peter Simonoski scored the winner for Cringila to make it 3-2 at PCYC.

Sign up: To the new Illawarra Football Weekly newsletter

It was a fascinating contest in the sense that neither side gave an inch. Every pass, every tackle, and every decision mattered greatly across the 90 minutes in the round 10 match.

The Lions took the lead through Anthony Krsteski, before Olympic responded via Patterson. Cringila scored again to lead going into half-time thanks to a strike from Riki Koyanagi, before Patterson scored a double just after the break to make it 2-2.

Just when it looked like the game would be heading for a draw, the ever-present Simonoski scored and his team held on for a famous 3-2 win.

Cringila coach Jorge De Matos said his team showed great character to claim the points.

"It was a good game," De Matos said.

"I think we started off great and measured our way into the game. It's good, especially after the last league game against Tarrawanna. It was good to respond the way we did.

"Everyone's in the same boat [with the wet weather]. We haven't trained properly on a field for over two weeks now, some teams even longer. It's been very tough.

"So it's good to finally be back on the park and kick on from here."

The Cringila coach said the team were looking to replicate the successes of 2023, where the team made the grand final.

"It states our intent moving forward," he said.

"We're here to replicate what we did last year and obviously go one further. It's great to pick up three vital points against such a big team like Olympic.

"[Fight] is exactly what we were missing against Tarrawanna, and that was a key point for us moving into this game. And the boys showed it today.

"We went equal twice and found a way to go forward again. So credit to the boys and the fight they showed. It was a whole team performance."

Before Olympic could even get settled, Cringila had taken advantage.

A corner for the Lions didn't amount to much, but the resulting throw-in was launched into the box, and Olympic's defence couldn't deal with the ball and Cringila winger Krsteski capitalized to make it 1-0 after just five minutes.

In truth the winger could have had a double shortly after, blazing over via a set piece as Olympic failed to manage defending the dead ball early.

After managing to get their foot on the ball a bit more, Olympic managed to equalise through some great work from Jarvis Paterson, but relinquished the deadlock just moments later.

It was a neat bit of play that saw Olympic draw level, but again the set piece was their undoing, with Koyanagi capitalising from a knockdown in the box to score and make it 2-1, which is how the score remained going into half time.

Olympic came out of the blocks firing, and had enough chances to score a second. Their best came from a long distance shot from Harry Callahan from distance, which hit the crossbar.

And soon after, Patterson found himself in behind the Lions defence and put the ball away calmly to make it 2-2. The game was on.

Just when it looked like Cringila had nothing more to give, their talisman Simonoski stepped up to win it for his side. In the end, the game remained 3-2 although it wasn't without its scares for the Lions.

Olympic appealed for a goal late on in a manic scramble, but the linesman adjudged the ball to have not crossed the line, and Cringila held on for a vital three points.

Port Kembla coach Stuart Beedie was confident despite being underdogs against the previously unbeaten Coniston, and he had every right to be after knocking off the defending champions 2-1 on Saturday, May 18.

"...I'm confident we'll give a good account of ourselves on the day," Beedie said prior to the game.

"They obviously started the season very well, but we'll take the challenge up to them."

And boy did they challenge Cono, as the Zebras made it two wins in succession with a come from behind win at Wetherall Park.

Temma Nomura got the visitors off to a flyer, before Peter Youssef equalised just before half time. Tetsunari Nishimura scored a penalty in the second half just moments after coming on to the pitch as a substitution to win the game 2-1.

At Rex Jackson Oval, Helensburgh also came from behind against South Coast United to also win 2-1.

Two games did not go ahead with the fields still suffering from the constant wet weather seen in the region of late. Dez Giraldi still awaits his first game as Corrimal coach as their match against Tarrawanna was postponed, as was Wollongong United versus Albion Park.

Shellharbour and Bulli are set to play at Ian McLennan Park at 8pm this evening (Sunday, May 19).