Leaders Coniston make huge statement against IPL title rivals Albion Park

The 1-0 win at Terry Reserve - thanks to a second half strike from James Anagnostopoulos - sees the defending grand final champions extend their lead at the top of the IPL ladder to four points.

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It was the mirror scoreline to the 2023 grand final qualifier, where Coniston then went on to win the decider against Cringila.

Coniston coach Franc Pierro said the result against APWE was massive, considering the team suffered its first defeat of the season last weekend at the hands of Port Kembla.

"I'm really pleased with the effort today," Pierro said.

"I said before the game, we have to turn it around from last week. I believe we were a bit flat. We've certainly come here today and done just that. I think we played well, tried to play football, and at the end of the day got the three points, so I'm pleased with the effort.

"We praise ourselves on defensive efforts and not conceding goals. We believe in the last few weeks we've kind of gone away from that. So it's good to get the clean sheet today."

Goalscorer Anagnostopoulos - as well as his brother Harrison - were particularly impressive in the win against the White Eagles.

Pierro heaped plenty of praise on the siblings as well as giving insight into Coniston's goals moving forward in the 2024 IPL campaign.

"They're a pleasure to have around and talented individuals. The club is super happy to have them both on board," he said.

"We're comparing with ourselves every week that we play. We're just trying to do better than the week before or the training session before. So we're not drawing comparison to any other team in the league.

"We're just trying to do what we do, and just trying to display the best football that we can."

Both sides had moments, but could only amount to half chances in the first 45. The best opportunity for the visitors fell to Tyson Black, who ran through the entire Park defence to force a save from goalkeeper Hayden Durose.

From the resulting corner, Cono skipper Daniel Loe - who scored in the 2023 grand final qualifier against the same opponent - headed a golden chance straight to APWE's stopper Durose.

As the half was drawing to a close, the home side had its best chance, with nifty winger Liam Wille finding space in the box and unleashing a shot, which hit the crossbar and went out.

Albion Park were asleep immediately in the second half. Temma Nomura got the better of his defender and cut the ball back inside the box for Tobias Norval, who hit the cross bar but his shot didn't cross the line.

Shortly after, Coniston opened the scoring. It was beautiful link up play involving Norval and Nomura, before Anagnostopoulos finished off to make it 1-0.

Cono should have been two goals to the good, with White Eagles' captain Brendan Fordam clearing the ball off the line from a Norval effort shortly after the goal.

APWE were chasing the game, and had a golden double chance five minutes from time.

Coniston had their new goalkeeper Luke Genua to thank after he denied Riku Amakawa before making a sensational tip onto the bar from the resulting corner to keep his team ahead. He was called into action once more before the full-time whistle.

In the end, Coniston held on for the 1-0 win. The loss was Albion Park's first of IPL 2024.

In other results across the league in round 11, Cringila beat Bulli 4-1 on Friday evening, whilst on Saturday, there were 1-1 draws between Corrimal and Helensburgh and Shellharbour and Port Kembla respectively.

Meanwhile it the other headline match, Wollongong Olympic picked up a crucial victory 3-2 victory against major rivals Wollongong United at Macedonia Park. The win for Matt Bailey's team means they are now equal with APWE in second on 18 points. Coniston lead on 22 points after nine games.

On Saturday evening, South Coast United defeated Tarrawanna 1-0.