'There's a good future here': Port's IPL young guns inspire in Cringila win

The victory continued a stunning return to form for Port Kembla. After starting the season poorly - so much so that they were in a wooden spoon battle just six weeks ago - Beedie's side has gone five unbeaten following the Lions win on Saturday, June 1.

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Cringila went 1-0 up going into half-time thanks to a Peter Simonoski header, before Port Kembla turned it around in the second 45 and scored four unanswered goals to come away with victory in round 12 at a wet and windy Wetherall Park.

Recent signing Tetsunari Nishimura, as well as Nicolas Tomasiello, Dane Corolla, and Kyle Kirkland all scored as the home side collected the three points and moved into the top five.

What impressed Zebras coach Beedie most about the victory was the number of young guns that impressed.

"Our two centre backs are 18, our centre midfielder is 18 with young [Lachlan] Flood in there," Beedie said.

"And then Dane [Corolla] comes on and scores again, so he's pushing hard for a starting spot. All these players are all 18. There's a good future here for the club."

The win continues Port Kembla's resurgence in the last month. The side's last loss came against Wollongong United on April 28.

In that time the team has recorded impressive results both against Cringila and also ladder leaders Coniston just three games ago. For a team that didn't win its first five IPL games, they are now showing they can match it with anyone in the competition.

"There's not much between a lot of the teams this year," Beedie continued.

"I'm not saying we are going to be there at the top at the end, but I think anyone can beat anyone on their day. I don't think there's any real standout team as such at the moment."

The Port Kembla coach added that he didn't have to say too much to his team at half-time, despite being down.

"I think realistically in the first half their final delivery was the difference," Beedie said.

"The goal that they scored was a quality finish. We got ourselves in good positions, but didn't deliver. I thought football wise, there wasn't much in that first half. So I wasn't overly concerned. I said that to the boys. That final ball just had to be better."

It took a while for Port to get into gear, with Cringila opening the scoring thanks to a trademark Simonoski header. It was a wicked ball onto the head of the team's skipper from Andre Dias to hand the visitors a 1-0 advantage.

The opening goal came just shortly after Cringila goalkeeper Nik Ristevski pulled of a huge one-on-one save against Tomasiello to keep his team level.

In the second half, the Lions had no answer for a ruthless Port Kembla, inspired to victory by their newest signing Nishimura. Prior to kickoff, Beedie predicted the Japanese import to have a huge impact this IPL season, and boy was he right.

Nishimura got his team back into the contest, scoring a thumping header to make it 1-1. He was in the thick of the action straight after the resumption of play, where he was given a golden chance to double his team's lead via a penalty, which he put over the bar.

But it was no matter, as Tomasiello found himself with the ball in the box and made a couple of twists and turns before he unleashed his shot into the bottom corner to make it 2-1.

There were a couple of masterstrokes from Beedie to see Port Kembla home.

First it was Corolla - who came on just after the break - who capitalised on a mistake to convert and make it 3-1, before fellow substitution Kirkland put the icing on the cake for 4-1.

Tarrawanna picked up an impressive 3-1 win against Shellharbour, as did reigning league champions Albion Park as they dismantled Corrimal 5-0. Wollongong United defeated South Coast United 3-2.

On Sunday, June 2, Bulli takes on Coniston at 3:30pm.

The Helensburgh and Wollongong Olympic game was washed out.