Maroons 4, Shellharbour City 2

The Maroons pumped in four goals for the third time this season, but once again endured some moments on the edge before emerging with the three points.
We started the day in fourth place, level on 10 points with Shell City, so a win was crucial to stay in touch with the leaders.
Although sharp through midfield and up front, City were slow and awkward at the back. Paul E was the first to exploit their lax defending, heading home for a 1-0 lead from a freekick. We started to dominate completely. Ant wrapped a curling shot around the keeper but just wide of the upright and the goalie just managed to scramble over a long range effort from TH10 (left foot!).
The second came when Ant's strong shot was spilled and Jon S reacted the quickest to sweep home his first goal for the Waves. He was especially proud that the ball was still rising when it hit the net!
Two nil at halftime and we were in a familiar position, a fact Jon pointed out when he reminded us of the similar lead and consequent fright we received in a 5-4 win over Uni earlier in the season. We also failed to hold a two goal lead when we last scored four at home in the 5-4 loss to table topping Old Boys.
We changed up from 4-5-1 to go with an extra attacker and seek out a third goal which we felt might kill off the game. We got it half right.
Ten minutes after the break Fergus found Ant in miles of space inside the box and after weighing up his options in support he buried the ball past the keeper.
City couldn't get on the ball and we poured forward seeking a fourth. Dave C, cutting in from the left had a stunning shot tipped onto the inside of the post by the keeper and the ball slid harmlessly across goal. Fergus had a curling shot brilliantly saved and TH10 narrowly missed twice from distance.
Then, out of nowhere, City came back. A looping shot caught out Pete who parried it onto the head of the City striker for 3-1. Soon after a mix up allowed them to sneak in and slide a second goal.
At this stage it was all them and twice they had the opportunity to shoot inside the box but blazed over the bar. We were hanging on again and barely doing enough when Paul came up with a play to kill the resistance with five minutes to play.
Surging down the right, his floated cross met Ant's desperate lunge at the far post and the header flew in for 4-2.
The win moved us to 13 points and in either second or third depending on other results. Balgownie beat the Sweat Hogs 1-0 to move to 12 points as a top five teams began to break from the pack. With the Makos and the Sweat Hogs to come before our first ever local derby, we face a defining few weeks for our campaign.