In their opening fixture of the Fraternity Club Cup, Thirroul edged out Helensburgh two goals to one, thanks to Thirroul’s pressurised defence and disciplined counter-attack.

The two teams enjoyed a close rivalry in last year’s District fixtures, with Helensburgh placing one spot above Thirroul to come in third on the ladder.

With Thirroul enjoying the home-side advantage at Tarrawanna Oval, they kept Helensburgh on the back-foot from early in the first half, keeping sustained pressure on the Helensburgh forwards.

Helensburgh initially countered well, using their forward’s speed effectively and pouncing on loose passes from Thirroul inside their own half.

Helensburgh’s Nathan Muccilinked up nicely with his forwards to produce a close sequence of counter-attacking runs into the Thirroul half, but Helensburgh generally struggled to find their offensive structure against a bold Thirroul defence.

Despite their discipline in attack, the Thirroul defence gave away a number of free-kicks throughout the match, the first coming inside the opening ten minutes, giving their opponents one of many early shots at goal, but Helensburgh failed to capitalise on their attacking opportunities.

After maintaining pressure on the Helensburgh defence, and weathering Helensburgh’s counter-attack, Thirroul put their first notch on the scoreboard thanks to some delightful footwork from deep in the corner by Matthew Kellond.

The remainder of the first-half flowed largely in Thirroul’s favour, who used speed and flair in their counter-attack to keep Helensburgh scrambling in defence.

Thirroul’s Ryan Latini found himself in open space inside Helensburgh’s half on multiple occasions, and on the second put in a deft sidestep to clear the last of Helensburgh’s defenders, before thumping it into the back of the net for Thirroul’s second goal of the match.

Thirroul continued to control possession in the final ten minutes of the first half, who in the space of a few minutes again put Latini into space, and soon after Daniel Arthur produced a very close miss from a thunderous strike.

Helensburgh came back to the pitch in the second half with a visible rise in their attacking intensity, countering from a defensive position and working it up the sidelines for some effective attacking runs.

Thirroul took a generally more conservative approach in the first quarter of the second-half, choosing to clear the ball out rather than attack from inside their defensive half.

Thirroul continued to give away free-kicks in the mid-field, which allowed Helensburgh some easy possession and the opportunity to build some offensive pressure of their own.

Helensburgh’s first breakthrough of the match came early in the second half from the boot of Luke Wyatt, finally capitalising on a series of probing runs deep into Thirroul’s half.    

Helensburgh’s renewed offensive vigour kept the Thirroul backs busy, but the defence stayed solid with Rhys Patchett closing off a particularly dangerous run from Mucci, who continued to create problems for Thirroul.

After a series of corner kicks from Helensburgh, who continued to find confidence in their attacking patterns, Thirroul upped their defensive pressure to match, keeping the score-line in their favour.

The final quarter of the match saw Thirroul’s defence come to the fore, limiting the increasingly desperate Helensburgh attack while creating opportunities for their own forwards, including a narrowly missed shot at goal from Kellond.

The dying minutes of the match saw Thirroul assert their dominance over the inconsistent Helensburgh attack who, despite an abundance of opportunities, failed to capitalise on their mid-field gains. Their second-half goal was the only one made by Helensburgh, and the final whistle saw Thirroul take the match 2-1.

Helensburgh’s coach, Brod Crighton, summarised his team’s disappointment at the loss, saying that “we need to keep our structure right and be more clinical in the front third… We created many more chances than they did, but were just terrible at putting it away”.

Thirroul’s coach, Garth Bowley, expressed his satisfaction with the win, adding that, “we’ve been working a lot on our fitness… Last season we were very defensive, and this year we’re trying to bring a little bit more of our attacking abilities into the game, so that was good to see today”.

Thirroul will take on Berkeley next week.

Story and photo by Oliver Chaseling