A healthy crowd made its way into Wetherall Park for the annual Family Pizza Day with the main course being a marquee clash between Port Kembla and Kemblawarra Fury. Both sides share ambitions to be playing finals football but at the start of the day both found themselves outside the top 5. The home side has suffered a rough start to the season but got the ball rolling with a 5-0 win over Picton last weekend, while the Fury was coming into the match on the back of only one point in their last two matches

The Fury were quick off the mark with two chances in the opening four minutes. In the 2nd minute, Anthony Proia curled one over the bar from just outside the box before Alvin Ceccoli struck the right upright from a free kick 25 metres from goal.

Despite Kemblawarra’s early pressure, it was the home side which drew first blood in the 9th minute. Sandy Lowcock shot across Mitchell Blowes in the Fury goal with the ball coming out of the right post. Kody Maude lost his marker just inside the box before firing the ball home - slamming the underside of the bar as it went in.

The early goal was the perfect start for the home side who were now able to sit off and allow the Fury to play in front of them. The Fury were unable to get in behind the Port defence with the only big opportunities coming both for Shane Murray - a curling shot from the edge of the box that went over the top right corner and a 30-metre free kick that trailed to the left of the goal.

With the score remaining 1-0 into halftime, Port boss, Noel Spencer would have been buoyed by his side’s efforts considering the talent he had ruled out through injury. As for Luke Mcguire of the Fury, he would have been having flashbacks of his side’s poor start against Wollongong Olympic but aware he had players capable of turning the tie around.

Within minutes of the restart, Port Kembla had a superb chance to double their lead. Lowcock made a determined run towards the box with Ceccoli sweeping up for the Fury, the ball ricocheted up to Maude on the 18-yard line who snapped a shot to the left of the goal.

A few cycles of play later the Kemblawarra had drawn level through Adam Biddle. The Fury right fullback David Hartas pushed high up the wing before delivering a whipped cross into the former Sydney FC man. Biddle was able to get in front of his marker to head past Brad Jardine who failed to keep it out.

The equaliser forced Port Kembla to push for a second and they nearly had it after Hartas played a sloppy ball across to Ceccoli. The ball was pounced on by the harrying Lowcock but the wiley Ceccoli managed to lunge for the ball before tipping it away. The veteran playing a risky game in his own penalty box.

On the hour mark, the Fury took the lead through Liam Unicomb. The persistent striker latched onto a speculative long ball before tucking it past Jardine. The Port Kembla centre backs would have been disappointed to have misjudged the long ball. The home side now down 2-1 had it all to do and momentum against them.

Port had an incredible chance to regain parity in the 63rd minute. The ball came out to Ben Zucco 35 metres from goal, the playmaker rifled in a low strike at goal that inadvertently had the ball falling for Maude five metres out. The number 7 was able to let off a tame shot that was easily kept by Blowes - a golden opportunity for the home side.

The magnitude of the miss was enhanced moments later when Proia picked up the Fury’s third goal of the afternoon. The forward made a surging run into the left side of the Port box before slotting it into the back of the net and continuing his sensational start to the season. This was a real hammer blow for Spencer’s side after going so close to being level and now two goals behind.

The home side tried valiantly to get higher up the park to force some goalscoring opportunities but despite a few arching corner kicks Port never seemed likely to get back into the contest. The game eventually running to its conclusion, the Fury winning 3-1.

The win moves the Fury up into the third spot on the table and next Saturday they travel to Woonona who are struggling near the foot of the table but Mcguire is aware his side needs to remain focussed, “We can’t really afford, given where we are sitting on the table, to be taking any teams lightly.” This match kicks off at 2.30 pm.

Port Kembla will next be in action against Corrimal on Wednesday night. This starts a run of three matches which also includes South Coast United and Woonona - three games Spencer said his side need to earn maximum points from to be in contention for finals football. The Corrimal match kicks off at 8 pm at Memorial Park.

Post match interviews with the two coaches - https://soundcloud.com/dylanarvela/post-match-interviews-after-fury-defeat-port-kembla-3-1

Port Kembla - 1 (Maude 9’)
Kemblawarra Fury - 3 (Biddle 51’, Unicomb 60’, Proia 64’)

Sunday 23rd of April at Wetherall Park, Primbee

Port Kembla - Brad Jardine, Justin Cario, William Mobbs, Matt Werakso, Carlo Stella, Doug Woodiwiss, Kody Maude, Mitchell Scazzariello, Sandy Lowcock, Ben Zucco and Jung Seuk Jung

Subs - Kayne Kotevski (on for Scazzariello), Adam Bussuni, Jayden Salucci (on for Jung), Kyle Hazebroek (on for Woodiwiss) and Daniel Farina

Coach - Noel Spencer

Kemblawarra Fury - Mitchell Blowes, Kyle Senior, David Hartas, Alvin Ceccoli, Adam Biddle, Shane Murray, Sam Munro, Sam Matthews, Lachlan O’Connor, Anthony Proia and Liam Unicomb

Subs - Matthew McNab (on for Ceccoli), Fabian Iacovelli (on for Biddle), Andres Gomez, Kazuto Kushida (on for Murray) and David Zufic

Coach - Luke Mcguire

Referee - Blake Herbert

Assistant Referees - Brad Moreira and Patrick Hutton

Report by Dylan Arvela on Twitter @dylanarvela