Warilla hosted Helensburgh in a clash between third and fourth. The Wanderers came into the match in the back of a disappointing draw with Kiama while the away side was on a four-game winning run.

Both sides had good chances to open the scoring early. Daniel Atkins hit the Helensburgh crossbar moments before Brad Watts and Cody Cuthbertson linked up and forced a one on one save from Wanderer Valon Rizvani - a frantic first five minutes.

The crossbar continued its fine form in the 19th minute, with Helensburgh's Luke Van Zyl hitting it from a direct free kick. This was followed in the 25th minute when Warilla forward Bojan Caric fired a shot onto the underside of the bar that bounced on the line before being cleared.

In the ten minutes before the break, Warilla all but sealed the win with three goals in four minutes. First, Ben Ellul raced onto the end of a through ball before tucking it into the bottom left corner. Two minutes later Kaine Good capitalised on a defensive mix-up to tap the ball into an empty net and only a minute later Caric finished off a rapid counter-attack by blasting the ball into the bottom right.

A devastating few minutes put Warilla three goals up at the interval. Helensburgh had been punished for their brief lapse in concentration and while there was a half still to play it felt as if there was no way back for a side full of inexperienced youngsters.

In the 48th minute, Good made a surging run down the left side of the field and into the box, he rounded Braiden Gilbert but the Helensburgh keeper forced him wide enough to make the striker's attempt hit the outside of the side netting.

In the 54th minute, Good made another run into the box. Gilbert saved the initial shot which ricocheted off a Thistle defender, then hitting the keeper again before coming back for Good to pass into an empty net - a bizarre goal putting Warilla four clear.

The home side decided to shut up shop with their coach, Barney King directing his side to “keep their heads”. It would take a piece of individual brilliance for Helensburgh to score and that came in the 81st minute. Watts gained possession of the ball outside the Warilla box before jinking past two defenders and riding the challenge of a third before finessing the ball into the bottom left corner from just outside the 6-yard box - a goal fitting of any stage, unfortunately, it would only be a mere consolation goal.

The home side rounded out the rout with Gilbert parrying Good’s shot into the path of Warilla new boy Atkins to directing the ball into the net. Warilla winning five goals to one on a gloomy Sunday afternoon.

The win puts Warilla into second on goal difference, ahead of Thirroul after their match against University was washed out. After the match, King gave his assessment on proceedings, “We weathered the storm well… in the second stanza of the first half [we scored] three good goals and I thought we were good for our money after that.”

The Wanderers are six points behind leaders Fernhill but King is confident the Foxes haven't wrapped up the title yet, “This league is unpredictable. I’ve been in this league for a while now… and we’ll go right to the end.” Warilla are back in action next Saturday against Oak Flats at King Mickey Park.

The defeat leaves Helensburgh in fourth after Coniston’s match against Balgownie was washed out. Their coach, Brad Boardman believed momentary lapses cost his side, “A team like Warilla with the quality they have got… you can’t afford to lose concentration like that.” Things do not get any easier for Helensburgh when they travel to Ray Robinson Field to face Fernhill next Saturday.

 

Click this link to listen to the post match interviews with the two coaches - https://soundcloud.com/dylanarvela/post-match-interviews-after-warilla-thump-helensburgh

 

Warilla Wanderers - 5 (Ellul 38’, Kaine Good 40’, 54’, Caric 41’, Atkins 84’)

Helensburgh Thistle - 1 (Watts 82’)

 

Sunday the 11th of June, 2017 at King Mickey Park, Warilla

 

Warilla Wanderers - Valon Rizvani, Nicholas Del Turco, Toni Anastovski, Jordan Nolan, Jason Goldsmith, Luke Everingham, Kaine Good, Ben Ellul, Bojan Caric, Javier Ovando and Daniel Atkins

 

Subs - Jamie Young (on for Ellul), Nathan Pegler, Adrian Montalbano (on for Caric), Adam White and Blake Pusell

 

Coach - Barney King

 

Helensburgh Thistle - Braiden Gilbert, Ryan Grima, Jaydn Falkiner, Kei Mitani, Junya Okamoto, Luke Wyatt, Luke Van Zyl, Eamon Van Zyl, Brad Watts, Naruyuki Kato and Cody Cuthbertson

 

Subs - Jason Wellings (on for J. Falkiner), Luke Falkiner (on for E. Van Zyl), Reggae Rowley, Matt Wardle and Black Charman (on for Cuthbertson)

 

Coach - Brad Boardman

 

Referee - Greg Reid

 

Assistant Referees - Stuart Bell and Damien Denelly

 

Report and photo by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela