Kemblawarra Fury travelled to Tarrawanna Oval on the back of two unconvincing 1-0 wins knowing anything less than three points would leave their League title defence on life support. Tarrawanna remained in fourth but were yet to record a win in July after a second half collapse against Corrimal and a 2-0 defeat to Wollongong Olympic.

 

While it was a clash between third and fourth, neither side was able to play any inspirational football in the opening stages. In contrast to this, the opening goal for the Fury after 18 minutes was quite special. The ball came to Sam Munro on the edge of the box and the midfielder slammed the ball into the top left corner before reeling away in celebration.

 

Both sides nearly profited off free kicks with Sam Chapple guiding his just over the top right corner before a quick Fury free kick found Sam Matthews who cut the ball back for Van Elia who flung his shot well over the bar from close range.

 

Just after the half hour mark, Tarrawanna were awarded an indirect free kick on the edge of the Fury area. The ball was nudged back for Matthew Mazevski who rifled it towards the top left corner but Daniel Arcaba made a strong save - pushing the ball out for a corner.

 

The Fury maintained their one goal advantage going into halftime but they created the first two decent chances of the second period. The first was Matthew’s shot from just inside the box which deflected off a defender for a corner and then Matthew McNab forced an error which saw a 50/50 with Adam Rodriguez but the Tarrawanna keeper was able to smother the ball before it was eventually cleared.

 

Tarrawanna were able to control possession but despite a couple of set pieces, they were unable to truly test Arcaba. With nearly ten minutes remain the ball was played into Liam Unicomb, the ex-Fury striker touched the ball around Dean Pender but the defender clipped his back leg which earnt Tarrawanna a penalty. Rick Goodchild stood up to the mark and his shot just to the right crept under Arcaba and into the back of the net.

 

Two minutes later the Blueys nearly grabbed the lead. Darren Stone crossed the ball in from the left, Arcaba parried the cross into the path of Jared Fish but his side half volley flew over the bar.

 

Knowing the title was virtually on the line, Fury pushed hard in the dying stages. McNab had a header that went over the bar and Elia had a penalty appeal waved away which lead the match to finish 1-1

 

Considering results elsewhere, the draw favours Tarrawanna who maintain their three point buffer on Port Kembla. The Blueys’ next opponents are the Woonona Sharks after a week off due to the Bert Bampton Cup final.

 

The point puts the Fury four off second placed Olympic and five off Bulli and considering they face neither side in the final four rounds their title defence seems all but over. They also have a week off before they meet the Albion Park White Eagles as Luke McGuire starts his preparations for the finals.

 

Click this link to listen to the post match interview with Tarrawanna coach, Peter Willis - https://soundcloud.com/dylanarvela/peter-willis-after-tarrawanna-draw-with-fury

 

Tarrawanna Blueys - 1 (Goodchild 79’ pen)

 

Kemblawarra Fury - 1 (Munro 19’)

Sunday the 23rd of July, 2017 at Tarrawanna Oval, Tarrawanna

 

Tarrawanna Blueys - Adam Rodriguez, Allister Carrigan, Matthew Naylor, Sam Chapple, Daniel Chapman, Darren Stone, Matthew Mazevski, Woo Oh, LIam Unicomb, Rich Goodchild and Jared Fish - Sub - Kazuma Nagaishi (on for Carrigan), Jarryd Mortimer, Wesley Van Kempen, Caleb Grace and Christian Pretto

Kemblawarra Fury - Daniel Arcaba, Dean Pender, Alvin Ceccoli, Van Elia, Shane Murray, Sam Munro, Sam Matthews, Lachlan O’Connor, Kazuto Kyshida, Brenton Rhodes and Matthew McNab - Subs - Jordan Nikolovski (on for Elia), Cody Waller (on for Matthews), Daniel Carella, David Zufic and Jason Zufic

 

Referee - Andrew Naylor

 

Assistant Referees - Caleb Blanch and Dean Moriera

 

Report by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela

 

Photo courtesy of Noel Wynn