Matt Floro scored two and played provider for another as Port Kembla stormed past Tarrawanna Blueys and set up a showdown with Wollongong Olympic next weekend.

For once in matches between these two sides this season there was to be no comeback for the team that went behind, and no repeat of last week’s drama in the rain when the Blueys pulled back a two goal deficit to reach the Finals series.

Once Floro had earned and then scored the penalty shortly after the break, there was only one team in this contest. Floro then set up Cameron Morgan for the goal of the game, and he finished off a fine afternoon with a bizarre third as the ball struck the back of his head and flew into the net.

For Port coach Noel Spencer, there was a lot to like about his side’s second half performance: “We’re starting to play some of the football we’re capable of and if we keep playing to our potential, we’ll give ourselves every chance next week.”

The match kicked off in warm spring sunshine, in stark contrast to the apocalyptic storm that hit both sides last weekend.

It was the Blueys who appeared to relish the conditions at the outset, with Daniel Chapman, Rick Goodchild and Darren Stone testing Brad Jardine between the Port Kembla sticks early on.

In the seventeenth minute Tarrawanna thought they’d taken the lead when Stone pulled the ball back from the byline and Woo Oh fired into the net, but the flag was up as the ball had gone out for a goalkick before Stone’s pullback.

Port were defending solidly through the first half, but creating little danger up front and too many speculative balls into the final third with nobody to latch onto them.

Port finished the half strongly, though, with Floro and Chris Smith linking up well to set the stage for what was to come after the break.

Just on the stroke of half time, there were loud shouts for a penalty as Liam Unicomb challenged for the ball in the area, but the referee waved away appeals for handball and the sides went into the sheds level.

The second stanza began with action at both ends.

First Goodchild set up Kazumo Nagaishi inside the box, but the striker’s slight hesitation allowed Carlo Stella time to get back for a vital challenge to prevent a shot.

Then it was Kyle Hazebroek, whose left foot strike from 30 yards fizzed goalwards, forcing Adam Rodriguez into a fingertip save as Floro charged in for afters.

In the 53^rd minute the deadlock was finally broken. Floro picked out Smith whose shot could only be blocked but not held by Rodriguez. Again Floro raced in for the follow-up, but this time he was upended and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Floro himself stepped up and coolly drilled the ball into the net, sending Rodriguez the wrong way.

Just past the hour mark, it was 2-0 as Port pushed forward again, adrenalin flowing as the Zebras sniffed victory. Floro laid off to Morgan who steered the ball home and then let that adrenalin spur him on to an acrobatic somersaulting celebration.

The Blueys tried to counter, bringing on Jared Fish and Matthew Mazevski to add options up front, but by then the game had slipped from their grasp, and suddenly it was Tarrawanna who were misfiring all over the park. When Goodchild sent a ball into the middle three metres beyond the feet of Stone, it was clear that even the Blueys’ deadliest pairing were not in synch today.

Mazevski forced a one-handed save from Jardine, but that was about as close as the home side came in the second half.

And it was the Zebras who looked hungry for more. Top scorer Sandy Lowcock will have been disappointed not to add to his tally when the ball dropped well for him twelve yards out. But with ten minutes to go, Port scored their third and wrapped the game up convincingly.

A good move set the final goal up, but the manner of its scoring was pure theatre.

Morgan sent a fine ball to the feet of Lowcock down the left. He fired a cross into the near post, where Sam Chapple blasted a clearance directly into the head of Floro. The ricochet was so powerful that it flew past a helpless Rodriguez and into the back of the net for 3-0.

Speaking after the match, Blueys coach Peter Willis felt his side had played well in the first half but didn’t take the chances they created. “It was our sloppiness that let them score their first and the second and then we were chasing the game. But we’ve had a good season overall, and we’ve progressed a lot as a club.” His side’s season has now come to an end, but the Blueys are still in with a shout at Youth Grade and Under-18s.

The final word goes to Noel Spencer, who said he looked forward to the massive challenge his side would be facing on home soil next week. Wollongong Olympic might be hurting after defeat today, but they’ll regroup and “we’ll need to start as well as we finished today to give ourselves a good chance”.

Tarrawanna Blueys – 0

Port Kembla FC – 3 (Floro 53’ pen, 80’, Morgan 61’)

Assists: Port: Floro

Tarrawanna Oval, Sunday 3 September 2017

Referee: Nathan Wotton
Assistant referees: Emajen Crawley, Greg Reid

Fourth official: Bobby Mazevski

 

Tarrawanna Blueys: Adam Rodriguez, Matthew Naylor (Jared Fish 61’), Jarryd Mortimer (Jacob Fryday 77’), Sam Chapple, Jake Morlando, Daniel Chapman, Kazuma Nagaishi (Matthew Mazevski 69’), Liam Unicomb, Woo Oh, Rick Goodchild, Darren Stone (subs not used: Allister Carrigan, Caleb Grace, Christian Pretto)

 

Port Kembla: Brad Jardine, Brooklan Frkovic, Kyle Hazebroek, Matt Werakso, Carlo Stella, Kyogi Mori (William Mobbs 77’), Cameron Morgan, Justin Cario, Ben Zucco, Chris Smith (Sandy Lowcock 63’), Matt Floro (Tony Musumeci 87’) (subs not used: Daniel Farina, Bailey Fleming)

 

Report by Simon Duffin

Photo by Noel Wynn