Thirroul Thunder and Helensburgh Thistle both made the trip to JJ Kelly Park for a sudden-death semi-final in the WCG Cranes District League. Helensburgh – who finished 4^th on the table with 42 points after 22 matches – booked their spot in the match with a 3-0 dismantling of 5^th place Oak Flats last weekend in the Elimination Final while Thirroul – who finished 3^rd on the ladder with 45 points from their 22 matches – were looking to take advantage of their second chance after losing out 2-1 to Warilla Wanderers in the Qualifying Final. In the course of the regular season, it was Thirroul who held the bragging rights, with the Thunder downing the Thistle 2-0 back in round 7, before grabbing a 1-1 draw against them in round 18. But with finals football, anything could happen and the Thistle were hoping that their undefeated streak of nine matches would help them push past a very defensive Thirroul outfit.

The opening exchanges saw both sides push forward trying to grab an early goal and it was Helensburgh that got close after just three minutes with some individual brilliance from Cody Cuthbertson seeing the Helensburgh player beat two Thirroul defenders before his final shot was lobbed straight down the throat of keeper Joshua Williams. Thirroul would have their first real chance of the match almost ten minutes later, with some great passing went over the top of the crossbar.

However, it was the Thistle who would strike the first major blow, with the team being awarded a penalty on the 15-minute mark for a collision between Thirroul player Adam Ward and Naruyuki Kato in the box. Kato managed to net the subsequent penalty with a smartly placed shot into the bottom right corner, opposite of the diving Joshua Williams.

With Thirroul on the back foot, Helensburgh continued to push to attempt to improve their advantage and they came agonizingly close to doubling their advantage in the 21^st minute, with a corner from Luke Van Zyl forcing a goalmouth scramble, which was cleared by a goal-line clearance only for the follow-up cross from Van Zyl to smack the crossbar and go out, giving Thirroul some much needed breathing room. The Thunder attempted to pull one back through numerous shots at Thistle keeper Braiden Gilbert, but the Helensburgh defence ensured most of these shots came from distance and ensured easy saves from Gilbert.

With the match nearing half-time, Helensburgh were able to double their advantage thanks to a wonderfully placed free kick from Van Zyl, which forced Williams into making a great save. However, the follow up ball fell right into the path of Luke Wyatt, who managed a simple tap-in to double the Thistle’s advantage going into half-time.

The Thunder had it all to play for going into the second period and initially they found themselves on the backfoot yet again, with Helensburgh coming out attacking in an attempt to kill the game off. However, this initial period saw no goals from the Thistle, with many of their crosses being snuffed out by the Thunder, although a header from Naruyuki Kato saw the Thistle go tantalizingly close to adding a third goal, but his shot went just wide of the post.

But Thirroul managed to push themselves back into the game, and Thunder fans were stunned when in the 61^st minute, Matthew Kellond managed to get his head to a high ball ahead of Thistle keeper Braiden Gilbert and head in a vital goal, only for the goal to be disallowed due to contact between Kellond and Gilbert, resulting in a free kick for Helensburgh. But this chance gave the Thunder a new-found source of strength, and suddenly the mood of the match shifted, as Thirroul had chance after chance as the clock begun to tick down.

Finally, after almost twenty minutes of attacking pressure, Thirroul managed to break through with a goal, with a great cross from the right-hand side of the field finding Thunder defender Daniel Bond in the box, who managed to head home a late strike and force Helensburgh to wake up.

With less than five minutes to play, the Thunder threw everything they had at the Thistle seeking to secure a vital equalizer, and they got agonizingly close in the 89^th minute with a one-on-one opportunity falling to Corey Haines-Grose, but his final shot was sent just wide of the right post. With Thirroul pushing hard in the dying moments, Helensburgh managed to grab a late chance from Brad Watts, whose shot was picked up well by Joshua Williams, but the Thistle managed to hold out against a late Thirroul charge to secure a huge 2-1 win.

The defeat means Thirroul’s season is now over, with the 3^rd-placed side crashing out after two 2-1 defeats in the finals. For the Thistle however, their season now faces it’s biggest challenge – a match against District League minor premiers Fernhill for a spot in the Grand Final. The Foxes lost out 3-2 to an in-form Warilla side and now the side which had only lost one match all season stand between Helensburgh for the remaining spot in the Grand Final.

Thirroul Thunder FC – 1 (D.Bond 85’)

Helensburgh Thistle – 2 (Kato 15’, Wyatt 41’)

Saturday the 9th of September 2017 at JJ Kelly Park.

Thirroul Thunder FC – Joshua Williams, Daniel Bond, Joshua Bond, James Hutton, Shayne Mulholland, Joel Mucci, Adam Ward, Todd Davidson, Corey Haines-Grose, Nathan Mucci, Daniel Arthur

Subs – Matthew Kellond (on for Mulholland), Bradley Strudwick (on for J. Bond), Scott Woods, Tyler Snelgrove (on for Hutton), James Townson

Coach – Garth Bowley

Helensburgh Thistle – Braiden Gilbert, Ryan Grima, Jaydn Falkiner, Blake Charman, Junya Okamoto, Luke Wyatt, Luke Van Zyl, Kei Mitani, Brad Watts, Naruyuki Kato, Cody Cuthbertson

Subs – Darren McDonald (on for Kato), Jason Wellings, Eamon Van Zyl, Jarrod Benham (on for Falkiner), Matt Wardle

Coach – Brad Boardman

Referee – Nathan Wotton

Assistant Referees – Emajen Crawley, Patrick Hutton

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Photo by Noel Wynn