Kaine Good’s superb header in the last minute of normal time was enough to crown Warilla Wanderers as WGC Cranes District League Grand Final Champions for the second consecutive season.

And for coach Barney King, it was yet another Grand Final triumph after steering both the Wanderers and Berkeley to victory in previous years. “My lads stuck to their task today. Helensburgh took us to the wire and they defended well. But what a time to score. It gave them no time to recover”.

Helensburgh’s heartbreak was plain to see, after forcing their way into Grand Final contention and containing Warilla’s attack for much of the match. Coach Brad Boardman was proud of his side’s performance: “After conceding twelve goals to them earlier this year, we believed we could win today and we ran them equal for 90 minutes. But all it takes in football is one lapse of concentration, and you can’t give a boy like Kaine Good a chance like that.”

All eyes at kick off were on Good and his counterpart in the yellow and black stripes, Naruyuki Kato, who between them had notched an extraordinary 42 goals this season so far. But as the game developed, it was clear that both coaches had done their homework on their opponent’s danger men, and neither player saw much of the ball in front of goal…until that 90^th minute.

Helensburgh had the advantage of a strong breeze behind them for the first forty-five, but it was Warilla who settled first. Nathan Pegler sent a ball in from the right, which Thistle keeper Braiden Gilbert punched clear, but only as far as Luke Everingham, who sent his punt from the edge of the box just over.

Adam White also did well to set up Bojan Caric early on, but the centre forward sent his header wide of the upright.

So Warilla had the better of the opening exchanges, but Good was being closely marked by Blake Charman, and Jeremy Lopez’s raids down the left were being snuffed out by Jarrod Benham at right back.

For the Thistle, Brad Watts and Cody Cuthbertson pushed forward into the box and shrugged off their markers, but there was always an extra man in a white shirt between them and the goal so Val Rizvani in the Wanderers goal was rarely troubled.

Good may have scored seven goals against the Thistle over the course of 2017, but for most of the first half he was well contained, and when he did get an opportunity – once put through by Caric, and later gifted the ball by a poor goal kick – his first touch was lacking and his finish nowhere near the target.

Down at the other end, Kato was barely getting a look in. As the first half drew to a close, he twice linked up well with Cuthbertson, giving Helensburgh hope that their Golden Boot winning striker might be starting to warm up, but each time a Warilla defender was back to snuff out any sight of goal.

0-0  at the break.

The second stanza started with chances at both ends.

First it was Helensburgh’s play-maker Kei Mitani who found Watts down the left. A dangerous ball in found the feet of Kato who forced Rizvani into his first real save of the match.

Then it was the Wanderers’ turn to shine as Lopez picked out Caric whose punt caught a deflection as it headed goalwards and flew away for a corner. Javier Ovando floated a free-kick perilously close to the target as the wind caught it and nearly took it over everyone’s head into the goal. But it was White who came closest to breaking the deadlock when his shot thundered against the crossbar after Ovando picked him out on the edge of the box.

Just past the hour mark, there were loud calls from the Helensburgh end for a penalty when Watts tumbled over in the area, but the referee waved play on, and in possibly the Thistle’s best period of the match, Mitani also came close as his right foot shot bounced awkwardly, forcing Rizvani to adjust to make his save.

Solid defending kept the Thistle at bay, though, with Jamie Young and Jordan Nolan putting in crucial blocks as Helensburgh pushed to convert their chances.

With ten minute to go there were tactical shifts on both sides. Helensburgh’s goal king Kato was replaced, while Warilla brought on Ben Ellul for the tiring White.

That change paid off right at the death. With the clock ticking towards the end of normal time, Ellul whipped a ferocious ball in from the right. Good was in the right place at the right time and sent a bullet of a header flying into the top corner beyond the reach of Gilbert for 1-0.

Boardman brought himself on in a last-ditch effort to get back in the game, but Warilla held firm, and it was Wanderers captain Caric who held the trophy aloft once again.

 

Warilla Wanderers FC – 1 (Good 90’)

Helensburgh Thistle – 0

Assist: Warilla: Ellul

Man of the match: Everingham

Saturday 23 September 2017

Wetherall Park

Referee: Bobby Mazevski

Assistant Referees: Caleb Blanch, Reece Edwards

Fourth Official: Patrick Hutton

Warilla Wanderers: Val Rizvani, Nathan Pegler, Jamie Young, Jordan Nolan, Jason Goldsmith, Luke Everingham, Kaine Good, Adam White (Ben Ellul 80’), Bojan Caric (Adrian Montalbano 90+1’), Javier Ovando (Daniel Atkins 67’), Jeremy Lopez (subs not used: Blake Pusell, Stewart Robertson)

Helensburgh Thistle: Braiden Gilbert, Jarrod Benham, Jaydn Falkiner (Ryan Grima 90+1’), Blake Charman, Junya Okamoto (Brad Boardman 90+1’), Luke Wyatt, Luke Van Zyl, Kei Mitani, Brad Watts, Naruyuki Kato (Jason Wellings 81’), Cody Cuthbertson (subs not used: Eamon Van Zyl, Matt Wardle)

Report by Simon Duffin

Photo courtesy of Pedro Garcia