Helensburgh Thistle managed to take all three points from their Round 3 WCG Cranes District League match against Shell Cove when the Thistle netted in the final ten minutes to secure a 2-1 win at Barrack Heights Sports Field. The visitors found themselves in the lead after Ethan Grinham netted 17 minutes into the match, but a 79^th minute strike from Diogo Rodrigues Andrade gave the hosts hopes of a result. However, a second goal from Helensburgh forward Grinham eight minutes from time would ensure the Thistle pick up their second win of the league campaign.

While Helensburgh hadn’t faced Shell Cove in the league since July 2014, the sides had faced just a month prior in the Fraternity Pre-Season Cup Semi-finals, where Helensburgh left it late to beat Shell Cove 2-1, but it was Shell Cove who started the match brighter, with the side showing strong attacking intent in the opening ten minutes.

However, it was the Thistle who would strike first, with the side netting against the run of play in the 17^th minute. After a great ball out of the Helensburgh defence to Luke van Zyl, the Thistle player launched forward on a strong run down the left-hand side of the field, before he centered the ball along the ground to a waiting Ethan Grinham, who managed to make the most of the ball and slot his shot past Shell Cove keeper Vasko Petkucevski to give the visiting side the lead.

Shell Cove were shaken by the early goal and almost gave the Thistle a strong lead four minutes later, when Petkucevski would throw the ball out of the Shell Cove box, only for it to hit the back of defender Atanas Simonovski and fall directly back into the path of Luke van Zyl. Having instantly won the ball in a strong position, Van Zyl attempted to send the ball across the box to set up an incoming Josh Brady, but Brady’s shot would rocket off the crossbar and back into the safety of Petkucevski.

After almost being put two goals down, Shell Cove begun to move their way back into the match, and Diogo Rodrigues Andrade would have Shell Cove’s best chance so far in the 23^rd minute when he found the ball in space and his resulting shot from distance ended up over the crossbar. Another similar shot five minutes later from Steven Dimitrievski would force a save from Thistle keeper Matt Wardle, but Shell Cove found themselves unable to break down the Helensburgh defence and create any meaningful chances and the side went into the break 1-0 down.

However, Shell Cove came out in the second half a changed side and would come dangerously close to equalizing just four minutes into the second half, when a good run by Nikola Ristevski saw him get around Matt Wardle, but his finishing shot was cleared off the line in a last-ditch effort by Josh Brady, keeping the Thistle in the lead.

With Shell Cove creating more chances in offence, it allowed Helensburgh to counter attack more often and the side almost broke through for their second goal of the day in the 62^nd minute, when a bursting run from Luke van Zyl saw him in space, but his final ball into the box just missed the feet of Ethan Grinham, and a follow-up from Luke Wyatt just went over the crossbar.

Having struggled to break through the Thistle defence, Shell Cove were finally rewarded in the 79^th minute when Nikola Rusic would release a perfectly-placed through ball, allowing Diogo Rodrigues Andrade to latch onto the ball and round Helensburgh keeper Matt Wardle with ease, netting in an empty net to level the scores at 1-1.

However, Shell Cove’s joy was short-lived, as the Thistle would be back on the board three minutes later. After a well-placed free kick from Luke van Zyl, the Thistle player found himself taking a corner and his ball found Cody Cuthbertson at the edge of the Shell Cove box. After nicely controlling the ball, Cuthbertson laid the ball off to Ethan Grinham, who fired off a powerful shot that forced its way through the crowded box and into the back of the net to give Helensburgh the lead with just eight minutes to play.

As Shell Cove tried hard to get back into the match, both sides engaged in some end-to-end football that culminated in Shell Cove coming agonizingly close to levelling the scores in the 88^th minute, when a free kick from Diogo Rodrigues Andrade found the head of Shell Cove defender Matt Cesta, but his shot flew just to the right of the Thistle goal, the last chance in a tight match that left Helensburgh 2-1 winners.

The win for the Thistle sees them move to six points from their opening three matches, a solid start for a side that would have been expecting a strong start to the season. Helensburgh’s next challenge will be against a Bellambi side that has looked dangerous so far in the league, but the Thistle will be hoping that history helps them in their clash, with Helensburgh having won their last four encounters against the Rosellas in the league. For Shell Cove, the side finds themselves sitting with one win from their opening three matches, a placement that would be reasonably expected so far, but they will be hoping to boost their District League credentials when they take on Kiama next round, with the Quarriers yet to claim a point in their opening three matches.

Saturday 7 April 2018 at Barrack Heights Sports Field.

Shell Cove FC – 1 (Rodrigues Andrade 79’)

Helensburgh Thistle FC – 2 (Grinham 17’, 82’)

Shell Cove FC: Vasko PETKUCEVSKI, Craig RICHARDSON, Atanas SIMONOVSKI, Matthew CESTA, Filip ANGELESKI, Alex ANGELKOSKI, Steven DIMITRIEVSKI, John BARZEL, Nikola RUSIC, Diogo RODRIGUES ANDRADE, Nikolas RISTEVSKI

Subs: Jake WATERMAN (68’ SIMONOVSKI), Nikola STOJANOVSKI (73’ ANGELKOSKI), Michael NIKOLOVSKI, Ceysun ESEN

Helensburgh Thistle FC: Matt WARDLE, Nathan WOOLFY, Jarrod BENHAM, Jayon FALKINER, Eamon VAN ZYL, Luke WYATT, Luke VAN ZYL, Kei MITANI, Ethan GRINHAM, Brad WATTS, Josh BRADY

Subs: Ryan GRIMA, Reggae ROWLEY, Cody CUTHBERTSON (45’ WOOLFY), Brad BOARDMAN, Braiden GILBERT

Referee – Caleb BLANCH

Assistant Referees – Rob SINDEVSKI and Blake BARKLEY

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

File Photo: Dana Guthrie