Helensburgh and Thirroul shared the spoils in an extremely hard-fought game at Rex Jackson Park. Helensburgh went into the game having won their last four games including most recently, a 2-1 win against a previously unbeaten Coniston side. As the for Thirroul, they went down to the other championship contenders in Bellambi.

There were some emotional scenes prior to the match where a minute’s applause was held as part of the first anniversary of the tragedy involving two ex-Helensburgh players, Lachlan Scipione and Reuben Martin who tragically lost their lives in a car accident last year.

The action begun five minutes into the game when Junya Okamoto’s giveaway was picked up by Joshua Hutton who drove forward for Thirroul from inside his own half eventually playing a ball into the right-hand channel for new signing - Lewis Clements who delivered a ball into the box for Haines-Grose who managed to get his head to it but couldn’t keep it down and it went over the crossbar for a goal kick.

Just a minute later, Thirroul came forward again when Haines-Grose found space in behind the right-hand-side of the Helensburgh defence. With a narrowed angle before him, his left-footed shot missed the target. Just three minutes later, Helensburgh responded to Thirroul’s positive start to the game through Luke van Zyl who took on Hutton down the left. Beating him for pace, he whipped a ball into the box which was deflected over the crossbar by Tom Goodier.

Helensburgh were starting to see more of the ball and on 30 minutes, Cody Cuthbertson switched the ball to the influential van Zyl who went around Hutton and delivered another dangerous ball into the box but once again, no one was on the end of it and the chance went begging. The Burgh continued to pile on some half chances but some desperate defending from Thirroul was keeping them at bay.

Just before halftime, Haines-Grose had a brilliant opportunity to open the scoring for Thirroul when he found space in behind Helensburgh’s defence. Taking his time, he lined up a left-footed shot from a tight angle which ended up firing into the side netting. This was a miss he would live to regret as Helensburgh went down the other end of the field and opened the scoring. A well-directed cross-field ball was controlled admirably by Cuthbertson who beat Hutton for pace giving himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. He took his shot quickly before Wearing could get down and neatly found the back of the net. A real sucker-punch for Thirroul who could’ve scored themselves just moments earlier.

At the break, Helensburgh had a slender lead, but things could’ve been different as Thirroul had plenty of opportunities to open the scoring themselves. The game was poised perfectly for an entertaining second half between the sides placed 3rd and 4th respectively.

The second half got underway and within five minutes there was a scare for Helensburgh when Wardle got the ball stuck under his feet and gave Haines-Grose the opportunity to compete for a 50-50 ball inside the six-yard box this resulted in the ball flying away from danger luckily for Wardle.

Just seven minutes into the resumption, Thirroul were back on level terms after another defensive lapse from the Helensburgh meant Haines-Grose could latch onto a misplaced pass and round the goalkeeper for a tap in goal. One could not deny that Thirroul had deserved the equaliser.

Thirroul continued to take advantage of Helensburgh’s sticky spell in the game when a corner from Nathan Mucci was powered into the near post. Wardle acrobatically tipped the ball over the bar for another corner. The corner was again put into the area by Mucci, a goalmouth scramble consequently found Joel Mucci at the back post who skied his effort and provided some respite for Helensburgh who at this stage looked a little rattled.

Ten minutes later, Helensburgh should’ve retaken the lead when a driving run from Cuthbertson going from left to right opened an angle for a shot which was parried straight back into the danger area by Wearing. The follow-up fell to van Zyl who had the simple task of tapping the ball past the stranded goalkeeper but unbelievably, the ball missed the far post.

Just minutes later, Helensburgh had another opportunity to retake the lead when Watts made inroads down the left-hand-side and into the box. Twisting and turning, opening up a shot on his right foot, the ball squirmed under Wearing who had made the save. All it needed was a Helensburgh player to tap it into the vacant net, but the ball was cleared just in time and yet another golden chance was lost.

In the 82nd minute, Thirroul responded to the Helensburgh pressure by firing back as Haines-Grose fancied a strike from significant distance, but the ball was well held by Wardle.

Into the final five minutes and Helensburgh upped the tempo of their assault on the Thirroul goal in an effort secure a winner. Luke van Zyl was the first to try and test Wearing. He took on a strike from just outside the box which looked to be curling into the top corner but narrowly went over the crossbar. In stoppage time, Helensburgh had their final opportunity to snatch a win when van Zyl’s corner found Cuthbertson on the edge of the box who was unmarked. His attempted volley was blocked and moments later the referee blew his whistle to signal fulltime.

This was a great performance from Thirroul and will serve as a huge confidence booster for them as they continue their push for a finals spot. Helensburgh will be disappointed they didn’t capitalise on their chances.

Helensburgh next face Warilla who were defeated 3-1 at Bellambi. Thirroul on the other hand face Kiama next week and will be banking on three points to keep up the pressure on the leading pack.

 

Saturday 9th June 2018 at Rex Jackson Park

Helensburgh Thistles – 1 (Cuthbertson 45+1’)

Thirroul Thunder – 1 (Haines-Grose 52’)

 

Helensburgh: Matt WARDLE, Blake CHARMAN, Jaydn FALKINER, Ryan HOPE, Junyo OKAMOTO, Eamon VAN ZYL, Luke VAN ZYL, Kei MITANI, Bradley WATTS, Cody CUTHBERTSON, Ben WATTS

Substitutes: Ryan GRIMA, Reggae ROWLEY, Luke MILLER, Bradley BOARDMAN (CHARMAN), Ryan KENDRIGAN

 

Thirroul: Chris WEARING, Daniel BOND, Daniel ARTHUR, Tom GOODIER, Joshua HUTTON, Joel MUCCI, Ryan LATINI, Todd DAVIDSON, Lewis CLEMENTS, Nathan MUCCI, Corey HAINES-GROSE

Substitutes: Matthew KELLOND (CLEMENTS), Adam WARD, Marcus RUSBOURNE (LATINI), Simon WARD, Joshua BOND

 

Referee: S.BOZIC

Assistant Referees: G.CHARKER and J.CLARK

 

Report by Timothy Gibson, @timg123_ on Twitter

Library Photo