Bellambi lost their chance at the 2018 WCG Cranes Illawarra District League title after the Rosellas went down 1-0 to Thirroul Thunder on the final matchday in a tight match at Thomas Gibson Park. A 93^rd minute free-kick from Corey Haines-Grose sealed the win for the hosts and hand the title to Coniston.

Bellambi picked up all three points when these two sides last faced in round 12 - with the Rosellas running out 2-0 winners at Elizabeth Park - and Bellambi needed a similar result heading into the final round but it was the Thunder who had the first real chance of the match in the second minute, with Lewis Clements getting hold of the ball on the edge of the box and firing off a powerful effort towards the bottom right corner of the Bellambi goal. But Clement’s effort was denied by a great diving stop from Bellambi shot-stopper Nathan Campbell, who collected the effort and stopped Thirroul from making a kick-start to the match.

The Rosellas had their first chance of the match two minutes later when Nathan Thompson fired an effort from outside the box towards the Thunder goal after the ball was pushed out from a Bellambi corner. But Thompson’s effort failed to trouble keeper Mitchell Cooper, sailing just to the right of the goal.

Thirroul top scorer Corey Haines-Grose attempted to add to his collection of goals for the season in the 11^th minute, when the Thunder attacker took a curling free-kick that beat the Bellambi wall but not a diving Nathan Campbell, who was called into action to stop Thirroul from taking the lead once again and stopped Haines-Grose’s effort by pushing it away out of the box.

Thirroul had another chance to storm into the lead in the 33^rd minute after a cross from Nathan Mucci found Ryan Latini near the left post, but Latini was unable to direct his effort goal wards, the header just nodding wide of the left post.

Bellambi had a great chance of their own to take the lead on the stroke of half-time, with a short cross from Ilija Prenzoski finding the head of Matt Richardson on the far post. But Richardson also nodded his effort wide of the goal, sailing past the goalmouth and going out just to the left of the goal.

Knowing that a goal could potentially push them into first on the ladder, Bellambi came out swinging in the second-half, and the side had a solid chance to take the momentum of the match in the 52^nd minute when Chris Cevenini fired off an effort from distance. Cevenini’s shot was only denied by a great piece of keeping from Thirroul custodian Mitchell Cooper, who managed to leap up and get a hand to Cevenini’s effort, tipping it over the bar and keeping the score deadlocked at 0-0.

While Bellambi attempted to push on top, the Thunder remained resolute at the back and restricted Bellambi’s chances to efforts outside the box, with Matt Richardson coming close to scoring a wonderful long-range effort in the 62^nd minute after he took an attempt from range, but his effort was just pushing past the right post, failing to call Thirroul’s Mitchell Cooper into action.

The Thunder had a golden chance of their own seven minutes later when some great linkup play between Nathan Mucci and Corey Haines-Grose down the right hand side of the field allowed Haines-Grose to fire off an effort directed at the left corner of the Bellambi goal. But once again Thirroul were denied thanks to a stellar save from Nathan Campbell, producing a diving effort to push the ball away from the Rosellas goal and keep the title dream running.

With time beginning to run out for Bellambi, the side began to push into attacking positions more and more but found themselves unable to trouble the keeper due to Thirroul’s defence sitting back and soaking up pressure. Bellambi’s Boden Allport had a chance to write himself into the pages of Bellambi history in the 87^th minute when he fired off an effort at goal after the ball dropped at his feet, but his aim was just a little off, flying wide of the goal.

With Bellambi’s title aspirations quickly evaporating, Thirroul would manage to sneak away with the victory in the third minute of stoppage time. The Thunder – who had been utilizing the counter-attack strategy through substitute Tom Goodier to a solid effect – found themselves with a free-kick on the edge of the box after Goodier was brought down by Nathan Thompson. Corey Haines-Grose, who had already troubled Bellambi keeper Nathan Campbell with a dangerous free-kick in the first half, stepped up again and fired off an effort towards the left-hand side of the goal. But this time, Campbell was unable to deny the shot, Haines-Grose’s effort hitting the back of the net and securing the win for Thirroul with the last kick of the match, a tight 1-0 result for the hosts.

The result meant that Bellambi could not challenge Coniston for the District League title, with the side finishing in 2^nd place with 54 points. However, with Coniston also claiming a 3-2 win over Helensburgh Thistle on the final day, the loss to the Thunder did not mean anything to the final ladder in the end. Bellambi now take on third-placed Warilla Wanderers – who ended their season with a resounding 8-0 win over Shell Cove - on September 1^st in the Qualifying Final for the chance to face Coniston in the Major Semi-Final.

For Thirroul, the win sees them move level on points with Helensburgh, but their goal difference means the Thunder finish the season in fifth place with 40 points to their name. Thirroul now need to take on the Thistle in the Elimination Final on September 1^st with the Thistle having the home advantage. While Helensburgh went down to Coniston 3-2, Thirroul will be hoping their win over Bellambi will help them come into the finals as a team to watch and potentially cause an upset or two.

Saturday 25 August 2018 at Thomas Gibson Park.

Thirroul Thunder FC – 1 (Haines-Grose 93’)

Bellambi – 0

Thirroul Thunder FC: Mitchell COOPER, Daniel BOND, Daniel ARTHUR, Cooper BRINDLE, Cameron LOGAN, Angus NICOL, Ryan LATINI, Todd DAVIDSON, Lewis CLEMENTS, Nathan MUCCI, Corey HAINES-GROSE

Subs: Joshua HUTTON (NICOL 65’), Bradley STRUDWICK (LATINI 63’), Tom GOODIER (CLEMENTS 79’), Joshua BOND, Jarrod WALTER

Bellambi: Nathan CAMPBELL, Sean POULTON, Michael ROGERSON, Nathan THOMPSON, Matt RICHARDSON, Mattias PASSLACK, Nicholas MORGAN, Tim O’BRIEN, Scott MARTIN, Ilija PRENZOSKI, Christian CEVENINI

Subs: Boden ALLPORT (MORGAN 17’), Matt WALLACE, Ryu AMINAKA (PRENZOSKI 71’), Jack DUGAN

Referee – Caleb BLANCH

Assistant Referees – Damien DENNELLY and Anna PHIPPS

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Photos courtesy of Noel Wynn