Port Kembla continued their impressive run of results by securing an extra time win over Kemblawarra Fury to reach their first Grand Final since 2013. Fury who have been blighted by injuries for months were now without Alvin Ceccoli, Brenton Rhodes and Kazuto Kushida while Port’s midfield maestro Ben Zucco was absent due to suspension.

 

Port Kembla had the best opportunities of the opening 20 minutes. Chris Smith had a close-range header that went just wide and Matt Floro’s turn and hit was well saved by Daniel Arcaba.

 

Approaching the half-hour mark, Fury won a free kick in the corner of the attacking third. Shane Murray dinked a ball in for Matthew McNab, he touched it back to Murray who curled the ball inside the far post from the side of the box - a wonderful goal from the midfield magician.

 

Fury nearly doubled their advantage five minutes before the break when Murray’s corner found Steven Wright who scuffed his shot out for a goal kick. Fury maintained their one-goal advantage as the sides went into the halftime break.

 

Within two minutes of the restart Fury were down to ten men after Lachlan O’Connor saw red for a last man challenge on Sandy Lowcock. Matt Floro struck the resulting free-kick that forced Arcaba into a strong save to his left.

 

With the man advantage, Port began to commit more bodies forward in an effort to draw level. In the space of five minutes, they had two shots go within centimetres of being a goal. Cameron Morgan had a header cleared off the line by Fabian Iacovelli before Chris Smith picked out the underside of the bar and somehow the ball stayed out.

 

On the hour mark, Lowcock fashioned an excellent chance when he cut in from the right before beating Wright but his effort hit the base of the post and went out for a goal kick. In the next passage of play, the ball was bumbling around in the Fury box before Floro managed to get a shot away but Wright, perhaps inadvertently managed to block the ball out for a corner.

 

The relentless pressure finally took its toll in the 66th minute when Kyle Hazebroek swung in a corner which found the head of Matt Werasko who thumped the ball into the bottom right corner. The scores were level and the momentum was with Noel Spencer’s side.

 

In the 71st minute, Fury had a rare foray into the Port Kembla half, Sam Munro linked up with McNab who hesitated on the edge of the area before striking the ball to the left of the goal.

 

Port had a plethora of chances in the final stages of the match to finish off Fury but the heroics of Arcaba kept his side in with a puncher’s chance. In the 81st minute he denied Floro from the edge of the area and in the 87th minute he produced an acrobatic save to keep out Hazebroek’s long-range strike.

 

The match spilt into extra time and by this stage, the cards were all in Port Kembla’s favour. The man advantage and Steven Wright, who was Fury’s only recognised centreback was on his way to hospital after being forced off due to illness meaning Sam Matthews, who started the game at centre-forward was now lined up at centre-half.

 

The match took another crazy turn eight minutes into extra time as Fury were reduced to nine with Munro seeing yellow for a second time. In the same stoppage, Port substitute William Mobbs was sent from the field after an altercation with Shane Murray which meant the sides would play out they match nine on 10.

 

In the second period of extra time, Port forced chance after chance. Youngster Jayden Salucci lobbed a shot onto the roof of the net, Morgan had another header cleared off the line and a minute later he had another shot parried into no man’s land but a Port player wasn’t able to fumble the ball home.

 

With 113 minutes on the clock Fury finally gave way. A Fury defender attempted to head the ball clear but it went backwards and left Arcaba stranded as Salucci ran through and headed over the goalkeeper and into an empty net. The opportunistic goal was the youngster’s first in the top grade.

 

Fury were not going to die wondering and former George Naylor Medalist Robbie Shields, who recently entered the fray created two good chances in the dying embers of extra time. In the 115th minute he jolted towards the box and his whizzed strike was well saved by Brad Jardine who pushed the ball out for a corner. In the 118th minute, the diminutive forward mishit a volley off a corner but it was intercepted en route for the bottom left corner.

 

Port Kembla managed to run down the clock and the sound of the full-time whistle cued elation for their faithful supporters. Spencer credited the win to his team’s “tremendous character” and he believes the momentum that saw Port scrape into the finals and secure big wins in the previous two rounds will put them in good stead for their Grand Final match up with Bulli - a replay of the 2013 Grand Final which Port won 3-1.

 

As for Kemblawarra, their roller-coaster season has finally run its course. Fury boss, Luke McGuire spoke with admiration of his side when reflecting on their season, “I just said to the boys before, their attitude and determination has been fantastic… I've got to be proud of everything they have given me this year.”

 

Click this link to listen to the post match interviews - https://soundcloud.com/dylanarvela/post-match-interviews-after-port-secure-grand-final-birth-at-furys-expense

 

Kemblawarra Fury - 1 (Murray 28’)

Port Kembla - 2 (Werakso 66’, Salucci 113’)

Sunday the 17th of September at Memorial Park

 

Kemblawarra Fury - Daniel Arcaba, Steven Wright, David Hartas, Fabian Iacovelli, Jordan Nikolovski, Shane Murray, Sam Munro, Lachlan O’Connor, Carter Madden and Matthew McNab - Subs - Daniel Carella, Jason Zufic, Cody Waller, Robbie Shields and David Zufic

 

Port Kembla - Brad Jardine, Brooklan Frkovic, Kyle Hazebroek, Matt Werakso, Carlo Stella, Kyogi Mori, Cameron Morgan, Matt Floro, Chris Smith, Joey Lavalle and Sandy Lowcock - Subs - William Mobbs, Bailey Fleming, Justin Cario, Jayden Salucci and Daniel Farina

 

Referee - Nathan Wotton

 

Assistant Referees - Brad Moreira and Jarrod Thompson

 

4th Official - Andrew Naylor

 

Report by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela

Photo courtesy of Kiah Hufton