Two goals apiece for Robbie Shields and Joe Crowley gave Dapto Dandaloo Fury the upperhand against a spirited Tarrawanna on Saturday. The Fury’s 4-1 win at Tarrawanna Oval sees them regain the lead in the Premier League ladder and go three points clear of Bulli, who suffered a surprise defeat at South Coast United on Sunday.

The Blueys got off to a dream start, taking the lead in the fourth minute through Ilija Prenzoski and although they went in at half time 2-1 down, they were left to rue a series of missed chances early in the second half, when they piled the pressure on the Fury defence, but just could not convert any of the chances created.

At the other end, the Fury were ruthless, with Shields giving a masterclass in how to play up front at this level. His work rate was second to none, his distribution always effective, and his finishing touch lethal.

For the first 44 minutes, there was little to separate two teams that began the day in second and third spots on the ladder.

Minutes after Darren Stone had set up Prenzoski to give Tarrawanna the lead, the visitors had equalised when Shields converted a penalty he had earned when his powerful right foot shot struck a Blueys defender in the arm.

It was Shields who was always in the thick of the action when the Fury were on the ball. Shortly after his equaliser, he set up Sam Munro with a sweet ball through the Blueys defence, though keeper Christian Pretto got to the ball first. And twice he was involved when the ball flew across the face of the goal with nobody on hand to put the final touch.

So it was no surprise when, just before the break, he turned on the edge of the area and fed the ball through to Crowley, who fired the ball into the back of the net, low to Pretto’s left.

The Fury deserved their half time lead. Overall possession in the first 45 minutes was about equal, but Tarrawanna were constantly let down by the key ball into the final third, and it was significant that their target man, 18-goal striker Wandi Jajaw, barely had a touch of the ball in the first half.

The first ten minutes of the second half were crucial to the final outcome of this game, though.

The Blueys came out all guns blazing and launched attack after attack on the Fury goal. Rick Goodchild saw his shot cleared for a corner by Lachlan O’Connor; Tor Preece had his header tipped away for another corner; Prenzoski whipped in a cross that was also flicked over the bar for a third corner in as many minutes; and Sam Chapple’s shot was goal-bound before someone got their leg in the way to block it.

Two free kicks on the edge of the area gave Jajaw a chance to shine. He played the first one short to Goodchild whose shot was cleared off the line, and he went for goal with the second, but Mitchell Blowes was good enough in the Fury goal to push it out for another corner. But when Scott Muilwyk fired over from inside the area, the writing was on the wall for Tarrawanna.

Just before the hour mark Pretto was at full stretch to bring off a marvellous save from Alvin Ceccoli’s header. But he had little chance with Shields’ left foot shot minutes later, when the Fury striker picked up a loose ball inside the area after Cameron Morgan’s shot had been blocked.

Suddenly, the tide had turned and the Fury were at their best. Pretto was made to work hard to keep his team in it, saving first from Crowley and then tipping another Shields shot onto the upright and away for a corner, before blocking another Crowley effort at point blank range, after Shields had set up the chance with a clever scissors kick.

The Fury’s fourth goal was clearly coming, though they were somewhat lucky when a rebound took the ball sky high before it fell to Crowley, who was in the perfect spot to rifle the ball home for 4-1.

The Blueys rallied for the last few minutes, Grant Zanni coming close with a back header that was flicked onto the crossbar, but they ran out of time before they could hit a second consolation goal.

Blueys coach Luke McGuire took some positives from the game: “We knocked the ball about well, but they took their chances better than us. They’ve got four goals from seven chances, and we’ve got one from about as many chances. Unfortunately, a lot of decisions didn’t go our way, and that’s what lost us the game as well.”

Fury coach Noel Spencer was not available for comment after the match.

In other matches, Albion Park White Eagles downed Cringila Lions 3-0 courtesy of goals to Chris Smith (2) and Brian Montanari. Port Kembla kept pace with the top 5 following a hard fought 2-1 win over battling Bellambi. Second half goals to Matt Werakso and Jordan Hughes saw them go two up before Peter Richardson was credited with an own goal late on give the game an exciting finish, Wollongong United proved too good for Shell Cove following their 2-0 win with Moto Kinjo and Sangyu Park getting their goals. Woonona and Wollongong Olympic played each other twice in consecutive matches with Saturday's fixture finishing 1-1 with goals to Merxhushi (Woonona) and Schone (Olympic). Olympic went one better on Sunday beating Woonona 1-0.

On Sunday, Wollongong United eased past Bellambi 3-0 with goals to Nathan Jagelman, Klime Sekutkoski and Moto Kinjo whilst in a surprise result, the unpredictable South Coast United beat Bulli 3-0 with Liam Unicombe and Chris Valic scoring with Bulli manging to put another in the back of their own goal to round off a game they may sooner want  to forget.

- Story by Simon Duffin -

Photo Courtesy of fotsportz