Warilla Wanderers were looking to move into third spot when they hosted Thirroul Thunder at King Mickey Park on Saturday in a bumper WCG Cranes Illawarra District League match and a goal courtesy of Martin Castelli saw the hosts take the lead going into the half-time break. But the Thunder would come out firing in the second half, drawing level shortly after kickoff thanks to a Nathan Mucci goal before taking the lead through Corey Haines-Grose. Warilla would level the match at 2-2 when Brenton Geribo equalized in the 61^st minute, but a brace from Matthew Kellond in the final half-hour would seal all three points for the visitors.

Since the 2013 season, this fixture has been regularly dominated by Warilla, with the Wanderers having won eight of the 12 league matches between the two sides, with the Thunder’s only two wins coming both in the 2015 season and it appeared that we could see more of the same when Warilla had the first real chance of the match in the 10^th minute when a bursting run from Jeremy Lopez gave him enough space to fire off a shot at the Thirroul goal, but his effort crept wide of the Thunder’s goalmouth.

With both sides taking their time to get into the match, the fixture finally saw a goal in the 28^th minute when the Wanderers were given a free-kick just outside of the box on the left-hand side of the field. Javier Ovando stepped up and executed a perfectly weighted pass into the direction of Martin Castelli, who managed to fire a direct header past the Thirroul defenders and into the net to give the hosts the lead.

With the visitors now a goal down, Thirroul had a great chance to level the match five minutes later when a curling free-kick from Corey Haines-Grose beat Warilla gloveman Adam Arnott on its way to the top right corner of the Warilla goal only to be denied by the post, Haines-Grose’s shot rebounding off the bar, keeping Thirroul behind.

Warilla had a great chance to double their advantage on the stroke of half-time when a scramble from a Wanderers corner saw the ball pushed out to Ben Ellul on the right side of the field. Ellul made a short run before whipping the ball back into the box, which was again pushed out by a resilient Thirroul defence, but the ball was pushed out only as far as Warilla’s Jesse French, who was in a great spot to convert, but his effort sailed to the left of the goal and ensured Warilla would only have a one goal lead going into the half-time break.

As the second-half kicked off, Thirroul had to come out firing and they almost instantly found a response, netting two minutes after kickoff when Matthew Kellond played a smart ball to an open Nathan Mucci who then fired off a powerful shot which flew into the net and levelled the scores.

Thirroul would pull ahead in the match shortly after, with the side scoring their second goal in the 53^rd minute after a Thunder corner rolled out to Corey Haines-Grose, who then proceeded to chip from distance, a move which saw the ball fly over most of the Warilla side in the box and a leaping Adam Arnott to find its’ way into the net and give the visitors the lead for the first time in the match.

With the Wanderers now behind, the side began to push up more to find an equalizing goal and they were rewarded for their efforts in the 61^st minute when the side was awarded another free-kick in a dangerous position just outside the Thunder box. This time it was Jesse French who stepped up and lobbed a great ball towards Brenton Geribo, who fired off a great header that shot its’ way past Thirroul shot-stopper Cooper Brindle and into the net to pull the scores to 2-2.

But Warilla fans could only celebrate momentarily as sixty seconds later the side would be behind once more, as Thirroul pulled ahead once more when Matthew Kellond broke through the Wanderers defence and fired a shot off at Adam Arnott. Arnott made a great diving save to stop the Thunder from scoring, but his save pushed the ball back out to Kellond who was following up his own shot. Kellond would make no mistake the second time around, firing past Arnott to give his side an instant response and the lead.

With Warilla again behind, the side continued to push up in search of an equalizer, and they were given a golden chance in the 69^th minute when the side was awarded a penalty for a tackle on Jesse French in the box from Thirroul’s Nathan Mucci. The task of converting the shot was given to substitute Adrian Montalbano, who fired his effort to the right of the Thirroul goal, only for his effort to be denied by a great diving save from Cooper Brindle to keep his side in front.

As the clock ticked down, Warilla continued to push in order to find a goal and this method backfired on them in the 88^th minute, when Corey Haines-Grose put through a fantastic ball to let Matthew Kellond loose on goal. Kellond would then make his way past a rushing Adam Arnott to give him a shot on an open goal, something which the Thirroul forward converted with ease to give his side a match-clinching goal and a hugely important 4-2 win.

Thirroul’s win sees the Thunder remain in third place in the District League standings but gives the side some breathing space from other playoff-chasing teams in Warilla and Balgownie. Thirroul’s next match will be against mid-table side Shell Cove at Thomas Gibson, as Shell Cove look to recover from a brutal 5-0 loss to Coniston.

For the Wanderers, the loss sees them overtaken by Helensburgh Thistle, who downed Unanderra Hearts 4-0 to move into fourth place. With Warilla now holding onto the final playoff spot by goal-difference alone, the side will be looking to next round’s clash against University at Kooloobong Oval as a way to push further up the ladder and lock down a playoff position.

Saturday 19 May 2018 at King Mickey Park.

Warilla Wanderers – 2 (Castelli 28’, Geribo 61’)

Thirroul Thunder FC – 4 (N. Mucci 47’, Haines-Grose 53’, Kellond 62’, 88’)

Warilla Wanderers: Adam ARNOTT, Mark MARINELLI, Drew SHAW, Martin CASTELLI, Jason GOLDSMITH, Brenton GERIBO, Ben ELLUL, Aden WADE, Jeremy LOPEZ, Javier OVANDO, Jesse FRENCH

Subs: Adrian MONTALBANO (OVANDO 51’), Adam WHITE (WADE 67’), Daniel ATKINS (MARINELLI 82’), Jordan NOLAN

Thirroul Thunder FC: Cooper BRINDLE, Tom GOODIER, Daniel ARTHUR, Nick BEETEN, Joshua HUTTON, Ashley RYAN, Ryan LATINI, Todd DAVIDSON, Matthew KELLOND, Nathan MUCCI, Corey HAINES-GROSE

Subs: Joel MUCCI (N. MUCCI 75’), Robert GYNGELL, Joshua BOND, Simon WARD, Marcus RUSBOURNE (LATINI 84’)

Referee – Reece EDWARDS

Assistant Referees – Atesh MAHARAJ and Demi GODDARD

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

File Photo: Pedro Garcia