Port Kembla vs Thirroul
Sunday 12th June, 2005
Gibson Park, Thirroul

Thirroul 24 (Aaron Beath (2), Mark Sheppard, Brett Pincham Tries; Aaron Beath (4) Goals) Defeated Port Kembla 18 (Troy Fleming, Juita Suka, Stuart Phillpott Tries; Mark Simon (3) Goals)

A now familiar titanic battle between these two clubs highlighted an enthralling day of football at Gibson Park. The game was played at a cracking pace throughout and was undoubtedly one of the most physical games of the season while being played with great spirit by both teams.

Port opened the scoring inside the first minute through a Mark Simon penalty goal after The Butchers were penalised for an infringement in the ruck. Five minutes had elapsed when Stuart Phillpott chipped in goal, forcing Thirroul to restart play from their goal line. Port's pressure released when Michael Cross knocked on from the drop out handing over possession to Thirroul on the halfway line via a scrum.

Perhaps the most comical part of the match occurred after nine minutes had run off the clock. Port were awarded a penalty half a metre in from touch and Craig Simon took the kick for line. Conscious of his closeness to the line, Simon tapped the ball too carefully, the pill rolling five metres from him down the sideline before Thirroul knocked it into touch forcing a scrum.

The comedy didn't seem to affect The Blacks, crossing a minute later when Matt Michalowski, starting at fullback in the absence of Jason Sullivan, kicked and somehow regathered. He managed to pass to Lulia Lulia who got a ball away under pressure from two Thirroul defenders to find Troy Fleming on his outside, the diminutive winger diving over for his second try in as many first grade games.

Under horrendous heckling from the Thirroul hill crowd, Mark Simon's conversion attempt hit the upright to leave Port ahead by six.

Four minutes after the restart Andrew Hart made his debut for The Butchers. His first touch of the ball saw him off0load superbly for a flying Mark Sheppard. Sheppard looked certain to score only to have the ball stripped in a one on one tackle by Lincoln Hutchison on the Port goal line.

Thirroul regained the ball two minutes later and a Beath grubber was run dead by Fleming to force a drop out. In what was a repeat of Thirroul's previous drop out, Joel Attenborough knocked on from the drop out on the half way line to hand over possession to The Blacks outfit.

With 17 left on the clock, a Beath mini bomb to his outside backs was regathered by Thirroul. Referee Marcus Jennett initially ruled six more tackles, but then found that the ball was knocked forward by the home team.

Thirroul opened their account eleven before half time when a Port scrum win went horribly wrong. A loose pass went past Michalowski who was unable to recover. Beath toed the ball through and dived on it to score Thirroul's first. Kicking in front of the travelling Port crowd, Beath's conversion attempt was heckled wide and Port held a two point lead with ten to go in the half.

Three minutes passed when Aaron Beath again troubled the Port Kembla defence. Running the ball on the fifth tackle, Beath proved too strong, breaking the line and then taking two defenders with him as he planted the ball in close proximity to the posts. Beath's conversion gave him all of Thirroul's ten points in their 10-6 lead over Port.

The half closed as it opened with Thirroul penalised inside the last minute. Mark Simon potted the penalty goal for Port to go into the break down by two points.

In many ways, the first half resembled Port's first half against Dapto the previous week. It was an arm wrestle between two teams in good form, aware that the result would be important in the make up of the end of year results.

The second half opened with some good lead up work by Port resulting in a break by backrower Josh Edwards. Edwards got to Thirroul's twenty before passing inside to a trailing Butcher's defender. Two minutes later, Luke Watts broke the line to put Port in good field position. Mark Simon kicked on the fifth but in the process of regathering knocked on.

Port worked the ball out from their line two minutes later and Stuart Phillpott went on a weaving run through the middle of the Thirroul defence. He passed to Craig Simon thirty out fro their own line, the captain coach making it to the Butcher's twenty before being pulled down from behind. With Thirroul players still getting back in their line, the ball was spread wide, giving Juita Suka enough room to cross out wide. Mark Simon's conversion fel short, but Port had regained the lead at 12-10.

Shortly after the kick off, Thirroul knocked on in front of their own posts handing Port Kembla great field position to attack the Butcher's line. Mark Simon ran at the line on the second tackle and looked likely to score, only to have the ball knocked from his grasp as he went to plant it over the line.

In the 51st minute, Michael Cross was penalised for his second high shot of the game after Jennett had originally ruled the tackle to be around the shoulders. Beath was presented with a gift two points but his kick from in front missed the mark. Two minutes later the Thirroul playmaker made up for his mistake when Thirroul were given another penalty in a similar position, this time for a Port ruck infringement. After 53 minutes of play, scores were again level.

In the 17th minute of the second half, staunch Black's defence forced Thirroul to drop the ball five out from their own line. On the first tackle, a miraculous ball from Matthew Michalowski on his way down in a tackle should have resulted in a try to Juita Suka, but the bulky winger could not take it cleanly, letting Thirroul off the hook for the time being.

Port looked to clear the ball from their own quarter at the halfway mark of the second period, only to see Beath in the thick of the action again, charging the ball down to regain possession. Fortunately for Port, The Butchers knocked forward on the third tackle.

The Black's took the advantage with 18 to go when Mark Simon grubbered perfectly for Stuart Phillpott to collect and score. Simon's conversion gave Port a six point advantage.

Thirroul threatened the Port line with 15 remaining, only to see Paul Crawford lose the ball when he tried to play it quickly on the fifth tackle of the set. Thirroul set up a tense final ten minutes when a Thirroul interchange player broke free of a Mark Simon tackle, forging his way to Port's line. Drawing near, the pass inside found Mark Sheppard who crossed under the posts for Aaron Beath to convert and scores were again locked.

Port lost the all important possession of the ball with eight remaining and were then caught in goal, handing Thirroul another set of tackles. A tiring Black's outfit then saw Thirroul replacement Brett Pincham put through a hole out wide, the interchange forward having enough to get to the line. Beath's failed conversion attempt gave Port some window of opportunity with five minutes remaining. Brett Pincham turned from hero to villain when he dropped the ball from the kick off, and Port fans were rousing in anticipation as Port packed for the scrum.

Any joy the Port fans had turned sour when the ball was dropped on the third tackle of the set.

With two minutes to go, man of the match Aaron Beath orchestrated a repeat set for Thirroul with a pin point kick from forty out. The kick looked to have too much juice and seemed to be going dead in goal. Somehow the ball pulled up just inside the line and Bunt was forced to make a play at the ball. He was caught in goal and the game was all but over.

Fittingly, it was Beath who ended the game with a penalty goal just before the bell. Port kicked off and got the ball into touch, but didn't have time to pack the scrum before the siren sounded, Thirroul running out winners 24-18, the same score Port beat Thirroul by in the first round match at Noel Mulligan Oval earlier in the year.

It was a fantastic match between two good sides. The win puts Thirroul in outright third place and in sight of second placed Wests (two point ahead), a team they face next week at Parrish Park.

For Thirroul, Aaron Beath was pivotal in the victory, always a handful for the Port defenders, his personal tally of 16 points evident of that. Jay Van Meegan was strong up front while Mark Sheppard worked tirelessly at the back of the pack. The victory was all the more ipressive for Thirroul considering Ben Couchman sat much of the match on the bench with an injury.

Port had strong contributions across the park. Stuart Phillpott led the backs with style, while Michael Cross was the rock that Port's pack was built on. Mark Simon came through his first match back tired, but in good shape. Josh Edwards had perhaps his finest game in a Black's jersey yet, and Troy Fleming backed up his debut first grade game with another good one.

With Dapto favourites to topple Helensburgh next week, Port will need to beat Corrimal at home to remain in a tie for fourth place.

PORT KEMBLA TEAM

Thirroul 24 (Brad Smith, Chris Timmins, Jarrod Costello, Julian David, Bryce Lowrie Tries; Brad Smith (3) Goals) Defeated Port Kembla 22 (Daniel Bunt (2), George Webb, Luke Roberts Tries; Daniel Bunt (4) Goals)

Port dropped out of the top four after a heartbreaking two point loss to a Thirroul team reliant on the basics better than the Blacks. As with most games this season, Port got off to a slow start. Soft tries to Thirroul in the 6th minute to Julian David and 17th minute to Brad Smith, together a Brad Smith conversion, gave Thirroul a 10-0 lead.

The Butchers extended the lead to 14 when a last tackle bomb bounced every which way before being taken by Chris Timmins. Daniel Bunt's kick off went dead giving The Blacks another shot at the Thirroul line. Any thoughts Port had of reducing the margin were temporarily put on hold when they turned over possession on the third tackle through a forward ball.

With five to go before half time, The Blacks finally got on the board when Daniel Bunt sliced through the Butchers defence, running thirty metres to score under the sticks. His conversion gave Thirroul a 14-6 lead heading into the break.

It took only two minutes for Port to narrow the gap when a fired up Luke Roberts crashed over for a four pointer. Bunt added the extras and Port were down by two. Hooker Michael Yatras earned good field position for Port when he invented a 40/20 with a fifty metre grubber for touch. However, the livewire rake was forced from the field after taking an elbow to the bicep which would also limit his time on the field for first grade.

From the ensuing scrum, Luke Roberts backed himself from the scrum and looked to have scored his second. In what seemed a late call from the touch judge, Roberts was ruled to have gone into touch before scoring, Thirroul let off the hook as a pass from Roberts may well have seen his winger in for the try.

With eleven gone in the half, Jarrod Costello shot from dummy half to crash over, extending Thirroul's lead to eight points. Three minutes expired when Bryce Lowrie chased a kick through. The ball evaded both George Webb and Oscar Ferreira, but found the waiting arms of Lowrie. Thirroul had built a 24-12 lead with 20 minutes remaining in the game.

It wasn't until the 56th minute of the game when Daniel Bunt fooled the defence with a dummy to race through and score his second. The conversion of his own try gave Bunt 14 points for the game and Port the sniff of an incredible comeback.

With nine to go, Port were ruled to have stripped the ball in a tackle, and Brad Smith potted a penalty goal which gave the home side an eight point buffer.

Port tried hard to cross the Thirroul line in the remaining five minutes but weren't able to do so until the final after the bell when a penalty saw Bunt run strong at the line, off-loading to George Webb who reached out and scored while held in the air. Bunt kept his perfect record in tact, but Port had fallen two shy of Thirroul's tally of 26 points.

Wests have leap-frogged Port into fourth spot, The Blacks sitting in outright fifth. For Port, Luke Roberts had a strong game and must be pressing for a recall to the top grade. Michael Yatras was instrumental in most of Port's play while he was on the field, while Nick Nikitaras made a welcome return to Port after being released by Kiama. Ivan Dungay played his first grade game for Port coming off the interchange bench and showed enough determination and effort to suggest he is another Port player of the future.

PORT KEMBLA TEAM

Port Kembla 8 (Aaron Griffiths, Jared Stewart Tries) DEFEATED Thirroul 5 (Hew Phillips Try, Pares McRae Field Goal)

The day at Gibson Park started with a classic arm wrestle between a high flying Port team and a rejuvenated Butchers outfit. Thirroul have benefitted with the completion of the SG Ball competition and their recent results pointed to a tough match up for Port.

Aaron Griffiths scored first for Port after eight minutes of play, his pace taking him straight through the defence to score. Ben Nagy's kick hit the post, the relatively easy conversion miss lucky to not prove costly at the end of the game.

Thirroul's reply came five from half time after Timma Zelisky was held up over the line. From the restart, a kick on the fifth tackle was fumbled by Port, allowing Hew Phillips to score from dummy half on the next tackle.

The two teams went to the break locked at one try a piece. Almost the entire second half was played from end to end, side to side. Anything Port threw at Thirroul was countered, Port doing the same to anything Thirroul threw at them.

With under five on the clock, both teams started to think field goal to break the deadlock. Port were first to have a crack at the extra point. Scot Crowther had an eternity to line up his shot which turned out a flop, the ball barely getting to the height of the cross bar.

Then with three and a half to go, Pares McRae snapped a quick shot on the fourth tackle. His forty metre attempt sailed directly between the uprights to give Thirroul a one point lead.

Port regained possession with two minutes to go. On the third tackle of the set, Port replacement Jared Stewart caught everyone napping when he took off from dummy half down the blind side, thirty out from Thirroul's line. The nippy winger had enough pace to get to the line, scoring in front of the Port fans who erupted when the referee awarded the four pointer. The conversion attempt by Aaron Griffiths missed the mark, but it was enough for Port to get out of gaol, winning with an unlikely league score of 8-5, sure to pay big on pick-the-score.

Port were lucky to escape, but the character of the side shone through in the end with their never say die attitude. Aaron Griffiths had a great game at half back, while Anthony Harris came to life in the second half after a quiet first half. Jon Koot was at his usual best, while big burly front rower Gavin Walsh menaced the Butchers defence and more than matched it with the much bigger Thirroul forwards.

Fouad Hijazi played strongly, coming from Port's Under 16's to fill in gaps left by the absence of Port players including Matt Nagy, Jamie Knick, Pas Gaudiosi, Joseph Gander, and Matthew Michalowski (first grade).

PORT KEMBLA TEAM