Helensburgh pick up huge three points in IPL finals race against Tarrawanna

The Thistle went behind in the first half thanks to a stunner from Blueys striker Mitchell Brooker, but a first half penalty from Josh O'Hanlon and a late winner from Charlie Jones saw them pick up a 2-1 win in round 15 at Tarrawanna Oval.

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The victory sees Helensburgh just three points behind the finals spots whilst for Tarrawanna, they will have a chance to make amends the next day against Corrimal on Sunday, June 23 in their round 10 catch up game.

Helensburgh coach Paul Michlmayr said that despite not mentioning the finals ramifications prior to the game, the team knew just how big a win would be.

"I've tried not to speak about it too much, but we knew how important it was," Michlmayr said.

"Especially with Cringila dropping points last night, we knew that three points was extremely valuable for us just to stay in touch with the five. If any of the other teams slip up, we need to be there to take advantage.

"We changed our formation up a little bit to try and give ourselves a bit more defensive shape. We looked a bit lost in the first 15 minutes, but once we got the ball in dangerous positions we looked dangerous.

"We brought in a few new players in the squad. Josh [O'Hanlon] and Kade [Kinsella] played together for the first time today, so hopefully we can build on that."

The Thistle coach said he was extremely happy with his side's resolve after going behind.

"We fell behind early and we probably deserved that," he said.

"We went in at half time and addressed a few things. I thought we had the better of the chances in the second half. Obviously there was a lot of long balls in these conditions, so that made it a bit of a slug fest."

Michlmayr added that the impact of his second half substitutions was no coincidence.

"Both subs (Charlie Jones and Benjamin Watts) made an instant impact today, which is really pleasing," he added

"I looked at my bench today and I looked at dangerous, effective players coming off the bench. That's the first time I've had that this year.

"So I'm looking forward to having a bigger squad as that can make a big difference."

It was wet and muddy conditions that the players had to deal with on Saturday, June 22.

Tarrawanna's no.9 Brooker was in the thick of the action early. He first missed but just moments later he made up for it.

Brooker unleashed from distance and gave Helensburgh goalkeeper Luke Morgan no chance to give the Blueys an early 1-0 lead.

From there Tarrawanna had the majority of the ball. So the fact that they conceded a penalty to give Helensburgh a lifeline back into the game would not have pleased coach Jason Wenig one bit.

Thistle attacker O'Hanlon made no mistake from the spot, slotting the ball into the bottom right corner.

The equaliser gave Helensburgh plenty of confidence.

However it was Tarrawanna's winger Daniel Carella who went closest next, forcing a great save from Morgan via a curling shot that looked certain to creep into the far post.

The final chance of the half fell to Burgh's Kinsella, who really should have scored from just a few yards.

Both teams had reason to believe they could leave Tarrawanna Oval with all three points.

The first chance of the second 45 was via Kinsella, who blasted a shot right into Jackson Cracknell's arms in the Tarra goal. Then up the other end, Matias Toro Suazo did the exact same straight to Morgan.

Inspired substitutions from Michlmayr saw the visitors leave with all three points. An initial shot from Benjamin Watts was saved by Cracknell but only into the path of fellow sub Jones, who smashed the ball home from close range.

In the end Helensburgh hung on amidst a barrage of attack from Tarrawanna, but held on for the 2-1 win.

Corrimal picked up a 1-1 draw with Cringila on Friday evening, whilst on Saturday, Wollongong United defeated Shellharbour 3-1, Olympic beat Port Kembla 3-0, Albion Park knocked off Bulli 2-0, and South Coast United pulled off a shock 3-2 win against leaders Coniston.

Tarrawanna and Corrimal play their catch up game on Sunday, 2:30pm at Tarrawanna Oval.