A first-half double on Saturday at Wetherall Park guided Fernhill FC to a spot in the Illawarra District League grand final, getting up 2-0 against Gerringong Breakers.
Kyle Del and Mitchell Turner scored the goals to give Fernhill a shot against Shellharbour FC for District League glory next weekend.
The Foxes started well as shots from Mitchell Turner and Daniel Djukic flew just wide inside the opening six minutes.
Ten minutes later, David Kotrc took aim from outside the box, but goalkeeper Joel Lockard caught it.
Despite the early bright football from the Foxes, Gerringong almost snatched the lead 19 minutes in.
A long ball fell for Joshua Hawker in the right of the box, however, he blasted it wide of the near post.
Fernhill took the lead just seconds later when Turner played an incisive ball over the top for Del, who nudged itbeyond an onrushing Lockard to score.
The side carried on with Jordan Hughes rolling one just outside the left post midway through the half.
They found their second goal in the 27th minute when Turner turned scorer to strike an accurate finish past Lockard.
The Foxes could have had another 11 minutes before halftime when Brendan Pattman lined one up from the edge of the box, Lockard batting it away.
Gerringong almost pulled one back with seven minutes to go as Jake Packham latched onto a ball over the top to go through one-on-one, but Koju Maruyama pulled off a top save to deny the attacker.
A quickfire double from Fernhill had guided the side to a comfortable two-goal lead at the break and 45 minutes away from the grand final.
Packham got off another shot early in the second half, racing in behind down the right and seeing his effort saved by Maruyama.
After this, the game adopted a slower tone, with the Breakers pushing numbers forward while Fernhill sought to soak up the pressure and hit their opponents on the break.
The Foxes had a lot of success counter-attacking, with the first chance coming in the 58th minute.
Del went in for his second, aiming up a narrow-angled shot from the right of the box that Lockard repelled with a low save.
Turner set off on a mazy run through the middle of the pitch six minutes later, slipping in Djukic, whose powerless effort didn’t test Lockard.
In the 75th minute, the lively Turner was involved again, shifting inside from the left and unleashing a well-struck effort that Lockard was equal to.
Four minutes later, Del’s left-sided cross almost looped into the goal, the ball bouncing off the right post and into Lockard’s arms.
Fernhill should have had a third with four minutes to play when Djukic, facing a keeperless goal, missed the target altogether.
It didn’t matter in the end, as the Foxes secured their place in the grand final for next Saturday at WIN Stadium.
Report by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_
Photo courtesy of Graham Brown
