By David Atherton

Round 1 of the Fraternity Cup saw District League ever-presents Thirroul and Balgownie face off at Crehan Park. Who would've guessed it - Matthew Kellond lead the line for Thirroul and lead them to victory once more.

It may be the way teams predict Thirroul to play, but it is continuing to work this season with a straight-forward win over Balgownie.

Proceedings were very in favour of Thirroul from the outset, seeing a cross from Marcus Rusbourne find the head of Kellond on 6 yards to grab the opener after only 5 minutes.

Minutes later, Rusbourne took his chance at glory with an acrobatic volley from the left of the box directing a deep cross onto the crossbar, only to fly out for a goal kick.

Balgownie could have easily shot back into the game as Matthew Bubb read a backpass and nabbed possession, but Joshua Williams rushed out of his box to effect a crunching tackle and win back possession.

Thirroul were not letting off, and the quarter-hour mark had them up 2-0. A free kick from the Rangers was defended easily, Kellond picking up the ball on halfway and mazing past two defenders. The Thunder talisman cut back past a third in the box and fired a wonderful curling shot into the left side-netting from the edge of the area to double the lead.

To read the full match report by David Atherton for Football South Coast, click here.

Thirroul Thunder 2 - Kellond 5', 15'

Balgownie Rangers 1 - Vandareff 66'

Friday 17th February - Crehan Park

Thirroul Thunder - J. Williams, D. Bond, C. Haines-Grose, J. Hutton, S. Mulholland, D. Arthur, A. Ward, T. Davidson, M. Kellond, N. Mucci, M. Rusbourne

Subs - J. Bond, T. Snelgrove, J. Townson, D. De Lyall

Balgownie Rangers - A. Tambakis, M. McCoy, A. Caruso, L. Verey, A. Stefanelli, N. Morgan, M. Bubb, K. Dorahy, K. Duggan, J. Dummett, A. Vardareff

Subs - S. Dallas, K. Ingram, A. Stratilas, J. McCreay

Referee - J. Ruscica

Assistants - D. Jordan, D. Dennelly