Wests Illawarra and Thirroul Thunder shared the spoils in a competitive cup tie that could have gone either way at Memorial Park on Sunday.

Chris Twigg scored one in each half for Wests, while two goals either side of the half time break from Jesse Bragg and Adam Ward saw the Thunder come from behind and take the lead, if only briefly.

Chris Twigg scored one in each half for Wests, while two goals either side of the half time break from Jesse Bragg and Adam Ward saw the Thunder come from behind and take the lead, if only briefly.

The result leaves Thirroul in pole position to advance to the next stages of the Fraternity Cup, but leaves the door open for Wests if they can overcome Balgownie in the last pool fixture next Thursday.

Wests dominated the opening exchanges, forcing two early corners, but Thirroul’s organised defence packed the area and allowed no way through.

It didn’t take long for Wests to realise that their most effective weapon could be the long ball for their pacey wingers and forwards to run onto. In the 5th minute, Daniel Boyd sent a ball through to Twigg, who reached the byline before cutting it back for Jordan Hughes, who forced a good save out of Chris Wearing in the Thirroul goal.

That was just a dress rehearsal for Wests’ next move, though, and in the 8th minute, they got it just right. Again it was Boyd who launched a long ball from his own half for Twigg who out-paced his marker and fired home for the opener.

It was totally against the run of play when Thirroul equalised just before the break. But it was poor marking at the back that let the Thunder in. Nathan Mucci was allowed far too much space, giving him time to pick out Bragg in the box, and the Thirroul forward made no mistake with virtually their first chance of the game in the 33rd minute.

The second half had barely begun when the Thunder found themselves in front.

This time the Wests back line froze as they looked for an offside flag that never appeared. Bragg was provider for Thirroul’s second, his back header landing at the feet of Ward, who fired a left foot shot past a helpless Kyle Booth.

To read Simon Duffin's full match report on the FSC website, click here.

Thirroul FC – 2 (Bragg 33’, Ward 37’)

Wests Illawarra FC – 2 (Twigg 8’, 48’)

Assists:  Thunder: Mucci, Bragg; Wests: Boyd, Puljic

Thirroul FC: Chis Wearing, Daniel Bond, Corey Haines-Grose, Tyler Snelgrove, Shayne Mulholland, Daniel Arthur, Adam Ward, James Townson, Jesse Bragg, Nathan Mucci, Jonathan de Lyall (subs: Joshua Bond, Todd Davidson, Scott Woods, Nelson Reid, James Hutton)

Wests Illawarra: Kyle Booth, Luke Melkerts, Jordan Hughes, Ben Sallabank, David Cuda, Godfrey Franco, Diego Andrade, Nick Kougious, Jake Bailey, Daniel Boyd, Chris Twigg (subs: Nathan Puljic, Nick Tortorella, Joe Youssif, Pal Burleigh, Jordan Timpano)

Sunday 26 February 2017

Memorial Park, Corrimal

Referee: Aden Crawley

Assistant Referees: Steve Bozic, Emajen Crawley