KIAMA OUTCLASS SOUTH COAST UNITED IN SEASON OPENER

  The Kiama Quarriers Soccer Club played South Coast United in Round One of the Illawarra Soccer Association First Division.  The Quarriers had a very unusual day before running out winners 4 – 1.

Kiama went into the game at full strength and paraded all of their new signings for the first time in a competition match.  Mark Price and Brad Boardman started in the midfield with last years top goal scorer Jim Berry back from a short lived retirement also having his first run for the year after two training sessions during the week.   Another new signing, Noel Wurst, started off the bench.

The game started with a bang when Kiama opened the scoring in the first minute.  Luke Bedford got on the end of a cross with his head and put it onto a post before barging the ball over the line for a goal.  It was ugly but still on the scoreboard.

But the bangs just kept on coming after that and Kiama raced to a 4 – 0 lead after thirteen minutes of play.  United were shell-shocked and had no answer to the all out Quarriers attack. Omrod got the second quickly followed up by a Boardman header from close range.  Defender Dave Jovanov also got on the score sheet with the fourth goal from a free kick twenty-five metres out.   Jovanov claimed the goal was a result of a fantastic curling shot but from the sideline it looked remarkably like a mis-directed cross.  But we should give the boy the benefit of the doubt and class it as a great goal.

After thirteen minutes the Quarriers were leading 4 – 0, South Coast were gone and the game was as good as over as a spectacle.  But just when you least expect it controversy steps in and upsets everything.  This is what makes sport so interesting I suppose. Brad Boardman quickly went from hero to villain via a brain explosion on the fifteen-minute mark.  He got hit in a cheap shot tackle from an opponent and hit the deck like a bag of spuds.  But rather than simply point to the scoreboard and smile Boardman came up minus his brain and ran ten metres to even the score up with one of the worst tackles you would ever want to see on a soccer field.  He really gave the referee no option and he was marching his way off the field seconds later.

South Coast used this incident as a reason to start a fight back that was based on physical tactics and pay back.  They began to bustle the Quarriers and appeal to the referee for every minor infringement while at the same time handing out a fair bit of stick themselves.

More problems were in store for Kiama as goalkeeper Josh Tidswell stuck his hand up for a replacement after upsetting an old injury to his ankle.  The Quarriers sent on their new Youth Grade goalkeeper, sixteen year old James Terry, for his First Grade debut.  He was soon in action as the referee awarded South Coast a penalty for a fairly harmless looking tackle and his first task in First Grade was to pick the ball out of the net as the visitors pulled one back. 

It was time for the Quarriers to show how tough they were and the next ten minutes of the game were critical as South Coast threw everything they had at the home team looking for another goal.

The Quarriers raised themselves to the situation and after a fairly tough ten minute period settled down and played out the remainder of the game from a defensive position.  Goalkeeper Terry handled himself well in his penalty box and sweeper Mike Merriman marshalled his defence to snuff out any danger from South Coast who never looked up to the task.

  It was obvious what Brod Creighton, Kiama Coach, said at half time and the Quarriers came out in the second half with a slightly altered line-up.  Midfielder Dave Jovanov came into the centre of the park as a defender and Kiama prepared to batten down the hatches for the second half of the game. In reality they were throwing down the gauntlet to South Coast and saying “we got four, what are you going to do about it.”  Unfortunately for the visitors they didn’t have the answer and Kiama strolled through the second half content to defend their lead.

With about ten minutes left on the clock the Quarriers pushed a few men forward and looked more than likely to go even further ahead.  Ball player Luke Bedford in particular missed a couple of good chances to extend the lead when he stood on the ball in one instance and stumbled over it in another with striking partner Jim Berry completely un marked in the South Coast penalty box. The end result of 4 – 1 was a satisfactory result for Kiama but any thing could have happened if they had of retained a full eleven players on the park for the whole game.  They totally dominated South Coast in the period that Boardman was on the park and easily contained them for the remainder of the game.  

Best for Kiama were Merriman in the sweepers role, Jovanov in the midfield and Mick Gillespie who added a bit of steel to the defence. There was a great comment made by one of South Coast’s supporters in the grandstand towards the end of the game.  He said, and I quote, “If Kiama didn’t score those four goals in the first ten minutes, we would have won that game.”  Move over Rex Mossop, your title is being challenged .