SHOALHAVEN United have set up a date with Culburra in next week’s preliminary final after triumphing over Shoalhaven Heads in an epic game of football at Ison Park on Sunday.
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With the scores locked up at 1-all after 90 minutes and when extra time was not able to determine a winner, the dreaded penalty shootout was needed for United to advance.
The first half was a real arm wrestle, with both side’s playing a very strong defensive game, which meant there were limited attacking opportunities.
Both side’s certainly had their chances in the first 45 minutes, but neither could have been too disheartened by the nil-all scoreline at the break.
It wasn’t until 20 minutes into the second half that either side was able to trouble the scorers, when United finally drew the first blood.
Taite Arney showed great footwork to weave his way past two Heads defenders, giving him a one-on-one shot with the keeper and he made no mistake in finding the back of the net.
Arney continued to trouble the Heads defence and had another good shot with 15 minutes remaining, but the score stayed at 1-nil.
For a while it looked like one goal might be enough to see United through in regulation time, but with time running out, Heads showed they still had some tricks up their sleeve.
The vocal Heads crowd was well and truly brought to life when Conor Edenden scored the long-awaited equaliser from a header, with just five minutes remaining.
In the dying minutes of regular time, United thought they had snatched a late winner when a shot of Kris Brant went ever so close to going in, but it was ruled to have not made it over the line.
When two halves of extra time went brought neither side any closer to breaking the deadlock, the game was left hanging on a penalty shootout.
Interestingly, it was the second shootout for the Heads club for the day, with their reserve grade winning through on penalties in their game against Huskisson.
But unfortunately for Heads, they were unable to repeat the heroics of their lower grade counterparts.
They were on the back foot right from the beginning when United keeper James Spackman came up with a save on the very first attempt, from which they never recovered.
While Heads went on to convert from their next four attempts, United gave them no chance of a reprieve, with all five of their penalty takers managing to find the back of the net.
The result signals the end of the road for Heads for 2014, while United will live to fight another day.
United will face Culburra in next week’s preliminary final, where both will be vying for the chance to take on Manyana in the grand final showdown.
