Shoalhaven Football
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Culburra 9
St Georges Basin 1
CULBURRA has kicked off their 2014 Shoalhaven Football competition with a bang following a 9-1 win over St Georges Basin on Saturday.
The 2-nil score at the end of the first half suggested a close match at St Georges Basin Sporting Complex, however Culburra had plenty of chances, they were just unable to find the back of the net.
But Basin did not make it easy for them, playing a fair first half to restrict Culburra to just two goals.
The first goal of the match came 15 minutes in, after good lead-up work and a cross by Keith Merrivale found Kieran Witt, who executed a brilliant header which flew past the Basin goalkeeper.
Another goal to Witt had Culburra up 2-nil at the break.
Basin bit back early in the second half and caught Culburra off guard to claim their first and only goal of the match.
“And then the floodgates opened after that,” said Gauci.
Kasey Kulsar placed an impressive kick 35 yards out from goal to have the ball rocket past the goalkeeper to score.
Goals to Witt, Dale Blundell, Steve Gray, Robert Hill and Mitch Blundell followed.
Mitch Blundell is returning from injury this season and backed up from playing in second grade to score two goals in first and take Culburra’s total to nine goals.
Culburra coach Tony Gauci was pleased with how his team played and said it was a good first hit-up for the year.
“It was a good performance all round. The field was a bit heavy but we still managed to kick it round all right,” he said.
Basin coach Scott Aldridge said he was happy with how his team played in the first 60 minutes, but has no answer for the last 30 minutes.
“I said that we needed to score first in the second half to have any chance,” he said.
“But after we scored the boys dropped their heads and went in to their shell, letting Culburra totally dominate them, resulting in Culburra getting seven goals in 30 minutes.”
Culburra is without star strikers Corey Ryan and Jack Miller for the first few games, but Gauci said he was impressed with the good team effort from all players.
“Keiran Witt was a standout with a hat-trick of goals, but there is a new Irish player, Burra O’Connell, who played really well for his first game with the club,” he said.
“We [Culburra Football Club] scored 21 goals yesterday, so it was a pretty good effort from the club.”
Gauci thanked Matt Cooper, Adam Parsons and Lindsay Higgins for their coaching assistance in the lower grades.
For Basin, Aldridge and Dane Mcginn worked hard, and young Brandon Labb had an outstanding game in goals.
Culburra will have a home game next week against Shoalhaven United, in what will be a rematch of the 2013 grand final.
Basin will face Shoalhaven Heads at Vic Zealand Oval.