The Tacking Point Tavern Port United Premier League reserve grade suffered a 2-1 loss to the Taree Wildcats on Saturday in the Preliminary Final. An unfortunate own goal with just 10 minutes remaining ended up being the difference between the sides and saw the season come to an end for the defending champions.
United started sluggishly and were having trouble containing the Taree left and right wide attacks as they had the early chances. Jack McDonald succumbed to a recurring knee injury early and had to be replaced by Simon Filipek. The sustained Taree pressure brought about the first goal when a break down the left side saw the ball delivered into the box for a smart finish.
The Port outfit’s play was nowhere near the fluency of the previous week, when they destroyed Wallis Lake 4-0, and they struggled to build any sustained pressure on the Taree goal. But shortly before half-time they got back into the game when Andy Collins delivered a perfect diagonal ball in behind the defence for Adam Woonton to swoop onto and hit a strong shot across the keeper to make the score 1-1.
The second half was a much better performance from United who, from the outset, controlled much of the game and had the majority of chances, going close on several occasions, shooting just high or wide, or being denied by the Wildcats keeper. However, late in the game, a high Wildcats cross was misjudged and deflected into the goal.
United stepped up the pressure for the final 10 minutes, but try as they might, they couldn’t get the equaliser as Taree just hung on to progress to next week’s Grand Final against Macleay Valley Rangers, which will be played in Forster.
