Capalaba Through To FIrst FInal Since 2010
Capalaba 2 (Hirayama 81’, Smith 90+3) Eastern Suburbs 1 (Flavin 87’) HT 0-0 Played at John Fredricks Park For eighty minutes a draw looked inevitable but Capalaba produced the most important moment of their season when Ollie Smith scored in the third minute of time added on, confirming their first Cup Final since 2010, when they beat a desperately unlucky Eastern Suburbs 2-1 at John Fredricks Park on Thursday evening. A below average game came to life in the 81st minute when Ahamad Azzawi finally found a little space and laid the ball off perfectly for substitute Yuji Hirayama to smash the ball home across Tom Carroll. Easts immediately started knocking on the door and equalised seven minutes later through the boot of Killian Flavin who willed the ball into the net from ten yards out. It was nothing less than they deserved on the balance of play. WIth time up on the clock. and referee Matt Skinner poised to blow for extra time, the home faithful were sent into raptures on the verandah when Smith somehow found an extra metre through the middle of Michael Ryan and Matt Boyd before keeping his head and finishing calmly under intense pressure. And he deserved it because he was best for his side on the night, particularly in the second half when the Bulldogs played some less than memorable football. At fulltime, the Tigers were obviously disappointed with the result and with statistics in their favour in every important category, no-one could blame them. Chances were few and far between but they had the best of them, especially a great shot from Costa Psaros which slammed into the crossbar with Sam Chandler beaten, yet couldn’t force the ball home. The 2016 Canale Cup competition received something of a nonplussed response when details were released but tonight it was obvious both teams really wanted a result despite the surface at John Fredricks Park impacting on the game as a spectacle. Capalaba go through to the final against the winner of Mitchelton vs Ipswich Knights at Teralba Park, and they’ll surely be hoping for something of an upset in that semi-final. If they want to win the silverware, they need to be better whoever they come up against FBMedia Player Of The Match: CM Killian Flavin - Eastern Suburbs With the ball bobbling, bouncing and generally causing issues, Flavin mastered the middle of the park better than anyone. He deserved his goal and was instrumental in closing out the Bulldog’s highly rated midfield. Team line-ups: Capalaba: Chandler, Field, Roby, Fisher, Wemyss, Dunn, Coulson, Watt, Smith, Azzawi, Fellows. Subs: Basnett, Hirayama, Kai, Ray, Jones Mitchelton: Carroll, Barnett, Ryan, Boyd, Burgess, Stenhouse, Flavin, Cunha, Coyne, Amano, Psaros. Subs: Kamara, Kim, McMullen, Richards. Referee: Matt Skinner
