Saturday night saw the much anticipated men’s A grade soccer final take place between Atlas and Sandfire Bulls.
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With the Bulls beating Atlas for the first time in the major semi final they went into the game with a lot of confidence.
Hurricane-like wind made winning the toss an important job for Atlas captain Will Cook who elected to go with the wind.
With star player Dean Kelley forced into early retirement with knee issues it was up to Andrew Frahm to lead the line of attack for Atlas.
He stepped up within the first few minutes of play and slotted an early goal to give the boys some confidence.
From here the crowd came into their own and were at their vocal best. As expected the game was physical with both teams giving all they had.
Julian Pang was first to see a yellow but did well to not be sent off. Atlas scored a second goal in the first half to go into the break leading 2-0.
Bulls defence held firm in the second half and slotted a goal after Rory Page got his head to a well worked free kick.
Atlas goalkeeper Glen Smith pulled out some miraculous saves from the Bulls attackers as they searched for an equaliser.
It proved to be elusive as Billy Orsag set up Frahm for another goal to make it a 3-1 game and really take the wind out of the Bulls spirited comeback.
‘Playing with the best back line and holding midfielder in the league gives us attacking players the confidence to go out there and play our natural game and be a bit daring with some of the passes we do. This time it managed to pay off for us,” Orsag said.
If both teams keep hold of their core players for the next few years this rivalry could become an annual fixture come grand final day.
Meanwhile Concordia took home the win in the nail-biting men’s B grade final against Parkside.
“It was 4-4 at full time, then 6-6 at the end of extra time, then it went to penalties and we won 3-4,” Concordia coach Brendan Voss said.
“I think it was experience for us more than anything, we have a few veterans in our team and they have played for a long time – they definitely dragged us over the line.”
