Thirroul Thunderbirds soar into NSW State Cup's final eight

The Thunderbirds women are one of four South Coast teams left in the state-wide Cup, which is open to junior and senior grades. The other local outfits that remain alive are the Balgownie under-14s boys, University U/16s girls and Shellharbour U/18s girls.

Thirroul booked their spot in the Cup quarter-finals in thrilling fashion on Sunday, edging out Miranda on penalties. In a see-sawing affair at Ian McLennan Park, the teams were locked at 1-1 at halftime, fulltime and then at the end of two halves of extra time, before the hosts prevailed 4-2 in a shootout.

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It was the second time in a row that the Women's Premier League outfit left it late to secure victory. Just two weeks earlier, Thirroul prevailed 3-2 over Rockdale when Leah Carlon found the back of the net in the 117^th minute.

"We're really proud, especially with the fact that we're the last Illawarra Premier League team left in the State Cup. It's definitely put a lot of confidence in the team into what we can achieve this season," Ryan said.

"It was a bit of a scrappy game (against Miranda) from both teams. But the effort that the girls put in to never give up was something that was exciting to watch and be part of. When we got through to extra time, we thought we might be able to snake a win like we did in the previous match, but this one had to go through to penalties, which all of the girls executed perfectly. And Shahne Hocking was great in goals as well.

"I think it's helped us that, in the Premier League, we've gone from interchange to substitutions, so a lot of the team is used to playing 90 minutes and it's helped us gain some match fitness, which has been the defining factor that's got us over the line in the State Cup games. We've had to play 120 minutes in both games.

"Since coming into the Premier League, we don't have unlimited interchange anymore, so we can only have five subs in three stoppages of play. But in the State Cup, we've been allowed unlimited interchanges. It means that we've been able to work on match fitness in the Premier League, with most of the girls playing 90 minutes per game."

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The Thunderbirds will now meet Sydney Inner West club Leichhardt Saints at Rudd Park in a Cup quarter-final on Sunday, June 18.

"That will be tough. I had a look at their last two results and they've won 1-0 in both of them, so they haven't had to go to extra time," Ryan said.

"We're going to have to try to stay pretty strict and compact to see if we can get it done within 90 minutes."

In the meantime, Thirroul's attention will now turn back to the inaugural Women's Premier League.

Football South Coast first floated the Women's PL concept to local clubs in December 2022, and it was given the green light just two months later.

The structure is similar to the men's premiership, with each participating club agreeing to field sides in first grade, second grade and youth grade. The Thunderbirds are one of six clubs taking part in the Women's PL, alongside Albion Park, University of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Bulli and Woonona.

"It's been an adjustment coming in, especially with the substitutions being changed. But we're finding that because we can have all three grades play at the same place every weekend, it's really helped the club morale," Ryan said.

"We've also been able to get a lot of the younger girls come up to get a starting spot in the first and second division as well. It's definitely given us more opportunities, especially the young girls coming through.

"I came up to the club five seasons ago. I think it has a really good club atmosphere between the men's and women, and it's pretty evenly supported which is good. The club is so welcoming, the girls have been fantastic and the quality of the league is insane. It's been great."

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