The five moments that decided the 2023 District League grand final

Two weeks after they were embarrassed 7-2 by Harbour, the Foxes ensured there would be no repeat, racing out to a 3-0 lead. Shellharbour fought back to cut the deficit to 3-2 at halftime, before Fernhill held off a dogged opponent in the second stanza to secure the title victory.

Here were the five key moments that decided Saturday's game:

Caught in no man's land

Fernhill had started the more positive side, but their first goal came from nowhere when Shellharbour goalkeeper Blake Coad was made to pay for a moment of indecision.

A long Foxes ball flew in towards Coad, who was standing outside his box and under pressure from an opponent. Rather than either belting the ball out of play, or rolling back to pick up the ball inside his box, the gloveman halfheartedly tried to clear it away.

Soon after, Kyle Del set up Mitch Turner to score Fernhill's first goal inside 20 minutes.

Oh boy, what a beauty

Sometimes, you just have to stand and applaud.

Brendan Pattman isn't one to shy away from big moments, and the Foxes midfielder was at it again on Saturday, loading up from the edge of Shellharbour's box to rocket home their second goal.

It was a superb strike from the former Woonona Sharks star, as his side skipped out to a 2-0 lead in the 29^th minute.

In the nick of time

Shellharbour had been outplayed for most of the halftime, but Yuto Kito ensured his troops would only trail by one goal by scoring in stoppage time.

Foxes goalkeeper Koju Maruyama did a great job to stop the initial shot from Tommy Markovski, but he could only parry the ball to Kito and he made no mistake.

It was a crucial moment that gave Shellharbour plenty of momentum at halftime.

Oh captain, my captain

Shellharbour might have grabbed the ascendancy leading into the break, but Fernhill skipper Jordan Hughes ensured that his side would start the second half on the right foot.

Hughes powered home a lovely striker in the 47^th minute as his side jumped out to a 4-2 lead, piling the pressure on the champions to fight their way back.

The shoulder of God

Okay, that is a little dramatic, but Shellharbour were pushing hard in the dying stages and almost produced an equaliser in the 90^th minute - however, Foxes defender Kurt Foulger managed to get his shoulder in the way.

The ball looked on track for the back of the net before that deflection. Fernhill were then able to hold out their opponents from the ensuing corner, before they counter-attacked with Turner producing the match-sealer in stoppage time.

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