Graffen’s last game a Broome old firm win for the history books

Another storied chapter has been added to the Broome Soccer Association’s old firm rivalry with Spinifex Pumas managing an important win over Pearlers FC. The grudge match was an end-to-end affair featuring intense individual battles under the Wednesday night lights, with no love lost between the two oldest clubs in Broome. Pearlers were on top in the early exchanges, with a number of chances coming close to breaking the deadlock. However, a swift counter-attack by the Pumas just before half-time saw Andrew Graffen feed the ball to box-to-box midfielder Kalen Bell, who finished confidently to give Spinifex a 1-0 lead. Pearlers had a majority of the ball in the second half, with the best chance of an equaliser falling to captain Ben Conneally, but his low rocket was tipped round the post by Pumas goalkeeper Iker Buffon. The Pearlers pushed for a leveller and struck the woodwork in the final minute, but it wasn’t to be and Pumas held out for a hard-fought 1-0 win. Graffen put in a man-of-the-match performance in his final game in Broome after 17 years of action. In the second match of the round, league leaders Chinatown Dragons FC came up against bottom-of-the-league Buccaneer Rock, who were still searching for their first goal of the season. With the Dragons scoring the first three goals in quick succession early in the game it looked like the Buccs were destined to remain goal-less at the bottom of the league for another week — the Arsenal of the Broome Soccer Association. However, early in the second half some breakthrough play from Paddy Dawson down the wing saw the ball centred for Matty Cameron, who slotted it into the bottom right corner for the Buccs very first goal of the season. They say good things come in threes, and once they were able to get the first the Buccs seemed to come alive, slotting home two more goals to see the scores level with just 10 minutes left in the game. It was the wake-up call the Dragons needed, with the league-leaders taking flight and pressuring the Buccs defence to see multiple opportunities on goal. Chinatown’s Nic Glauser was the man of the hour, striking the ball from an angle not too dissimilar than shooting from the corner flag and seeing the ball strike the crossbar before going in for an important goal. After giving everything they had to draw level the Buccs seemed deflated, conceding another two from Patrick Reismüller and Owen Douglas to see the game finish 6-3. The result saw Chinatown Dragons go three points clear at the top of the table (10 points), with Spinifex Pumas leaping into second place (7 points) over rivals Pearlers FC (6 points) and Buccaneer Rock remaining at rock-bottom with zero points. Round five will feature Chinatown Dragons against Spinifex Pumas in a top-of-the-table clash, while Pearlers FC will face Buccaneer Rock.