Northern Storm now need a minor miracle if they are to progress to the Coastal Premier League northern conference grand final.
Tom Frewin’s first-half header was all Boambee needed to outlast the Storm in what was ultimately a semi-final fixture on Saturday.
Frewin found the back of the net in the first half, but he will be shouting goalkeeper Darcy Newell plenty of beers whenever the teenager is of age.
Storm coach Eric McCarthy said Newell’s heroics were the difference that saw the Bombers move four points clear of his team in third spot.
Coffs United are already through to the season decider.
“The Boambee keeper had an absolute blinder,” McCarthy said.
“He pulled off a top corner save from a free kick in the first half and 30 seconds later pulled off one of the best saves I’ve seen in this competition this year.”
The Storm had their chances, but were unable to break down a seemingly watertight Bombers defence.
“First you have to get through their defence which isn’t too bad and then you’ve got Darcy in front of you … he was man of the match without doubt,” the coach said.
The one-goal defeat now means the Storm must beat Coffs Tigers on Wednesday night and then upset Coffs United on Saturday to give themselves a chance of making the October 17 grand final.
“It’s not mathematically impossible,” McCarthy said.
“But it’s a very outside chance because Boambee have Coffs and Sawtell and we have Coffs Tigers and then Coffs United.
“Not only do we need them to slip up, we have to be 100 per cent so it’s going to be a bit of a struggle to get the boys motivated because there will be a lot of disappointment.”
McCarthy was frustrated his side had their equaliser ruled out in the dying stages of the fixture due to offside.
“It was a bit disappointing after the game the Boambee players were joking about there was no way it was offside,” he said.
“But these things happen, that’s football.
“We need the stars to align now, but it takes the pressure off as well. We can just go out and play football knowing things are out of our hands.”
The final score was Boambee 1 defeated Northern Storm 0. In the other match, Coffs Tigers defeated Sawtell 4 – 2.
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