Round four of the Battlewin Premier League gets underway this Sunday afternoon, with the round headlined by a clash between Berkeley Vale and the Woongarrah Wildcats at Mingara Club Oval. Round three saw upsets aplenty, with title challengers Berkeley Vale and Terrigal United both suffering shock losses at the hands of The Entrance and Southern & Ettalong respectively, helping shape what is looking like a very interesting round four fixture list.
Round 4’s fixtures are as follows:
Berkeley Vale SC vs Woongarrah FC – Mingara Club Oval 1
Kanwal FC vs Killarney SC – Wadalba Sports Complex 1
Gosford City FC vs Southern & Ettalong FC – Gavenlock Oval 1
Wyoming FC vs Avoca FC – Alan Davidson Oval 1
East Gosford FC vs Toukley FC – Hylton Moore Oval 1
The Entrance FC vs Terrigal FC – Duffy’s Oval 1
Sunday 14/4: U/21s 10:45am, Reserve Grade 12:45pm, First Grade 2:45pm.
Berkeley Vale SC vs Woongarrah FC – Mingara Club Oval 1
Sunday afternoon sees two of the competition favourites square off in what shapes as Round Fours match of the round. Berkeley Vale will be looking to put last weekend’s disappointing loss to The Entrance behind them after suffering a 1-0 defeat thanks to a lone goal from striker Adam Blunden. The Wombats had the benefit of a short turnaround to put things right however, dispatching Marayong FC of the Blacktown & District Football Association 7-1 at Valentine Sports Park in the FFA Cup on Wednesday Night. A Hat-trick to Paul McGinley, a brace to Reece Caira, and one goal each for Troy Mumford and Michael Tawyer saw Berkeley Vale through to the next round where they face a tough test after drawing a home tie with NPL NSW high-flyers APIA Leichhardt FC. The Wombats will be looking to continue their goal scoring form into this weekend’s match with Woongarrah, as they look to be the first side to take points from the newly promoted outfit.
Woongarrah will enter this weekend’s match full of confidence after last weekend’s dramatic victory over local rivals Kanwal. Down 2-1 as the game entered second half stoppage time, the ‘Cats managed to claw back two goals through Jamie Bartlett and Blake Small in the 99th and 103rd minutes respectively to seal a win that will be remembered fondly for years to come. Collecting 9 points from a possible 9 in the early stages of the season would have certainly given the Wildcats squad the confidence that they can compete for the 2019 title, however they will face their biggest test to date when they face last year’s beaten grand finalists. Free from FFA Cup commitments, expect Woongarrah to be fit and firing as they look to take their biggest scalp of the season to date.
Kanwal Warnervale Rovers FC vs Killarney District SC – Wadalba Sports Complex 1
Winless Kanwal face another tough task this weekend when they face top of the league Killarney District at Wadalba Sports complex on Sunday afternoon. After last week’s gutting late defeat to rivals Woongarrah, the Bulls squad face what will likely be one of the toughest matches they’ll play this season against 2018’s league champions. Losses to Southern and Terrigal in the opening two weeks have left coach Brad Porters side winless, however they showed their ability in last week’s match with Woongarrah, where a penalty in the 85th minute of the match should have sealed the win for the Bulls.
Killarney head into the weekends match on the back of three successive victories over Avoca, Southern, and Toukley. The Terriers have started the 2019 season in menacing form, bagging fourteen goals whilst only conceding three in return. Last weekend’s 4-1 victory over Toukley certainly flattered the Gunners, as Killarney had countless opportunities to put many more past them. The Terriers will be looking to make it four wins from four before their mammoth Easter Monday Grand Final rematch with Berkeley Vale next weekend.
Gosford City FC vs Southern & Ettalong United FC – Gavenlock Oval 1
Gosford City will be looking to secure their first victory of the season when they face Southern and Ettalong United at Gavenlock Oval on Sunday afternoon. The young Gosford City side went down to local rivals Wyoming last weekend 3-0 after showing promising signs early on as they pressured the more experienced Wyoming squad. In what has been a tough opening few matches of the season, the Dragons have certainly shown glimpses of their potential, with round two’s 4-4 draw with Toukley a prime example of this, however they have been unable to string together a complete 90-minute performance so far this season.
Southern and Ettalong United are coming into this fixture off the back of a morale boosting victory over a talented Terrigal United side. Reflecting on round two’s 6-0 loss to Killarney, coach Dale Eggleton said that ‘we had to improve and we showed some good signs, especially defensively, keeping Terrigal scoreless after 10 goals in their first two games’. Goals to Todd Balneaves and Jacob Caban secured the victory for the Lions as they look ahead to a great opportunity this weekend to keep pace with the top four sides in the competition.
Posted by Central Coast Football on Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Wyoming FC vs Avoca FC – Alan Davidson Oval 1
Wyoming FC tackle Avoca FC on Sunday afternoon with both sides coming off their first wins of the season in round three. Wyoming defeated local rivals Gosford City on the back of goals from Pat Mills, Ben Farrell, and a brilliant free kick from Matt Hall. The Tigers have experienced a rather disrupted return to the top flight, facing last season’s Grand Finalists Berkeley Vale in the opening match before having their 2nd round fixture with East Gosford washed out. This week provides a great opportunity for the Tigers to begin their surge up the competition table.
Avoca secured their first win of the season last weekend against East Gosford, with a goal from Ben Green early on in the contest proving the difference between the two sides. The Sharks would have been glad to secure the three points in their last outing after navigating what was certainly the toughest opening few weeks on the fixture list, with matches against Killarney and Berkeley Vale to open the season. They will be hopeful of having reigning player of the year Stu Adams back on board for the clash this weekend. Avoca look forward to a run of winnable fixtures in the next few weeks, so a positive result against Wyoming this weekend could spell the start of a fruitful period for Neal Hide’s side.
East Gosford FC vs Toukley FC – Hylton Moore Oval 1
East Gosford will be looking to pick up their first points of the Battlewin Premier League season when they host Toukley FC at Hylton Moore Oval on Sunday afternoon. The Rams have endured a tough start to the season after a heavy defeat to Woongarrah in the opening week and a narrow loss to Avoca last weekend. They will be hoping striker Robbie Walton can get off the mark this weekend with the Golden Boot winner from the previous two seasons yet to find the net this campaign. Rams coach Chris Powell said after last week’s defeat that he thought his side did enough to salvage a point, adding ‘we’re getting there but we will be a work-in-progress until we reach full fitness’.
Toukley on the other hand will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing defeat to Killarney last weekend. The Gunners went into last week’s match on the back of letting a 3-goal lead slip against Gosford City, however they struggled to get a foothold in the match as Killarney ran out big winners. On a positive note, Toukley’s top-scorer from last season Jai Kelly managed to net his first of the new campaign, and with big matches against both Berkeley Vale and Woongarrah on the horizon, the Gunners will be looking to pick up maximum points this weekend to keep pace with the top five.
The Entrance FC vs Terrigal United FC – Duffy’s Oval 1
The Entrance face Terrigal United this Sunday afternoon on the back of a surprising victory over competition heavy-weights Berkeley Vale at Bloodtree Oval last weekend. A lone goal from Adam Blunden was enough to secure the points, with head coach Andrew Ollier heaping praise on his squad, in particular goalkeeper Adam Parkinson, ‘Apart from saving a penalty (he) was rock solid all afternoon’. It was a much-needed victory for The Entrance, having lost their opening two matches, and with up-coming matches against Gosford City, Southern, and Kanwal, could well provide them with a platform to kick on and begin accumulating some competition points.
Similarly, Terrigal United were also involved in an upset last weekend, however they were on the receiving end, going down 2-0 to Southern & Ettalong United. After making light work of both Gosford City and Kanwal in the opening two weeks, many would have been forgiven for expecting Terrigal to extend their winning start to the season, however they were held scoreless. They will be looking to both Cameron Wilkinson and Ben Flakus for goals this weekend, with both occupying equal second spot on the golden boot standings with three apiece. Terrigal will be looking to play themselves back into form with a massive FFA cup tie on the horizon against NPL NSW side Blacktown City FC. The tie will be a massive test for the young Terrigal outfit who will, if nothing else, gain a wealth of experience from their involvement in the match.
