Battlewin Premier League Preview | Round Ten

Terrigal United FC vs Toukley FC – Pluim Park

Football returns to Pluim Park on Saturday afternoon as Terrigal United and Toukley do battle to open Round 10 of the Battlewin Premier League. Fifth placed Terrigal United head into the match on the back of a 3-3 draw with 6^th placed Berkeley Vale, whilst Toukley suffered their 5^th loss of the campaign, picked apart 6-0 by the inform Wyoming Tigers last time out. Goals to Josh Menzies, Anthony Pace, and equal top scorer Cameron Wilkinson secured the point for Terrigal, ensuring Berkeley Vale didn’t bump them out of the top five. It was a solid result for the Terrigal side as they backed up from a big win over Killarney the previous week, and will look to this match with the Gunners as a great opportunity to kick-start a winning run, with games against Avoca, Gosford City, and Kanwal over the coming month.

Toukley’s 6-0 loss to the Tigers last weekend was their 4^th in their previous five matches, with their only win in that period coming in round eight, knocking over Kanwal 1-0. It’s been a rather inconsistent season to date for the Gunners, who are yet to string back-to-back wins together, and find themselves seven points outside the final’s positions after nine matches. A win at Pluim tomorrow would keep the Gunners in touch with the top half of the table as we approach the half way point of the 2019 season.

Kanwal FC vs Berkeley Vale SC – Wadalba Sports Complex

The second match of Saturday night’s BPL double header sees 6^th placed Berkeley Vale travel to Wadalba Sports Complex to face struggling Kanwal. The Bulls looked to have turned a corner in their season a matter of weeks ago after picking up a total of four points from their round 6 and 7 clashes, however narrow losses to Toukley and Gosford City have followed, as the first grade side slipped back into the BPL’s bottom two last weekend. They’ll certainly face a tough task to escape this weekend as they face a Wombats side who head into the match in ominous scoring form, managing six in the last two weeks.

Striker Troy Mumford’s return to form has certainly boosted the Berkeley Vale side, scoring three in his last two games. A win over Kanwal tomorrow night would likely see the Wombats reclaim a spot in the top five, and with a run of winnable fixtures with Gosford City, Wyoming, Avoca, and The Entrance over the coming month we could see Berkeley Vale make a real push towards the top two.

Gosford City FC vs East Gosford FC – Gavenlock Oval

Gavenlock Oval hosts a huge BPL clash on Sunday afternoon as strugglers Gosford City and East Gosford go toe-to-toe in a match that both are desperate to win. The Dragons come into the match after their first win of the season over Kanwal last weekend, whilst East Gosford picked up a vital point last weekend against 3^rd placed Southern and Ettalong United. Both sides have struggled throughout the early stages of the season, however the Dragons wait for their first victory of the campaign was the longest of all sides in the competition. The City side have shown plenty of promise throughout the season however have struggled to put together a full 90-minute performance, so the breakthrough win over Kanwal last weekend will surely fill the side with confidence ahead of Sundays crunch match. One shining light for the Dragons so far this season has been the form of forward Jesse Parnell, whose goal last weekend sent him atop of the BPL Golden Boot standings with 9 goals in as many matches.

The Rams have experienced an unusual start to the season. Currently sitting in tenth place on five points, East Gosford have managed only the one win so far this campaign, seeing off Kanwal in round five, however their remaining two points were taken from competition favourites Killarney and Southern and Ettalong United, securing draws in both matches. These results show that the side is certainly competitive, however they’ve been unable to turn these performances into results for one reason or another. Last season’s golden boot winner Rob Walton appears to be finding his feet this campaign, grabbing his third of the season in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Southern. The Rams will be hoping that goal-scoring form transfers into this weekends match.

Avoca FC vs The Entrance FC – Erina High

Avoca and The Entrance face off on Sunday afternoon at Erina High as the Sharks look to keep up their good run of form and close the gap between themselves and the top five. Avoca are unbeaten since copping 8 goals in an 8-2 loss to Wyoming in round four. It’s been a phenomenal up-turn in form from Neal Hide’s men, with three wins and two draws seeing them sit just three points outside the top five. The return of reigning POTY Stu Adams is sure to enhance their continued rise up the competition ladder and occurs at the perfect time as the Sharks face matches with Terrigal, Killarney, and Berkeley Vale following Sundays match with The Entrance. If they can successfully navigate the tricky run of fixtures ahead of them, they could well find themselves entrenched in the top five heading into the business end of the competition.

A 5-0 defeat to Killarney last weekend saw The Entrance fall to their fourth defeat in a row, a worrying trend as the side slowly slip towards the relegation places on the Club Championship ladder. The Entrance currently sit just 10 points clear of Toukley in 10^th place on the Club Championship table. The clubs fight against relegation could receive a crucial shot in the arm over the coming weeks as they face East Gosford and Toukley after this weekend’s matches with Avoca, with positive results across all three grades likely to put some distance between themselves and the three clubs below them.

Southern and Ettalong United FC vs Woongarrah FC – James Browne Oval

Southern and Ettalong United welcome Woongarrah to James Browne Oval in what shapes as another huge BPL round 10 clash on Sunday afternoon. Only one point separates the two sides heading into the match with Woongarrah occupying second spot on 20 points with Southern hot on their heels, third on 19 competition points. Five wins from their opening six matches had the Southern side breathing down the neck of competition leaders Killarney, however they’ve hit a rough patch of late, with a 4-1 loss to the resurgent Avoca followed up with a 1-1 draw with East Gosford last weekend to leave them three points off the pace. The Lions follow up this weekend’s match with games against Toukley and Kanwal, matches you’d expect them to win, so a win over the Wildcats could see them string together a successful run of results over the coming weeks.

Woongarrah head into the match unbeaten in five weeks, racking up three wins and two draws over that period. The Wildcats have been the entertainers of the competition so far this season, notching back-to-back 4-3 wins and a 4-1 victory over Gosford City within the last five weeks. Ben Runge is heading up the Wildcats scoring charts with six for the season, three behind leader Jesse Parnell, with Kane Woolston not far behind on five. In a season that has thrown up some interesting results at times this match should provide a good indication of where two of the competition favourites sit after 10 weeks.

Killarney SC vs Wyoming FC – EDSAAC North

Competition leaders Killarney welcome the inform Wyoming Tigers to EDSAAC North on Sunday afternoon in another huge BPL round 10 fixture. The Terriers head into the match after dispatching The Entrance 5-0 last weekend as they look to increase their lead atop of the Battlewin Premier League table. After starting the season with 6 consecutive victories, Killarney dropped two points to East Gosford before going down to Terrigal United in round eight, however remain on top of the league as the chasing pack also slipped up. The match with Wyoming this weekend is the start of a tough run of fixtures for the defending premiers, as they face second placed Woongarrah and third placed Southern and Ettalong United within the next three weeks. If the Terriers can navigate this tricky patch on the fixture list successfully, they’ll have themselves positioned well ahead of the run in to the finals.

The Wyoming Tigers are without a doubt the form team of the competition. Coming into this weekend’s match they’ve won four on the trot, scoring 13 goals and keeping four clean sheets. A 6-0 win over Toukley last weekend provided the biggest winning margin thanks, in part, to a first senior hat-trick to Ben Farrell. The stretch of four consecutive wins has seen the Tigers break into the top five, sitting fourth, just four points behind the Terriers ahead of the weekends fixture. Sundays match certainly looms as the Tigers biggest test since re-gaining their top-flight status, before they face their round one return fixture with Berkeley Vale in two weeks’ time.