BY ADAM BLUNDEN
BPL FINALS ROUND 2
BPL FIRST GRADE SCORES –
| Terrigal | 5 | Berkeley Vale | 4 |
TERRIGAL UNITED FC 5 – BERKELEY VALE SC 4
Terrigal United and Berkeley Vale clashed this past weekend in a game that would see the winner meet Killarney District in the Grand Final at Central Coast Stadium. During the year these two teams did battle twice with each side picking up a win. Terrigal would come out victorious 3-1 in their first encounter while Berkeley Vale would get the better of Terrigal in their round 13 match when they beat Terrigal 2-0 at Duffy’s Oval to hand Terrigal their first loss of the season. The start of the match saw Terrigal take the game by storm when they took the lead within the first 5 minutes through a header when a cross from Mark Partridge found Ryan Pearce at the back stick who’s header gave his side a 1-0 lead. Terrigal soon made it 2-0 after they were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box that Anthony Pace fired the ball into the wall of Berkeley Vale and it found its way into the back of the net after Berkeley goalkeeper Jake Purches was caught off balance and unable to make a save. Anthony Pace would find himself on the scoresheet again moments later after a Jake Purches save found its way to Pace who was unmarked on top of the box and placed the ball into an open goal which gave Terrigal a 3-0 lead within the first 20 minutes. Berkeley Vale got one back around the 35-minute mark after Troy Mumford headed the ball into the feet of Joey Liddle who wonderfully struck the ball on the top of the box to beat the Terrigal keeper and take the score to 3-1. Minutes later after getting their first goal, Berkeley’s Darren Cooper found himself unmarked off a corner as he headed his side back into the game to make the score line 3-2. Looking to get things back under control, minutes before half time Conor Wilkinson found himself in behind the Berkeley defence as he selfishly gave up a chance to shoot, instead playing the ball to teammate Mark Partridge who stroked the ball home to give Terrigal a 2 goal advantage at the break. Berkeley Vale made adjustments at half time and came out very strong to start the second half. Berkeley Vale were awarded a penalty on the 60th minute mark as Troy Mumford stepped up and put his side down by only 1 goal. With pressure building on Terrigal, a mistake in their defence saw Jai Kelly equalise the game with a shot that went through the legs of the Terrigal keeper which took the game to 4-4. A stunned Terrigal side who has failed to win a finals game in the last 3 years looked to be headed to extra time until quick thinking from the Wilkinson twins saw Conor quickly take a free quick which found the feet of brother Lachlan and his efforts put Terrigal back in front at 5-4. Two late red cards from Berkeley Vale’s Jayden Laugwitz and Reece Caira did not help their cause in trying to find another equaliser as the game finished 5-4 to Terrigal. Terrigal First Grade progress to their first ever Grand Final appearance and will now join their Reserve Grade and U21’s team who also qualified for the Grand Final on Saturday as the all head to Central Coast Stadium to face Killarney District in all 3 grades.
BPL RESERVE GRADE SCORES –
| Terrigal | 3 | Wyoming | 2 |
BPL U21’S SCORES –
| Terrigal | 3 | Wyoming | 2 |
WPL FINALS ROUND 2
WPL FIRST GRADE SCORES –
| Gosford | 3 | Kanwal | 1 |
GOSFORD CITY FC 3 – KANWAL ROVERS FC 1
Two of the best and toughest teams in WPL this year faced off on Sunday in the Preliminary Final which would decide what team would meet Umina in the Grand Final at Central Coast Stadium the following week. Kanwal ruined Gosford’s chance at a perfect year when they beat the unbeaten Gosford side 2-1 to hand them their first loss of the year in the last round of competition. Since then, Kanwal went on to beat Terrigal in the Minor Semi Final 2-1 in an intense and thrilling game that went to extra time. After losing their first game and only game of the season, Gosford faced 2nd place Umina last week in the Major Semi Final and were beaten once again going down 2-1. Heading into the game inform and full of confidence, Kanwal stared the better of the two teams and had a great chance in the 1st minute of play when Kanwal got in behind Gosford’s defence down the right-hand side and forced the Gosford keeper into making a great save. Gosford shaky start would continue as Kanwal’s Mel Young found herself 1on1 with Gosford’s keeper and a covering slide tackle from a Gosford defender knocked the ball into her own goal to give Kanwal a 1-0 lead. Kanwal were extremely unfortunate not to double their lead when Mel Young once again find herself free and put the ball into the back of the net only to be flagged for offside by the linesmen in a very tight call. As the game progressed the Gosford girls started to get a foothold in the game as they started to find their confidence and work their game plan as Gosford looked to nullify Kanwal’s fullbacks from attacking. Gosford started to put on more and more pressure as the 1st half progressed and where able to find an equaliser in the 41st minute just before half time when the header of Lucy Metcalfe from a Gosford corner deflected off Kanwal’s Jen Reeves who accidently slotted the ball into the back of her net to take the game to 1-1. Not much could split the two teams after the first 45 minutes of play as the whistle sounded for the end of the first half. The second half saw Gosford up the ante as they dominated all aspects of the game and smothered Kanwal with constant pressure, not allowing them to play the style of football they wanted but Kanwal was resilient. Mid way through the second half Gosford managed to cut through the backline of Kanwal using their wingers and slip a ball across the defence of Kanwal to Jessica Dominello who calmly finished the chance and took Gosford into the lead for the first time in the game. As the game progressed, Kanwal looked to get the game back level by pushing players higher up the field in search of an equaliser. Unfortunately for Kanwal, there we unable to find the chance they were looking for as they left space in behind of their defence that Gosford’s Taylor Thompson found as she put the game to bed with a clinical 1on1 finish. The game would finish 3-1in Gosford favour which means Kanwal’s season unfortunately coming to an end after a season everyone involved in should be very proud of. Gosford will now join their Reserve Grade squad in the Grand Final as First Grade will take on Umina and Reserve Grade will face Kanwal next Saturday.
WPL RESERVE GRADE SCORES –
| East Gosford | 0 | Kanwal | 1 |