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MATCH OF THE ROUND

 Berkeley Vale v Terrigal

BPL Round 6 Match of the Round in none other than 1st v 2nd with Terrigal attending Mingara Oval this Sunday to face Berkeley Vale.

While Terrigal’s opposition this week may also be unbeaten heading into round 6, the O’lads are the only team with a perfect 5 wins from 5 games thus far into the season. Terrigal boasts the best attack in the league scoring the greatest number of goals after 5 rounds of competition with 17 goals. Terrigal also shares the best defence in BPL with this weekend opposition as both teams have conceded only 4 goals so far this season.

Terrigal coach Martyn Griffiths is very aware of the dangers this weekend’s opposition possess. “This weekend will see the top two sides test each other to the full. Berkeley is only a couple of points behind us and unbeaten like ourselves. They are always a tough unit to crack and defensively well organised and looked to have signed a good striker in Bailey Garland. We will have to be at our best defensively this weekend to come away with anything at their home ground. If we maintain our unbeaten run and come away with something I will be more than happy.”

Berkeley Vale will enter this weekend’s clash coming off to clean sheets over tough opposition in The Entrance and Woongarrah. Although the Wombats have only beat Terrigal once in their last 4 occasions, they were the first team to hand Terrigal a loss in BPL last season and will look to do the same come round 6, with a win for the wombats would see them overtake Terrigal on top of the table.

“Terrigal are obviously the benchmark now and will be extremely hard to beat, having already lost to them 4-0 and the number of goals they have in them from all over the park they are definitely the favourites to win everything this year, they also have the luxury of following Woongarrah through the competition who are a physical side. While we are happy to be in the position that we are now, we still have a lot of improvement ahead of us,” commented Berkeley’s Mark Pratt. “I expect the game on the weekend to be extremely competitive with the potential for plenty of goals. Marty has a well-drilled team full of confidence and they will be hard to take points off, but we will be looking forward to the challenge that awaits us Sunday at our home ground Mingara.”

Kariong v Kanwal

The only two teams who are yet to pick up any points in the season will battle at Kariong oval come Sunday.

Kariong will have high hopes of picking up their first BPL points in the club’s history this weekend as they take on a Kanwal opposition who have had a very similar start to the season. Kariong will enter the game with statistically the worst defence in the competition, having conceded 22 goals in the opening 5 games. Kariong has found the back of the net in every game so far this season and will look to continue that against Kanwal as they look to pick up their first win in front of a home crowd.

Kanwal have started very slow in the majority of their games this year, now having not scored in the first half of their last 4 games. This was the same story for Kanwal last week who conceded 4 in the first half against Avoca before going on to keep a clean sheet and grab 2 goals of their own in the second half. Ryan Walker’s Bulls side will be out to start quick as they also look to get their season up and running with their first points in first grade. This Sunday is a massive opportunity for both clubs who are currently sitting bottom of the Club Championship.

Woongarrah v Wyoming

Woongarrah and Wyoming are both coming off losses last weekend as both clubs look to get back to winning ways with a crucial win in round 6.

Woongarrah fell just short in round 5 after going down 1-0 to very tough opposition in Berkeley Vale. This was the first occasion this year where Luke Roger’s Wildcats were unable to get on the scoresheet in a match, Woongarrah are also yet to keep a clean sheet after 5 rounds. Woongarrah will take confidence into the match knowing they beat this Wyoming side in a convincing 3-0 win in the Mate Association Cup and didn’t lose to Wyoming on either occasion during the 2020 BPL season picking up a win and a draw over the Tigers.  

Wyoming’s only win this season was a 3-0 win over Southern & Ettalong in round 3, in all their other matches the Tigers have failed to keep a clean sheet and have lost. The defence will be the decider in this match as a very young Wyoming squad that is surrounded by  experience in Ian McAndrew, Darren Cooper and Jarred Mcnee who will look to have the younger boys firing as Wyoming search for their 2nd win of the year. Jarred Mcnee has found the back of the net in back-to-back games and will fancy himself to keep this momentum going against a Woongarrah side yet to keep a clean sheet.

The Entrance v Southern & Ettalong

It’s a big game for both The Entrance and Southern & Ettalong this week who both look to keep their spots at the upper end of the table with a win.

The Entrance are coming off their 3rd win of the year and currently sit only 1 point behind this weekend’s opposition, and a win would put them on 12 points and possible 3rd place given other results go their way. The Entrance bolstered their attack last week with the addition of Joshua Schumann, as the Reddies look to be more dangerous and assertive in front of goals. On every occasion The Entrance has scored first this year they have gone on to win the match, expect the Reddies to try and take it to Southern early in front of a home crowd at Pat Morley. 

Southern are coming off a huge win in round 5, beating a powerful Killarney side 2-1 whilst being down a man for the majority of the match. Unfortunately for SEU, they will line up without captain Todd Balneaves who was shown a straight red for a challenge he committed last week. Southern met The Entrance in pre-season and were victorious in the cup as they beat The Entrance 5-3 on that occasion. With first-place playing second place this round also, a win for Southern could take them up to second on the ladder.

Killarney v Avoca

Killarney will look to overcome last week’s defeat as they face Avoca who currently sit on the same points as this year’s Terriers.

Killarney are back at home this weekend as the Terriers will host Neal Hide’s Avoca side. Killarney are yet to keep a clean sheet so far this season and last week failed to overcome a 10-men Southern side who beat them 2-1. Killarney does possess the current BPL leading goal scorer Ethan Hall who has scored 5 goals in his last 2 games and has a total tally of 7 goals for the year. Killarney could be without young goalkeeper Cobe Preston who went down with a serious knee injury in round 5. Another loss for the Terriers could see them fall even further down the table as they still look to defend their League Champions crown.

Neal Hide’s Avoca side had a blistering start to the season, scoring 10 goals in their opening two matches. Since then, Avoca has only gone on to win 1 match out of 3. The Sharks got back into their rhythm last weekend scoring 4 goals in the first half against Kanwal and will look to have the same start this weekend if they want to walk away from Edsaac with 3 points. Like their opposition Killarney, Avoca is yet to keep a clean sheet this year. These 2 sides met in pre-season as Avoca scored last to salvage a draw which will give this young side plenty of confidence heading into Sunday.

Written by Adam Blunden.