MATCH OF THE ROUND
The Entrance 2 – Killarney 2
Round 7 BPL Match of the Round saw local rivals The Entrance and Killarney District share the points in a 2-2 draw at Pat Morley Oval.
After a competitive opening 10 minutes, Killarney started to find success in the game through multiple attacking raids that resulted in several corners for the Terriers. A corner that was delivered near post was unable to be cleared by The Entrance defence and the ball was poked home by Killarney’s Will Hamilton who scored his first goal of the year and gave his side a 1-0 lead. The Entrance continued to struggle and for the rest of the half, they continued to give the ball away cheaply, allowing Killarney to mount a series of attacks. These attacks were defended well by the Reddies last line of defence as they continued to concede corner after corner. Killarney entered halftime with a well-deserved 1-0 lead.
After halftime, The Entrance managed to keep the ball slightly better and were able to mount some more meaningful attacks of their own as they looked for an equaliser. It was a very hard-fought contest between both sides and The Entrance were given a way back into the game after being awarded a penalty for handball by Killarney veteran Nathan Stephenson. The Entrance captain Nathan Blunden calmly converted the penalty past Declan Drake to take the game level at 1-1. The equalising goal drove the contest to greater heights and whilst both sides had half-chances, Killarney were next to score when Steven Grimmitt parried the ball into the head of Daniel Rodger, after yet another well-taken corner from Jordan Preston. That was the 2020 BPL Golden Boot winner’s 3rd goal of the year as his side took back their lead. The Entrance’s situation was then compounded when Dale Hall was sent off for dissent and The Reddies who were a goal down were now forced to play with a man down. Killarney took full advantage of their extra man as they looked to seal up the 3 points, but The Entrance defence stood firm, repelling multiple attacks. With only 2 minutes left, The Entrance was awarded another penalty once again for handball. Blunden once again stepped up and kept his composure to send the goalkeeper the wrong way to slot the ball into the back of the net, to the delight of the home crowd. Whilst it was a hard-fought contest, Killarney will feel hard done by not taking home the 3 points.
“It was an unfortunate way to drop points with two penalties given against us and especially with the second coming in the 7th minute of added time,” stated Killarney’s Chris Ackerley.
Matt Page admits his side were not at their best today and must improve going forward. “We were very poor in attack today. We struggled to maintain possession and gave the ball away very cheaply. We defended quite well and I’m proud of our boys staying in the fight, but we will have to be much better in the future if we want to be successful. Killarney were unlucky not to take home all the points, and I don’t think they’ll need any attacking corner practice at training, they had plenty today”.
Kanwal 1 – Berkeley Vale 1
Kanwal picks up their second result of the year in back-to-back weeks as they split points with Mark Pratt’s Berkeley Vale side.
A windy Sunday afternoon at Wadalba Sports Complex saw a strong start to the game by both teams but it was Berkeley Vale who had a golden opportunity to take the lead early when awarded a penalty. Captain Alex Burrell stepped up for his side but was denied by the Kanwal goalkeeper Jack Arigho. This helped the Kanwal side gain some momentum and after a long throw that was not dealt with by a normally dominant defence, Jason Cozens was on hand to slot home from close range to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead. Berkeley Vale would go on to equalise on the stroke of halftime via a good finish from their leading goal scorer Bailey Garland who took his goal total of the year to 5.
The second half was almost identical to the first with both teams’ defences limiting any chances on both ends. A massive moment in the game with 15 minutes to go saw Berkeley Vale’s Damien Lobb sent off after receiving his second yellow card for the game. This spurred Kanwal on as they threw everything they could at the Berkeley side in search of a winner. Kanwal’s Jason Cozens thought he had his second goal of the game only to be denied by the post in the dying stages of the match which was followed up by Brad Mclean who forced a great save out of Wombat keeper Kyle Lawther who showed wonderful reflex’s to deny Kanwal back-to-back wins, with the game ending 1-1.
Kanwal coach Ryan Walker was ecstatic with the desire and determination showed by his team. “If we can bring that desire and determination to every game, we will be extremely competitive for the rest of the year.”
“Congratulations to Kanwal for their efforts, they fought hard and another win for them is not far away at all,” said Berkeley Vale coach Mark Pratt.
Avoca 4 – Kariong 3
Erina High School witnessed a 7-goal thriller as Kariong once again fell 1 goal short of picking up their opening BPL points.
Kariong started very strong away from home and looked comfortable very early after they managed an early goal through Ryan Finch who gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead. Avoca could not get started at all in the opening 45 minutes as they continue to struggle whilst on the other end, Kariong were very unlucky not to double their lead during the first half after dominating possession and creating multiple chances. The score remained 1-0 at the break.
After a very poor first half, Avoca played much better in the second 45 minutes of play as Kariong defender Bradley Bowers was controversially shown a red card after receiving his second yellow card of the match forcing Kariong to play the majority of the second half with a player down. Avoca found themselves on the scoresheet and level after Mitchell Harrison converted a great free-kick to even the contest. Despite being down a man, Kariong hit back straight away through Kevin Gallagher who restored the lead for Kariong. Avoca with an extra player started to take advantage and scored 3 consecutive goals thanks to a single from Jake Elder and a brace from Tyler Wade to claim the victory for the Sharks. Kariong scored their 3rd goal late in the contest through James Draper to help set up a frantic final minute or two but eventually, Avoca came away with a 4-3 win. This was a game that Kariong felt got away from them with the red card early in the second half but Kariong’s first win in BPL does not seem far away after Mark Owen’s side showed another strong performance.
Neal Hide’s comments that his squad needs to find steadiness in their games and credit’s a Kariong side who will get their first win in no time. “We will need to be more consistent over the whole ninety minutes if we are to climb up the table, whereas Kariong will soon get the win that they are due.”
Wyoming 0 – Terrigal 2
Terrigal away from home overwhelmed a young Wyoming squad as they kept their perfect season alive with a 2-0 win.
Wyoming got off to a bad start even before kick-off commenced with the late pull out of two 1st graders on Sunday morning, one being their leading goal scorer Jared Mcnee and the other, dangerous winger Timothy Hopkins who always asks questions of the opposition’s defence. It was a close afternoon for leaders Terrigal who enjoyed the majority of possession in the first half but found it extremely difficult to break down the backline of Wyoming led by coach Ian McAndrew. Wyoming’s keeper Tom Coventry was also in excellent form, firstly denying Stuart Adams’s on the half-hour mark and minutes later producing another fine save to deny Jacob Melling. McAndrew’s side set up well and held out Terrigal the whole first half as they tried to force the ball out wide which played into the hands of Wyoming. Moments before halftime Wyoming had a great chance to go into the break 1-0 up when their attacker found himself with a free header, but his effort went wide of the goal and the score remained level at the break.
The second half saw league leaders Terrigal come out much sharper and their breakthrough came just 5 minutes after the break when great play by Anthony Pace down the left-wing allowed him to cut in and pull the ball back for a neat finish by teammate Stuart Adams. Wyoming tested Terrigal but found no way through the Terrigal rear-guard marshalled well by Tyson Cosgrove and Jai McNamara. Substitute Conor Wilkinson straightened the Terrigal side up and caused many problems with his short ball movement and bringing their key players into the game more. It wasn’t until the 90th minute that the O’lads sealed the 3 points when Stuart Adams free-kick was deflected in off teammate Tion Gerasimou and passed Tom Coventry in goals.
Ian knew the challenge his team was facing was never going to be easy but losing players before the match made things even harder for his side stated McAndrew “Losing 2 key players in the morning made the job a lot harder than what it was already going to be.”
“I spoke to McAndrew before the game, and he’s been unlucky with injuries so far this season but credit to him and Wyoming, their youngsters gave us a good test today and it won’t be long before they get a few senior players back and helping the squad to get some points on the board. They pushed us all the way to the 90th minute today but Tom Coventry was in excellent form all afternoon and it took a tidy finish from Stuart Adams to make the breakthrough,” comment Marty Griffiths post-match.
Southern & Ettalong 6 – Woongarrah 1
Southern get back to their dominant ways scoring 6 goals against an underperforming Woongarrah squad.
Southern & Ettalong knew that they needed to get off to a great start against the threatening Woongarrah side to keep their good home record intact. The influence of the return to the starting line-up of Jack Elwood proved telling to the start of the match when after 5 minutes he gave the pass for the first goal of the game which came from Michael Tawyer. After 35 minutes of play, Jack Elwood would combine with Keith Gumbs in a 1-2 passing combination that saw Elwood with a well taken shot to double Southern’s lead. Woongarrah picked themselves up and went on to dominate the last 15 minutes of play in the first half, the Wildcats enjoyed the better of field position while creating chances and their pressure paid off with one of their players getting brought down in the box and being awarded a penalty. Jamie Bartlett would step up and score from the spot to take the score to 2-1 at the break.
Woongarrah needed a fast start to the second half but unfortunately, Luke Rogers side came out worse than they did in the opening 30 minutes of the first half. A mistake from the Woongarrah keeper saw Southern restore their 2-goal lead through Keith Gumbs who pounced on the wayward clearance and extraordinarily volleyed the ball into an open net. The Woongarrah keeper Josh Masters redeemed himself as he made several great saves to deny Michael Tawyer adding to his goal tally. Southern continued with their pressure and managed to score another 3 goals between the 70th and 85th minute thanks to Charlie Polson, Dylan Booth and Michael Tawyer who grabbed his second of the day to solidify their 6-1 win.
Woongarrah’s Luke Rogers is taking the positives out of their result to Southern but admits his side must do better away from home. “Last time we played in Southern in 2019 we lost 5-1 and that was the year we made the Grand Final so while the boys and I aren’t happy with the result, it’s not the end of the world. We don’t do well away on grounds of that quality and have to get better at it. Taking nothing away from Dale’s team who were by far the better team on the day and deserved all 3 points.”
“It was a very good ninety-minute performance by Southern with and without the ball and now we have the challenge of taking on the undefeated leaders and reigning premiers in Terrigal at Duffy’s Oval, a challenge my squad need to embrace,” commented Dale Eggleton when reflecting on his squad’s performance.
BPL Leading Goal Scorers –
| 8 | Ethan Hall (Killarney) |
| 7 | Daniel Bird (Terrigal) |
| 6 | Keith Gumbs (Southern), Michael Tawyer (Southern), Stuart Adams (Terrigal) |
| 5 | Bailey Garland (Berkeley Vale) |
BPL Points Table –
BPL Club Championship –
BPL Round 7 Fixtures –
Division 1
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Written by Adam Blunden.