MATCH OF THE ROUND
Killarney v Avoca
Killarney will host the BPL Match of the Round for the second week running, this time against Avoca who are looking to pick up their opening points of their 2022 campaign.
Killarney will enter this weekend coming off a very impressive opening two rounds. In their first game of the year, the Terriers travelled to Alan Davidson where they walked away 7-1 winners against an understrength Wyoming squad. They followed that impressive win up with a clinical 3-0 performance over rivals Terrigal last weekend.
The attacking duo of Ethan Hall and veteran striker Adam Woodbine have been exceptional for the Terriers to start the season. Hall boasts three goals in the opening two games as he will look to further improve his lead on the top of the golden boot standings this weekend. Killarney will be playing at home for the first time come Sunday, this will give them further motivation as they look to keep their unbeaten start to the season in front of a home crowd.
Chris Ackerley was out scouting the rest of the competition last weekend and stated his opposition this weekend could have got a result from their round 4 fixture. “Expecting a tough game as I watched them against Southern and they were unlucky not to come away with a point. They are a young and very fit side that does not stop for the entire ninety minutes.
Ackerley also mentioned their preseason game against Avoca in the Association Cup, on that day the points were shared between the two clubs. “In the cup, we had a draw with them so I’m expecting no complacency from my boys. We need to be at our best to continue our good start to the season.”
Avoca has opened their 2022 season facing the toughest challenges possible and it will not come any easier for the young Sharks side who will be out to pick up their initial points of 2022. A late comeback attempt just fell short in their opening game against Terrigal and much can be said for their second game as they fell short by one goal again, this time to the hands of Southern & Ettalong.
Avoca should walk into the weekend with their heads held high and with plenty of confidence as they have pushed two of the competition’s best to the limits in back-to-back weeks. Confidence should also be at a high after Neal Hide’s side almost beat Killarney in the Association Cup in a result that ended 1-1.
Hide as always anticipates it to be an extremely tough contest against Killarney and admits his side will need to be at their absolute best come Sunday. “I’m expecting a tough game against the form team of the moment. Killarney continues to set the standards every season and we know we will have to be at our best to get the points.”
Woongarrah v The Entrance
Woongarrah, who are coming off their initial win of the season, will welcome a hungry Entrance side to Hamlyn Terrace this Sunday.
Luke Rogers and his Wildcats will be out looking to make it back-to-back wins in round 5. Woongarrah were scheduled to travel to Kariong Oval last weekend but a washout in the field caused the fixture to be switched as they came out 2-1 victors over Kariong in front of a home crowd ay Hamlyn Terrace.
Woongarrah had a far from ideal start to the year when they lost to competition heavyweights Southern & Ettalong 3-0. That loss has obviously steered the team in the right direction as they turned things around the following week to get their 2022 campaign underway. Rogers has nothing but high aspirations for his team every year as he expects his squad to challenge for the title and back into the grand final picture.
Woongarrah faces a similar test in round 5 as they prepare for a young and enthused Entrance side. Rogers will be hoping his son Jayden can start to find some form after picking up his first goal of the season, Jayden’s form will be instrumental for Woongarrah and their quest to challenge with the rest of the competition’s best for finals football.
The Entrance has fallen short by one goal in both of their fixtures to start the year. In their opening match, it was a 93rd-minute winner from the Kanwal captain who gave The Entrance their first defeat. Last weekend the Reddies climbed back from being two goals down only to give away a penalty late in the game which saw them see defeat again, this time to Berkeley Vale.
Despite the young squad, The Entrance challenged competition favourites, Berkeley Vale, for the entire ninety minutes as they were unlucky to walk away from that result with no points. The young Entrance side will take plenty of confidence from that fixture into this weekend’s challenge against the Wildcats.
Entrance coach Patrick Zwaanswijk will be expecting a very physical Woongarrah side and will have his young side well trained for the task ahead as they look to continue to play his style of football and hopefully that results in a win for his side this weekend.
Berkeley Vale v Wyoming
Berkeley Vale are set to play their first game in front of a home crowd this weekend as they welcome an underperforming Wyoming side to Mingara Oval.
Competition favourites Berkeley Vale have skated by their opening two fixtures with two penalties from Nathan Blunden handing them the win in both fixtures. Mark Pratt will be expecting more from his talented and stacked squad who have already shown their potential by winning the 2022 Association Cup Grand Final.
Despite winning both fixtures and starting their season unbeaten, this Wombats outfit will be looking to perform better week in and week out if they hope to live up to their expectations. Berkeley Vale is missing their main man at the back as Alex Burrell is sidelined due to injury, Burrell plays an enormous part in the team’s backline that has conceded 3 goals in 2 weeks.
Berkeley Vale is expecting to play their first game at home this week will is sure to boost the Wombat squad who will be out to perform in front of a home crowd. Their opposition Wyoming has caused some troubles for Pratt’s side over the years so expect a tight game come Sunday.
Wyoming has been forced to underperform in recent weeks as their squad numbers have taken a hit and have been heavily relying on other grades for players. Last weekend the young Wyoming side was outclassed in the first half at Pluim Park by a well organised Kanwal side and the Tigers were forced to push for a comeback in the second half but had no success.
The test for Ian McAndrew’s side will not get much easier as they travel away from home in round 5. Wyoming has picked up results over this Berkeley Vale outfit in recent years as McAndrew understands what it takes to beat the Wombats side. Wyoming is still waiting for the immense return of captain Matt Hall who has been sidelined for the last year due to injury.
Hall has been training extremely hard to get back to the player everyone knows he can be, and the addition of him and his elite winning mentality to this Wyoming side is sure to boost the players around him. McAndrew will enter the match with a well throughout game plan as he hopes his team can execute to give them their initial win of the season.
Kariong v Southern & Ettalong
Southern looks to keep their unbeaten run alive when they hit the road for the first time this year to take on Kariong.
Kariong will be feeling quite disappointed in themselves after round 4’s loss against Woongarrah. In a game where Kariong coach Ryan Finch thought his side created the more clear-cut chances, it would not show on the scoreline as they fell by a goal to Woongarrah. Cougar’s attacker James Draper would open his team’s goal-scoring account as they hope they can start to capitalise on the multiple chances they create.
Kariong almost got their season off to a perfect start as they took it to Berkeley Vale in their opening round and look the better of the two teams on the day. Captain Nick Trengrove will still be kicking himself that his penalty effort was saved as the Cougars once again lost by a single goal in that fixture.
This was the same story for Kariong in their inaugural BPL season last year as they lost the majority of their fixtures by a single goal. Kariong continues to search for the first BPL win in the club’s history but faces another stern test this weekend as they welcome undefeated Southern & Ettalong to Kariong Oval.
Southern & Ettalong are shaping up to be the team to beat this season. Southern remains only one of three teams to concede one or fewer goals after the opening two fixtures, a great deal of this will be down to new defensive recruit Matt Page who has been a defensive force in BPL for many years. Another recruit in Jameson Flynn has started his Southern career with flying colours picking up two goals in two games to start the year.
Unfortunately for Southern, their usual number 1 Alex Wardle will sit the game out due to suspension as The Lions will call up their reserve grade goalie for the week ahead. Dale Eggleton and his team are set to hit the road for the first time this year as they look to take their excellent form to Kariong Oval
Southern was the first team to welcome Kariong to the BPL competition in round 1 last year and it wasn’t a very warm welcome for the Cougars who lost 8-1 at the hands of Dale Eggleton’s side. On that day the almighty Keith Gumbs found the back of the net three times. Gumbs surprisingly is yet to find himself a goal in 2022 so you can expect him to do everything it takes to change that come Sunday
Terrigal v Kanwal
Coming off a disappointing performance, Terrigal looks to turn things around against high flying Kanwal at Pluim Park on Sunday.
Martyn Griffiths admitted his side was way behind in their game against rivals Killarney who beat the O’lads 3-0 in the Ash Grant Cup. Terrigal, who scraped by Avoca with a 4-3 win in their opening game, has already lost more games than they did in the entire season last year, before the competition was cancelled.
Their loss to Killarney marks the first game where the Terriers haven’t been able to find the scoresheet in a very long time. Not only this but Terrigal have now conceded six goals in their opening two games and share the second-worst defence in the competition. A statistic Martyn Griffiths knows is nowhere good enough for the standard of his players.
Terrigal faces another stern test in round 5 as they face the unbeaten Kanwal who is coming off a dominant 3-0 performance. Terrigal will welcome back the important Daniel Bird to their squad who has finished sitting out his suspension. Bird will be hoping his impact on the field can bring the O’lads back to winning ways and possibly find himself on the scoresheet once or twice.
Ryan Walker’s Kanwal side is the only team in the competition to have zero goals conceded thus far in the season, a truly remarkable stat considering where his team was this time last year. Walker has done a fantastic job turning the squad around.
The Bulls started their campaign with a 1-0 win over the Entrance, with that goal coming from captain Kyle price who scored in the dying minutes of the game. Last weekend Walker’s side met Wyoming at Pluim Park and put on a clinic in the opening 45 minutes of that fixture and they walked away 3-0 victors.
Walker has done a fantastic job recruiting in the offseason with key addition in former mariners Bard Porter and Adam Kwasnik, Porter’s efforts last weekend saw him leave with a goal and assist to his name after a terrific performance. Kanwal’s will face their toughest test yet as they look to keep their unbeaten start to the season but will need to be at their best to walk away from Pluim Park with any points.
