MATCH OF THE ROUND
Berkeley Vale 2 – 4 Terrigal
Round 6 Match of the Round saw Terrigal bounce back to winning ways, taking down competition favourites Berkley Vale with a well-deserved win.
Terrigal started the contest brightly and it paid off as it only took the O’lads 7 minutes to open the scoring. Stu Adams found himself behind the Berkeley Vale defence only to be brought down from behind and awarded a penalty, Adams stepped up and cool slotted the penalty to gain the advantage for his side. Adams once again found himself in a great opportunity only moments later, but his effort would fire straight to the opposition goalkeeper. Berkeley Vale should have equalised against the run of play after a slip in the Terrigal defence, but the Wombat attacker fired his shot wide. Terrigal left-back Mark Partridge almost doubled his sides lead only to be stopped by the upright. With Terrigal gaining control of the midfield, it wasn’t long before Daniel Bird made it two after curling home exquisitely from 22-yards out and giving the O’lads a 2-goal lead the the break.
The introduction of Troy Mumford and a change of formation saw Berkeley Vale enter the second half extremely better as the Wombats looked to get back into the game. After a couple of missed opportunities, Berkeley Vale would finally reduce the deficit 10 minutes into the second half after substitute Troy Mumford struck home to bring his side back into the game. Terrigal responded well to conceding and regained their two-goal lead 10 minutes later after the lively Mahkye Brownlie was fed the ball and he drove home into the bottom corner with a well-placed shot to make it 3-1. A very dubious back pass call by the referee on the 75th-minute mark allowed Stu Adams to score his second goal from a free-kick inside the penalty area and put Terrigal back into the driver’s seat. Further chances fell to Ryan Pearce who was only to be denied by a goal-line clearance and Ben Flakus almost found his name on the scoresheet as his shot narrowly missed the goal. Berkeley Vale got a consolation goal with seconds to play when John Griffin tapped home from close range.
Mark Pratt credits his opposition and Griffiths when reflecting on the result. “Just as I said last week, Terrigal are too good a side not to bounce back from a couple of defeats and thoroughly deserved their win against us on Sunday. Congratulations to Martyn and Terrigal on their performance.”
“A performance of what is expected from us,” described a very happy head coach Martyn Griffiths. “We started the season well against Avoca but our energy levels in second half periods against Killarney and Kanwal is what has let us down in recent performances, today it all clicked, and we deserved the three points.”
Kanwal 3 – 4 Killarney
Killarney held on to the lead despite a late comeback attempt from Kanwal to claim their spot at the top of the BPL ladder.
Kanwal entered their round 6 fixture as the only remaining BPL team not to concede a goal in 2022, however, it did not take long for Killarney to end this streak when a clearance from the Killarney goalkeeper Declan Drake in the 4th minute found his attacking teammate Adam Woodbine who lobbed over an oncoming Kanwal goalie to grab the first goal of the game. 10 minutes later Killarney would go on to double their lead through Andy Klijn who finished well from close range. To make things worse for Kanwal, James Scott was shown a red card after two quick yellow cards in succession midway through the first half and the Bulls’ hopes of any comeback attempt seemed like an impossible feat. Kanwal would be forced to re-adjust their formation now only having 10-men on the field and although Killarney would continue to dominate and create chances, the score would remain 2-0 going into half-time.
Killarney would once again be the quicker team out of the sheds in the second period of play and another early goal from Andy Klijn after great build-up play saw Klijn grab his second for the day and extend his side’s lead to 3. After going up three goals to the good, Killarney would switch off and slightly allow Kanwal to get back into the game. Kanwal was awarded a penalty in the 78th minute and ex-mariner Adam Kwasnik stepped up and converted to give his side their first goal of the day. Kanwal would immediately switch off themselves and Killarney substitute Nathan Baxter would restore the Terrier’s 3-goal margin. However, the last ten minutes of play saw Kanwal almost walk away with an unlikely draw. Another penalty awarded to Kanwal would be converted nicely by Kwasnik once again. A spectacular own-goal from 30-yards out from a Killarney defender would take the deficit to just one and provide Chris Ackerley and his side a nervous few minutes but it wasn’t not meant to be for Kanwal as Killarney held on and would walk away with a 4-3 win.
Ryan Walker was disappointed with his side and felt the team was a bit flat today compared to their standard at the start of the competition. “You can’t give a quality side like Killarney a two-goal start and expect to win. You have to come out all cylinders firing to compete with the top teams in this league.”
Chris Ackerley was delighted with the three points as his team is now alone on top of the BPL Ladder. “It was a pleasing result as it is always a hard place to get points. Hopefully, the rain holds off this week so we can train and prepare for Berkeley Vale.”
Kariong 0 – 3 Avoca
Kariong could not repeat their efforts from the previous week as Avoca claim their first win of the season this past Sunday.
In a fixture that was originally supposed to be played at Kariong Oval, a late fixture change saw the game moved to Hamlyn Terrace. Coming off a historic win for the club, Kariong looked to bring that form into the game against a winless Avoca. The game started fairly even until Kariong lost two key players in the opening 15 minutes and were forced to make substitutions and re-shuffle the team. From this point, Avoca took control of the game and looked likely to break their losing streak. Avoca’s Tyler Wade was brought down in the box and awarded a penalty as he successfully converted form the spot and gave his side the lead. The score remained 1-0 heading into the break.
The second half was very similar to the first as both teams gave maximum effort but with any clear chances few and far between, it took a substitute from Avoca in Josh Menzies to double the Sharks’ 1-goal lead. The final goal of the game came from Tyler Wade who effectively was able to score from the spot again and take his tally for the year to three goals.
Ryan Finch knew heading into the game it would be a tough match and after losing two key players early on the match, Finch stated it was going to take a super effort to edge out a determined Avoca side. “After losing two players in the first fifteen minutes, from that point we were on the back foot against a team that was full of hunger and desire to end their losing run. Hats off to Avoca who were the better team on the day. Avoca certainly didn’t play like a team that was without a win.”
Neal Hide voiced that despite getting their opening win of the season there is still plenty to work on and fine-tune in this Avoca side. “Kariong will get results this year, they have great team spirit and work ethic. Avoca is relieved to get their first points of the season and we still expect to improve further.”
The Entrance 3 – 3 Southern & Ettalong
The Entrance clawed their way back once again to pick up a draw as competition heavyweights Southern & Ettalong are now without a win in their last two games.
Southern Ettalong travelled to Pat Morley Oval on Sunday knowing that they needed to turn around their away form of the past two seasons and learn from their loss against Kariong the week before. The Lions were surprised by how good the condition of the playing surface was considering the amount of rain on the Coast recently. The game started well for Southern as they went 1-0 up through an excellent 25-metre strike from midfielder Wyatt Elliott. The lead was doubled on the 25-minute mark when Jamo Flynn turned in a Matt Caisley corner to score against his former club. A cheap turnover from a Southern throw-in allowed The Entrance to pull a goal back before halftime through striker Jack O’Callaghan.
Early in the second half, the scores became locked at 2-2 when an Ashton Hurley cross from the left looped over the Southern keeper and into the far side of the net. The game remained very balance as both teams looked for a go-ahead goal. With only seven minutes remaining on the clock, another corner from Matt Caisley was turned in, this time from Josh Fletcher who also scored against his former club as his former home ground. Fletcher would go from hero to villain as was shown red for his effort and forced Southern to finish the game with 10-men for the third week in a row. Having a man advantage and looking for an equaliser, the young Entrance side pushed hard to restore the deficit once again. Substitute Zac Anastas would make the most of the extra man advantage as his run was not picked up by the Southern defence as he curled his shot lusciously into the bottom corner in the 57th minute of the second half as the Entrance crowd and players erupted into celebrations.
Dale Eggleton once again voiced his discomfort after his squad dropped more points in a fixture that they could have easily won. “The young Entrance side were impressive in attack throughout the entire ninety minutes and Southern were again disappointing in our decision making and execution at vital stages in the match which we need to improve.”
Wyoming 1 – 1 Woongarrah
An extremely late equaliser from Wyoming saw the Tigers pick up their first points of the season.
It was quite a scrappy start to the match as you could tell both teams were desperate for points. Woongarrah would enjoy good field possession, but the Wyoming defence would keep the Wildcats at bay. Wyoming would create a few chances themselves but nothing to really worry the Woongarrah goalkeeper as both teams cancelled each other out for most of the first half.
Going into the second half, Woongarrah came out the better of the two teams and they started to open up Wyoming’s defence. Jamie Bartlett thought he had the game’s first goal after getting one-on-one only for Wyoming keeper Tom Coventry to deny Bartlett with a fantastic save. Woongarrah would eventually find the opening goal of the game after they capitalised on a Wyoming mistake in the midfield. After some tidy link-up play, Kyle Harvey would make no mistake as he calmly slotted into the back of the net to give his side a 1-0 lead. Searching tirelessly for an equaliser, Wyoming continued to fight and were eventually rewarded late. Woongarrah thought they have sealed the win as the game carried into extra time, but a long cross would find Darren Cooper who would score a looping header to beat the Woongarrah keeper.
Post-game Ian McAndrew commented on the oppositions missing their coach and a suspended player whose absence played a big part in the game. “Woongarrah were missing their coach on the sidelines who was a massive loss for them as well as their big target man Jayden Rogers. In some positive news for us, we get Jared Mcnee back next week and hopefully a few more the week after.”
Luke Rogers hopes that this draw and conceding a late goal will educate his team going forward as they look to close out games in a better fashion. “Always a close game against Macca’s Wyoming side. Full credit to Wyoming for not giving up and getting the late equaliser. Hopefully, my boys will learn from this and do better next week.”
Golden Boot Standings –
| 4 | Andy Klijn (Killarney) |
| 3 | Ethan Hall (Killarney, Jack Ellwood (Southern), James Draper (Kariong), Stuart Adams (Terrigal), Tyler Wade (Avoca) |
BPL Points Table –
BPL Club Championship –
DIVISION 1
Round 6 Results –
Div 1 Points Table –
Div 1 Club Championship –
