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MATCH OF THE ROUND

The Entrance v Kariong

The Entrance will look to secure their first win of the year as they welcome Kariong to Pat Morley Oval in the Round 7 Match of the Round.

The Entrance who was not given much credit at the start of the year has really impressed in recent weeks with their results and attitude. The Entrance side lost the majority of their key players from past years as the club has had an influx of young, talented players. These youngsters struggled together in the Association Cup, losing all their games including games over Division 1 opponents. However, The Entrance under new their coaching staff has been competing with the best that BPL has to offer, splitting points against Woongarrah and Southern in back-to-back weeks.

This Entrance side is still without their first win together as they continue to impress every week. The inexperience of playing in first grade has still shown in recent weeks as the Entrance has been the first to concede in all of their matches. Coach Patrick Zwaanswijk will be hoping his team can start on the front foot instead of making life hard for themselves and chase the game once agian.

Zwaanswijk expects a very tough Kariong outfit ahead of the game at Pat Morley this weekend. “It will be a tough game against a good opponent. We expect an experienced team to come and play The Entrance.”

Zwaanswijk also anticipates a close game where the winner of the fixture will be the one who can capitalise and make the most of their opportunities. “It will be a tight game where the team that takes the chances will have the best opportunity of winning this game.”

Kariong would be extremely disappointed in themselves after their 3-0 loss to Avoca this past weekend. Kariong coach Ryan Finch was forced into making two early substitutes in that loss which ultimately played a huge part in the game as Kariong did not look the same for the remainder of the game.

Leading into last weekend, The Cougars were coming off their first BPL win where they come from behind to beat a dangerous Southern side 2-1 with only 10-men. That was the club’s first BPL win in their history after being in the competition for over a year. Kariong look reinvented under their new head coach Finch who has his side well drilled and able to compete with any BPL outfit.

Finch is looking forward to a tough game away from home as his team looks to pick up their second win. “We’re expecting a tough game against a side that has had two decent results over the last two weeks. though they have lost players in the offseason it seems as though things are starting to gel for The Entrance now and there never say die attitude in the previous games shows we will have to be at our best to come away with a win.”

“Kariong will be up for the game and are looking to write the wrongs of last week to get us back to winning ways.”

Woongarrah v Terrigal

Terrigal will look to make it two on the trot as the O’lads travel to the fortress that is Hamlyn Terrace to battle against hungry Wildcats.

After having multiple fixtures moved because of the rain to the immaculate Hamlyn Terrace, Woongarrah is set to play their fourth game in a row at their home ground. Woongarrah picked up their first win of the year in Round 2 where they successfully beat Kariong 2-1 in a very close battle. Since then, the Wildcats have recorded two draws back-to-back. Round three saw Luke Rogers’ men finish 2-2 against The Entrance while last weekend Woongarrah conceded in the dying moments of the game to draw 1-1 with Wyoming.

In these two games, Rogers’ side could have walked away with a total of six points after leading in both fixtures, Woongarrah will be focusing on holding out their opposition if they can grab a go-ahead goal again this weekend. Woongarrah has already battled against the O’lads this year in an Association Cup play-off fixture that the Wildcats lost 4-2. Woongarrah will be out to right their wrongs and keep their unbeaten home record intact come Sunday.

Martyn Griffiths O’lads side was the team to beat in last year’s competition before the season got cancelled. Terrigal was unbeaten in 2021 and was well on track to win the league. After losing some key players, this year has been a bit of a slow start for Terrigal. Terrigal won their opening match 4-3 against a resilient Avoca side but then saw losses in their next two fixtures losing to Killarney (3-0) and Kanwal (1-0)

However, as many expected, Terrigal got back to winning ways with a great team performance over BPL favourites Beverley Vale (4-2). The two-time BPL Player of the Year Stuart Adams was in great form last Sunday, picking up two goals to his name and taking his tally to three for the year. Another standout was Daniel Bird whose performance on that day saw him walk away with the man of the match honours. Having already beaten Woongarrah in pre-season, Terrigal will be hungry to pick up a second win in a row this weekend.

Killarney v Berkeley Vale

In a fixture we could see come finals time, top of the table Killarney are set to encounter Berkeley Vale who will be focusing on bouncing back to winning ways.

Killarney’s fantastic form keeps impressing as the Terriers now stand alone on top of the BPL Ladder after handing Kanwal their first loss of the season in a 7-goal thriller last weekend. Killarney’s Andy Klijn has secured two goals in back-to-back weeks and now leads the golden boot race. Klijn overtakes teammate Ethan Hall who sits below him with a total of three goals thus far. With those sorts of statistics, it’s no surprise Killarney as a team has scored five more goals than any other club after the opening four fixtures, with a total of sixteen goals.

It seems like there is nobody who can currently stop Ackerley’s side as they search for their sixth straight BPL League Champions title. However, Killarney will be disappointed in their defensive efforts from their last game, conceding three goals to a 10-men Kanwal. Killarney is arguably set to face their toughest challenge yet when they welcome Berkeley Vale to Edsacc Oval. Killarney will be out to make another statement with another dominant result.

Berkeley Vale will be looking to put last week’s disappointing performance behind them as they now focus on another extremely difficult test in Killarney. For the quality Mark Pratt and his Berkeley Vale squad possess, they have struggled to put on repetitive performances week in week out that they are very much capable of.

The experienced Alex Burrell is yet to play a game for the Wombats in 2022 as he is dealing with an injury. This loss for the Berkeley Vale backline seems to be taking its toll against a Berkeley side that conceded four goals their game last weekend. Former A-League player Reece Caira was left off the team sheet which is also a big missing piece to this Wombat side. Mark Pratt will have his side entering the weekend with a well-drilled gameplan as they look to hand Killarney their first loss of the year and go on equal points with the Terriers.

Southern & Ettalong v Wyoming

After a disappointing run of away games, Southern head back home to James Browne Oval as they welcome a Wyoming side looking to pick up even more points this weekend.

Going off paper, many people picked this Southern side to be amongst the top of the competition for the year ahead. After a positive start to the year, recent weeks have not been great for Dale Eggleton’s side who have only picked up one point in the last two games. The Lions started their year beating Woongarrah (3-0) and Avoca (2-1) both at home. Since hitting the road, Southern picked up their first loss of the year to a 10-men Kariong (2-1) and last weekend shared the points with The Entrance (3-3).

Unfortunately for Southern, they have had quite a few players miss out through injuries. Jacob Lepre and captain Todd Balneaves were both unavailable on the Southern team sheet last week. Inform Jack Ellwood also missed their round 6 fixture as he was serving a suspension. Discipline has been a real issue for Eggleton’s side who have now had three red cards in the last three weeks. Ellwood is set to return back to the line-up for their clash against Wyoming, Jack has managed to score three goals in all three games from the midfield for the Lions and his presence was truly missed last weekend.

Wyoming is coming off a very courageous effort that saw the Tigers pick up their first point of the year after an injury time equaliser from veteran Darren Cooper. Wyoming has struggled with their squad numbers at the start of this year, and it has been represented in their performances. Ian McAndrew will welcome back goalscoring threat Jared Mcnee this weekend as the Wyoming squad will continue to grow in strength over the coming weeks are more players return from injury.

At full strength, Wyoming will become a force to reckon with in the BPL competition, especially led on and off the pitch by the vastly experienced Ian McAndrew. McAndrew’s side will be hoping they can repeat what others have done in recent weeks and get a result against an underperforming Southern side.

Avoca v Kanwal

Fresh off their first win of the year, Avoca will be hoping to capitalise against a Kanwal side who saw defeat for the first weekend in Round 6.

After facing the hardest competition possible to start the year, Avoca finally got their season underway after picking up a dominant 3-0 win over Kariong. Avoca’s Tyler Wade grabbed a double to his name in their round 6 win, those two goals now take his tally for the year up to three as he remains just one goal away from the Golden Boot leader Andy Klijn.

After conceding a far from ideal eight goals in their opening three fixtures, Neal Hide’s side backline was able to turn things around and keep a clean sheet against Kariong. Hide’s team will need to be at their best again this Sunday as they welcome third place Kanwal who are looking to bounce back after their first loss. If Avoca can grab another win this weekend it will put them back in contention for playing finals football and amongst the top four of the competition.

After three rounds of football, Kanwal was flying high on top of the table and without any goals conceded. Unfortunately for the Bulls, they were handed their first defeat of the year at the hands of Killarney who won that contest 4-3. Despite that loss, Kanwal still managed to score three goals against league leaders Killarney with just 10-men and almost stole a point from that fixture. James Scott was the player shown red after two yellow cards in succession and will now miss the game against Avoca.

Brad Porter and Mason Lavery were both left off the team sheet after picking up injuries in their round 5 win over Terrigal. This missing midfield duo was evident for Kanwal last weekend and if missing again it will likely play a big part in the outcome of this game. Ryan Walker will have his squad focusing on their positive start to their season as they look to get back to winning ways and remain in touch with Killarney on top of the BPL Ladder.