MATCH OF THE ROUND
Kariong v Woongarrah
The match of the round this Sunday marks the biggest game of the season for both Kariong and Woongarrah as they look to clinch vital club championship points in the hopes of remaining a part of BPL in season 2023.
Currently sitting 10 points behind Woongarrah at the bottom of the Club Championship, a win in all three grades this weekend for Kariong would see the Cougars overtake the Wildcats as they look for a late push out of relegation. If Kariong fails to secure less than nine club championship points this weekend, their season is ultimately over in BPL, and they will return to Division 1 for the following year. It’s Kariong’s never say die attitude and the back-against-the-wall approach that has seen them pick up points in multiple games this year when all the odds were against them. Having the luxury of playing at home, Kariong will be more suited to the ground and the way that it plays compared to the travelling opposition. In their last two weeks, Ryan Finch’s men have not been able to secure a single point to their name in any grade as they are coming off very tough opposition in Killarney and Kanwal. To make matter worse, head coach Ryan Finch has not been on the sideline in recent weeks and his absence has been missed as you can tell from their results.
Sharing the duties of the interim head coach while Ryan Finch is absent, Russel Lane-Smith spoke about how much this weekend means to the club and that a win in all three grades is a must. “All of the coaching staff and the squad are looking forward to this round with the potential 21 club championship points up for grabs. We get a number of big names back this week and the lads are hungry to fight for their place in next season’s Battlewin Premier League. Woongarrah FC is hardworking and motivated. Both their first and reserve teams perhaps a bit unlucky with several draws that if they had converted into win would be further up the table.”
“There is no option but to take all the wins this weekend. We have had an up and down season, but we believe we can finish strong. Our squad is determined to dig deep to show our appreciation to our supporters on The Hill for our last home game,” Lane-Smith also added.
A very courageous effort in front of a home crowd two weeks ago saw Luke Rogers men pick up club championship points in all three grades against a resilient Berkeley Vale squad. However, looking for a similar bag of results last weekend when they welcomed Avoca to their home ground, Woongarrah’s luck had turned around as they left Hamlyn Terrace with zero club championship points to their name. To make matter worse they lost their captain Mark Harmsworth to a red card which ultimately sees their skipper miss their extremely important last two fixtures of the season. The positive Woongarrah will focus on heading into this week’s game against Kariong is that the Wildcats already boast a 2-1 win over this side from earlier in the season. After enjoying three straight weeks at their home, Woongarrah will hit the road and travel to the other end of the coast as they look to keep their season alive and take maximum points away from Kariong Oval. With both of their season potentially on the line, expect a close and gruelling contest in all three grades come Sunday.
Luke Rogers also stated that this weekend is a must-win for this club but noted how dangerous the opposition can be on their home soil at Kariong Oval. “This Sunday’s game against Kariong is massive for us. The boys know that we need to win and nothing less if we want to feature in the BPL next season. It isn’t going to be easy without our captain Mark Harmsworth and a few other key players. Playing Kariong at their home ground will make the task tougher. They have had some good wins there this season in beating Berkeley and Southern, so I’m sure they will be heading into this match full of confidence.”
MATCH OFFICIAL – Miles Allen-Scott
Terrigal v Killarney
Killarney looks to finish their season with two wins and be the first team since the ’70s to finish the year with a perfect win record but has the difficult task of facing Terrigal in another chapter of the Ash Grant Cup.
Terrigal enters this weekend’s important Ash Cup Grant clash with Killarney coming off their biggest win of the season. Last Sunday the O’lads welcomed Wyoming to Duffy’s Oval and put on a clinic against the yellow outfit, defeating the Tigers 8-0. Terrigal will go from facing the team on the bottom of the ladder to now facing the undefeated league champions Killarney. The orange lads will be looking to spoil Killarney’s historic season as they look to hand the Terriers their first loss of the season.
With still plenty to play for in their season, failure to pick up any points could see Terrigal drop to the fourth spot on the competition ladder and having to face second-placed Kanwal in their last game of the year, a finals spot is far from secured for Terrigal. A determined Mahkye Brownlie will be itching to get on the field this weekend as he boasted two goals to his name last weekend and has his sights set on the golden boot leader. Brownlie currently records nine goals to his name and only sits four goals behind Killarney’s Adam Woodbine who leads the goalscoring pack. With so much to play for this weekend, expect Terrigal to start fast and look to put Killarney on the back foot.
Killarney will enter this weekend coming off their 16th win of the season as they defeated their local rivals The Entrance 2-1 in front of a home crowd. That 2-1 win marked the sixth time this season the Terriers have won a game by just one goal as the Terriers keep finding ways to win in difficult games. However, their last fixture against Terrigal was anything but difficult as the Terriers defeated the O’lads quite convincedly back in round 4 with a 3-0 win at Pluim Park.
These two sides will battle once again at Pluim Park come Sunday as the Terriers will look to repeat their 3-0 performance and grab their 17th win of the season. Heading into the business end of the season, current golden boot leader Adam Woodbine has been in clinical form in front of goal, scoring six goals to his name in his last two fixtures. Woodbine has been a major factor behind Killarney’s impressive scoring record, but their defensive record is even more extraordinary, having only conceded nine goals in 16 matches. Killarney will be determined to finish the year with only single digits of goals conceded but keeping Terrigal scoreless again this weekend will be no easy feat, expect plenty of action to come kick-off on Sunday.
MATCH OFFICIAL – Trent Dickeson
Berkeley Vale v The Entrance
Failing to pick up any crucial club championship points last weekend, The Reddies will be hoping they can guarantee themselves safety from relegation when they travel to Pluim Park to face Berkeley Vale.
Berkeley Vale would have left James Browne Oval feeling extremely disappointed in themselves as they fell 2-1 to the in-form Southern Ettalong side. After grabbing the lead through a Nathan Blunden penalty, the Wombats went on to concede two goals and see defeat which led to them dropping outside the top four. It was the same story for the Wombats again last Sunday as their troubles and inability to capitalise on chances in front of the goal ultimately let this side down once again.
As they now drop out of a finals spot, making the top four and playing finals football is now out of their control and they need to rely on other teams dropping points if they have any hope of finishing inside the top four. Although it is out of their control, Berkeley Vale must rally together and finish their season picking up maximum points. Having already beaten The Entrance this season, Mark Pratt’s side will enter Sunday with a similar game plan to the one they had earlier in the year.
A courageous and resilient Entrance side faced undefeated league leader Killarney last weekend and after a gruelling 90-minutes of action, the Reddies fell 2-1 as the time was against them after a late comeback attempt. The Reddies have turned their poor form around in recent weeks as they only possess one loss in their last four fixtures as they continue to battle to avoid relegation. After securing to pick up any club championship points last round against Killarney, the Entrance must leave Pluim Park with points to their name this weekend.
The reverse fixture against Berkeley Vale saw the Entrance go down 2-0 early in the second half before once again coming back and levelling the score as 2-2. With all the momentum on their side, this young Entrance team failed to make the most of the opportunities and conceded a late penalty to their ex-captain to lose 3-2. Having come a long way in recent weeks, The Entrance will take plenty of motivation in knowing they have what it takes to match this Berkeley side as they look to solidify a major three points to their name come Sunday.
MATCH OFFICIAL – Anthony Kabbout
Kanwal v Wyoming
Looking to secure a top-two finish on the competition ladder, Kanwal will welcome a hungry Wyoming side looking to put last weekend’s disappointing results behind them and pick up pivotal points.
After seeing their biggest defeat of the season just two weeks ago, Kanwal was able to bounce back as all good teams do and get back to winning ways last weekend when they defeated Kariong away from home. It was Southern Ettalong who handed Kanwal just their third loss of the season when the Lions pulverised the Bulls on their home turf with a 5-0 statement win. Looking to solidify their finals spot, Kanwal did exactly that with a 3-0 win against Kariong last Sunday.
Kanwal head back home for the first time since that defeat to Southern as they look to pick up their 11th win of the season and lock their spot in second place. The Bulls record eight clean sheets to their name this season with one of those clean sheet performances coming against this weekend’s opposition Wyoming. Back in round four, Ryan Walker’s side defeated the Tigers with a convincing 3-0 performance away from home. Looking to build as much momentum as possible as they head into finals football, Kanwal will be looking for a similar result come Sunday.
Wyoming enters their extremely important clash with Kanwal coming off their biggest defeat of the season. Ian McAndrew’s side travelled to Duffy’s Oval last weekend with the idea of playing their usual first graders in multiple grades in the hopes of picking up crucial club championship points. However, a determined and dominant Terrigal squad picked up a win in all three grades, including an emphatic 8-0 win over Wyoming in first grade to leave the Tigers still on the same club championship points as they started the day with.
Wyoming will now have to pick themselves up and go again this weekend as they have the difficult task of facing Kanwal away. With Kanwal looking to solidify a place inside the top four in all three grades, picking up any points this Sunday is going to be another difficult task. To make things even harder for McAndrew’s side, they will be forced to finish the season without their club captain Matt Hall who only returned mid-way through this year after dealing with a serious injury. Hall was only just finding his old form in front of goal and will be a major missing piece in Wyoming’s quest to avoid relegation.
MATCH OFFICIAL – Anthony Kabbout
Avoca v Southern Ettalong
Looking to keep their newly found spot inside the top four, in-form Southern will travel to Fagan Park in search of another three points.
Avoca enter their clash against Southern coming off just their second clean sheet of the season as Neal Hide’s side picked up a convincing 3-0 win over Woongarrah away from home last Sunday. That marked the Shark’s fifth win of the year as Neal Hide’s side has failed to live up to their pre-season expectations. Avoca looks to finish their year with as many wins as possible but has the difficult task of facing the most two in-form teams of the competition, Southern Ettalong and Killarney.
Southern only narrowly beat Avoca all the way back in round four with a 2-1 win but the Shark will be optimistic they can overturn this result and put an end to Southern’s great run of form. With only two games left to play, Avoca’s Tyler Wade currently finds himself four goals behind the current golden boot leader as he will be determined to close the in his remaining fixtures. With nothing to play for it’s always a possibility teams can perform their best and for a young side like Avoca, having that freedom might bring out the best in them as they look to finish their season on a high.
In recent weeks, Dale Eggleton’s side has looked unbeatable and their last push for a spot inside the top four now remains in their hands. In recent weeks Southern has recorded wins over Wyoming, Kanwal, and Berkeley Vale, scoring eleven goals in three fixtures and only conceding four goals in total. Last weekend’s come-from-behind win against Berkeley Vale saw the Lions jump into the top four for the first time since the start of the season.
With just two fixtures remaining in the season, Avoca and Kariong, on paper Southern will be expected to pick up wins against both clubs. However, the story for Southern in recent years is they always seem to struggle against the teams below them on the ladder. This has been evident this season as they record losses against the two bottom teams in Wyoming and Kariong. Southern will need to make sure they enter their final two games with the same intensity as in recent weeks and if they manage to hold their spot inside the top four, expect them to be a real dark horse in the 2022 finals series.
MATCH OFFICIAL – Damien Bury
