Match of the Round
Southern & Ettalong 1 – 2 Killarney
The two best teams of 2023 met this past weekend as league leaders Killarney made their way down to the peninsular to face Southern & Ettalong for the round 10 match of the round.
With just the one point separating these two sides at the start of kick-off, both teams would look to get off to the best possible start but the poor conditions of the pitch made it hard for either say to get into their rhythm early.
The first half was an extremely even contest as both defences were on top of their game, denying any chances the opposition attack could mount.
The home side looked extremely dangerous from multiple long throw-ins from Lion’s captain Todd Balneaves, but the Terrier’s defence and goalkeeper dealt with this accordingly which was a pleasing sight for Killarney’s coaching staff.
After the opening 45 minutes, the deadlock could not be broken by either side as the two teams headed into the sheds with the score locked at 0-0.
The start of the second half played out very similar to the first as both teams created chances, searching for that crucial opening goal.
The game got its first goal in the 60th minute after Southern were awarded a free kick and up stepped their free-kick specialist and left-foot wizard Jacob Lepre.
Jacob fired the ball under the wall and beat the opposition keeper down low to give Southern an important 1-0 lead.
It took the league leaders and defending league champions just five minutes to hit back after a play down the right ended up with Andy Klijn going down in the box and the referee awarding a penalty to the visitors despite protests from the home side.
Andy stepped up and converted for his side to take the game back on level terms at 1-1. With only five minutes left to play, another Killarney attack ended with a player being brought down in the box as the official pointed to the spot once again.
This time Harry Fountain stepped up for Killarney as he calmly finished for a second time after being made to re-take the first penalty after someone encroached into the area, giving Killarney a 2-1 lead.
Southern tried their best to salvage a point for the fixture but it would not be their day as Killarney would take all three points and extend their lead on top of the ladder to four points.
Post-match, Killarney’s Chris Ackerley spoke on the game as well as the injuries sustained by his squad. “Very hard afternoon with a couple of injuries to add to the list of players already out.”
Match Official – Anthony Kabbout
Wyoming 1 – 4 Berkeley Vale
Entering round 10 coming off their first loss of the year in the previous round, Berkeley Vale were determined to bounce back to winning ways when they travelled to ‘The Den’ this past Sunday to face the Wyoming Tigers.
The start of the contest was quite a flat affair until the 20th minute when the home side Wyoming were awarded a penalty. In his return game back to first grade, Ian McAndrew stepped up for his side as the maestro coolly converted to give his side the lead.
However, Wyoming didn’t hold their lead for long as a Berkeley Vale corner was not cleared by the Wyoming defence as the ball fell to Mathias Palmqvist who buried his chance to level the score.
Just moments before the halftime break, speedster Ashton Hurley was able to get his first goal of the season, lacing the ball off the crossbar and into the back of the net which gave the opposition goalkeeper zero chance of saving.
The second half saw Berkeley Vale resume the second period maintaining the majority of the ball possession but not mounting many attacking chances.
It was another Berkeley Vale corner that saw them end the deadline in the second half as the ball which was whipped to the back stick met the head of Shane Littlehales who headed back in for Kane Woolston to finish from close range and extend the Wombats lead.
Berkeley Vale were reduced to 10 men after attacker Jakeb Brownlow was shown a second yellow card and his side was forced to finish the match a man down.
Looking to take advantage of the extra man, Wyoming pushed players forward which left them vulnerable at the back and a counterattack saw Kane Woolston left one-on-one with Tommy Coventry as Woolston sharply converted past the goalkeeper to secure his second goal of the day and a 4-1 win for the Wombats.
“My team need to be more resilient and stop giving away cheap goals if we want to be competitive. We will go again next week against Terrigal,” declared Tiger’s coach Ian McAndrew.
Match Official – Miles Allen-Scott
East Gosford 2 – 2 Woy Woy
The competition’s two newly promoted sides in 2023 faced off for the first time in round 10. With a lot of recent history between these two sides, both clubs entered Sunday’s clash ready and rejuvenated looking to claim vital points.
With multiple players returning from injury, Woy Woy travelled to Hylton Moore Oval with confidence high. However, East Gosford started the better of the two sides as they came out of the block very quickly and as always, played the game at a fast past.
Some clever football saw East Gosford start to dominate the visitors, and following a great cross from the left wing, Aiden Ercan rifled home from the edge of the box as his first-time strike went off the post and in to give the home side a 1-0 lead.
The Rams continued to have the better of the play and after some continued pressure, a great switch from left to right found Ciaran Simmons who delivered in a great ball that found Aiden Ercan who made no mistake to secure his brace and double East Gosford’s lead.
Just like their fixture at Hylton Moore last season, Woy Woy went into the sheds down 2-0. The halftime chat from Neal Morris saw them discuss the areas they weren’t good enough at and stated what was needed to get back into the contest.
The second half commenced, and the leaders East Gosford came out a different team which allowed Woy Woy more possession of the ball and ultimately put the home side under the pump which caused the Rams to concede a penalty due to a loose challenge inside the box.
Nathan Baker stepped up for Woy Woy and made no mistake to get his side back into the contest. Woy Woy continued to mount momentum in search of the equaliser and threatened the East Gosford goal many times throughout the second half.
Eventually, Brady Holmes was able to capitalise on one of these chances and take the game back on level terms with plenty of time left of the clock thanks to his third goal of the season.
It took East Gosford to concede two goals to get back in gear as they spent the next 20 minutes pushing and pinning Woy Woy in the hopes of regaining the lead but were unable to find the breakthrough as the two teams split the points.
Neal Morris spoke post-game on his team’s effort on Sunday. “We need to complete more at critical times to build enough momentum to put teams under pressure and we just weren’t good enough in the first 45 to do that this week.”
“Disappointed but full credit to Woy Woy,” voiced Rams Ricky Sansom
Match Official – Luke Dunkerley
Terrigal 2 – 1 Kanwal
With both teams entering Sunday’s clash on 13 points and fighting for the fourth spot on the MPL ladder, this clash at Duffy’s Oval made for an important fixture for both clubs.
It was a cautious start by both teams with no team creating too many chances early with the first real chance of the game falling to Terrigal in the 12th minute with a dangerous ball across the goalmouth that went unpunished.
From the very start of the game, Kanwal set up in an incredibly defensive structure with two narrow banks of four and a single striker alone at the top.
Kanwal had no interest in pressing or trying to win the ball high as they sat very deep and compact and looked to counter and break on any mistakes made by Terrigal.
Although Terrigal would dominate possession for most of the half, Kanwal were able to defend most of the open play attacking raids, however, it would be Terrigal’s long throws that would cause the most concern for the Kanwal defence and ultimately lead to the first goal in the 26th minute.
A long throw wasn’t cleared effectively by Kanwal and the ball landed to a Terrigal player who launched a thunderous shot at goal only to have the Kanwal keeper tip the ball onto the bar. Terrigal were first to react and draw a foul to give Terrigal a penalty that O’lads Captain Jai McNamara fired home midway through the first half.
Kanwal defended valiantly as the home side produced wave after wave of attacks however the opening period would remain a 1-0 in favour of Terrigal.
Entering the second half with the lead, Terrigal expected the opposition to look to be more attacking in hopes of getting back on level terms, but the Bulls continued to play with a defensive set-up.
Kanwal worked themselves into the game and got their best chance in the 65th minute with Logan Moore pouncing on a through ball for a 1 on 1 with the Terrigal keeper but he was denied and the calls for a penalty were waived away. Another chance fell to Logan in the 74th minute but his header sailed over the bar.
Terrigal managed to get in behind Kanwal a few times in wide areas, eventually finding a cross from the byline which deflected and was turned in by a Kanwal defender as the O’lads took a 2-0 lead.
This seemed to spark Kanwal into action, and they dominated the bulk of the opportunities for the remainder of the game.
Firstly, Jason Cozens would latch onto a ball but couldn’t beat the Terrigal keeper and a few minutes later Joey Liddle ran onto a through ball beating the Terrigal defence, with his shot deflected towards goal by the Terrigal keeper.
It appeared the ball may have crossed the line, but the decision went against Kanwal. Not to be deterred, Kanwal would get a goal back in the 81st minute with a Joey Liddle cross being met by Logan Moore for a nice close-range finish.
Kanwal continued to apply pressure to the Terrigal defence, but they weathered the challenge and walked away with a hard-fought 2-1 win.
Terrigal’s Pete Edwards was happy with the three points as he also commented on his team’s performance. “Tough battle overall but really glad that we played with patience and control and get the points from an important match regarding finals league positions.”
Kanwal’s Ryan Walker was disappointed after the game. “Today we did set up in a deep block to try and limit the Terrigal attacking chances and I think we did do that in open play however pretty disappointing to concede off two long throw-ins, although I thought we were pretty unlucky to not come away with a draw.”
Match Official – Trent Dickeson
Avoca 2 – 2 The Entrance
Paul Oval welcomed these two clubs for only its third MPL match of 2023 as the Reddies searched for their second win of the season while the home side Avoca looked to keep within touching distance of the top five.
The home side started strong and took an early 2-0 lead thanks to two well-taken goals by Mitch Moody and Cooper Ebrington. Ebrington now takes his outstanding total of the season to seven goals.
The game was fairly even with both teams enjoying chances on goal, The Entrance managed to reply with a goal of their own after a break away saw Entrance saviour Corey Jones slot home for the visitors.
The second half saw both teams continue to create chances, searching for the next crucial goal of the contest but it was the Entrance who looked the more likely to find the back of the net next.
Their persistence paid off as the Entrance eventually got the equaliser they deserved with an excellent-headed goal from defender Cameron Anderson.
With the game in the balance, both teams continued to push players forward in search of the winning goal but neither side could capitalise on a few half chances as the contest finished 2-2.
“Congratulations to The Entrance, they definitely deserved something from the game,” voiced Avoca head Coach Neal Hide.
Neal also stated, “Especially with their second-half performance, they never gave up and deserved to get something from the game. Avoca will need to improve to get points in their next match against SEU.”
Match Official – Damien Bury
Golden Boot Standings –
| 8 | Jacob Lepre (Southern), Logan Moore (Kanwal) |
| 7 | Tim Knight (Killarney), Keith Gumbs (Southern), Cooper Ebrington (Avoca), Andy Klijn (Killarney) |
| 6 | Charlie Entwistle (East Gosford), Ben Flakus (Terrigal), Kane Woolston (Berkeley Vale), Nathan Baker (Woy Woy) |
| 5 | Jakeb Brownlow (Berkeley Vale), Tyler Wade (Avoca), Matt Caisley (Southern) |
Points Table –
Club Championship –
Division 1
Round 10 Results –
Points Table –
Club Championship –
