Berkeley Vale v Killarney
Berkeley Vale, who are coming off their biggest win of the season, will host the undefeated league leaders Killarney for the round 12 match of the round.
It was goals galore last Sunday for the Wombats as they made their way to the peninsular to face Woy Woy at Austin Butler Oval. Within 30 minutes, Andre Gumprecht’s side found themselves 4-0 up thanks to four different goal scorers.
The scoreline finished 6-1 in favour of Berkeley Vale who recorded their sixth win of the season.
“It’s like most teams throughout the season you go through good patches and some poor, the previous few games saw us probably not at our best but enthusiasm has still been there and that has helped us out the last few games and seen us score a few goals but with no disrespect to the opposition, they were not Killarney and that’s who we need to measure ourselves against,” spoke Mark Pratt.
Berkeley Vale, who have scored an incredible 10 goals in their last two fixtures, will now look to carry their season-best form into this weekend’s tough clash against first-placed Killarney.
Wombats striker Kane Woolston who has recorded four goals in his past two matches has been the driving force behind his side’s latest success in front of goals.
Pratt also spoke about his team’s recent goal-scoring success. “We have spent some time working with our finishing so it’s nice to see the goal’s flow but more pleasing it’s from multiple players and not just relying on one or two.”
As the Wombats currently sit in third, they boast a game in hand over the two sides above them on the ladder and a win over Killarney this weekend could see the Wombats go just two points behind the league leaders if they can continue to win their games.
When asked what he expects from Killarney this weekend, Pratt voiced, “We would anticipate nothing different than what we have seen over the last 6,7,8 years, a very competitive difficult team to beat and obviously they continue to manage a way to win week in week out.”
“I think that the key will be that we have an even contest that is not decided by influences outside of the players themselves and the game is decided by the best team on the day,” added Pratt.
With their opposition looking to extend their lead at the top over the rest of the competition, a win this weekend is a must if Berkeley Vale wishes to end the year as League Champions.
After last week’s narrow 2-1 win over East Gosford, Killarney now finds themselves six points clear at the top of the MPL ladder.
Since the return to the competition following our North vs South exhibition match, Killarney has recorded two back-to-back 2-1 wins over the Lions and the Rams to remain the only unbeaten team in 2023.
“The last two weeks have been very hard, especially the Southern game, which was very physical, which was proved with the struggle for them against Avoca and us against East Gosford,” said Terriers head coach Chris Ackerley.
After finishing last year with a perfect record of 18 wins from 18 games, Killarney has the chance to create even more history and be the first team to be crowned back-to-back league champions without losing a single competition game.
When questioned if going the season unbeaten again has come up at training, head coach Chris Ackerley commented, “There has been no talk at all about an unbeaten season as we are just trying to concentrate on each upcoming game. If it happens then well and good but our main aim each week is the three points on offer.”
With their focus now firmly shifted to Berkeley Vale and the difficult task ahead this Sunday, Killarney will enter the clash as favourites despite the Wombats being the only team this season they have not defeated.
Ackerley also talked on the opposition ahead of this week’s match of the round clash, stating “I expect Berkeley to play a possession style game against us trying to get their two dangers in Kane Woolston and Jakeb Brownlow free in the final third.”
“The key for us will be to match their enthusiasm, desire and to make sure that we take care of their danger men.”
Match Official – Luke Dunkerley
All Round 12 Fixtures –
