Match of the Round
Kanwal 4 – 1 Umina
It was third verse fourth as Kanwal welcomed Umina to Wadalba Sports Complex on an unusually hot Sunday as the E-Gals looked to keep their noble momentum going as the Bulls were focused to impress a big home crowd.
With matches between these two sides always hotly contested, this game didn’t disappoint.
Kanwal started the game with real intent and dominated the opening exchanges without any reward. Umina clawed their way into the game but also struggled to find that killer edge.
Kanwal opened the scoring after some enterprising link-up play between the front three found Maddi Dunlop at the far post who neatly tucked away the opportunity.
It wasn’t long before that lead was doubled when Grace Heinemann finished well after Jordan Evans pounced on a Umina mistake.
Two quickly turned into three when the same two players combined again for Grace to score her second and Kanwal’s 3rd goal.
Umina, who were struggling to break down the Kanwal defence then scored a smart goal after a Hayley Fulwood surge in the middle of the field played a through ball to Bella DeMeyer as Bella found the bottom right corner for the halftime score of 3-1.
Having come from 1-4 behind last week against East Gosford to win, Umina knew they were still in the contest and came out with a renewed game plan in the second half and dominated possession without really creating too many chances as the Kanwal defence held firm.
Kanwal nearly added goals via Jordan Evans and Hayls Ballard, only denied by a great save by the Umina GK.
Kanwal finally got a fourth when Hayley Green latched onto a Skye Parkes free kick and rifled home the half-volley to finish the scoring.
“Not good enough in the first half,” voiced Umina’s Steve Donaldson. “Much like the previous Sunday, poor passes in our defence led to easy attacking play for Kanwal. Simply can’t be doing that with Kanwal’s clinical forwards, who only had to put together a maximum of three passes in all four goals. Back to the basics for us”
As for Ben Raychaudhuri, he commended the opposition as well as his team post-game. ‘It’s always a tough physical game when we take on Umina and today was no different. They are a quality side with strike players across the park, so we needed to be at our best today, which we were.”
“It was a complete game for us with every player contributing and doing their job, but we were never comfortable with the score line as we knew Umina would keep coming, as they did.”
Ben also spoke on the importance of their performance in front of their massive home crowd. “Sunday was such an important day for the club with the Legends and Sponsors Day. For us to put on a performance like that was pleasing, to say the least. We just need to continue to build for the remaining three games.”
Match Official – Darryn Eyndhoven
Terrigal 7 – 1 Killarney
On a warm Sunday afternoon, Terrigal hosted Killarney at Duffys Oval and continued their winning form, though it wasn’t without an early warning as Killarney opened the scoring with an absolute worldie of a goal in the 13th minute.
Terrigal started slow and unusually invited pressure, allowing Killarney the opportunity to build up and at times look threatening in the final third. Following Killarney’s early goal from Trinity Martinac, Terrigal picked up their act and started to play their attacking brand of football.
Within just two minutes of conceding, Terrigal’s Indiana Moyes found fellow striker Gab Blanch in behind Killarney’s defence with a neatly placed pass, Gab picking it up and surging towards goal, slotting bottom left to equalise. It was evident that Terrigal were back to business and the onslaught of attacking play continued.
Terrigal’s Gab Blanch shortly returned the favour, placing a ball in the path of Indiana who managed to scramble and finish bottom right, giving Terrigal the lead in the 22nd minute.
Indiana was her usual busy self and managed to secure her second of the day just three minutes later, followed by a first-half hattrick within just 25 minutes of play.
Killarney’s defence worked tirelessly to minimise the build-up opportunities that Terrigal was trying to create, with Terrigal continuing to shift the defensive unit and play in the space behind to create plenty of wide build-up.
Killarney settled into some rhythm and the midfield battle played out, with Killarney flooding the central areas, making it difficult to build up at times. In the 44th minute, centre midfielder Caitlin McMahon made a surging effort directly towards the goal, beating the lines of defence and finishing bottom right, giving Terrigal a 4-goal lead heading into the break.
The second half played out in a similar fashion, Killarney defended bravely as Terrigal looked likely to score again. Terrigal were awarded a corner in the 50th minute and a perfectly placed cross from Sophie Piltz found the head of Rachel Darby on the far post who smartly converted.
In the 67th minute, another attacking build-up by Terrigal was rewarded when Gab Blanch beat her defender inside the box and buried her shot to make it seven for the home team and another three points in the bag to keep their unbeaten streak alive.
“A good game of football today, Killarney made it hard for us to play. Happy with our girl’s efforts today and happy with another six-point Sunday for our squad,” declared Gab Blanch.
Match Official – Troy Ward
Southern & Ettalong 0 – 9 East Gosford
After their disappointing loss to Umina last weekend after leading 4-1 at halftime, the Rams got back to their clinical ways on Sunday to record their tenth win of the season.
Kelly Hogan was unstoppable in front of goal this past Sunday, scoring five goals which takes her total of the year up to 19 goals.
Her teammate Kaya Vanderfield was also in fine form, scoring a brace to take her season goal tally to 17.
Stephanie Hansen and Karen Doutty both got in on the action and found themselves on the scoresheet as the Rams cruised to a dominant 9-0 victory.
With so many players unavailable for their game on Sunday, it gave Rams coach Jorge Chavez a chance to try new combinations and play players in different positions and to their credit Jorge voiced that they held their own.
“The seven reserve graders that took part on the pitch today didn’t look out of place playing amongst the first graders.”
“I believe that guarantees us finals football for only the second time in Rams history. Our aim now is to try and finish in the top two, but we know that we still have some important games coming up and anything can happen so we must stay focused on the next game at hand,” stated Jorge.
Match Official – Jeffrey Smith
Golden Boot Standings –
| 23 | Tahlor Thackray (East Gosford) |
| 19 | Jordan Evans (Kanwal), Kelly Hogan (East Gosford) |
| 17 | Kayla Vanderfield (East Gosford) |
| 14 | Gabrielle Blanch (Terrigal) |
| 10 | Kate Styles (Umina) |
| 9 | Candice Phelan (Terrigal), Chelsea Campbell (Umina) |
Points Table –
Club Championship –
