Terrigal v Berkeley Vale
Berkeley Vale have a golden opportunity to overtake Terrigal and jump into third place this weekend as the two finals bound teams will square off at Duffy’s Oval in a game that could have a major impact on both teams success in 2023.
Since round nine, Pete Edwards side have been raising some eyebrows as the O’lads turned their season around with an impressive run of results in their last eight fixtures.
Out of those eight games, Terrigal have only dropped points on one occasion which was when they faced their rivals Southern & Ettalong and saw defeat 2-1. The remaining seven fixtures the reigning premiers have won all seven, including a win over league leaders Killarney to hand them their first defeat in 2023 and their first league defeat in over 35 games.
Now with the 2023 Finals Series just around the corner, Terrigal will be looking to keep this momentum heading into their final three games of the season and cement their spot inside the top four.
Terrigal currently sit in third but a loss this weekend and could see them drop out of the top four with only two games remaining as both Berkeley Vale and Kanwal currently sit below them on 26 points compared to Terrigal’s 28 points.
Terrigal showed their championship mentality last weekend when they welcomed East Gosford to Duffy’s Oval. Terrigal entered the fixture coming off their first loss in eight games and despite going a goal down the O’lads rallied together and produced a 3-2 win to keep their season on track.
Facing another formidable opponent this weekend in front of a home crowd, Terrigal will be looking for a quick start to secure another crucial three points.
As for their opponents, Berkeley Vale will enter this match of the round fixture against Terrigal coming off a tough mid-week contest with second-placed Southern & Ettalong.
The Wombats played their rescheduled round 13 fixture against the Lions last night and after ninety minutes of compelling and back and forth football, the two sides were forced to share the points after Southern scored a late equaliser and the game finished 1-1.
Despite the busy schedule, Mark Pratt states his team has come out unscathed just disappointed not picking up a win. “The squad will be fine we have no injuries, just disappointed not to take all three points.”
However, that one point was enough to overtake Kanwal on the ladder as the Wombats share the same points with the Bulls but record a significantly better goal difference which could play a big part in their top four hopes this season.
One of the big reason for Berkeley Vale’s tremendous goal difference is their 8-0 win last weekend against Avoca which was labelled their most complete performance of the year by coach Mark Pratt.
“Basically, it was our best performance of the season. We were solid at the back, but more importantly we took the chances that we have been creating all year, we were clinical in front of goals,” voiced Pratt.
Berkeley Vale failed to live up to expectations last year as the Wombats crashed out of a finals spot in the final weeks of the season, but a new, young, and fresh squad will have Mark Pratt hoping they have what it takes to end the year inside the top four and playing finals.
Berkeley Vale have the luxury of boasting a game in hand over the rest of the top five fighting it out for a place in finals, which if they can continue to win will give them a great chance of finishing inside the top two granted results go their way.
“Terrigal are always tough and look like to be mounting a serious challenge after a slow start to their year.”
“We will need to take the enthusiasm and belief of the last couple of games with us and looking forward to playing one of the benchmark teams,” declared Pratt.
Match Official – Trent Dickeson
All Round 16 Fixtures –
