Match of the Round
Killarney 2 – 1 Avoca
A late goal made for a nervy ending for the Terriers this past Sunday, but Chris Ackerley and his men were able to see out the victory, claiming the MPL First Grade League Championship for the seventh consecutive season!
With the home crowd behind Killarney for this potential historic day, the deadlock was broken just 17 minutes into the contest when Kyle Graham finished off a cross from Blake Silvers from inside the six-yard box to give the Terriers the lead.
Killarney looked to double the scoreline before the halftime whistle as they enjoyed a number of good chances only to be denied by good goalkeeping and defending by the Sharkies.
With play resuming and just one goal separating the two teams, it was the home side who got that next important goal 10 minutes after the restart as Blake Silvers finished nicely from 12 yards out after a mix-up in the Avoca defence.
Once again both sides had chances as Avoca looked to get their first goal of the contest, but it was their keeper Phil Anderson who kept his side in the game making a handful of excellent saves to further deny Killarney.
With less than five minutes to play, Avoca finally got their breakthrough from Alex Cochrane-Smith which set up an intense final few minutes for the home side.
Avoca created several more half chances looking to spoil the day for Killarney, but the Terriers held out strong to see out the game and record a historic victory in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
Chris Ackerley spoke on the incredible achievements his squad were able to produce on Sunday. “It was good to get the win and clinch our seventh consecutive league title. Also pleasing for Reserve Grade to clinch the League Title and for the club to win the Club Championship.”
Avoca’s Neal Hide commended the opposition for their historic feat. “Congratulations to Killarney on a deserved win and to win the competition for the seventh year in succession is a magnificent effort. Well done to Chris, his staff & the Killarney players; they are the standard that all MPL clubs aspire to.”
Match Official – Troy Ward
Terrigal 4 – 3 The Entrance
In a roller coaster of a game, a desperate Entrance side looking for crucial club championship points failed to hold on to their fast start as Terrigal kept their finals chances alive with a tremendous come-from-behind win.
It was a horrible start for the home side who leaked two early goals inside the opening ten minutes. The Entrance’s first of the evening came from their ever-reliable Zac Anastas who found teammate Lachlan Pettitt open at the back post who calmly converted to give his side the lead.
Another lapse from Terrigal saw the Reddies midfielder Jack Bennett find himself open in the box as he also clinically finished his chance to shock the home crowd and put the Entrance up 2-0.
Once Terrigal managed to get over the shock of their poor start, they grew into the match and started to apply more pressure. Still not looking their sharpest, and a little soft in the tackle, Terrigal rode their luck at times through the first half.
Terrigal finally found a goal thanks to a great edge-of-the-box strike from Ben Flakus to take the game to 2-1 at halftime.
Pete Edwards spoke at halftime about playing more compact and changed a few things tactically and his side came out with the belief to get back in the match and get the much-needed win.
Terrigal managed to grab an equaliser shortly into the second half after a mix-up in the box fell to Max Vegter who scrambled the ball across the line.
With the score locked at 2-2, Terrigal looked the better of the teams, but a robust Entrance defence made it difficult for the home side to play the football they like.
In a strange turn of events, the Terrigal defence stopped for what they believed was an offside only for play to continue, and a long ball from the Entrance was run onto by Spencer Wharton who scored and gave the Entrance the lead once again. A schoolboy error by Terrigal where they didn’t react well and play to the whistle.
Fortunately, from here Terrigal lifted again and after a few substitutions they found another way past the injured Entrance keeper after some good build-up and combination play found an unmarked Kassidy Lalor in the box to fire his side back level at 3-3.
The game was on a knife edge and with about 15 to go, a long throw was turned into the net by an Entrance defender as Terrigal took the lead for the first time in the game. The O’lads battled out the remaining of a tough and fierce battle against a desperate Entrance side to take all three points.
“We were not at our best at all today. However, we did show great attitude and fight to come back from being behind twice,” voiced Pete Edwards.
“We introduced a number of players today who have been away from football for a few months, and it was great to get them back out on the park to strengthen our options for next week and hopefully finals.”
Pete now turns his attention to next week’s important final-round clash with the Wombats. “A huge round of football next week, with the teams all playing for the third and fourth finals places play each other!”
“We will need to start next week’s game much stronger against a strong Berkeley Vale team, but confidence is good, and the team knows what’s expected from us next week.”
Match Official – Luke Dunkerley
Kanwal 3 – 1 Berkeley Vale
Kanwal keeps their finals chances alive and now have everything to play for in the final round after defeating third-place Berkeley Vale who missed out on a massive opportunity to secure a spot in the 2023 Mariners Finals Series.
For the second straight week, Kanwal would come out firing and again had an early chance in the third minute with the ball played to Logan Moore whose shot was well saved.
It wouldn’t be long before Logan would get on the score sheet. In the 11th minute, a great ball played in by Callum Dunkerley was clinically put away by Logan to give Kanwal an early 1-0 lead.
Berkeley would play themselves into the game and have a few chances only to be denied by a desperate Kanwal defence or good goalkeeping.
However, Berkeley Vale kept pushing on, sticking to their game plan and got one back through James Draper to level the score at 1-1.
Berkeley were dominating possession but struggled to create any more goal-threatening opportunities as the score remained even after the first half.
Berkeley started the second half the way they finished the first with the bulk of possession, but Kanwal’s defence held strong, and the game remained tight.
It would come down to the final 10 minutes that determined the game, and it would be that Kanwal fighting spirit that came out on top.
A Callum Dunkerley corner was met at the near post by Rory Rizzi who made no mistake with his header to give Kanwal a 2-1 lead.
With Berkeley pushing for an equaliser in the final few minutes, the ball would be played out to Mason Lavery with no one in front of him, allowing him to run at goal and he unselfishly played the ball off to Logan Moore for a tap into an empty net to give Logan a double for the day and keep in contention for the golden boot race as Kanwal walked away with a gusty 3-1 win.
Ryan Walker was ecstatic after the game. “The boys’ effort today and the last few weeks has been unbelievable. I cannot fault their desire and commitment to each other. The top four is still a tight race and we need to keep the momentum going.”
Match Official – Mark Roberts
Wyoming 1 – 7 East Gosford
Following their poor showing at Kanwal last round, East Gosford did some soul searching and were determined to come back this weekend and perform to the level they know they can reach.
It didn’t take long with their opening goal coming after 25 seconds with Oliver Vanderslot pressing the defender straight from the kick-off to cause a mistake where Oli rounded the keeper and hit Ayden Ercan in the box for a great opener.
From that point, the Rams pretty much dominated with fantastic movement off the ball which Wyoming couldn’t cope with, recording another 4 goals inside 20 minutes. at 5-0, Wyoming were awarded a penalty following a tackle just inside the box after a breakaway which Zac Hall calmly converted to take the game to 5-1 at halftime.
The Rams reminded themselves at the break that they needed to maintain the intensity which they did and created many opportunities to score with intense constant pressure. This led to another two goals in the second period, as the result finished in favour of the Rams 7-1.
Ricky Sansom commented on his team’s performance after the win. “An emotional day for Wyoming with the 10th anniversary of the death of club icon John McLafferty who will always be missed in our game and although they were under the pump all day played in the spirit of the game and we wish them luck,”
“Was an excellent performance from our boys who really stepped up and shook off the week before. Special mention to Oliver Vanderslot who although didn’t score his energy up front allowed the people around him to have space and was instrumental in the goals, great team goals.”
Match Official – Trent Dickeson
Southern & Ettalong 6 – 2 Woy Woy
Southern & Ettalong’s endeavour was to show that they were the premier club on the peninsula when they took on Woy Woy at Pluim Park on Sunday.
SEU started the game well taking advantage of the good playing surface and slipping into a possession-based game to move their opponents around early and look for flaws in their defence.
At the 10-minute mark, they found one when Elijah Wilcock found Keith Gumbs with a good diagonal pass who then combined with Charlie Polson to provide Jack Ellwood with the opportunity that he didn’t waste to make it 1-0.
Southern were threatening all over the park and at the 20-minute mark they made it 2-0 from a Josh Lepre corner which found his brother Jacob who struck a shot that rebounded to the inform Jack Ellwood who made no mistake.
36 minutes in again it was Jack Ellwood influencing the game when he hit a pinpoint diagonal pass to Jacob Lepre who in turn chipped the advancing Woy Woy keeper to put his side ahead 3-0.
Just before halftime, Woy Woy’s Nathan Baker converted from the penalty spot to send the teams into the break at 3-1.
At the 58-minute mark, Southern too received a penalty and Jacob Lepre made no mistake to put his side ahead again by three, taking the game to 4-1.
That score line became 5-1 two minutes later when a Jacob Lepre strike hit the post and rebounded to the ever-present Keith Gumbs as he squared the pass to Jack Ellwood to score his second hattrick in as many weeks.
In the 75th minute, Woy Woy were rewarded for their never-say-die attitude and pulled a goal back to make it 5-2.
However, Southern sealed the game in the 85th minute when Ryan Brown netted to make the final score line 6-2 to the Lions.
Dale Eggleton voiced his pleasure after his side’s clinical win. “I was pleased with our attitude and the boys continually looking to play a style of football to help us make an impression in the Final Series.”
“Woy Woy never stopped trying and it’s a credit to Neal and the coaching staff as well as their players who have had to deal with the rigours of week-in and week-out football that the Premier League delivers.”
Neal Morris also gave his point of view after the ninety minutes and his squad now focuses on the final round which will be the biggest day of their season.
“After great results last week, we had to field the same sides to get some good results. With six players backing up to play first grade again, Southern were too strong for us throughout the game. We played some good football throughout the game, but just weren’t good enough.”
“Full credit to Dale and his squad. We move on to our last game against Avoca to decide who will stay up, but the boys are up for the biggest challenge of the year against a very good Avoca squad.”
Match Official – Anthony Kabbout
Golden Boot Standings –
| 15 | Logan Moore (Kanwal) |
| 13 | Jakeb Brownlow (Berkeley Vale), Kane Woolston (Berkeley Vale) |
| 11 | Tim Knight (Killarney), Jacob Lepre (Southern), Jack Ellwood (Southern), |
| 10 | Andy Klijn (Killarney) |
| 9 | Nathan Baker (Woy Woy) |
| 8 | Cooper Ebrington (Avoca), Tyler Wade (Avoca), Charlie Entwistle (East Gosford) |
Points Table –
Club Championship –
Division 1
Round 18 Results –
Points Table –
Club Championship –
