Match of the Round
Killarney 0 – 3 Budgewoi
Budgewoi sends a warning to the rest of the competition after keeping Killarney scoreless in all three grades, including a statement 3-0 win in First Grade as the newly promoted side shows their intent for the season ahead.
Both teams started the contest well-organised and gave the opposition very few goal-scoring opportunities.
Although Budgewoi enjoyed a fair share of the possession in the opening period, a resolute defence line led by Adam Smith made it difficult for Budgewoi to turn any of their attacking threats into promising opportunities.
At the other end of the pitch, Killarney’s usual attacking pedigree was lacking as the reigning champions struggled to gain any momentum and the score remained locked at 0-0 after the opening 45 minutes.
The second period started almost identically to the first where both teams could only create limited chances to score in a very tight affair.
The deadlock was eventually broken 62 minutes in after striker Jay Swadling found the ball at his feet, a swift turn to face Killarney’s goal saw the attacker take just two touches before unleashing a rocket from outside the 18-yard box which Killarney keeper Declan Drake failed to deal with.
Finding themselves 1-0 down, Killarney knew they had to chase the game if they wanted to salvage anything from the fixture which left them vulnerable at the back.
Budgewoi was able to double their lead through Ty Warby in the 87th minute after he was able to evade the offside trap which saw him placed on goal with only the goalie in his way.
Warby expertly finished into the bottom left-hand corner to send the Budgewoi bench and crowd into celebrations.
However, Budgewoi wasn’t done yet. A long ball from the Budgewoi keeper fell to Ty Warby who expertly brought the ball down with his chest and touched past his defender to play a perfect pass to the oncoming Josh Swadling who moved the ball onto his trusty left foot and solidified all three points for the away side with a calm finish.
Hayden Appo commended the home side and the respect they showed on and off the pitch on Saturday night. “Although we dominated possession, we could have done better converting it into goal-scoring opportunities. Credit to Chris and his boys for not allowing us to do that.”
“The game was played hard, but both clubs were very respectful of the other. I’d like to also thank the KDS committee, coaching staff, and players for their hospitality towards our players after the match at their post-match presentation.”
“Budgewoi are an extremely well-organised team that will have a big say in how this season goes. First time in a long time that we lost all three grades at home. Onto Kanwal next week which will be extremely hard once again,” announced Chris Ackerley.
Match Official – Luke Dunkerley
Southern & Ettalong 1 – 4 Berkeley Vale
A beautiful Saturday night under lights with a healthy crowd set the tone to kick off the 2024 MPL Season.
The Lions welcomed Berkeley Vale Wombats to the Den who were having a great Pre-Season with winning the Association Cup and still alive in the Australia Cup Competition.
Off the kick-off and 30 seconds into the game the Lions had a huge penalty shout waved away when Jack Wilson got in behind the Berkeley Vale defence.
Up the other end of the pitch, the Wombats had a penalty shout of their own after what looked like a handball in the box but was quickly dismissed by the official.
The next 35 minutes saw both sides play at a high tempo with limited chances arriving for both teams.
In the 39th minute, it was the Lions with the first real opportunity of the half when Jacob Lepre swung a dangerous ball across the face of goals in which Jameson Flynn’s header hit the Wombats post and was quickly cleaned up by the Berkeley defence.
the Wombats retaliated almost immediately when they broke down the left flank and delivered a cross that floated into the back of the Lions goal giving the Wombats a 1-0 lead in the 40th minute.
The Lions pressed hard to level the score and almost found a reply in the 42nd minute when Jacob Lepre’s curling shot clipped the Wombat’s crossbar.
It was to be the Wombat’s killer blow right on the stroke of half-time when a corner played into the far post was headed back across the Lions goal only to see Berkeley Vale react the quickest nodding the ball through a congested goal line to take a valuable 2-0 lead into half time.
The second half continued along the same path as the 1st half with a defensive and midfield battle from box to box.
It was Berkeley Vale with a great opportunity in the 50th to increase their lead, however after a goal mouth scramble, it was the young Lions keeper Tyler Bartley who came away with the ball in hand to deny the Wombats extending the lead.
The Lion’s coaching staff replaced some tired legs in the second half with the introduction of Jack Ellwood, Ryan Brown & Nathan Baker into the game which started to give the Lions a little momentum in attack.
However, it was once again the Wombats who would take their chances when Conor Fitzpatrick would get in behind the SEU defence and with a powerful run that found Jacob Brownlow who managed to get the final touch to take the Wombats to a commanding 3-0 lead.
The Lions pushed players forward to try and find their opening goal of the season and were rewarded when Jack Ellwood fired a powerful left-foot strike from outside the box to take the score to 3-1.
The Lions continued to press for their second goal and created a number of half chances only to be denied by a resilient Wombats defensive line.
It was the Wombats who would close the game out in the 74th minute when a brisk counterattack caught out the Southern defence with a tidy finish take finish the opening game of the season with a 4-1 win.
“All in all, a very good performance from our boys in a very tough fixture away at Southern,” voiced a pleased Mark Pratt after opening the season with a win.
Southern head coach Matt Page and Assistant Augusto Terra also shared their thoughts on the fixture. “Congratulations to Andre and his squad tonight their performance reflects a good run of form of late with the benefit of playing regular games over the past month.”
“Our performance did reflect that our lads hadn’t played a competitive match since 19th March, and it was good to get the season underway. Tonight, wasn’t our night and an early penalty shout in the first 30 seconds and hitting the woodwork twice in the first half certainly could have made a difference.”
“Taking nothing away from Berkeley Vale they took their chances tonight and competed for the full 90 minutes. We now turn our focus on East Gosford next Sunday and look to improve on our performance.”
Match Official – Anthony Kabbout
Kanwal 5 – 2 East Gosford
A seven-goal thriller, including six goals in the second half saw Ryan Walker and his Bulls claim maximum Club Championship points against a stern East Gosford side.
After a good pre-season, Kanwal were excited to finally have the competition begin and welcomed East Gosford to Wadalba.
The fixture started well for the opposition as East Gosford started the better of the two sides, enjoying some early possession and dictating the play well.
An attacking opportunity in the 5th minute saw the Rams work the ball into the Kanwal penalty area, Kanwal looked to clear but only managed to do so to the edge of the box to Lachie Gunn who took a well-timed strike for the opening goal of the game.
Both teams started to settle into the game which turned into a tug of war with both sides enjoying good stints of possession and getting some half chances on goal.
Great keeping from the East Gosford number 1 saw the Rams hold onto their lead while at the other end, some outstanding defending from the Kanwal side saw the game remain locked at 1-0 after the opening 45 minutes.
Kanwal didn’t make the same mistake twice and started the second half strong and were rewarded after just three minutes with a corner falling to Logan Moore who made no mistake to make it 1-1.
The game continued at a high intensity with some end-to-end football. In the 60th minute, East Gosford took the lead once again with some quality build-up play as Oliver Vanderslot was able to beat his defender and got one-on-one with the keeper as he calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net.
Instead of deflating the Bulls, this setback seemed to lift Kanwal and within three minutes of conceding, Kanwal were awarded a penalty that was coolly converted by Mason Lavery to make it 2-2.
Kanwal started getting on top and took the lead at the 75th minute with Rory Rizzi picking the ball up in midfield and dribbling into the box with a super finish to give Kanwal their first lead of the day.
Kanwal scored two more late goals. Another penalty converted by Logan Moore and some terrific play to finish the game saw a tap-in for William Kember for Kanwal to eventually run out 5-2 winners.
Kanwal Coach Ryan Walker was happy with the performance after the slow start. “The work effort of the boys throughout preseason has been fantastic and if we can keep that up for the season we will be competitive this year.”
“Although the score indicated a comfortable result the game was in the balance until the end. Good luck to East Gosford for the remainder of the year, they have some extremely dangerous players.”
“A great game of football for the neutral spectator,” voiced Ram’s coach Troy Ward. “One the scoreline doesn’t reflect and I have to give credit to Kanwal. Ryan has a very fit side that can play the full 90 minutes comfortably but their scrambling defensive work and getting numbers back makes them very hard to break down.”
“To my team, I can’t fault our performance and effort. We now have to pick ourselves back up and regroup and prepare for the next game as every opponent will be tough this year.”
Match Official – Trent Dickeson
Terrigal 3 -2 Woy Woy
Terrigal survived a late comeback scare to start their season under new head coach Ryan Pearce with all three points in front of a pleased home crowd at Duffy’s Oval.
The game started with both teams sticking to their shape and playing rather conservatively in the opening minutes of the new MPL season. The ball was turned over frequently as miss-hit passes from both sets of players made for a cagey start.
Terrigal found their feet early and enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, finding joy through intelligent switches of play and rotations in wide areas. Woy Woy struggled to maintain any meaningful possession of the ball and were frustrated with their slow ball speed and consistent turning over the ball.
20 minutes into the tight contest, Hayden Harris won the ball in midfield for the O’lads and played a penetrating pass to Jay Lang who slotted the opportunity into the bottom corner to give the home side a 1-0 lead.
Terrigal had some half chances to double their lead with Aidan Bastick making some breaks in their opposition’s defensive line but was stopped on multiple occasions by Woy Woy’s centre back who made some crucial one-on-one tackles.
At times, Woy Woy looked dangerous on the counterattack however had no real direct shots on goal other than a penalty shout as Mathew Jacobsen looked to be brought down in the penalty area.
Terrigal eventually got their second of the day just minutes before halftime after the ball bounced out on the edge of Woy Woy’s 18-yard box and was met by James Lee who volleyed it back across the goalkeeper into the bottom right corner to give his side some breathing space heading into the break.
It did not take the home side long to extend their lead to three in the second period. Just minutes into the second half, Aidan Bastick played a neat one-two in the middle of the park to be once again put through on goal.
His first attempt on goal was parried by the Woy Woy keeper but fell kindly for Bastick who made no mistake with his second chance to give Terrigal a 3-0 lead.
As the game progressed and players tired, there was a notable shift in balance in the game, with Woy Woy finding joy in behind the Terrigal defence, however, were wasteful in front of the goal on multiple occasions.
This changed in the 58th minute when the ball fell to Boden Addy at the edge of the box, taking a touch and blasting the ball past the right of the goalkeeper.
The game turned into a very end-to-end contest, with only minutes left on the clock, a long ball from Woy Woy’s keeper Jack Arigho cleared the defensive line of Terrigal and was met by an oncoming Jayke Browne who found himself clear on goal with only the keeper in his path.
Jayke expertly finished his chance to take the scoreline to 3-2, but in the end, it would be too late for Woy Woy as Terrigal held on to claim all three points marking a fantastic day for new head coach Ryan Pearce who claimed victories in all three grades.
Match Official – Damien Bury
Woongarrah 0 – 6 Avoca
Avoca shocked the competition with a dominant six-goal win over title contenders Woongarrah as new head coach Joel Cangy and his Sharks send a warning out to the rest of the competition ahead of the new season.
The Wildcats started on the front foot, dominating possession, field position and chances. Avoca struggled in the opening stages of the game, not having recorded a single shot on goal in the opening 15 minutes.
The home side failed to capitalise on a few opportunities to put them ahead which would come back and hurt them as Avoca went up the other end of the pitch and scored with their first real chance on goal to silence the home crowd.
After a cagey opening to the match which saw Avoca soak up pressure for the first 20 minutes, high intensity and a physical contest was broken open by a moment of quality from Stu Adams cutting onto his left foot and bending it into the top corner from the edge of the box to give Avoca their first of the day.
After going down 1-0, Woongarrah became their own worst enemy, continuing to make basic mistakes which saw them punished once again by a determined Avoca side.
Leaving themselves open at the back, young gun Mitch Moody capitalised, driving a right-footed strike low and hard in the bottom left corner to double the Sharks lead to 2-0 which the scoreline stayed going to the break.
A response was needed in the second half and Woongarrah committed more bodies forward in the hunt for a goal, which led to more open play in the centre of the park.
It was all one-way traffic as a ruthless Avoca side looked to further punish their underperforming opposition.
Avoca managed to capitalise on this with quick transitions, leading to another 4 goals. 2 penalties, the first taken by new recruit Dylan Watson in his debut game, who calmly slotted it home. The second was taken by Avoca’s top goal scorer last year, Tyler Wade, into the top right-hand corner.
Noah Ajala’s powerful strike proved too hot to handle for the Woongarrah keeper who could only parry it into the side netting.
Substitute Josh Menzies made an impact from the bench scoring a long-range strike that left the keeper watching as Avoca scored their sixth and final goal of the game.
“For the last seventy minutes of the game, Joel and his boys were clearly the better team and thoroughly deserved their big win away from home,” commented Wildcats head coach Luke Rogers.
Match Official – Hugo Fonseca
Points Table –
Club Championship –
Division 1
Round 2 Results –
Points Table –
Club Championship –
