Match of the Round
Woongarrah 1 – 3 Kanwal
The second instalment of the biggest northern derby was held on a cold windy Saturday night at Woongarrah as the Bulls secured the double over their Wildcats rivals in 2024, claiming maximum bragging rights and ending the week in third place.
It would be Kanwal who started the game the better and should have taken the lead in just the second minute with William Kember missing from a tight angle.
Woongarrah should then have taken the lead a few minutes later, but an exceptional save from Kanwal keeper Kurtis Mahon kept the game level.
The game settled into a derby battle for the next ten minutes, but Kanwal would break the deadlock when a well-worked corner to the near post was met by Rory Rizzi who made no mistake with his header to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
It wasn’t long before Woongarrah would be back on level terms as Ashley Henderson hit a cracking volley on the edge of the box which left the opposition goalie no chance.
The game then settled down and returned to an end-to-end battle before Kanwal gradually started to get on top and were rewarded in the 32nd minute.
Logan Moore would dribble into the box and play the ball to Rory Rizzi who was brought down by the Woongarrah keeper. Up stepped Moore who sent the keeper the wrong way and sent Kanwal back into the lead with his 12th goal of the season.
William Kember had a chance to double the lead in the dying minutes of the opening half with his shot from the edge of the box beating the keeper but just travelled wide as the Bulls were forced to take their precious 2-1 lead into the half-time break.
The second half began with Callum Dunkerley having a great chance from a free kick, finding himself free in the box but putting his header over the bar. Another Kanwal free kick a minute later was delivered to the back post but Kanwal couldn’t take advantage.
Another Kanwal chance a minute later saw Logan Moore dribbling into the box and finding himself one-on-one with the keeper but pushed his shot wide.
With the second period playing out as an even affair, fatigue set in for the home side as Kanwal started to get on top and it would remain that way for the remainder of the half.
Despite enjoying more chances, Kanwal we unable to take advantage of numerous opportunities as they looked to double their lead.
Noah Hucker seeing the keeper off the line almost chipped him from distance in the 60th minute and Logan Moore had a number of opportunities to get his brace but uncharacteristically couldn’t find the back of the net.
It wasn’t until the 89th minute that Kanwal would put the game to bed with another wicked free kick from Jason Cozens to the back post beating everyone including the Woongarrah keeper to give Kanwal the 3-1 win.
Ryan Walker was extremely pleased after the game. “I asked the boys to stay disciplined and switched on for the ninety-plus minutes today. They did that and we came away with a well-earned win. In fairness, we could of and should have won by more.”
Luke Rogers was extremely proud of his squad at full-time despite coming up short. “Congratulations to Kanwal. Massive shout-out to my boys in our squad. Couldn’t be prouder as a head coach.”
We didn’t get anything go our way on a night we really needed a bit of luck. Had a massive outbreak of Influenza A in our squad and didn’t train all week. The boys that were healthy or a little healthy played ninety minutes just 48 hours earlier on a Thursday night.”
“We also had boys who had been bedridden get out of bed just to play that game and I’m amazed at the effort given for the badge. We won’t read anything into this loss and push to get the boys healthy for our next game Wednesday night against an in-form Killarney side.”
Match Official – Trent Dickeson
Avoca 0 – 1 Southern & Ettalong
One goal was all that separated these two teams at opposite ends of the table as the Lions claimed their third clean sheet of the season and the victory to move back into second place on the ladder, just one point behind the league leaders.
A mostly dry but bumpy Fagan Park pitch, which also had some slippery patches, made free-flowing football difficult at times throughout the game. The first 5-10 minutes was a battle to gain ascendancy from both teams, whilst adjusting to the wind and pitch conditions.
Southern slowly took control of the game, getting in behind the Avoca defence on multiple occasions but good defending and goalkeeping, plus a few balls flashing across the face of goal, still had the scores level. Southern were also looking dangerous from a few early set pieces.
The Sharks day was made tougher with two enforced substitutions due to injury, coming in the first quarter of the match. Avoca though were not without their chances, having a few corners themselves and the odd chance from open play.
Josh Menzies coming closest to scoring for the home side when his 40-yard attempted chip of the GK forced the Southern custodian, Alex Wardle into using every inch of his reach to pluck the ball from the air.
On 25 mins the pressure from Southern cracked the Avoca defence after another set piece. Sam Webb whipped in a delightful corner which was met by Jack Elwood, who rose above his markers at the back post and powered the ball back across goal into the top corner.
The rest of the half played out with Southern pushing hard for another goal with Avoca doing their best to try and get a foothold back in the game. The score remained 1-0 at the break.
Stu Adams came on at halftime, and this seemed to breathe some life into the sharks. They slowly began to have a better time breaking up the Southern attacks and enjoying some better spells of possession, Jackson Carr being influential in both of these areas.
Around the hour mark, SEU player-coach Matt Page looked to his bench to freshen things up, bringing on Keith Gumbs, Ricky Young and Jacob Lepre, coming back from injury.
Whilst this did help steady things for Southern, it didn’t halt the charge of Avoca, who were trying their utmost to get the equaliser. The best chance to do this fell to Menzies, whose close-range shot was blocked at the last moment by a Southern defender.
Despite the attempts from Avoca, the Lions were able to hold resolute after an even second-half battle and take a valuable three points back to The Den.
“Very proud of all the men in my squad today,” spoke Page. “Like many of the clubs at the moment, we were very light on troops, but we stuck together and managed to hustle out wins in all three grades against a stretched, but dogged Avoca squad who were coming off games on Thursday.”
“The bumpy and narrow pitch didn’t make for pretty football at times, but we were able to do just enough to get the points.”
“Credit to Joel and the Avoca lads who made it a battle until the final whistle in all three games. They have some talented players and are a good bunch of guys, we wish them all the best for their run home this season.”
Page also stated, “For my squad, the challenge is to back up that effort against a formidable Terrigal side on Tuesday, with reduced squad numbers again likely.”
Match Official – Damien Bury
Terrigal 0 – 6 Killarney
Killarney takes home the 2024 edition of the Ash Grant Cup as the in-form Terriers continue their run of dominant wins while Terrigal looks to pick up the pieces and get their season back on track mid-week.
Despite such a high-scoring contest, the initial 45 minutes did not bring any goals as the first half ended 0-0.
Terrigal started well as coach Ryan Pearce was happy with how the game was playing out. Both teams had chances, but good defending and wayward shooting saw the first half play out a stalemate.
However, Terrigal ended the first half with 9 men after two red cards which changed the whole complexion of the game. The second period saw Killarney and their two men advantage take superiority as Terrigal were forced to camp in their own half.
The opening goal was scored five minutes into the second half by Cameron Brown who headed home a cross from Blake Silvers.
Five minutes later their lead was doubled as Blake Silvers finished into the roof of the net from 10 yards after a ball fell nicely to him in the box.
Killarney’s third goal was scored by Brown who beat two players before calmly slotting past the keeper to secure his brace.
A few minutes later Brown had the opportunity to get his hat trick from the penalty spot, but the keeper saved Brown’s effort.
However, from the resultant save, Darcy Wright was first to the rebound and was about to shoot when he got brought down for another penalty.
Harry Fountain, Killarney’s usual penalty taker, stepped up this time and converted to take the game to 4-0. Terrigal were now down to just eight men as their enforcer Max Vegter was also shown a red card.
Four soon became five thanks to Isaac Broomfield who drove into the box from wide on the right and brilliantly finished into the far corner.
The sixth and final goal was again from the spot as Killarney were awarded a penalty for a foul in mid-air. Harry Fountain stepped up once again as he made no mistake from 12 yards out.
“I’m very pleased with the second half as we were patient and moved them about which was made easier with the two send-offs in the first half. Now onto Wednesday night against Woongarrah which will be another extremely tough game being our fourth game in eleven days,” voiced Chris Ackerley.
Match Official – Miles Allen-Scott
Woy Woy 0 – 6 East Gosford
Sunday saw East Gosford travel to enemy territory and claim their third win of the season after a dominant and deserving performance against the Roosters.
East Gosford started the game on the front foot showing their intentions early that they were up for this game. The Rams were applying good pressure and being patient on the ball in possession which allowed them to dictate the play.
In the 8th minute, a beautifully played cross from out wide by Billy Auton found Joel Dickey on the far post who headed into the bottom right of the goal for our first of the day.
East Gosford continued to pile on the pressure and never let Woy Woy settle into any style of football. The scoring could’ve been extended further several times if it were not for the efforts of Woy Woy’s keeper Jack Arigho.
However, in the 41st minute, the visitors were awarded a free kick a few metres outside the penalty area. Up stepped Charlie Entwistle who placed his strike over the Woy Woy wall and into the top corner beating a diving Arigho.
Entering the second half holding a 2-0 lead, learning from previous weeks East Gosford never took the foot off the gas and in the 49th minute a free kick was played quickly out the left side.
The ball was played through to Lucas Dominello who made a great run, he cut back onto his right beating his opponent and placed the ball across the goalkeeper and into the far top corner.
From here East Gosford pushed harder and were relentless in attack and in the press. Charlie Entwistle played a lovely through ball to Lucas Dominello who squared the ball across to the eager Oliver Vanderslot for the tap in 54 minutes into the contest to further extend their lead.
It wasn’t long again until East Gosford found themselves on the score sheet, this time from some magic play between Entwistle and Vanderslot before the ball was squared to Joel Dickey who placed his shot passed Arigho for his second of the day.
More pressure from the entire East Gosford side continued as they never let Woy Woy get a look in this game. The day was rounded out with their 6th and final goal of the day with Lucas Dominello playing a great ball into the right pocket finding Aydin Ercan who squared the ball perfectly to Jacob Ward who unselfishly passed the ball along to Joel Dickey who was free and placed the ball into the net for the third time to complete his hat-trick.
An ecstatic Troy Ward spoke post-match. “Can’t speak highly enough today of the lads performance. Seeing so many performances like this go unrewarded this year it was nice to see one play out our way.”
“We changed things up a little this week and the guys stuck to the game plan this week and played for the full ninety minutes. If we can continue with performances like that each week we will see a few more results go our way.”
Ward also added, “The attitude of the boys was fantastic today and you could really tell they were up for this game giving Woy Woy very few chances. This was extremely pleasing for me to see. Best of luck to Shaun and the Woy Woy side for the rest of the season.”
Match Official – Hugo Fonseca
Berkeley Vale 3 – 0 Budgewoi
Berkeley Vale learned from their mistakes in recent weeks, taking a 3-goal advantage into the break and showing resilience in the second half to get back to winning ways as Budgewoi dropped to seventh on the ladder.
Berkeley Vale enjoyed the majority of possession to start the contest as Budgewoi seemed content to allow the Wombat’s backline to have time on the ball.
An early corner just seven minutes into the fixture was whipped in by the Wombats only as far as the first Budgewoi defender on top of the box who tried to header clear.
Instead, the clearance fell perfectly for Conor Fitzpatrick who was lurking free in the box and emphatically volleyed home first time to give the Wombats the lead.
Three minutes later Berkeley doubled their advantage after a cheap turnover in the midfield saw Berkeley counterattack with intent. Budgewoi appeared to have intervened and stopped the attack but failed to clear the ball as John Dineen-Griffin swiftly stole the ball and converted from inside the box for his first goal of the season.
Another unforced error saw Budgewoi once again turn the ball over in their own midfield as Fitzpatrick broke quickly and shot on goal which beat the keeper but was denied by the post.
The ball bounced into the box as captain Ryan Frame looked to clear but his air swing saw Berkeley regain possession and Griffin was there to tuck the ball home for his second of the day, extending the home side’s lead to 3-0.
The second half saw Budgewoi look to press the backline of Berkeley and limit their time on the ball. The visitors looked dangerous on set pieces and almost got a goal back from a Josh Swadling free kick, but Steven Grimmitt made a wonderful save to deny Swadling.
With very limited chances for either side in the last period, Berkeley cruised to a clean-sheet victory to reinstate themselves as the current MPL league leaders.
“We conceded early from our own mistakes, and although we made the game competitive the longer it went, we couldn’t make up the deficit,” reflected Haydn Appo.
“We can blame many things, but it doesn’t take away the disappointment, or the fact that we need to be better. We need to be accountable. Well done to Mark and Andre, they set themselves up early, and road out the game well.”
Match Official – Jasper White
Golden Boot Standings –
| 12 | Logan Moore (Kanwal) |
| 11 | Jacob Lepre (Southern & Ettalong) |
| 10 | Jack Ellwood (Southern & Ettalong) |
| 8 | Ty Warby (Budgewoi), Ashley Henderson (Woongarrah), Oliver Vanderslot (East Gosford) |
| 7 | Jakeb Brownlow (Berkeley Vale), Josh Swadling (Budgewoi), Ryan Gibson (Killarney) |
Points Table –
Club Championship –
Division 1
Round 14 Results –
Points Table –
Club Championship –
