Women’s Minor Semi Final
Avoca 2 – 0 Woy Woy
The Women’s Division One minor semifinal was an exciting prospect on paper as the third-place Avoca Sharks took on a Woy Woy Roosters team who had a spectacular back end to the season, qualifying for the finals in the last round.
It was a tense battle in which both teams knew what was at stake, and neither wanted to be the first to slip up.
However, only one side could continue in the finals, and that side was Avoca, who overcame a resilient Roosters outfit with a couple of well-worked goals in the second half.
The match started slowly, with neither side willing to commit too many players forward and risk a fast counter. As a result, clear-cut chances were limited.
The first half-chance of the match went the way of Woy Woy when Jessica Butler sent in a corner to the back post where Vanessa Quick so nearly slid onto it as the ball bounced. Jemima Moore, in goals for the Sharks, fumbled the ball as she attempted to clean up the chance, but no Rooster could capitalise on it, and things remained square.
Avoca had a chance moments later when their striker Belinda Dalton was played through the Woy Woy defensive line.
Dalton ran hard for the ball but was just beaten to it by Rooster’s keeper, Gabrielle Slevin, who confidently collected the ball, but this marked what Avoca wanted to do: they wanted to get behind Woy Woy with through balls.
These slight changes made for a nervous start from both sides. With no second chance, they knew conceding first would make things incredibly difficult.
It made for a half of football where neither side fully took control, but one highlighted by multiple solid defensive displays.
The Centre-back pairing for the Roosters were especially busy as they battled with the quick Avoca forwards.
Throughout the game, Krystle Todhunter and Zoe Arigho hustled back to keep their side in the contest.
It was often from one of their blocks or tackles that Woy Woy would begin to build forward.
Around halfway into the half, this began to pay dividends for the Roosters as they produced the two best chances of the half in rapid succession without Avoca being able to counter.
The first came when Butler was played into the right side of the box, and she shot across her body towards the far post, drawing another nervy save from Moore.
The second chance began with a shot just past halfway by Woy Woy midfielder Jessi Heaton. It was a swirling and looping effort that went high above Pluim Park. It was on track to dip just below the crossbar when Slevin managed to keep it out, but she didn’t gather it immediately, almost allowing Amanda Webb to run through and tap in the loose ball for the best chance of the half.
Ultimately, the Roosters ended this flurry goalless, and the Sharks would work their way to the top. They almost finished the half with a goal when Gabi Ajala ran through the Woy Woy defence down the left, but she had to rush her shot because Arigho chased her down, seeing it sail over the bar.
This was enough to see the game into the half all square at 0-0. It now felt like whatever team could take their chances would walk away with this one victor, and almost immediately, Avoca did just that.
In a nearly identical chance to the one she had to end the first half, Ajala found herself battling with Arigho once again as she drove into the box.
This time, she managed to hold the defender off and get to her spot left of the goal. Shooting with her left foot across her body, she sent the ball into the net for 1-0 less than five minutes into the half.
Suddenly, the deadlock was broken, and Woy Woy knew they would have to throw more bodies forward to keep their season alive. As a result, they were now extremely vulnerable to counter-attacks.
As such, the lead was soon almost doubled when Olivia de Ville beat two defenders as she ran down the right flank. When in line with the box, she put in a perfect cross to the feet of Ajala, who was wide open, but the proceeding shot had no power behind it, and Slevin saved.
Instantly following this, Woy Woy almost tied things up when Abigail Muspratt, who ran tirelessly all game up front for the Roosters, fought for a bouncing ball inside the box. It caused the Avoca defence grief as it came in from the right and bounced above them all. Muspratt managed to get her foot to it first, just in the six-yard box, but she could only get under the ball, sending it over the bar.
From here, things got difficult for the Roosters. They fought hard, but Avoca was too dangerous on the counter for them to stay forward for too long.
Before too long, the lead would be doubled when de Ville once again got away from defenders down the right wing before sending in another perfect cross, this time to the feet of Ella Cutcliffe, who laid it off to Ajala to her left. Ajala was once again open in the box and, this time, made no mistake, thumping it home to make it 2-0 and leaving Woy Woy with an even bigger mountain to climb.
The Roosters did try, but chances evaded them for the rest of the match, and Avoca went on to win the minor semifinal 2-0.
Speaking to Avoca coach Mark Beatson, he noted the quality of his opposition and the tight match they produced.
“We knew that Woy Woy have been on a good run and beat us only a few weeks ago,” Beatson said.
“We are lucky to have a couple of players returning at the right time, so I knew if we could stick to plan on the field and use our subs wisely, we could get through.
“Steve has his team playing well and it wasn’t easy at all, our second goal only coming late in the game.
“Thanks to Steve, Donna and the Woy Woy players for being great opposition throughout the season”.
While speaking to Stephen Trolio the Woy Woy coach, he rued the missed chances of the first half, but noted he was proud to have made the finals and also paid credit to his opponents.
“I think it was a classic game of two halves where we controlled the first and in the second it was more their game” Trolio began.
“We had our chances in the first half but just couldn’t take them, but considering our slow start to the season finishing fourth place and making the finals is a great achievement in this new structure
“Full credit to Mark and his side, they were better on the day, it just wasn’t meant to be I guess, time to look forward to 2025”
The Sharks will now play Southern in a grand final qualifier, and the winner will face the invincible Entrance side.
Match Official – Con Pantos
Men’s Major Semi Final
Ourimbah 2 – 1 Wyoming
The men’s Division One major semifinal was set to be a blockbuster clash between the two league heavyweights under the floodlights at Pluim Park.
One side, the champions, the envy of the league and a dominant force ready to take the Premier League by storm next season in the Ourimbah Falcons.
The second is a team that has been the equal of everything with Ourimbah except for consistency in the Wyoming Tigers, who confidently secured second place and promotion in their own right.
On Sunday night, they clashed again. It was a back-and-forth affair, one that either side could have won, but in the end, the champions emerged victorious and earned their spot in the Grand Final.
Ourimbah began the game at a lightning pace, almost as if they were trying to ambush the Tigers, and it paid off when they scored early after a stunning sequence.
The first of the evening came moments after a Tigers’ goal-line clearance. The clearance happened when Alex Bauer got around the keeper to the left inside the box and attempted to roll the ball into the back of the open net. Wyoming’s Adam Mitcherson ultimately cleared the shot off the line, sending it out for a throw.
Then, from that throw, the ball ended up centrally at the feet of Spencer Wharton in traffic as defenders swarmed. Despite this, he shot anyway from outside the box, and it was perfectly placed, hitting the inside of the left post and going into the net to make it a perfect start for the Falcons at 1-0.
In the next 10 minutes, Ourimbah did everything they could to double their lead before Wyoming could work themselves into the game.
Phillip Holmes almost set Wharton up for a second with a lovely chip pass over the Tigers defence into the box, but Wharton’s chip shot attempt from right of the six-yard box was saved by Joshua Byrnes.
Wharton again could’ve scored only moments later when he got around Tigers captain Jared McNee on the edge of the box, leaving him 1-1, but he didn’t get enough on his shot, and Byrnes saved.
At this stage, it seemed that if this continued, the Falcons would rout the Tigers, but eventually, the Tigers kicked into gear and began to play some flashy football of their own.
The scores were almost tied when Reegan Cairns got around Ourimbah keeper Drew Ryan-Lawther. However, before he could shoot, he slipped, forcing him wide and allowing the defence to scramble. Unable to get another sight of goal, Cairns put a cross in, looking for the head of his teammate Patrick Mills, but Mills was beaten in the air by Blake Small, and the chance faded away.
Only moments later, the scores should have been tied after a spectacular charge down the right wing by Brendan Martin ended in a perfect ball into the box. It got near Mills, who smartly let it roll onto Cairns in open space inside the box, but he shot towards the near post and missed, leaving the Tigers down.
But the pressure finally became too much for Ourimbah, and they would get the equalizer from an outstanding set-piece play.
During this period of Wyoming’s dominance, they had multiple dangerous looking freekicks into the box, and it seemed Ourimbah couldn’t keep up.
The big issue was the runs of the Wyoming Centre-backs; they started outside and made perfect darting runs in and around the 6-yard box, and that’s how McNee opened the scoring.
This freekick was put in by Tait Johnson. It was pinpoint accurate as it sailed over the Falcons’ defenders and found McNee’s head close and to the left of goal, where he nodded it home untroubled to make it 1-1.
Just before halftime, Ourimbah would have one more notable attack after a good pass from William Bowden set Wharton up again, but this time, Mitchell Meredith blocked the shot and sent the game into halftime all locked up.
The second half started exactly like the first, with a Falcon’s goal.
Wharton put his side back into the lead when he received the ball, battling the Wyoming defence just outside the box; he took them on and weaved his way through brilliantly, making him one-on-one with the keeper, where he slotted it home past Byrnes to make it 2-1.
Frustrated again, Wyoming now had to find a way to score a second against a tough team to get past, and they gave everything they had to do so.
One of their best chances came from player-coach Ian McAndrew, who got the ball unmarked just inside the box after a blocked shot flung out to him.
He took a moment and then shot the ball high towards the right of goal, where Ryan-Lawther pulled off a superb diving save to maintain the lead.
Not to be outdone, Byrnes would then produce his own bit of great keeping when Bowden put in a cross from the right for the Falcons looking for winger Ethan Kennedy close to goal. Kennedy made contact but Byrnes kept it out twice, stopping it on top of the goal line and keeping his side in the contest.
With time beginning to work against them, the Tigers put their foot on the gas but just couldn’t find the final product into the net.
McAndrew set up two chances, one from a corner that Meredith headed down in the box, but Ryan-Lawther kept it out again.
The second was a rapid through ball on the counter to Martin down the right; he beat his defender emphatically but couldn’t get his shot on target, and the missed chances started to add up.
As the game entered its final stages, Ourimbah would regain an element of control of the match, slowing down the frustrated Wyoming attack and taking precious seconds off the clock.
This would prove enough as the ref blew full-time, sending the Falcons into the Division One Grand Final, where they can face either Gosford or Wyoming again.
Speaking to Wyoming coach Ian McAndrew he reflected on the achievements of his opponents while also remaining focused on earning the right to play them one last time as Division One teams.
“First of all, I want to congratulate Ourimbah on winning the league, it’s the number reward in a football season” McAndrew said.
“It was a very even game that was hard fought and Ourimbah capitalised on our mistakes better than we did on theirs by taking their chances and being clinical in front of goal
“Now we face Gosford in the final to get a chance to win the second prize in football”.
Match Official – Anthony Kabbout
Written by Mark Goodyear