MATCH OF THE ROUND
Wyoming 1 – 0 Ourimbah
A large crowd gathered at The Den this past Saturday night as our two promoted teams with quite a history kicked off our MPL season.
After an intense ninety minutes, it was the home side Wyoming who would claim the win in the Match of the Round thanks to a wonder strike from their English debutant Henry Walker.
It was a typical derby affair with both sides playing end to end football as they looked to settle into the contest quickly and get control of the play. Ourimbah saw two great chances go by early in the first half as McAndrews men were unable to capitalise on these promising opportunities.
The only goal of the game came midway through the opening period. Reegan Cairns received the ball from a Wyoming throw-in in the middle of Ourimbah’s half and laid the ball off to Henry Walker who made a run out of the Tiger’s backline.
Walker took one touch forward before unleashing a powerful strike that left the Ourimbah keeper zero chance of saving. This early goal of the season contender saw the Wyoming crowd erupt into celebrations.
Ourimbah wouldn’t go away easy, constantly testing the defence of the opposition with long balls in behind. The Falcons had a night to forget in front of goals, wasting plenty of good chances as the Wyoming defence remained strong, doing what was necessary to keep that important clean sheet.
Wyoming also squandered chances in front of goals to double their lead, but nevertheless, the points would come home with Wyoming who start their season with an important win.
After winning in his debut match as head coach, Scott Snodgrass commented. “It was good to spend some time with them all after the match at The Grange Hotel, for me personally chatting with a few of the lads gave me a newfound respect for their squad. Good luck to Ian Mac and his squad for the rest of the season.”
McAndrew also commented on the game, “The game was decided by what could be the goal of the season, it was a great strike.”
“Overall Wyoming scored and that’s what matters in football. As a team need to take our chances, we had five or six good opportunities to put the game to bed and couldn’t.”
“We had a chat at the end of the game, and we were down but we know we know if we can be clinical in big stages moving on we will be very hard to beat cause as a defensive unit we were strong Saturday night and still have our centre halves to come back in over the next couple of weeks. Well done to Wyoming on getting the win.”
Match Official – Anthony Kabbout
Berkeley Vale 3 – 4 Kanwal
It couldn’t be a harder start to the season for Kanwal, with a trip to Mingara to face the reigning Premiers, but it gave Ryan Walker an opportunity to see where his squad was at and whether what they had worked on in preseason will allow them to challenge for finals again in 2025.
After just three minutes Kanwal should have taken the lead with a quick counterattack seeing the ball played out to Callum Dunkerley who whipped a cross into the box only for Logan Moore to sky his shot over the bar.
It was a good battle for the next 30 minutes with both teams defence holding strong, before Kanwal would win the ball in midfield and a quick counterattack saw the ball played into the box for Jason Cozens to run onto as he was brought down by the Berkeley keeper.
Up stepped Logan Moore who made no mistake and converted the penalty to give Kanwal a 1-0 lead.
Just before half-time, a loose pass by Kanwal saw Berkeley play a quick through ball out wide and the cross into the box saw the outstretched Kanwal defender knock the ball into his own goal. Both teams heading into the half-time break at 1-1 in what was an even opening 45 minutes.
It only took six minutes into the second half for Kanwal to be awarded another penalty and up stepped Logan Moore who again made no mistake to give Kanwal a 2-1 lead.
Once again Kanwal’s lead was short-lived as Berkeley’s Matthias Palmqvist hit back quickly with a shot finding the back of the net from an acute angle to even the game up at 2-2.
Berkeley could have taken the lead a minute later, but the ball was cleared off the line by Kanwal’s Jack Ormsby.
It would be Kanwal who once again took the lead in the 66th minute after winning the ball in midfield and a quick break saw a pass played into Callum Dunkerley whom placed the ball across the face of the goal which was accidentally turned in by a backtracking Wombats defender, giving Kanwal the lead for a third time.
Both teams had goal-scoring opportunities over the next 20 minutes. However, it would be a frantic end to the game with Kanwal’s Ben Berry scoring from a corner to give Kanwal a 4-2 lead.
That 2-goal lead evaporated two minutes later with Berkeley’s Josh Cairelli scoring from outside the area to make it 4-3 and a nervy final few minutes for Kanwal.
It would be Berkeley who had the last chance of the game, but Kanwal somehow held out to end 4-3 winners.
Ryan Walker was ecstatic after the game. “Under the circumstances that is one of the best performances I’ve been involved with at Kanwal. It’s a tough place to come, especially against the reigning premiers. The work rate of the boys in both attack and defence were outstanding. Lots of positives to take out of the game but also lots of things we can improve on.”
Match Official – Miles Allen-Scott
Killarney 2 – 3 Southern & Ettalong
Down 2-0 with less than 15 minutes to go, Southern executed a miraculous comeback to get their year started with three points on the road in extremely dramatic and late fashion.
It was an extremely end-to-end start between these two well rounded teams. It was the home side Killarney who struck first. Terriers target man Ryan Gibson did well to chest a high ball to his attacking partner Jay Swadling who played Braith Hedley through on goal as Hedley made no mistake one-on-one with the opposition keeper.
The contest resumed into a back-and-forth battle, but Killarney would be reduced to 10 men before halftime after Harry Fountain received his second yellow card. Southern entered the second half with a purpose, looking to take the game from the opposition who were now a man down.
Just a few minutes into the first half, attacking sensation Keith Gumbs drew a foul inside the box as his team were awarded a penalty and the perfect opportunity to level the score. Set piece specialist Jacob Lepre stepped up for Southern but his effort was well saved by the clinical Declan Drake.
Killarney took full advantage of Southern’s missed opportunity, and it was Jay Swadling once again beating multiple defenders and playing in a precise pass to set up Braith Hedley who made no mistake in front of goal for his second of the day, giving Killarney a 2-0 lead.
Things looked to go from bad to worse for Southern as their striker Keith Gumbs was shown a red card in the 77th minute for his actions off the ball. With the playing field now level, something switched for Southern who was able to find their first goal four minutes after going down a man.
Matthew Jacobsen, on his official debut for the club, headed home from a corner inside the 6-yard box to restore the deficit back to one goal.
Seven minutes later the scores were all level as a switch ball to Jacob Lepre saw him pick out the run of Todd Balneaves back stick who headed into an open goal.
With only a minute left to play, a long throw-in by Todd Balneaves found the head of his defensive counterpart Jack Jenkins who expertly guided his effort into the back of the net for the winning goal.
“It was a typically tough encounter against Killarney first up, and I’m really happy my lads were able to keep playing for the full 90+ mins to walk away from EDSACC with a valuable three points,” spoke Matt Page.
“Killarney are always energetic and they showed that in spades, even when they were down to 10 men, making us work very hard to try to keep possession and make chances. They were pretty clinical with their limited chances and put us under a bit of scoreboard pressure for much of the match.”
“We definitely weren’t at our best today and still have a lot to work on. In the first half, we were struggling to find that final ball, and whilst we started creating some more clear-cut chances in the second, we were guilty of being a bit wasteful in front of goal. But credit to the lads as they continued to chase the win for the full match and were rewarded right at the death.”
“Our focus now turns to another tough test this Saturday night against Budgewoi in our first home game of the year.”
Chris Ackerley also commented on the fixture, “Quite proud of the effort the boys put in playing with ten men for just over half a game against a strong Southern side, only falling in the last 10 minutes.”
“Plenty of positives to come out of the game, with Braith Hedley outstanding scoring two goals, also a strong performance from Declan Drake saving a penalty.”
Match Official – Luke Dunkerley
Avoca 0 – 2 Woongarrah
Last year’s League Champions get their season off to a winning start on their quest for back-to-back titles, defeating an organised Avoca outfit thanks to goals from their youngsters Adam Hall and Kit Gillings.
Despite being at different ends of the table last season, Avoca matched it with the opposition for the majority of the match but were let down by just a few moments which allowed the quality of Woongarrah to take advantage of.
Avoca sat off a bit and were extremely organised and looked dangerous on the counterattack. Some tremendous goalkeeping from Wongarrah’s Corey Hedges kept the score level as well as some wayward finishing from the Avoca attackers.
The midfield due of Jackson Carr and Cooper Ebrington were superb, restricting Woongarrah to mostly long-range efforts.
As the second half started, the contest remained extremely even early on with the game being played end-to-end. Woongarrah would eventually get their breakthrough when a Jacob Melling cross into the box found the head of Kit Gillings who finished well to take the game to 1-0.
Now chasing the contest, Avoca looked slightly more desperate in the hopes of finding an equaliser which allowed Woongarrah to start to dominate and create more chances.
Eventually this paid off when a great ball from Dylan Holz would unlock the Avoca defence with Adam Hall making the run and tucking the ball home from close range to secure the win for the Wildcats.
“Avoca are a well-structured side and play a good style. Was good for my boys to pick up a win away from home and keep a clean sheet,” commented Luke Rogers.
Mitch Harrison had high praise for his team’s performance, “I’m really pleased with the effort and commitment today, we easily could’ve got something out of that game. The boys worked extremely hard and gave the opposition a really tough game.”
“Woongarrah are a physical side, and their individual quality made a difference today.”
Match Official – Jasper White
Budgewoi 2 – 0 Terrigal
Round 1 gave us a much-anticipated clash between Budgewoi and Terrigal, two clubs hoping for better seasons than the last, with some fresh faces it promised to be exciting.
A tense start saw both teams looking to hold the ball and build play, Terrigal created a half chance with a free kick that zipped across the box for Ciaran Simmons who managed to get his head onto it but could only steer it wide.
The first goal came 25 minutes into the contest. Some lovely build-up play by Budgie was attempted to be cleared by Max Vegter, but the deflected clearance fell to ex O’lad, Stuart Adams, who rifled a first-time shot into the bottom corner to give Budgewoi the lead against his former club.
10 minutes later a blocked shot fell to Jamison Costa who was ghosting in a late run, he squeezed a first time shot inside the post just out of reach of the Terrigal defence to give the home side a 2-0 lead after the opening 45 minutes.
After half time, Terrigal came out chasing a way back into the game but that opened opportunities for Budgewoi, with fast breaks resulting in chances being created, the clearest clipping the crossbar and going over.
Some fresh legs were entered into the game for both sides, with some pace looking to cause problems. However, both defences stood firm, and the game finished 2-0.
“Yesterday was our Old Boys Day, and it was pleasing to see the crew from our clubs’ yesteryears cheering on,” voiced Budgewoi’s Haydn Appo.
“For the game itself, I felt it was pretty flat. There were moments that were pleasing, but overall, I think both clubs were just happy to get the season started. From our perspective, there is a lot that we can improve on.”
Appo also added, “I’d like to thank Ryan and his boys for hanging back after the match for a beer and a chat.”
Ryan Pearce had nothing but respect for the opposition post-match. “Thank you to Haydn, Corey and everyone at Budgewoi for hosting Terrigal at your after-match presentation. After a tough result, it’s great to be able to sit down with your opposition and have a chat. Good luck for the season lads.”
Match Official – Trent Dickeson
Golden Boot Standings –
| 2 | Logan Moore (Kanwal), Braith Hedley (Killarney) |
| 1 | Henry Walker (Wyoming), Jamison Costa (Budgewoi), Stuart Adams (Budgewoi), Adam Hall (Woongarrah), Kit Gillings (Woongarrah), Jack Jenkins (Southern), Matthew Jacobsen (Southern), Todd Balneaves (Southern), Matthias Palmqvist (Berkeley Vale), Joshua Cairelli (Berkeley Vale), Ben Berry (Kanwal) |
Points Table –
Division 1
Round 1 Results –
Points Table –
