MATCH OF THE ROUND
Killarney 5 – 3 Wyoming
Match of the Round provided an 8-goal thriller as Killarney made it back-to-back wins to climb to fifth on the ladder whilst Wyoming still seek their second victory of 2025.
The opening 45 minutes at Bloodtree Oval saw Killarney play their best football of the year starting with a goal in the fourth minute as Will Hamilton made a great run from left back to beat the advancing goalkeeper to make it 1-0.
In the 17th minute, Lucas Dominello cut in from the left to drill a right-foot shot into the goal from 25 yards for his fourth goal of the year, making it 2-0 in favour of the Terriers.
Killarney’s lead was extended to three on the half-hour mark. Cameron Brown found himself out wide with the ball at his feet. Brown beat his defender, dribbling the ball to the sideline where his cross rocketed into the back of the net.
5 minutes later it was four for Killarney, this time Tim Knight was placed in goal by a brilliant through ball by Lachy Wallace as Knight cooly converted his one-on-one chance.
Halftime allowed Wyoming to come out and reset and Scott Snodgrass’s men were first on the scoresheet, ten minutes into the second period.
Centre-back Jared Mcnee elected to do things himself, intercepting a ball from the back line and running the length of Killarney’s half before unleashing a powerful shot to beat Killarney’s Declan Drake.
However, Killarney was not to be deterred, hitting back in the 60th minute after being awarded a penalty. Harry Fountain stepped up for the Terriers, sending the keeper the wrong way to extend their lead to 5-1.
Wyoming continued to show character, which led to two late goals for the Tigers. Their first in the 70th minute saw Henry Walker score for the second straight week, lashing onto a long-range free kick to volley home.
The final goal of the evening was another penalty, this time for Wyoming as Lachie Rogers expertly converted into the bottom left corner to see the game end 5-3.
A proud Chris Ackerley spoke on the victory. “Great to win two games in a row, especially happy with the first half, getting back to the Killarney way of playing. Wyoming are a good young side who will cause problems for everyone they play.”
Match Official – Miles Allen-Scott
Southern 5 – 0 Avoca
Southern continues their reign of dominance in attack and on the MPL ladder, adding another five goals to their already impressive tally as Matt Page’s men create some breathing space on top of the competition with 16 points to their name.
Southern’s first chance came 8 minutes in when Alfie Martin was sent through on goal by Noah Ajala, but his effort from distance was too weak to beat the Avoca keeper.
Southern would find the opener after 18 minutes from some strong work by Jack Ellwood to keep possession in the middle of the park.
Southern worked the ball into Martin inside the 18-yard box, Martin cut the ball back to Ajala, who curled an exquisite strike into the top left-hand corner to put his former side 1-0 down.
Southern had the ball in the back of the net 5 minutes later, but Ellwood was ruled to have fouled the GK.
Searching for that elusive goal to open his account for 2025, Ellwood again found himself behind the defensive side after a playing a one-two with Martin, but he skewed his strike side of the mark.
The pressure finally told in the 34th minute when Southern worked the ball to Jacobsen inside the box, dribbling down to the byline, Jacobsen squared the ball to Ellwood to tap in and get his goal.
Southern made it 3-0 just five minutes later, playing a deep Free-kick short, the ball made its way down the line to Jacob Lepre whose cross was not dealt with by the Avoca defence and fell to Elwood whose close-range shot was saved by the GK but squirmed towards goal. Jacobsen was on hand to tap home to make sure of the goal.
The heavens opened up in the halftime break and both sides spent the opening moments looking to adapt to the greasy conditions.
Avoca almost found a goal from a free-kick 25 yards out drawing a good save down low from Dane Johnson in goals.
Avoca’s best chance of the game saw their attacker get put through in behind the Southern defence, Johnson came rushing out, but Avoca managed to get the shot away first but missed the near post by a metre.
Southern were reduced to 10 men in the 72nd minute following a Sam Webb red card. Matt Page looked towards the bench to see the game out.
Southern’s fourth of the night came from a wide free-kick whipped in by Lepre, runs from Jenkins and Balneaves distracted the GK, and the ball went in the net untouched.
Another free kick, another goal for Lepre who this time curled the ball over the wall into the right-hand side netting, putting the finishing touches on Southern’s 5-goal victory.
“A good performance from my lads,” spoke Matt Page. “We were definitely made to earn the victory, Avoca never stopped for the full ninety minutes. Getting our first clean sheet in a while is something we concentrated on coming into the game, so it was pleasing we could do so this week.”
“Hopefully we can get on the training paddock somehow this week to prepare for a big game against Berkeley Vale. All the best to Mitch and the lads, they are going to be a challenge for everyone this year.”
Mitch Harrison has plenty of praise for the opposition. “Southern are a talented, well-coached side. They fought hard in trying conditions.”
“We matched them for long periods in the game, but their individual quality proved the difference. We’re committed to improving, and we’ll dust ourselves off and rip in at training, ready to go for next week”
Match Official – Christopher Robinson
Ourimbah 1 – 1 Kanwal
A game of two halves saw Ourimbah and Kanwal forced to split the points as the Falcons picked up their fourth point in five games and the Bulls dropped from second to fourth on the ladder.
Ourimbah came to play with a set game plan, and it would frustrate Kanwal all day. A Jack Bennett through ball in the first minute caught the Kanwal defenders and goalkeeper out as Lachlan Kroemer was able to beat the Kanwal keeper to the ball and pass into an empty net.
Kanwal had a chance to get level a few minutes later but a Mason Lavery shot from the edge of the box was deflected just wide.
Ourimbah thought they had extended their lead to 2-0 after finding the back of the net for a second time, however, the player was flagged as offside in an extremely tight call.
Kanwal starting to get more into the game which lead to a few opportunities. Firstly, a Logan Moore cross into an unmarked Cal Dunkerley was wasted with his header over the bar and there were a few shots straight at the Ourimbah keeper.
It would be the clinical Logan Moore who would level the game in the 27th minute with a nice finish into the bottom corner from a tight angle.
Some changes in the second half from Ryan Walker saw his Kanwal dominate possession but were unable to convert any of their chances.
Ourimbah’s best chances again came from some quick, swift counterattacks. Kanwal’s Rory Rizzi had the best chance to win the game in the last minute, but he put his header over the bar from the six-yard box.
Ryan Walker congratulated Ourimbah for sticking to their gameplay and making it hard for us all day. He was extremely disappointed with his own team.
Post-match saw Ian McAndrew express, “I think Kanwal now have heard of Ipswich of the Premier League as they have called us, even though we have more premier league championships as a club compared to them.”
Match Official – Hugo Fonseca
Budgewoi 8 – 3 Woongarrah
Haydn Appo’s men are flying high, putting together another stellar performance in round six, scoring eight goals against the defending League Champions to claim victory over the Wildcats.
It took the home side Budgewoi just 10 minutes to grab their first goal. A shot from outside the box was parried by the Woongarrah keeper into the path of Chris Lennon whose shot on goal was tapped home by teammate Tahj Werner.
Budgewoi doubled their lead on the 22-minute mark when another well-worked play made its way to Charlie Entwistle who turned his defender and beautifully placed a shot over the opposition’s keeper into the back of the net.
Three minutes later it was 3-0 for Budgewoi as a cross from the left was thought to be claimed by Woongarrah’s Corey Hedges, however, Hedges let the ball slip through his gloves allowing Werner to head home from close range for his second.
Woongarrah replied almost instantly, grabbing one back through a moment of brilliance from Adam Hall who was rewarded with his run deep from the midfield, finding the bottom corner to make the game 3-1.
Budgewoi would regain their 3-goal advantage just before the break when a clearance from the Woongarrah backline fell to Stuart Adams on top of the box, Adams fired home thanks to a wild deflection off a Wildcat’s defender.
From kick-off in the second period, Woongarrah won the ball back and played Jacob Melling in out wide. Melling’s perfect cross across the Budgewoi box was found by James Stiffle who made no mistake beating the keeper from close range.
However, it would be the home side who once again hit next on the scoresheet to keep the lead at a comfortable distance. A superb ball out wide found the elusive Entwistle who dribbled to the by-line and pulled the ball back for the oncoming Werner who fired home for his hat-trick.
Moment later Budgewoi had another as Bayley Appo fought hard to regain possession against two Woongarrah attackers. Appo came out of the contest on top and on goal as he was able to bury his one-on-one chance.
Woongarrah’s final goal of the day came with roughly 15 minutes left on the clock when Adam Hall won the ball in the opposition’s half which led to Ridge Mapu firing a shot hard and low from the left which trickled into the bottom corner.
Budgewoi got back to scoring ways in the 86th minute when Stuart Adams played a wonderful ball out wide for Lennon, Lennon repaid the favour with a great ball into the box where an unmarked Adams was able to expertly convert for his second of the day.
Last on the scoresheet was Entwistle who once again beat his defender out wide on the left, cutting onto his trusty right foot to curl an unstoppable shot into the back post, marking Budgewoi’s eighth goal of the evening.
“We knew that if we kept our energy and focus, the result would take care of itself,” stated Haydn Appo after full-time.
Luke Rogers voiced, “Congratulations to Corey and Hayden for how their boys played. We got what we deserved today as we were not on the same level as Budgewoi.”
“We knew they would be up for this game after we beat them in the preseason cup to claim the trophy.”
Match Official – Jasper White
Golden Boot Standings –
| 8 | Jacob Lepre (Southern) |
| 7 | Logan Moore (Kanwal) |
| 5 | Christopher Lennon (Budgewoi), Stuart Adams (Budgewoi) |
| 4 | Todd Balneaves (Southern), Tahj Werner (Budgewoi) |
| 3 | Joshua Cairelli (Berkeley Vale), Stuart Adams (Budgewoi), Jacob Brownlow (Berkeley Vale), Lucas Dominello (Killarney), Charlie Entwistle (Budgewoi) |
Points Table –
Division 1
Round 7 Results –
Points Table –
