MATCH OF THE ROUND
Terrigal 2 – 3 Woongarrah
A crucial second win of the year for the Wildcats hoists them out of the relegation spot on the ladder as Terrigal will look to right their wrongs next weekend when the two sides face off again.
Both teams would have half chances to take the lead in the opening 25 minutes. However, Terrigal would take the lead when winning possession of the ball and taking a shot from distance.
The long-range effort would hit the crossbar as Terrigal’s striker Aidan Bastick would react the quickest, firing the ball home to give the O’lads a 1-0 advantage.
Within 10 minutes Woongarrah found the equaliser with James Stiffle curling in his shot into the corner of the goals from just outside the 18-yard box.
Minutes later Harrison Stiffle would join his brother on the score sheet and give Woongarrah the lead when he met a Jacob Melling corner and snuck the ball in the net past a crowded box of Terrigal defenders.
Before the break, a Terrigal attacker would have a chance to respond and take the game on level terms, but his shot would be well stopped by Wildcats keeper Nathan Butler.
The second half produced more of the same in a real arm-wrestle of a contest. Terrigal pushed hard for the equaliser while Woongarrah’s defence looked to keep the Terrigal’s attack at bay.
With 10 to go, Substitute Sean Jackson would score on his first-grade debut and double Woongarrah’s lead by beating his defender then shooting from just outside the box and finding the back of the net.
In stoppage time, a Woongarrah defender would miss-time his tackle inside his own box and gift Terrigal a late lifeline with a penalty. O’lads’ captain Max Vegter would make no mistake from the stop with a well-hit strike.
But it would be too little, too late for the orange outfit as the final whistle blew for full time.
“Obviously very happy to get the win as we haven’t had one in a while,” stated Luke Rogers.
“The energy and want was there for the entirety of the match which was another aspect to be pleased with. It’s going to be another tough game next Sunday when we play them again.”
Match Official – Luke Dunkerley
Southern & Ettalong 5 – 2 Kanwal
Southern gets back to their dominant goal-scoring ways, being the only team to score more than four goals past this Bulls outfit in 2025 to keep their spot on top of the ladder, one point ahead of Budgewoi.
Southern went on the attack straight away, a well-struck free kick from Jacob Lepre wasn’t able to be held by Kurtis Mahon and invited a 50/50 with Jack Ellwood which resulted in a corner for the home side.
From the resulting corner, a sharp delivery from Lepre was turned into his own net by a Kanwal defender, giving Southern a 1-0 advantage.
Directly from the kickoff, Kanwal got the ball down to Logan Moore in the corner of the field. He delivered a pinpoint cross into the middle where Cal Dunkerley met the cross with a diving header to quickly make the scores level again.
With the game in the balance, a good 5-minute spell for Kanwal on the half hour mark put SEU defence under pressure with two free kicks and a shot that just dribbled just past the post.
Southern had the ball in the back of the net when an Ellwood header from a Lepre free kick struck the post and bounced out to Theo Forsberg who ticked it home, only to see the flag raised for a dubious offside call on Ellwood.
However, two minutes later Southern would take the lead once again, Another corner was initially half cleared by the defence, Lepre delivered a cross to the back post where Todd Balneaves rose and guided a looping header into the far corner of the goal.
Just before halftime, Noah Ajala lobbed a pass over the Kanwal defence to an onrushing Jayke Browne who brought the ball down well with his first touch and tucked the ball past the GK with his second touch, giving Southern a halftime lead of 3-1.
Each side had chances once returning to the field for the second period, but it was the home side that would further their advantage with a goal in the 63rd minute.
A good ball over the defensive line from Ajala allows Jacobsen to again get in behind and this time he made no mistake, cooly slotting the ball past Mahon.
Twenty minutes later Southern made it five, a deep cross from Ajala found Lepre on the edge of the area. A good first touch took him past the defender, and he rifled his shot into the roof of the net.
With time running out, a corner whipped in to the far post found Jason Cozens completely unmarked and he easily converted the chance with his head as the score finished 5-2.
A pleased Matt Page voiced, “A good bounce back from my guys after last week. We had a few parts of our game that we wanted to concentrate on being better at, and the guys were able to get those things right and get the win.”
“Credit to Ryan and his lads, they seemed to be a bit down on troops at the back but pushed us for the whole 90 minutes. I’m sure when they get blokes back, they’ll get back to winning ways.”
Ryan Walker was disappointed after the game, “Well done to Southern, they were too clinical and powerful for us today, I’m not sure 5-2 reflects the game but I’m proud of how my boys didn’t stop working hard till the end.”
Match Official – Jason Blackwood
Killarney 0 – 2 Budgewoi
Budgewoi proved too strong for Killarney who were unable to back up their best performance of the year. Budgewoi remain one point behind first-place Southern but with a crucial game in hand over the Lions.
Known for starting fast and not looking back, Budgewoi opened the scoring yet again inside the opening ten minutes.
Despite Killarney’s Tim Knight looking dangerous in attack, Knight was dispossessed, and Bayley Appo broke quickly with the ball. Appo found Stuart Adams, who found the clever run of Tajh Werner.
Adams perfectly placed a ball through the Killarney backline as Werner made no mistake with his chance on goal, tucking the ball into the near post to give his side the advantage.
Werner almost grabbed a brace ten minutes later after a long ball from Charlie Entwistle saw Werner in a similar position to his first goal. However, Declan Drake was able to make a brilliant save to keep the scoreline at 1-0.
Killarney’s best opportunity in the opening period came around the 37-minute mark as Tim Knight was played out wide. Knight beat his defender and dribbled into the box, unleashing a shot from an acute angle but failed to score against the opposition goalkeeper.
As the second stanza commenced, Budgewoi had a great chance to double their lead after five minutes when an unmarked Josh Swadling had a free header back stick. However, Swadling was unable to direct the ball down and a big chance went begging.
Nonetheless, Swadling would get his opening goal of the season after 66 minutes played. A misplaced pass from Killarney would be intercepted and played in Swadling who broke the Killarney defensive line.
Swadling did well to get the ball on his left and place a shot into the side netting as Budgewoi walked away 2-0 victors for their ninth victory of 2025.
Ecstatic to keep his winning run alive, Haydn Appo stated, “We did enough to win, although at times, it was not convincing.”
“We knew what we had to do but found it difficult against an enthusiastic Killarney squad. We were proud of our boys for playing for the full 90 minutes and for another clean sheet.”
“I want to thank Chris, Matt, and the Killarney club for their hospitality after the game. We will be returning the favour next weekend.”
Match Official – Jasper White
Ourimbah 2 – 1 Avoca
Two teams searching for crucial points met at Ourimbah Oval this past Sunday, and the home side came out victorious, leaving Avoca to end the weekend at the bottom of the table.
Ourimbah got off to a quick start, with pacey striker Lachlan Kroemer latching onto a well-placed long ball from Ian McAndrew, controlling well and finding the bottom corner to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
Ourimbah had more of the possession, looking to double their advantage whilst the visitors looked dangerous on the counter.
Avoca got into the game well after a slow start and started creating more chances, with Liam O’Connor dancing around some defenders and rifling a finish into the roof of the net to take the game back on level terms.
The second period was a tense one, as both teams knew how crucial the next goal would be as the first half played out very similarly to the opening 45 minutes.
In a very back-and-forth half for both teams, Ourimbah found their go-ahead goal midway through when their skipper Phillip Holmes broke the deadlock when he expertly found the bottom corner.
Holmes however would not see out the match as he received his marching orders with twenty minutes still to play in the contest.
With an extra man advantage, Avoca looked to neutralise the deficit for a second time. After plenty of chances, Avoca’s couldn’t make the most of their opportunity as their hopes diminished even more when substitute Noah Nicholls was shown a straight red for the Sharks.
In the end, more missed chances would hurt Avoca once more as Ourimbah defended strongly to see out the victory.
Happy to be back in the winner’s column, Ian McAndrew commented. “It was a tough game, but we got back to our shape and what worked for us after a chat Tuesday night after two poor performances.”
Avoca’s Mitch Harrison voiced, “Credit to Ourimbah, they fought hard all game and capitalised on their chances.”
“For us, it’s another disappointing result. We created enough to get something out of that game but couldn’t make them pay when we had the chances. We’ll continue to work hard, and the results will come.”
Match Official – Miles Allen-Scott
Wyoming 1 – 2 Berkeley Vale
A game with plenty of action and lots of late drama saw the Wombats clinch a 2-1 victory over in-form Wyoming despite finishing the game with only nine players on the field.
It took Berkeley Vale less than ten minutes to find the opening goal. A well-whipped ball from a Scott McGinley corner found the head of Shane Littlehales who converted well inside the opposition’s six-yard box.
Having beaten this side earlier in the season 3-0, Berkeley thought they would be on their way to another dominant victory, but the Wyoming boys would stay in the fight and almost had an equaliser minutes later through Reegan Cairns.
As Berkeley Vale looked to play their usual possession style of football, keeping the ball along the backline, while Wyoming set up high to press which has been a pivotal reason for their season success.
Berkeley Vale had success beating this press, as former Wyoming player Conor Fitzpatrick came close to scoring against his junior club multiple times throughout the first half.
Jakeb Brownlow had two golden opportunities to extend Berkeley’s lead but couldn’t find the end product to double his side’s advantage.
Wyoming had chances of their own when counterattacking, but both defences remained rock solid for the remainder of the half as the two sides went into the sheds with the score remaining 1-0 in favour of the visitors.
After another arm wrestle to start the second half, Wyoming found their equaliser in the 72nd minute thanks to Lachlan Rogers.
As the assistant official flagged quickly for offside, only to bring his flag back down to continue play, the Berkeley Vale players stopped as Rogers continued his movement and fired a show low and hard into the bottom corner.
Despite multiple protests from the Wombats, the goal stood, and momentum was on the side of the Tigers.
However, Berkeley Vale showed the premiership-winning mentality to find a go-ahead goal just minutes later.
Individual brilliance from Brownlow saw him beat two defenders in the box before picking out an unmarked Kyle Harvey at the back stick who finished first time into an empty net.
The drama was far from over as Berkeley’s Matthias Palmqvist and Nick Trengrove were both shown their marching orders after a second yellow card late in the game.
Despite being down to 9 men, Berkeley saw out the rest of the game to record a sweep over Wyoming in 2025.
“Congratulations to Wyoming on a tough game. They have shown improvement over the season and have a good platform to keep building upon,” said Mark Pratt.
“The boys were really up for this one and again we had a specific game plan to try and unsettle the Bats and limit ball to their dangerous wide players,” remarked Scott Snodgrass.
“I thought we pressed unbelievably well for 90 mins but in the end, we gifted them two soft goals, but to their credit, they were good enough to take them. We had some late chances to equalise but just didn’t capitalise.”
“Without sounding like a sore loser, I think a draw would have been a fair result, but it wasn’t to be. I’m as happy as I can be as a Coach even though we lost and where we are now vs the pre-season is miles apart.”
Scott also added, “I’d like to think we earned some respect out there today and pushed them all the way and there is a belief in the group that if we stay fit and healthy we can compete with the top teams. Good luck to Gumps, Pratty and their squad for the rest of the season.”
Match Official – Trent Dickeson
Golden Boot Standings –
| 12 | Jacob Lepre (Southern) |
| 11 | Logan Moore (Kanwal) |
| 10 | Christopher Lennon (Budgewoi) |
| 9 | Tahj Werner (Budgewoi) |
| 8 | Charlie Entwistle (Budgewoi) |
| 7 | Stuart Adams (Budgewoi), Conor Fitzpatrick (Berkeley Vale) |
Points Table –
Division 1
Round 14 Results –
Points Table –
