Kanwal v Killarney
Coming off their biggest defeat of the season, fourth-placed Kanwal will look to complete the sweep over Killarney in 2025 when they welcome a desperate Terriers side to Wadalba Sports Complex this Saturday.
Round 12 saw Kanwal face league leaders at the time, Southern & Ettalong and although the 5-2 scoreline didn’t reflect the contest, that goal 5-goal haul by the Lions was the first time this season Kanwal has conceded over 3 goals in a single match.
After 11 games played, Kanwal have a record of 6 wins, 2 draws, and 3 losses, securing 20 points to their name and currently sitting in fourth place.
Ryan Walker has been coach of the Bulls for a long period, taking this club from a middle-of-the-pack team at best to an MPL heavyweight in his time.
Kanwal confirmed this status last year, winning the MPL Club Championship for the first time in the club’s history, but one thing that has loomed over this squad in recent years is their inability to win post-season in the Finals when it matters the most.
The top four looks to be quite solidified already in 2025, despite being only two games over the halfway mark, the Bulls will be adamant about finishing the year strong and wrapping up a spot in the 2025 Finals Series as they look to end their Finals misery.
Walker spoke on the most difficult and rewarding parts of coaching this side again in 2025. “As I am sure it is with most clubs, dealing with injuries is the most difficult part, but also seeing the strength of our depth from this is probably the most rewarding part.”
Kanwal had the luxury of a weekend off as the remainder of round 3 played their rescheduled fixtures last weekend. This rest will hopefully see the Bulls welcome back some key players ahead of this key matchup with the Terriers.
“Considering we have a few out, it was good to get that extra week’s rest. Hopefully, we gain one or two for this week, but we will see,” said Walker.
These two teams met earlier in the year at our inaugural Magic Round. A quick start from the Bulls saw them take an early 2-0 lead. Killarney did well to find a way back in the contest, scoring two goals in two minutes to level the game.
As he has done so many times, back-to-back Golden Boot winner Logan Moore would find the winning goal late in the second half.
Moore started the year on fire, scoring six goals in his opening four games as he searched for a third consecutive MPL Golden Boot award in 2025.
Moore has slowed down finding the back of the net, netting five goals in the next 8 rounds to be one goal behind scoring leader Jacob Lepre. However, Moore’s attacking duo, Cal Dunkerley, has been in tremendous form in recent weeks, scoring four goals in five games.
Killarney’s defence will need to be on their A-game come Saturday night to keep these two at bay as Walker is anticipating a fired-up opposition. “If we go off last year, we beat them 3-2 in the first game and then in the second game they touched us up, so hopefully we can do the double over them this time.”
Walker also mentioned, “Coming off a game conceding five goals, we will need to be better defensively if we want to compete.”
Coming off back-to-back fixtures against League Leaders Budgewoi, the challenge does not get much easier for Chris Ackerley’s Killarney side this weekend who will hit the road again in search of their fourth win of the season.
The bottom half of the table is extremely close at this stage of the season. Killarney are one of three teams entering round 13 on 10 points, along with Ourimbah and Woongarrah. Wyoming sits alone in fifth place on 13 points while Avoca (8 points) and Terrigal (6 points) occupy the last two spots on the ladder.
A win or two from the teams below Killarney could see them fall into a relegation spot, with last place guaranteed to go down to Division 1 in 2026, whilst 9th place will enter our new play-off series with our three Division 1 sides.
Handing over the coaching reins at the end of the year after a historic run as Killarney head coach, Chris Ackerley also mentioned that injuries have had a major effect on his side this season.
“The most difficult part this season has been the injuries that we have suffered, but saying that, it has given a lot of young players an opportunity to play 1st grade.”
“Like most sides, we are down to bare bones in the squads, with injuries, holidays, work, but the morale is high as we have been in every single game this year except one.”
These two sides have had quite the battles over the years, whether it be for a spot in the grand final or a regular-season game with massive implications. Not only are these squads extremely familiar with each other’s play styles, but the coaches are too.
“Ryan has done an amazing job at Kanwal, and we will be expecting an extremely hard game against them as they are high intensity and work extremely hard for one another,” commented Ackerley.
“For us to win this weekend, we will have to give the same commitment and effort we gave in the last two games.”
Match Official – Preston Lorusso
All Round 13 Results –
