Killarney v Kanwal
Coming off the biggest win in the MPL competition so far, Killarney will look to keep their spot on top of the ladder with another win this weekend when they face the Kanwal Bulls who will be desperate to bounce back to winning ways.
After a relatively slow start to the season for their usual standard, the reigning league champions now find themselves in extremely familiar territory in first place.
“The team morale is high after a good start to the season where we are undefeated after five games,” noted Killarney coach Chris Ackerley.
The Terriers jumped into first after their dominating 7-0 win over local rival the Entrance last weekend.
In a game they controlled from the start, one of the biggest talking points coming out of that fixture was Tim Knight’s second half hattrick as the veteran attacker only played around 35 minutes but was still able to find the back of the net three times to go equal on the golden boot standings.
Another veteran amongst the Terriers in Andy Klijn has been in tremendous form as of late, scoring three goals in his last two fixtures.
Enjoying the luxury of playing at home for the fourth straight time, Killarney will face a must tougher test this weekend as they face title contenders Kanwal.
When asked about the MPL competition this season, Ackerley mentioned that the quality is higher than in recent years and named what he thinks are the favourites for 2023.
“The standard is high with both Berkeley and Southern showing why they are considered favourites this year with their starts to the season.”
After conceding five goals in the opening three rounds, Killarney’s poor defensive record has improved tenfold in recent weeks as they have recorded back-to-back clean sheets, thanks to the combination of Sam Kirk and 2022 Player of the Year, Adam Smith.
Killarney’s defence must be at their very best again this weekend if they wish to remain undefeated as they welcome one of the highest-scoring teams so far in the competition.
“This weekend Kanwal will be extremely hard as they are very well organised, quite direct in their play, and have had a strong start to the season like last year.”
“To win this Sunday we have to be disciplined at the back & keep our shape and not concede silly goals which we have done earlier in the season,” spoke Ackerley.
A disappointed Kanwal will look to pick themselves up after last weekend’s draw as they look to be the ones to dethrone Killarney and hand them their first winter competition lost in over two years.
The Bulls found themselves 3-1 up at halftime last weekend against newly promoted Woy Woy. However, an early red card to their keeper saw Kanwal finish the match with just 10 men as they let their lead slip and walked away with only a point in a 3-3 draw.
As a result, goalkeeper Kurtis Mahon will miss out on this important clash against the Terriers. Coach Ryan Walker states that morale has ebbed and flowed after a bumpy start to the year.
“Our team morale has been up and down with how our season has started, obviously with the loss to Terrigal and draw to Woy Woy the boys have been a little deflated after those games but as they always do they bounce back pretty quickly and hopefully we can come away with a result this weekend.”
After 5 games, Kanwal finds themselves on equal points with second and just one point behind league leaders Killarney who they will be looking to leap if they can pick up the win this Sunday.
When asked about his opposition, Walker voiced everyone in the competition knows what to expect from Killarney, but what makes them so great is they perform their gameplan at such a high standard.
“What I expect from Killarney is to set up and play the same way everybody in the competition expects them to play, defensively two great compact blocks of four which is very hard to break down and with the ball try to get the ball out wide, carry to the byline and cut it back for a shot.”
“I would be shocked if he sets up differently as why would he change something that is clearly been extremely effective for them over multiple seasons.”
Despite sitting in the top four, Kanwal has conceded the second most goals in the entire competition. This statistic is something coach Walker knows will need to improve especially if they wish to take points away from Edsacc this weekend.
“I believe for us to take home the three points we would really have to tighten up defensively as we have been leaking far too many silly goals and would need to be a lot more discipline.”
“From an attacking standpoint in terms of creating chances we have been extremely good but as far as finishing those chances we will need to improve if we want to win this weekend.”
Match Official – Hugo Fonseca
All Round 6 Fixtures –
