Match of the Round
The Entrance 0 – 0 Berkeley Vale
The local derby between the Reddies and the Wombats made for a very exciting contest despite the lack of goals in the MPL match of the round this past weekend.
Berkeley Vale entered the contest as heavy favourites, being one of two teams who are yet to see defeat at this stage of the competition. However, a determined Entrance side showed early in the contest that they were up for the contest.
The first half of the game was extremely even as Berkeley Vale struggled to get into their normal rhythm.
Despite having more of the ball, the home side created the best chance of the half when an unmarked Zac Anastas found himself free in the opposition’s six-yard box with the goal at his mercy.
However, the veteran attacker could not make the most of his opportunity as he sent the ball over the crossbar and the two teams entered the halftime break locked at 0-0.
The second half saw the Entrance grow in confidence the longer the contest went on. The backline of the Entrance remained strong for the entirety of the ninety minutes, and set up many counter-attacking opportunities for the Reddies’ frontline.
Berkeley Vale looked most dangerous on set pieces but the attacking prowess of Kane Woolston and Co struggled immensely to make an impact on the game.
Despite both teams pushing for the win for the entire contest, neither side could find that crucial goal as the game finished 0-0.
Looking back on the game, Wombat’s Mark Pratt commended the opposition and their effort. “As predicted a game that was always going to be tougher than what it looked on paper. Credit to The Entrance, the pick-up of two new centre-backs has made a difference to their side and were very tough to break down.”
“Disappointing for us not to grab a goal in the second half but that’s football we weren’t at our best again but credit to Olly and the Entrance players for their effort.”
Match Official – Anthony Kabbout
Kanwal 3 – 6 East Gosford
A Saturday night game at Wadalba for the first time in quite a few years saw a large crowd witness a game with plenty of goals and plenty of action.
As expected, Kanwal began the game well and had three very good chances in the opening 15 minutes, but it would be a poor clearance from the East Gosford keeper that was intercepted by Logan Moore who made no mistake to give Kanwal a 1-0 nil.
This seemed to shock East Gosford into action and a few minutes later East Gosford would get a chance of their own, but their effort on goal hit the crossbar. East Gosford would dominate possession for the remainder of the half.
Not to be disheartened, East Gosford showed exactly what their intent was and after some great build-up work, the ball was slid to Ciaran Simmons who drove home from inside the box to level the game at 1-1.
A chance for both teams to regroup, but the momentum was still with East Gosford, and this showed for the majority of the second half.
East Gosford would take advantage of this dominant possession and take the lead through a Charlie Entwistle goal in the 60th minute.
Kanwal’s night would turn from bad to worse with East Gosford earning a penalty and James Scott receiving a 2nd yellow which reduced Kanwal to 10 men. Kanwal keeper Kurtis Mahon would keep his side in the game with a brilliant penalty save that gave the Bulls some hope.
East Gosford continued to apply pressure, and another run down the line resulted in a cross ball for Charlie to slot home his second for the night.
Then a flashback to last week for the Rams as their keeper attempted to claim a ball but Kanwal would earn a penalty of their own in the 83rd minute which was calmly converted by Brad Porter to give Kanwal some hope of getting something out of the game.
However, this would again see East Gosford lift and show just how far they have come since the start of the season, resulting in a crazy 5 minutes to end the game with goals to East Gosford in the 87th, 89th and 91st minutes all thanks to Charlie Entwistle who took his personal tally for the night to an outstanding five goals.
A consolation to Kanwal in the 90th minute saw East Gosford walk away with a 6-3 victory and the first win of their 2023 campaign.
“We showed tonight why we belong,” stated a proud Rams coach Ricky Sansom. “The goals were a result of every player contributing. This was what we had been waiting for and knew was coming.”
As for the home coach, Ryan Walker was devastated at the end of the game. “An extremely poor performance from my boys today, probably their worst game in a few years, but credit to East Gosford they were the better side today, outplayed us across the park and gave us a lesson.”
“They are better than their position on the table and if they show that desire every week with moving up the table quickly.”
Match Official – Damien Bury
Southern & Ettalong 2 – 1 Wyoming
SEUFC set a milestone on Saturday night with their very first night game played at ‘The Den’ James Browne Oval. After many years of hard work by past SEUFC Executives the nighttime fixture had finally arrived.
It was fitting to share their first nighttime fixture with Wyoming Tigers and the game was set as a battle of the big cats.
Despite lowering temperatures, a very healthy crowd rugged up to be a part of this historic fixture at the Den.
The game started at a frenetic pace, and it was the Lions that put the Tigers on notice early with quick movement and ball speed in attack.
It would be the Lions that would excite the healthy home crowd by taking an early lead in the 3rd minute when a Todd Balneaves long throw into the goal mouth saw the ever-present Jack Ellwood continue his recent scoring spree and react sharply, firing home giving the Lions an early 1–0 lead.
Both teams traded attacking raids and it was the Lions with the momentum who looked most likely to be the next to score.
In the 12th minute, the attacking Lions’ pressure was rewarded when Charlie Polson carried the ball down the right-hand flank beating a number of the Tigers defenders and cutting back the ball to Matt Caisley who made no mistake with a very tidy finish into the far post side netting, doubling the Lions lead.
Wyoming’s best opportunity of the half came in the 34th minute when Matt Hall pushed forward and laid a pass onto Darren Cooper who fired his shot wide, missing the target.
The Lions created many chances in the first half with multiple attacking raids and set piece long throws putting the Tiger’s defence under pressure which stood strong with a scrambling defence and some great saves by Wyoming’s goalkeeper Tom Coventry saw both teams enter the dressing sheds at half time seeing SEUFC up 2–0.
The second half saw Wyoming return without their captain Matt Hall who succumb to a groin injury which made Ian McAndrew reset his defensive lineup. The Lions looked to start their second half with the same intensity and momentum as their 1st half.
It didn’t take long as a number of attacking raids by the Lions were met with great scrambling defence, goalkeeping, and the woodwork to keep the score at 2–0.
On the 60-minute mark, the Lions coaching staff introduced the quality of Keith Gumbs & James Steer into the game giving a well-earned rest to both Jacob & Joshua Lepre who had impressive 1st half performances.
It didn’t take long for Keith Gumbs to excite the home crowd when in the 71st minute Gumbs unleashed a rocket at goal from a distance only to see it cannon off the crossbar.
The Tigers repelled many of the Lions’ attacking raids and as the game entered injury time the Tigers managed to break away down the right-hand flank with a cross finding Bayley Lowe who manage to get the first touch to beat the oncoming defender and keeper to take the game to 2-1.
Wyoming created another late chance to pinch a draw at the death of the game but Southern cleared their line and took home all three points in front of a delighted home crowd.
Lions coach Dale Eggleton spoke post-match. “Congratulations to Ian and his team tonight they showed great resilience and scrambled well in defence. I would like to thank all the supporters that came out tonight to support the boys and hope they enjoyed our attacking brand of Football.”
“For our boys tonight, it was good to get some players good minutes in their legs, and also rest a few lads up with some niggling injuries. We still have much improvement in our game and need to sharpen up on our finishing and also our defensive concentration,” added Dale.
Ian McAndrew once again had high praise for his goalkeeper. “Again, the best keeper in the league, Tommy, was on fire saving clutch shots and keeping us in the game after playing a full second-grade match because we only have two fit keepers at the moment, In my opinion, he has been the benchmark player of the competition and there isn’t a keeper who could match him.”
Ian also spoke on the opposition as he commended their performance. “Southern are by far the benchmark team we have played this first round, and I think if they can keep everyone fit they will be hard to run down, they are crazy sharp up top and the scary thing is Keith only played limited minutes.”
Match Official – Luke Dunkerley
Killarney 3 – 1 Woy Woy
Woy Woy made their way from the peninsular to Edsacc Oval this past Sunday for their first taste of the six-time league champions since re-joining the MPL competition.
Having two of their first graders play 90 minutes in U21’s, then another additional two players playing full games in reserve grade, before the same four players lined up again to start first grade for the visitors, getting a result against the league leaders was going to be an incredibly difficult task.
Despite this, Woy Woy started the first half in a very positive matter, knocking the ball around and creating many chances.
It was an end-to-end contest as both teams played some great possession football. One lapse of not marking a player outside the box saw Killarney capitalise and put away the first goal 11 minutes in thanks to Nic Batarseh who opened the scoring for the home side.
Just minutes later Woy Woy got their equaliser after Jayke Browne scored his fourth goal in two weeks, slotting the ball home from outside the box into the bottom corner to take the game to 1-1.
Killarney looking to restore their lead, mounted attack after attack as Woy Woy continued to defend with their backs against the wall and was able to hold the Terriers out and head into the break with the game locked at 1-1.
The Woy Woy side were very positive at halftime knowing that they created many chances and were defending everything that was thrown at them.
The second half saw Woy Woy once again start the half with some good build-up play but struggled to crack the defence of Killarney.
As Woy Woy got deep into the second period, they started to tire through the amount of football that the squad had played, and Killarney capitalised with their second goal through Will Hamilton who made no mistake with his effort from 10 yards out.
77 minutes into the contest, Cameron Brown scored the Terriers’ third goal and his inaugural first-grade goal, superbly finishing from a through ball to extend his side’s lead to 3-1.
“The respect that Killarney showed us shows why they are a quality club,” voiced Neal Morris of Woy Woy.
Neal also spoke on the effort his squad showed today and how delighted he was with the effort they gave. “These boys have not been far off the mark since we started the season and to only go down 3-1 to such a quality side with two players playing 270 minutes of football and another two playing 180 minutes of football was nothing short of outstanding. Very proud to be associated with such a group that goes the extra mile for their squad.”
Chris Ackerley commended the opposition as his attention now turns to next week and keeping their spot at the top of the table. “It was a very hard-fought win against a very determined Woy Woy side who had many players playing their third game. We were made to fight for everything, and I’m pleased to get the points. Now onto Avoca which is always a difficult encounter.”
Match Official – Gerrod Young
Terrigal 2 – 3 Avoca
The Reigning MPL Premiers will be extremely disappointed in themselves after letting a two-goal lead slip to record their fourth loss of the year as the Victors Avoca join the O’lads on equal points after their round 8 win.
In front of a home crowd, Terrigal started the game brilliantly and took the lead inside the opening 10 minutes of play after a scramble in the box saw an opportunistic Mahkye Brownlie tap in from close range to grab his first goal of the year.
Terrigal doubled their lead 30 minutes in after some fantastic link-up play down the left wing was finished off by the clinical Kassidy Lalor.
After controlling the game and possession for the majority of the first half, the O’lads seemed to switch off after grabbing their second which allowed Avoca to work themselves back into the contest.
After a slow start, Avoca would grab a goal back just before the halftime break after a well-worked move down the right-hand side was finished by the reliable Cooper Ebrington as the Sharks entered the break only a goal down at 2-1.
In the second half, Avoca showed true class, scoring two goals in the space of five minutes midway through the second period thanks to two well-taken goals by Tyler Wade.
Some below-par defending by Terrigal and an inability to deal with the long ball or multiple one-on-one chances saw the O’lads never looking like getting back into the game as the result finished 3-2.
“The halftime talk was positive, and the boys seemed to be keen to get back out and lift again. This simply wasn’t the case for us. Probably the worst showing of football in 45 minutes I’ve seen from the lads,” voiced a disappointed Pete Edwards.
“Hugely disappointing from the lads, and a second half that this season has summed us up. We can be unplayable in one moment and terrible the next. With the competition as close as it is, we must find some consistency soon or we will drop out of any contention for finals,” added O’lads coach Pete.
Sharks head coach Neal Hide was ecstatic will his team’s performance against tough opposition. “Huge result for Avoca against a very strong Terrigal side, who will cause problems against every team with their attacking prowess.”
Match Official – David Richardson
Golden Boot Standings –
| 7 | Tim Knight (Killarney), Jacob Lepre (Southern) |
| 6 | Keith Gumbs (Southern), Charlie Entwistle (East Gosford), Logan Moore (Kanwal), Cooper Ebrington (Avoca) |
| 5 | Andy Klijn (Killarney), Jakeb Brownlow (Berkeley Vale), Nathan Baker (Woy Woy), Tyler Wade (Avoca), Matt Caisley (Southern) |
| 4 | Shane Littlehales (Berkeley Vale), James Scott (Kanwal), Ethan Hall (Killarney), Kane Woolston (Berkeley Vale), Ben Flakus (Terrigal), Jayke Browne (Woy Woy) |
Points Table –
Club Championship –
Division 1
Round 8 Results –
Points Table –
Club Championship –
