Berkeley Vale v The Entrance
Mingara Club Oval will experience its first MPL night game since the addition of their upgraded lights as the Wombats welcome an Entrance side fighting to survive relegation and desperate for club championship points.
The Wombats enter this round 17 match of the round coming off an empathic win over relegation-bound Wyoming as Andre Gumprecht’s side handed the Tigers an 8-0 defeat.
Berkeley’s Jakeb Brownlow was in tremendous form in front of goal last weekend as he was able to record four goals to his name, taking his tally for the year to 12 goals and jumping into first place on the MPL golden boot standings with just three rounds to go.
Andre spoke on his team’s confidence heading into Saturday and the difficulties it’s providing him picking when picking the starting eleven. “The team morale is sky high, and we are hitting form at the right time. All players are in top condition, and we have headaches picking the team.”
The Wombats will be hoping they can carry that goal-scoring momentum into their Saturday night clash with The Entrance as Andre’s side failed to record a single goal against the Reddies when they met back in round 8 at Pat Morley Oval.
However, in recent weeks the Wombats have been on a tear, recording two 8-0 wins (Wyoming, Avoca) and also splitting the points with second-place Southern in a mid-week catch-up with the Lions at Pluim Park.
As we now enter the business end of the season, The Wombats find themselves in third but are far from having a finals spot wrapped up as they still have Kanwal and Terrigal to play, two teams who both have a chance of finishing in the top four.
“We are always focusing only on one game at a time as we are dealing with a lot of variables during the week to determine the best way to go for each game,” voiced Andre.
After crashing out of the top four last season, Berkeley Vale will hope for a different fortune this year and a win over the Reddies this weekend will go a long way to making that happen.
“We played the Entrance two times already one in the cup and the other in the season. The Reds have tremendously improved from the first to the second game. I am expecting another incline of performance level from the Entrance which will make it a very challenging game for us.”
“The opposition has some individual class and is hard to break down. We prepared for what we learned in the past playing the Entrance and anticipating a game plan we hopefully are able to encounter to take the three points.”
When questioned about what will be the key for his side to be successful on Saturday, Andre stated that patience will go a long way to claiming the points. “We need patience in the build-up play, vertical at the right time, being mistakeless in our back third, and lastly being ruthless in converting chances created. Ticking all those boxes outlined the three points will stay at Berkeley.”
The Entrance finds themselves in a very similar situation this year in comparison to last season. Last year this side fought tooth and nail to avoid relegation and Andrew Ollier’s young squad faces another relegation battle in 2023.
The Reddies currently find themselves sitting in third last on the MPL First Grade ladder with a record of 3 wins, 5 draws, and 7 losses. Andrew’s side also sits in third last, just one spot away from relegation, on the MPL Club Championship ladder with 86 points.
The Entrance currently remains just 14 points away from safety but with Woy Woy closing the distance every week and Wyoming still having plenty to play for in the final three rounds, the race to avoid relegation is shaping up to come down to the final day of the season.
Andrew also spoke about team morale within his side at this point of the season. “Team morale is still high. The squad still seems keen. Week in and week out the team is trying but depth within our squad is our problem. The boys will be up for it come Saturday.”
Without looking too far ahead, the Entrance will take plenty of confidence knowing that they were able to hold out Berkeley Vale in their last encounter which marked their first clean sheet of the season.
The Entrance were extremely unlucky not to walk away with all three points after creating the better of the chances in that tight fixture.
With all bottom three teams facing the top three sides this weekend, any and all points this weekend could go a long way to remaining in this competition in the 2024 season.
“I don’t think they were at their best when we last faced and I’m expecting them to be a lot better, they have had a decent run in recent weeks and I’m sure they will be better come Saturday but we also must be better if we want to pinch a result against them,” mentioned Andrew when reflecting on their last meeting with the Wombats.
“It’s pretty simple what we need to do, take our opportunities, and score goals when presented the chances and try to limit the opposition from creating and finding the back of the net. We are under no illusion, it will be a battle and we will once again have a young squad out there trying their best.”
Match Official – Hugo Fonseca
All Round 17 Fixtures –
