Budgewoi v Terrigal
Terrigal looks to avenge their only loss of the season when they meet Budgewoi in the match of the round for their second meeting of the year.
Budgewoi are entering this weekend coming off an intense 2-2 draw with a stern East Gosford side. It was an intense ninety minutes for Haydn Appo’s men who found themselves down 2-1 after opening the scoring early in the first half.
But as all good teams do, Budgewoi kept fighting until the final whistle and were rewarded deep into injury time when Josh Swadling connected with Ty Warby to produce a 96th minute equaliser for Budge.
Despite salvaging a point late in the contest, Appo voiced his side must be better in front of the goal which would have seen them walk away with all three points. “I was happy with our effort. Delighted that we pushed for the late goal, but if we had taken our chances earlier, we could have been pushing for the win.”
That was Budgewoi’s second draw of the season as the promoted side from Division 1 enters their ninth game of the year sitting in sixth place on 11 points and currently 5 points away from the top four.
Appo reflected on the hardships of the year so far as they have been affected more than most when it comes to ground closures.
“The season has been a real challenge. Fitness, sickness, suspensions and injuries have all played their part in interrupting momentum. Obviously, the weather has played an enormous part in disrupting all teams.”
“Unfortunately, our grounds have been closed more than open this year, not only for games but also for training, which has been the real challenge.”
Out of their four scheduled home games this season, Budgewoi has only stepped on their pitch once back in May as they have been forced to relinquish their home ground advantage to ensure the fixture can be played.
With their second home fixture of the year looking likely to go ahead, Budgewoi will enter Sunday’s clash knowing they have what it takes to get a win over Terrigal having already beat the O’lads 2-1 just three weeks ago.
“Hopefully, we can play at home this weekend,” spoke Appo. “Yeah, it has affected not only our football but also the social aspect of walking up to the club with your mates for some post-match banter and fun.”
“Terrigal is a well-structured, organised team that is very hard to break down. We must take our chances and remain focused until the final whistle. Effort and attitude will be the key.”
As for the opposition, Terrigal are currently sitting comfortably in third place, but will have a mid-week fixture tonight at Pluim Park against Woy Woy. Ryan Pearce and his side could enter the weekend on top of the table if they are successful against the Roosters.
With a record of 5 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, Terrigal have reinstated themselves as a title contender despite many outsiders thinking they would struggle after a turnover of key personnel and coaching staff in the off-season.
Although the O’lads lost some big names, Pearce was able to attract former Central Coast Mariner Dean Heffernan to his squad for 2024 as Heffernan has played an instrumental part in their backline which has the best defensive record in the league at this stage of the season.
Much like their challengers this weekend, Terrigal has also been extremely unlucky when it comes to getting on at their home ground of Duffy’s Oval as the boys in orange will hit the road again on Sunday and face Budgewoi on enemy lines.
With an extremely busy schedule coming up for Terrigal, Pearce states how vital it is going to be to manage an already depleted squad.
“We are managing it quite well in first grade but taking some hits with injury, illness and holidaying through our other grades. We have a really big few weeks of football coming up so managing minutes of our squad will be crucial.”
Having picked up their one and only loss so far against Budgewoi a few weeks back, bouncing back to winning ways was critical and the O’lads did exactly that with an impressive 4-2 win over a struggling Avoca side.
Pearce spoke about what he and his side learnt from that loss against Budgewoi. “I learnt a lot in regards to our structures when in possession so we talked about ways to better that and we saw improvements against Avoca in those areas.”
“The bounce back was extremely important, we were really poor in so many areas when losing to Budgie. Taking nothing away from budgie though they were red hot that day.”
Pearce also added what his team will need to do to walk away with all three points come Sunday. “I think individual preparation is going to be important for us. If the boys are raring to go we will be able to execute a game plan. I’m certain Budgie will bring the same intensity as last game.”
As Terrigal hopes to enter the weekend as league leaders and leave the weekend the same way, Budgewoi will be playing as if their season is on the line as they look to close the gap on the top four teams on the table when these two teams clash on Sunday for the match of the round.
Match Official – Jason Blackwood
All Fixtures –
