Match of the Round
Lake Macquarie City v Cessnock City Hornets
This match was postponed due to wet weather.
South Cardiff 0-4 West Wallsend
West Wallsend coach Bailey Cox says his side was electric in their 4-0 victory over South Cardiff at Ulinga Oval on Saturday night.
It rained goals in the first 20 minutes for West Wallsend as Jed Conway launched the ball from the middle of the park, hit the crossbar and dropped down into the goal in the seventh minute.
Josh Caroll doubled his side's advantage four minutes later as he shot from the top of the box and found the top left corner of the net in the 11th minute.
The Bluebells scored their third of the evening after they were awarded a free kick at the top of the box.
Caroll launched the ball into the back of the net finding the top left corner for the second time in the 17th minute.
West Wallsend’s Tyler Rankmore added to the deficit just one minute later after he attacked through the middle of the park, rounded South Cardiff defenders and beat goalkeeper Liam Michels at the near post in the 18th minute.
Despite the four-goal deficit after 18 minutes, South Cardiff picked up intensity in the backend of the first half searching for their first goal of the evening but instead went into the sheds at half-time down 4-0.
The Gunners came out of the blocks fighting to lessen the deficit with two back-to-back shots on target forcing the Bluebells goalkeeper Blake Redman to complete two goal-line clearances.
Regardless of South Cardiff’s determination to complete a comeback they were unable to beat West Wallsend’s strong backline.
While the Bluebells were unable to add to the dominant scoreline in the second half but their work early in the first half awarded them their first win since round one and first clean sheet of the season.
“Absolutely unreal. All we’ve spoken about because we actually haven’t been on the pitch in four weeks now with all the rain was just about digging in, just having a crack,” Cox said.
“First half we started good, came out electric and the second half they bombed on but it was just effort from the boys.”
Cox had asked his side to display a full 90 minutes of effort and believed they did that for the first time this season.
“It’s just not giving up, just showing up for your mate and digging in,” Cox said.
“We went reviewed some of the goals against Lakes and it was sort of like we clocked off, like we thought the game was over and didn’t go to the end.
“I’ve said for weeks we need a full 90-minute display and that was a full 90. I’ve been waiting for ages for that where we haven’t given up, we haven’t stopped and gone, that's game done or the games over.
“So, it was good to see, I just hope we can build off that and do it for the rest of the year now.”
While the rain had disrupted all teams, the Bluebells used it as a mid-season reset proving to be the difference when they won just their second game of the season.
“It was a little bit of a reset for the year, that’s what we treated it as. We took it as a reset and regroup,” Cox said.
“Then the whole plan was we’ve got 10 games left; that’s 30 points up for grabs.”
The win launched the Bluebells into fifth on the table and away from the logjam at the bottom of the table.
South Cardiff coach Perry Mellon admitted he is concerned about his side’s defence after their 4-0 defeat against West Wallsend and 6-0 loss to Toronto Awaba.
“We’ve conceded 10 goals in two games and when you’re 4-0 down things don’t tend to go your way,” Mellon said.
“I think 4-0 down you leave yourself with no margin for error, so we need to stop conceding goals as a start and I think once those games are tighter things tend to fall your way a bit more.
“So not necessarily concerned about my attack, I’m definitely concerned about defence.”
Despite the concern for his backline Mellon believed his side were the better team at times.
“I thought after probably 25 minutes in the first half we were actually pretty good,” Mellon said.
“Second half I thought we were the better team. We just couldn’t score but we just needed to follow the game plan, a bit of pressure on the ball, all the things in the first 20 minutes that we didn’t do.”
South Cardiff have fallen to seventh on the table but have two games in hand.
They will look to right their wrongs and return to winning ways when they host Singleton Strikers on Friday night in the rescheduled round nine match.
West Wallsend will be eager to keep the good times rolling when they travel to Lydon Oval on Thursday night in the rescheduled round nine match.
Singleton Strikers 3-2 Dudley Redhead United
Singleton Strikers returned to winning ways when they defeated Dudley Redhead United 3-2 at Howe Park on Saturday afternoon.
The home side scored all three goals in the first 25 minutes of the match.
Singleton’s Lachlan Nicol opened the scoring in the 12th minute netting his first of the afternoon.
Two goals in four minutes extended the Strikers’ lead to 3-0 when Josh Whitten scored his third of the season in the 21st minute and Nicol found the back of the net for the second time that afternoon in the 25th minute.
Despite the 3-0 deficit at half-time Dudley came out firing and Laing Hudson scored his first of the season in the 47th minute.
Dudley’s Kyle D’Agostino closed the gap to one goal when he found the back of the net in the 50th minute.
In spite of the resurgence in the second half the Thistles were unable to equalise and walk away with a point and instead headed home suffering a 3-2 defeat.
Dudley is sixth on the table three points ahead of the bottom three teams and just four points away from the top four.
The Strikers remain fourth on the table but are just one point away from third.
They will be eager to keep the good times rolling when they travel to Ulinga Oval on Friday night to take on South Cardiff in the rescheduled round nine match.
The Thistles will look to return to the winners’ circle when they welcome West Wallsend SFC to Lydon Oval on Thursday night in the rescheduled round nine match.
Thornton Redbacks 2-4 Kahibah FC
Kahibah FC extended their unbeaten streak when they downed Thornton Redbacks 4-2 on Saturday afternoon at Thornton Park.
It was the Redbacks who opened the scoring in the sixth goal thriller. Thornton’s leading goal scorer Nathan McAllister netted his fifth of the season in the 14th minute.
But it did not take Kahibah long to answer when leading goal scorer Daniel Byrne found the back of the net in the 21st minute.
The two sides could not be separated in the first half and went into the sheds at half-time locked up 1-1.
The Rams’ Jonny Middleby was substituted onto the field in the 46th minute and just 13 minutes later netted his first of the afternoon gaining his side the lead for the first time of the match.
Another 46th-minute substitute from Kahibah doubled the lead in the 71st minute after Tyson Masters found the back of the net.
Thornton clawed one back in the 75th minute after Brendan Frost scored his first goal of the season.
Middleby scored his second and final goal of the match in the 78th minute.
The Redbacks’ Zac Skippen was shown a red card in the 81st minute after retaliating when Kahibah’s Riley Ferguson performed a reckless challenge.
It was Skippen’s second yellow of the match after he received one in the 20th minute for a reckless challenge and was sent his marching orders.
The 4-2 victory was the Rams' sixth unbeaten game having not lost a game since round three.
Thornton has now fallen to last on the table with one game in hand. The Rams remain second on the table just four points away from league leaders Toronto Awaba.
The Redbacks will look for their third win of the season when they host Dudley Redhead United after the long weekend.
Kahibah will hope to continue their unbeaten run when they host Wallsend FC on Thursday night in the rescheduled round 10 match.
Wallsend FC v Toronto Awaba
This match was postponed due to wet weather.
