Match of the Round
Belmont Swansea United FC 5-2 Singleton Strikers FC
Belmont Swansea prevailed in Saturday’s match of the round at Blacksmiths Oval with a 5-2 victory against Singleton Strikers.
BelSwans’ seven-game winning streak was snapped a week prior in round 10 when they went down 4-3 against Cessnock City Hornets, but they bounced back mid-week when they scored a 2-1 home ground victory in a top-of-the-table clash against Kahibah in round 11 on Wednesday.
Their new streak now stands at two games after Saturday’s convincing round 12 result.
The hosts came out firing and led 3-0 by the 20-minute mark after Ethan Hall (ninth minute), Kane Woolston (16th minute) and Adam Woodbine (19th minute) all found the back of the net early on.
The Strikers hit back in the 25th minute when Joel Barner got them on the scoresheet, but BelSwans regained their three-goal advantage when Woodbine made it 4-1 in the 39th minute.
BelSwans were reduced to 10 men early in the second stanza when Sam Kirk received a red card for a last-man foul in the 49th minute.
Singleton capitalised on their extra man advantage when Hayden Nichol found the top left corner with a classy strike from outside the 18-yard box two minutes later.
But BelSwans were too good in the end and earned a hard-fought win that was sealed in the 89th minute when Ian Matthews scored his second goal of the season to make the final score 5-2.
BelSwans coach Mick Stafford was impressed with the way his men bounced back from their first loss of the season with back-to-back victories and thought they performed quite well against Singleton.
“It was a solid performance from the group after what was a tough seven-day schedule,” Stafford said.
“We’d rotated because we definitely have some sore bodies around with the schedule, but I guess the result is a testament to our squad depth. Blokes were able to step in and get the job done, especially playing with 10 men for the last 40 minutes.
“We showed better resilience. We learned lessons from the loss against Cessnock and we put them in place as a group. We got in the grind with a gritty Singleton team and did enough for what was a deserved victory, and showed that we can bounce back after numerous setbacks over a week.”
Singleton’s coach Doug West was impressed with what his side produced in the second stanza but thought individual errors cost them during the first.
“It was a game of two halves. We were naïve in the first half and we definitely responded at half-time, and I was proud and very happy with the way we came out in the second half,” West said.
“Individual errors cost us a couple of goals off set pieces. We set up with a specific tactical arrangement and when we executed that well, BelSwans really struggled to break us down, but unfortunately there were a couple of set pieces that undid us, and again we gave three goals away to the competition leaders.
“At 4-2 we definitely had the ascendancy and control of the game. We just needed a little more execution and we would have put them under pressure to hold their lead.
“Their last goal was after we’d pushed numbers forward. We threw everything that we could at them to create a goal and win the game, but when you commit players forward, you’re vulnerable at the back, and they capitalised late in the game.”
BelSwans has now won nine of their 10 games this season and is first on the table with 27 points, 12 clear of second-placed Thornton. They will return to Blacksmiths Oval on Sunday when they host South Cardiff in round 13.
Singleton entered the weekend in eighth place on eight points and they remained there following their sixth loss of the season. They are away again this Saturday when they take on Thornton.
Cessnock City Hornets FC 0-1 Thornton Redbacks FC
Thornton Redbacks earned a hard-fought 1-0 win against Cessnock City Hornets at Turner Park to reclaim second place on the table.
The match was 85 minutes in when Cessnock defender Lachlan Rogers and goalkeeper Blake McDonnell collided and clashed heads and were both taken from the ground in an ambulance about 40 minutes later.
The referee called full-time as the teams waited for the ambulance to arrive, a decision that was supported by both teams’ coaches.
Thornton had taken the lead in the 10th minute through Albert Whitney and although both sides created plenty of chances, neither could add to the scoreline as the game finished 1-0 in the visitors’ favour.
Cessnock coach Brad Miles said it was a disappointing end to the game because he thought the Hornets were finishing strongly, but believed the players’ safety was more important than the result.
Miles advised that both players are on the mend and received stitches to heal their head wounds.
In a display of sportsmanship, the Redbacks opted against singing their team song out of respect for the injured players and the Cessnock club and supporters.
Thornton finished the weekend in second place on the table with 15 points after their win saw them overtake Kahibah. They are 12 points behind league leaders Belmont Swansea and will host Singleton Strikers this Saturday as they attempt to narrow that gap.
Cessnock remains in seventh on the table with nine points and will tackle Wallsend at The Gardens on Sunday in round 13.
West Wallsend SFC v Wallsend FC
This match was abandoned due to injury and will be postponed to a later date.
South Cardiff FC 4-3 Kahibah FC
A seven-goal thriller was contested at Ulinga Oval in Sunday’s match that saw South Cardiff FC secure the win with a 4-3 defeat over Kahibah FC.
The visitors went ahead in the ninth minute when Lachlan Hodgetts opened the scoring.
Southy hit back with two late goals in the first half through Brendon King in the 42nd minute and Tom Walker in stoppage time to go into the break ahead 2-1.
Kahibah equalised 12 minutes into the second half when Riley Ferguson put away a spot kick after the visitors won a penalty kick.
But the Gunners scored from a penalty of their own four minutes later and it was King who restored their lead.
Kahibah equalised again in the 64th minute when Liam Whitehead found the back of the net, but his day took a turn in the 82nd minute when he was sent off.
South Cardiff made the most of their extra-man advantage just two minutes after the send-off when they won a corner and Walker headed home the winner to make the final score 4-3.
The victory saw South Cardiff jump Kahibah to finish the weekend in third place on the table. They are 14 points behind competition leaders Belmont Swansea who they will take on this Sunday at Blacksmiths Oval.
Kahibah entered the weekend in second spot but is now fourth after being overtaken by Thornton and South Cardiff. They will attempt to climb back up the table on Saturday when they travel to Lyall Peacock Field to challenge Toronto Awaba.
Toronto Awaba FC had the bye.
