Match of the Round
Kahibah FC 2-0 West Wallsend SFC
Kahibah FC coach Blair Newham says their 2-0 victory over West Wallsend SFC was their toughest game of the season when they went head-to-head at Kahibah Oval on Sunday afternoon.
It was an end-to-end contest to open the match of the round, but it was West Wallsend who dominated possession in search of a goal.
The Bluebells looked to open the scoring in the 11th minute but instead overshot the ball going out to the left of the goal post.
Kahibah didn’t back down and went to take the lead moments before half-time but instead headed the ball over the crossbar off a corner.
The two sides could not be separated as they went into the sheds locked 0-0 at half-time.
The Rams came out of the gates firing when Ewan Kelly unleashed a powerful shot from the top left of the box but narrowly flew past the goal post.
West Wallsend didn’t back down when Jake Bower ran the ball down the left of the field, crossed to Sam Marr who looked to tap the ball in but was blocked by Kahibah’s goalkeeper Jacob Zissis.
Kahibah kept pushing to find the back of the net and the moment finally came in the 61st minute.
Half-time substitute Tyson Masters ran the ball from the middle of the park, chipping it over West Wallsend defenders and onto the run of Riley Ferguson who beat goalkeeper Blake Redman off his line and tapped the ball into the net.
West Wallsend looked to respond when Kaleb Cox unleashed a powerful free-kick from halfway but was denied by Zissis, who tapped the ball over the crossbar.
Momentum appeared to swing in the Bluebells favour when they were awarded a penalty kick in the 88th minute after Robbie Turnbull brought down a West Wallsend player in the box.
K.Cox stood up to convert the penalty, but Zissis denied them the opportunity to equalise and saved his fifth penalty of the season.
The mood of the Rams switched from ecstatic to frustration in the 89th minute when Turnbull was shown his second yellow of the match and sent his marching orders.
Kahibah appeared to be walking away with a 1-0 victory, but a penalty awarded in the 90th minute altered the scoreline.
West Wallsend’s Dain Greentree brought down Ferguson in the box, who stood up to extend his side’s victory.
Redman got a hand to the shot but was unable to stop the ball from finding the back of the net.
The 2-0 victory extended Kahibah’s nine-game unbeaten streak while the defeat put a stop to the Bluebells plan of joining the top four in round 13.
“It was huge. It’s like every game for us at the moment is a grand final and that’s the way we had to approach it today,” Newham said.
“It’s just amazing, I couldn’t ask any more of my boys today.
“It was hard, it was boggy and West Wallsend are far better than their position on the table so that was probably our toughest game yet.
“We tweaked a couple of things; we were second to 50/50s, we were second to every second ball and Westy had a lot of possession. So, it was frustrating, and our boys were sort of starting to get frustrated with each other, but I think once we addressed that, the momentum swayed in our way.
“I thought we were good for the three points based on the second half performance.
Kahibah sit second on the table and just two points behind league leaders Toronto Awaba.
They will look to steal the top position when the two sides go head-to-head in a top of the table clash next Saturday.
Despite the 2-0 defeat, West Wallsend coach Bailey Cox believed his side deserved something from the match.
“It’s pretty disheartening. I thought we played pretty good footy as we have most weeks,” B.Cox said.
“They played through us, and then we missed the penalty, and they got to get a penalty.
“Overall, I thought we played pretty good. We held the ball well, played through good and defended good.
“We limited their chances, but they just took theirs and we didn’t take ours.”
West Wallsend remained in fifth on the table, one point out of the top four. They will look to secure a top four position when they host Singleton Strikers on Sunday afternoon.
“We knew today was big, if we won today, we would go to third. That was all the chat in the sheds before the game,” B.Cox said.
“That was all we were thinking about and with Singo next week there was a chance to go through.
“But if we win against Singo next week we’ll still move up and should hopefully be in there.”
Singleton Strikers 0-1 Wallsend FC
Singleton Strikers coach Doug West says his side does not deserve to be in the top four after their 1-0 defeat to Wallsend FC at Howe Park on Saturday afternoon.
Wallsend entered the match last on the table and desperate for all three points but couldn’t break free in the first half.
The two sides entered the sheds at half-time locked up 0-0 despite persistent attempts by both sides.
Wallsend’s Cody Halpin broke the deadlock in the 60th minute and gained his side the lead after he found the back of the net.
The Strikers continued to push hard to find an equaliser but were continuously denied by the Red Devils.
One goal proved to be enough for Wallsend to lock in their third win of the season and travel home with a 1-0 victory.
“I’m extremely disappointed,” West said.
“We created enough chances to win three games and there’s some take-offs there. We defended really well apart from that one goal.
“I thought we had the run of the play. Even though we played poorly and our front third and middle third execution turnover was really high there’s still a lot of positive take-offs in that regard but I’m pretty disappointed overall.
“We don’t deserve to be in the top four if we’re not beating last place Wallsend and now the pressures on us.
“We’ve got to now beat West Wallsend and Lakes, who we still get to play. It’s definitely putting a lot of pressure on us, and I’m not taking too much notice of the table.”
Singleton will want to turn their luck around when they face Cessnock City Hornets on Wednesday night in a round 10 rescheduled match.
“We’ve got a midweek game against Cessnock and that needs to be a game that we win if we want to be at the top end of the table,” West said.
“If we turn up with, I guess that lack of drive and ambition to win the game and the limited execution, I think we’ll be in trouble.”
Wallsend are sat ninth on the table and will look to keep the good times rolling when they host Thornton Redbacks on Wednesday night in a rescheduled round nine match.
Lake Macquarie City FC 2-3 Dudley Redhead United
Two sides desperate for a win went head-to-head under the Friday night lights at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility, and it was Dudley Redhead United who walked away with a 3-2 victory over Lake Macquarie City FC.
Dudley opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Connor Allan found the back of the net.
But it did not take Lake Macquarie City long to respond with Jacob Field netting his second goal of the season in the 16th minute.
The two sides remained locked 1-1 as they went into half-time, but it took the Thistles only seven minutes to regain the lead in the second half.
Dudley’s Joey Soergel came out of the gates firing and netted the ball in the 52nd minute.
The Roosters didn’t back down and fought hard to equalise. 60th minute substitute Nick Charlesworth proved to be the answer Lakes were looking for when he netted the ball in the 73rd minute.
But Allan pushed to break the winless streak for the Thistles when he scored his second of the evening in the 81st minute and secured his side the 3-2 victory.
The victory was Dudley’s first win in five matches and moved them to sixth on the table, four points ahead of the relegation scrap at the bottom of the table.
They will look to keep the good times rolling when they host South Cardiff FC on Sunday afternoon.
Lake Macquarie City have won one of their last five matches but remain fourth on the table.
They will be eager to bounce back when they face Thornton Redbacks on Saturday afternoon.
Cessnock City Hornets 1-1 South Cardiff FC
Cessnock City Hornets could not secure all three points when they had a 1-1 draw with South Cardiff FC at Turner Park on Saturday afternoon.
The two sides entered the match needing all three points to get a leg ahead on the tight table, but neither side could steal the lead in the first half.
It was Cessnock’s Sam Baker who broke the deadlock when he found the back of the net in the 61st minute.
Baker appeared to have done enough for his side to take all three points as they went into the final moments of the game, but a penalty awarded in injury time brought the Gunners into the fight.
South Cardiff’s Zayne Morphew-Watson wasted no time and calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net and secured his side a point.
The Hornets fall to last on the table despite the one point and will be eager to lock in their first win since the beginning of April when they travel to Howe Park on Wednesday night to face Singleton Strikers in a round 10 rescheduled match.
South Cardiff will hope to lock in all three points when they go head-to-head with Dudley Redhead United on Sunday afternoon.
Toronto Awaba FC 0-0 Thornton Redbacks
Thornton Redbacks became just the second team to take points away from league leaders Toronto Awaba when the sides couldn’t be separated in their 0-0 draw at Lyall Peacock Oval on Sunday afternoon.
Toronto was without two prominent starters, including leading goal-scorer Nick Roberts and Damon Green.
But a strong starting 11 took the field against the Redbacks and pushed hard to find a goal to continue their six-game undefeated streak.
A dominant Thornton backline had other ideas and denied the Stags any opportunity to find the back of the net.
While the Redbacks were unable to find the back of the net themselves, they became the second team to steal points away from the side and heated up the run for promotion.
Toronto now sit only two points ahead of Kahibah FC in second and will fight to continue their reign at the top of the table when the two sides face off next Saturday.
At the other end of the table, the point for Thornton helped them remain in eighth and two points ahead of last-placed Cessnock City Hornets.
The Redbacks will be eager to repeat their dominant performance when they travel to Ladbroke Gardens and take on ninth-placed Wallsend FC in their round nine rescheduled match on Wednesday night.
