Match of the Round
South Cardiff FC v Wallsend FC
Ulinga Oval, Sunday 2:30pm
South Cardiff FC coach Perry Mellon is desperate for his side to get their season back on track when they welcome Wallsend FC to Ulinga Oval on Sunday afternoon.
For the two sides, this fixture is a chance to return to winning ways and end their unwanted losing streaks.
South Cardiff was flying last month when a 3-0 win in round 15 away from home against West Wallsend saw them extend their unbeaten run to six games, five of which they had won, to sit in second place on the table.
But since then, they have been unable to score a goal and have slid out of the top four to fifth place.
The Gunners' most recent loss was against Thornton at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility last Saturday when they went down 4-0.
Mellon hoped to see his side bounce back in front of a home crowd this Sunday.
“We need to win. There’s Gallagher Shield points on the line, so that will give us something extra to play for, but we need to get our season back on track,” Mellon said.
“We need to pick up three points to start the last third of the season.
“It’s hard to put a finger on what’s been going wrong, but we haven’t scored a goal in four games, and if you don’t score goals you don’t win, and we’ve also conceded 10 in two games which isn’t ideal either.
“I think we’ve just lost a bit of confidence, and this week is the first week we’ve been able to have two training sessions for a while too, which will help.
“Wallsend are quite organised and they hang in games for long periods. They have only won one game, but in a lot of their games they tend to lose in the second half.
“They create chances and they score goals. They’ll be up for it, but if we turn up and produce the quality that we can, we should be able to put in a performance to win.”
Wallsend went down 5-2 at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility last Friday against Kahibah which saw their losing streak stretch to 12 games.
They are hoping a return to that venue on Sunday brings with it another win, but their coach Chris Gallagher admitted they need to play much better than they have in recent matches if they have any chance of returning home with the three points.
“We were good in patches (against Kahibah), but consistency is what we need,” Gallagher said.
“We’re switching off in key moments and we just need to be better. We are playing well for periods, but we need to do it for 90 minutes.
“Southy will be fast and direct, and I’m not expecting anything too different to the last time we played them. Tommy Walker is still a quality finisher who we’ll need to stop.”
Gallagher said the addition of Cooper Gallard to the Red Devils from Adamstown has had a positive impact.
“He’s a central midfielder and he’s unbelievable,” Gallagher said following Gallard’s first start last Friday night.
“He changed the tempo. They had no answers for him. He was excellent.
“He’s the link for us now. Now that we have a midfielder that plays at a higher tempo, and as we start getting other players back from injury, hopefully we can start knocking off some teams.”
Belmont Swansea United FC v Cessnock City Hornets FC
Blacksmiths Oval, Saturday 2:30pm
Belmont Swansea United coach Mick Stafford expects a tough clash this weekend then they go head-to-head with Cessnock City Hornets at Blacksmiths Oval on Saturday.
This game is an important one for the hosts as it presents them with the opportunity to go 10 points clear at the top of the table. BelSwans are out in front by seven points but second-placed Kahibah have the bye this weekend.
BelSwans lined up at Johnston Park on Wednesday night in a rescheduled round eight clash where they drew 0-0 against West Wallsend.
The clean sheet was their third in a row and coach Mick Stafford is looking for the same defensive resolve come Saturday when they take on the team that has had the most success against them in 2024.
Cessnock are the only team to have beaten BelSwans in 2024 and they have scored seven of the 15 goals that the league leaders have conceded across 14 matches.
The Hornets prevailed 4-3 at home in round 10 after Stafford’s men won their first meeting 10-3 at Blacksmiths Oval in round one.
The BelSwans coach is expecting another tough encounter on Saturday.
“I expect Cessnock to be as tough as they were last time when we played them away,” Stafford said.
“They’ve scored seven goals against us, which we’re not happy about, so we’ll be looking to put a better foot forward at home against them.”
Stafford declared that his side’s draw against West Wallsend on Wednesday was “a cracking game between two good teams that could have gone either way”.
Cessnock is seventh on the table and is winless in their past four games, three of which were losses. They are eight points outside the top four and only have nine matches left to play this season, making this Saturday’s fixture a must-win match as far as their promotion chances are concerned.
Thornton Redbacks FC v Toronto Awaba FC
Thornton Park, Saturday 2:30pm
Thornton Redbacks will go head-to-head with Toronto Awaba FC when they welcome them to Thornton Park on Saturday afternoon.
This season has been a frustrating one for the Stags, who have five washed-out matches to catch up and have been unable to gather any momentum in terms of matches or training.
That frustration continued on Wednesday night when they went down 2-0 on home soil in a rescheduled round 13 match against Kahibah.
Jarrad Hiles’ men have only played five league games since April began and they have only managed one win in that sporadic run of games, leaving them in sixth place on the table. They are just four points outside the top four and can narrow that gap with a win against fourth-placed Thornton on Saturday.
The Redbacks have well and truly exceeded expectations this year, having only been beaten twice in 13 games so far. They are coming off a 2-2 draw against Singleton in their rescheduled round 13 match on Wednesday night after a Jack Wetney stoppage-time goal rescued them a point.
Thornton is determined to return to winning ways and secure all three points against the Stags on Saturday.
Singleton Strikers FC v West Wallsend SFC
Howe Park, Saturday 2:30pm
Singleton Strikers FC and West Wallsend SFC will meet for the third time this season when they face off at Howe Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Strikers enter this clash chasing their first win against West Wallsend this year after the Bluebells prevailed 2-0 in round one and 3-1 in round 10.
More importantly for Doug West’s men, this match is a chance to start building some momentum as they have the chance to go three consecutive games unbeaten for the first time this year after they drew 2-2 against Thornton in a rescheduled round 13 match at Thornton Park on Wednesday.
The Strikers are eighth on the nine-team table and can climb to seventh with a win, which would be an important confidence boost in their push for a top-four finish.
West Wallsend were in action on Wednesday night in a rescheduled round eight clash on home soil at Johnston Park against Belmont Swansea. The third-placed Bluebells became just the third team this year to earn a point off the league leaders as the two sides contested a hard-fought 0-0 draw.
That result saw West Wallsend cut the gap between themselves and second-placed Kahibah to six points, which would become three if Westy get the job done this Saturday as Kahibah sit out with the bye.
Kahibah FC have the bye.