Match of the Round
West Wallsend SFC v Kahibah FC
Johnston Park, Saturday 2.30pm
The Match of the Round heads out to Johnston Park on Saturday as West Wallsend welcome Kahibah for a highly-anticipated top four battle.
Kahibah enter round 23 second on 29 points with Westy one win behind them on 26 points with a game in hand. That makes this game a chance for the visitors to give themselves breathing room over the Bluebells, while the hosts will be playing to give themselves the chance to climb the table in the coming weeks.
West Wallsend will hope to continue their brilliant form of late that has seen them remain unbeaten in their last seven matches. But they have not played since 22 June following a bye and a washout and they are keen to finally get back on the park and resume their impressive run.
Kahibah were also on a seven-game unbeaten run until Wednesday night when they went down 2-0 against league leaders Belmont Swansea at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility in their rescheduled round 20 clash.
Kahibah coach Mat Moncrieff thought that his side were nowhere near their best in that match but still produced enough chances to win the contest, which they were not able to take. Moncrieff said they would need to start converting their chances on Saturday against a quality opposition.
“They’re one of the better football teams in the comp and it’s always a good challenge against them,” Moncrieff said of West Wallsend.t
“They have some strike weapons and some good experience, especially at the back. They are tough to break down.
“We match up pretty well against them. Hopefully it will be a good game and we end up on top.”
These two sides have only met once so far this season when Kahibah prevailed 4-1 in round five in March. Moncrieff said he expected the Bluebells to provide a much tougher contest on Saturday.
“Their keeper got sent off early that game. We had some luck with how that game panned out,” Moncrieff said.
“We nailed them off at the end that night but if they keep 11 on the park this weekend it will be a tough clash that’s for sure.”
West Wallsend coach Bailey Cox also expects a tight tussle against a side that he has a lot of respect for.
"I expect the same as always from them. They normally try to play good footy and it makes for a good game," Cox said.
"A lot of teams just like to pump it long but Kahibah play footy. I'm pretty keen to get into it.
"The first time we played them wasn't good for us. Reddo [West Wallsend goalkeeper Blake Redman] got sent off early and that put us on the back foot. Liam [Whitehead] did get sent off for them and it was 10v10 but it's different losing your goalkeeper compared to a player.
"It ended up 4-1, so we're keen to have another go at them and redeem ourselves."
The Bluebells will train at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Thursday night as they look to get their foot on the ball and shake off the rust.
"We haven't played since the Thornton game, which will be three weeks ago," Cox said.
"We need to start fast and make sure we're switched on. We'll need to have a good warm up because there will be a little bit of rust.
"We'll be hurting a little bit too with our match fitness."
Toronto Awaba FC v South Cardiff FC
Lyall Peacock Oval, Saturday 2.30pm
Another fixture with so much at stake will be contested when Toronto Awaba host South Cardiff at Lyall Peacock Field on Saturday.
The hosts are unbeaten in their last four games and have picked up 10 of 12 points in that run as they sit third on the table. They are two points behind Kahibah with two games in hand on them and can rise to second if they get the job done on home soil in round 23.
South Cardiff enter the weekend fifth, two points outside the top four. A win this weekend could see them return to the top four for the first time since early June.
The Gunners are coming off their most significant win of the season after they knocked off league leaders Belmont Swansea at home last Saturday. They won that game 2-0 to bring an end to a six-game winless run and ensure they can now focus their attention on a top four push.
South Cardiff’s next three games are against the other three teams in the top four and if they can keep producing what they did against BelSwans they will give themselves a real chance to fight for promotion during the final month of the campaign.
Belmont Swansea United v Thornton Redbacks FC
Blacksmiths Oval, Sunday 2.30pm
Belmont Swansea United have automatic promotion well within their grasp and they can take a huge step towards securing it when they host Thornton at Blacksmiths Oval on Sunday.
BelSwans are first on the table with 47 points, 18 clear of second-placed Kahibah who they beat 2-0 in a top-of-the-table clash at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Wednesday night.
Kane Woolston found the back of the net either side of half-time in that match to move 10 goals clear at the top of the golden boot race as he took his season tally to 25.
The result meant that, like West Wallsend, the maximum number of points Kahibah can finish on this year is 50, which Belmont Swansea can reach with a win on Sunday. Only Toronto Awaba, who can finish on a maximum 54 points, would still be able to surpass them.
Thornton Redbacks are desperate for a win this weekend as they look to bring an end to a run of poor form that has seen them drop out of the top four and fall to seventh. They are on a six-game losing streak and a seven-game-winless run since they cruised past South Cardiff 4-0 early last month.
Wallsend FC v Singleton Strikers
The Gardens, Sunday 2.30pm
Round 23 will wrap up at The Gardens on Sunday afternoon when Wallsend host Singleton.
This match was initially scheduled to be the last of a run of four home games at the venue for Wallsend. But all three so far have been washed out and rescheduled.
The Red Devils have not played at The Gardens for 16 weeks now, since round six in March, and they have not played anywhere since they went down 3-0 against Singleton in a mid-week round 14 catch-up match at Howe Park on June 19.
Wallsend are last following one win and one draw this season and are eager to get back on the park and produce some favourable results across their final nine games of the campaign to establish some form that they can take into 2025.
The Strikers have found some form of late and have started a top four push. They are sixth following just one loss in their last seven games but they have work to do if they are to jag fourth spot as they are four points behind West Wallsend despite having played two more games than them.
Anything is possible for Doug West’s men if they keep winning. Singleton have outscored Wallsend 7-1 across two matches already this year.
Strikers’ club captain Hayden Nichol was confident that his team had turned a corner following a tough start to the season that was affected by injury and work commitments which led to them sitting in the bottom three for most of the year.
“I think the results say that we’ve won four of the last seven games and our only loss in that time was against BelSwans when we lost 3-0,” Nichols said.
“We’ve been building across the past few weeks as we start to get some numbers back on the paddock.”
Cessnock City Hornets have the bye.