Match of the Round
Toronto Awaba FC 2-1 West Wallsend SFC
Toronto Awaba scored their third win in a week on Saturday when they defeated West Wallsend 2-1 at Lyall Peacock Oval in an exciting Match of the Round.
The Stags went into the game having beaten Belmont Swansea United the previous weekend and Wallsend on Tuesday night. And they secured their top four spot as they earned the three points in a close contest against the Bluebells on Old Boys’ Day.
West Wallsend had a fast start but the hosts nullified that when Jarrod Purcell scored the opener in the ninth minute. The Stags doubled their lead 10 minutes before half-time when Purcell’s strike partner Kye Howland netted.
Toronto Awaba’s two-goal advantage was cut in half one minute after the break when Jake Bower got West Wallsend on the scoresheet.
The Bluebells pushed hard to find an equaliser and created enough chances to do so but Toronto Awaba were too good in the end as they secured their 10th win of the campaign.
Stags’ coach Jarrad Hiles thought it was another impressive performance from his men on what was a special day for the club.
“We scored pretty early in the first half which settled the nerves a little bit,” Hiles said.
“The energy from the boys was great and the intensity was great too. From those two games [back-to-back losses earlier in the month] when we were a bit flat, we’ve really turned it around and we’re back to where we were before.
“It got a bit hairy there at some stages but I thought we deserved the win.
“Once Westy scored, they probably dominated for a 15-minute period but we wrestled our way back into it and we had some great opportunities to seal the game. Fortunately we scrapped and hung on and got the three points.
“There was a good crowd there for Old Boys’ Day. Our guys do lift for that. But even though it was Old Boys’ Day, I reminded the boys it’s their day as well now. We wanted to seize the moment because there was a good opportunity to cement a place in the top four. There was a lot to play for and the boys did really well.”
West Wallsend coach Bailey Cox thought a 30-minute period before half-time had a significant impact on the result.
“I thought we played pretty good for 60 minutes but we played terrible for 30, probably the worst we’ve played all year in the back end of the first half, which cost us the game,” Cox said.
“We started really fast and we were all over them. They got a goal against the run of play and we just imploded.
“I gave the boys a rocket at half-time and they came out and were really good.
“Toronto had a few chances on the runaway late but I’d say nearly the whole half was played in their half of the field. We were all over them in the second half and we had chances to win it.”
West Wallsend remain in fourth place following the result but they are still four points clear of fifth-placed Singleton with a game in hand.
The Bluebells face a tough road trip on Saturday night when they travel to Blacksmiths Oval to challenge premiers Belmont Swansea in a rescheduled round 17 clash.
Toronto Awaba remained third despite the win after Kahibah got the job done against Singleton. The Stags can reclaim second place when they host Wallsend at Lyall Peacock Oval in a rescheduled round 11 match on Wednesday night.
Belmont Swansea United FC 3-0 Wallsend FC
It was a day of celebration before a ball was even kicked at Blacksmiths Oval on Saturday as Belmont Swansea United celebrated their promotion to the 2025 NPL Men’s NNSW competition.
But the club’s two teams ensured the occasion was even more memorable as they got the job done against Wallsend on Old Boys’ Day.
BelSwans’ reserve grade side prevailed 2-0 to secure top spot and a premiership double for the club before the first grade team then won 3-0 against the Red Devils to send a huge Old Boys’ Day crowd home happy.
BelSwans saw their promotion confirmed on Wednesday night when West Wallsend lost 4-1 to Kahibah. That result saw BelSwans secure its first top grade premiership since 1984 and a return to the top flight of northern NSW football for the first time since 1999.
The hosts bagged three goals in 13 minutes during the first half and maintained that lead for the rest of the game as they scored their 17th win in 22 matches this season as well as their 12th clean sheet.
Adam Woodbine opened the scoring in the 24th minute, Sam Kirk doubled their advantage from the penalty spot on the half-hour mark and Daniel Watson made it 3-0 seven minutes later.
BelSwans are back at Blacksmiths Oval on Saturday night when they challenge West Wallsend under lights in a rescheduled round 17 clash. The premiers only have two matches left to play this season and both are against Westy.
Wallsend will go in search of their second win of the season on Sunday when they host Thornton in a rescheduled round 15 fixture at The Gardens.
Cessnock City Hornets FC 4-0 South Cardiff FC
Cessnock beat another top four hopeful when they downed South Cardiff 4-0 at Turner Park on Saturday, just six days after taking down Kahibah.
The victory was their third on the trot as their players celebrated three straight wins for the first time this season.
Curtis Johnson opened the scoring in the 32nd minute after charging onto a ball in behind and scoring a one-on-one past South Cardiff goalkeeper Zane Wilkinson.
Jacob Bender then doubled the lead two minutes later with a tap-in on the goal line following a corner, a lead the Hornets took to half-time.
The home side’s leading goal-scorer Zac Kronholm netted 90 seconds after play restarted and then made it a double in the 57th minute when he made the score 4-0.
That was the way it remained when the full-time whistle sounded as Cessnock secured win number seven and their third clean sheet of the campaign.
Interim coach Kyle Davis, the former assistant who took over from the departed Brad Miles earlier this month, thought the performance was the Hornets’ most dominant so far in 2024.
“It’s probably the best they’ve played all year,” Davis said.
“I think as a spectator it would have been a pretty good game to watch. There were lots of shots on goal. I’ve probably never seen so many in one game.
“The young goalkeeper from South Cardiff [Wilkinson], if he didn’t play it could have been 10-0.
“It was pretty dominant from us. I think they only had one serious shot on goal in 90-odd minutes.”
Cessnock have four games remaining in the 2024 campaign, the first of which will be played at Lyall Peacock Oval on Saturday when they meet Toronto Awaba in a rescheduled round 17 clash.
South Cardiff have now lost three on the trot and they must bounce back against Singleton at Howe Park on Saturday in a rescheduled round 17 fixture if they are a chance of scraping into the top four.
Kahibah FC 2-1 Singleton Strikers FC
Kahibah scored early and late to earn all three points in front of a home crowd on Sunday afternoon as they downed Singleton Strikers 2-1 to return to second place on the table.
The hosts made it 1-0 in the fifth minute when Tyson Masters found the back of the net and that was the way it remained at half-time.
Singleton won a penalty in the 67th minute when Joel Barner was taken down in the box and Hayden Nichol sent Jacob Zissis the wrong way as he found the bottom right corner to make the score 1-1.
It remained that way until the 88th minute when Masters scored his second goal of the day from close range following a goal-mouth scramble after Robbie Turnbull had knocked a free kick into the box from out near the left sideline.
That made the score 2-1 and Kahibah held on to earn all three points and overtake Toronto Awaba to finish the weekend second.
Mat Moncrieff’s men have three more games to play but will not be in action this weekend as they sit out with a bye. Their next fixture is a rescheduled round 23 match against West Wallsend at Johnston Park on Wednesday 7 August.
Singleton will get a chance to bounce back from their loss on Saturday when they host South Cardiff in a rescheduled round 17 clash at Howe Park. It is a must-win game for the Strikers’ finals hopes as they sit four points outside of the top four with three games to play.
Thornton Redbacks FC had the bye.