Match of the Round
Kahibah FC 7-1 Wallsend FC
Kahibah FC coach Mat Moncrieff said he was proud of his side to secure second place on the table after a dominant 7-1 victory against Wallsend FC at Kahibah Oval on Saturday.
Kahibah welcomed plenty of past players and their families to the venue for their Old Boys’ Day clash, and they treated them to an entertaining day that included five first-half goals.
The side’s top goal-scorer Tyson Masters opened the scoring in the 19th minute and Dan Byrne doubled their advantage in the 27th.
Liam Whitehead then made it 3-0 two minutes later, but Wallsend fired back in the 38th minute when Cooper Gallard scored from the penalty spot.
Byrne and Masters both netted in the final five minutes of the first half as Kahibah took a 5-1 lead into the break.
The excitement continued in the second stanza when 15-year-old Cooper Ross scored his maiden first grade goal in the 62nd minute before Ewan Kelly rounded out the scoring in the 74th as Kahibah charged away to a 7-1 victory.
The home side’s old boys’ day celebrations included Riley Ferguson being presented a framed jersey by Matt Lee for reaching his 100-game milestone earlier in the season, and Danny Hanlson awarding 'The Pollo' medal for the best player on the field to Jaidyn Kianou.
Moncrieff said it was a special day and that he was proud of his men for wrapping up second place on the table.
“We aimed to win the comp but we weren’t good enough to mow the mighty BelSwans down,” Moncrieff said.
“We are proud of second but we’re definitely not completely satisfied. But it’s is definitely a step in the right direction and we’ve left a good base for our next coach (Blair Newham) to step into.
“We wanted to improve our goal-scoring this year and we did that. We’ve also brought a few new players into first grade, so there’s a lot to build on for next year.
“For now though, we will see how we go in the next little comp we’re going into to see if we can get promoted or not.”’
“It was huge there for old boys’ day. That’s the biggest crowd we’ve ever had.
“We sang the song in the clubhouse after the game and there was probably 200 people packed in there singing it. It was awesome.
“The pitch was horrific and we were lucky to play on it. We scored a couple of goals early, off Wallsend’s mistakes more than anything, and we got rolling from there. We didn’t miss too many chances.
“It was one of those days that ugly football had to be played on a wet, slippery pitch, and we were just able to do that better than they did.”
Kahibah thanked the referees and Wallsend for getting the game played on what they described as a wet, sub-standard field.
Wallsend’s coach Chris Gallagher admitted Kahibah were too good on the day and that his team did not adapt to the conditions as well as the home side did.
“We got dominated from the kick-off, really,” Gallagher said.
“Kahibah were just a much better team. They’ve gotten stronger and stronger this year. They’re well-coached and I think they can do well.
“We can’t really play direct. We don’t have the speed or the physical presence up top. But that game in those conditions, you had to be direct. We still tried to move the ball in patches, but overall, it was a good learning experience for our players.”
Wallsend finished last with eight points following two wins, two draws and 20 losses, but Gallagher declared that they had built a good foundation for the years to come.
“It was a year of surviving for us,” Gallagher said.
“We’ve tried to get some community links again within the Wallsend community so we can move forward with a ground, and also some more sponsors so we can bring some more players in.
“We are also trying to rebuild our youth again, so that we can build toward the future.”
Thornton Redbacks FC 0-6 South Cardiff FC
South Cardiff FC coach Perry Mellon said he was happy to finish the season on a positive note after they defeated Thornton Redbacks 6-0 at Thornton Park on Saturday.
The Gunners opened the scoring in the 20th minute through Justin Banek, who then doubled the away side’s lead 15 minutes later.
Southy went into the break leading 2-0 and it only took them eight minutes in the second stanza to triple their advantage when Alex Phillips found the back of the net.
Mellon’s men won a penalty in the 55th minute that Anthony Carter stepped up to take, and he made no mistake as he scored for the first time this season to make the score 4-0.
Brendon King netted the fifth goal of the game in the 67th minute as Southy’s top scorer this season added his 11th of the campaign.
One of the Gunner's best players this year was rewarded for his efforts with his first goal of the season in the 74th minute as left-back Jordan Clark made it 6-0.
Mellon said he was happy with the way his side finished off what has been a frustrating year for the Gunners.
“We played pretty well and it was good to finish off the season on a good note,” Mellon said.
“We had some chances and we took most of them.
“There was nothing on the line so we just relaxed and it all worked itself out. It was the first time I’ve ever not done a pre-game talk or a half-time talk, and just said ‘go and have fun boys’.”
South Cardiff ended the season sixth on the table with 30 points following nine wins, three draws and 12 losses, while Thornton finished eighth with 25 points following six wins, seven draws and 11 losses.
Both teams spent time in the top four earlier in the year but struggled to string wins together during the second half of the season.
Cessnock City Hornets FC 2-0 West Wallsend SFC
It was a bittersweet end to the season for Cessnock City on Saturday when the Hornets defeated promotion hopefuls West Wallsend 2-0 at Turner Park.
The victory was their fifth in seven games on the run home, during which they only lost one game.
While it was and exciting way to end the year, it left the coaches, players and fans wondering what could have been if they’d have pulled things together earlier in the season.
The Hornets were forced into an early change as Josh Maguire was replaced by Jed Horder in the 15th minute.
The substitute made a significant impact as he found the back of the net 11 minutes later to give Cessnock a 1-0 lead. That goal was Horder’s first of the 2024 campaign.
The home side took the one-goal lead into the half-time break and then doubled it in the 58th minute when their leading goal-scorer Zac Kronholm found the back of the net for the 18th time this year.
Neither side added to the scoreline during the final half-an-hour as Cessnock ended their season with a 2-0 win on their old boys’ day. They finished seventh on the table with 29 points following nine wins, two draws and 13 losses.
West Wallsend’s loss saw them settle for fourth place on the table as they remained on 38 points. They won 11 games, drew five and lost eight during the regular season and will line up against Adamstown Rosebud in the Promotion Playoff next weekend.
Singleton Strikers FC 1-1 Toronto Awaba FC
Singleton Strikers and Toronto Awaba FC produced an entertaining 1-1 draw in their final game of the regular season on Saturday.
It was the Strikers’ Old Boys’ Day at Howe Park and their striker Joel Barner brought the crowd to its feet in the 10th minute when he hit the back of the net.
Barner charged onto a long ball that had gotten in behind the Toronto defence and buried his one-on-one strike into the bottom right corner off the post.
The Stags equalised with a stunning strike in the 40th minute through defender Kade Howland when his shot from distance flew in off the left post.
That made the score 1-1 and that was the way it remained at full-time.
The draw saw Toronto lock up third place on the table as they moved to 41 points.
The Stags won 11 games, drew eight and lost five to earn themselves a spot in the promotion playoffs, in which they will meet Kahibah this weekend.
Singleton ended the regular season on a three-game unbeaten run but fell a win short of a top-four spot as they ended up on 35 points, just three behind West Wallsend. Doug West’s men won 10 games this season, drew five and lost nine.
Belmont Swansea United FC had the bye.