Match of the Round
Kahibah FC v Toronto Awaba FC
Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility, Friday 8pm
Round four will get underway with Friday night football when Kahibah challenges Toronto Awaba at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility.
The fixture is the second of Kahibah’s two home games being played at the venue this month before they finally return home to Kahibah Oval in round seven when the ground becomes available following the completion of cricket season.
For the winless Kahibah, this match is a chance for them to kick their season into gear following a bye and two losses.
Matt Moncrieff’s side has been a top-four team for the past two seasons and they have every intention of being in the promotion fight this year.
But they will need to be better than their last performance which resulted in a 2-1 loss against South Cardiff last Friday night according to their coach.
“We’re disappointed. No one wants to start 0-2,” Moncrieff said.
“The performance in our first game was fine but we were probably a bit below par last week, and I hope to get back on the field on Friday and correct it.
“Toronto is obviously the best team from last year and I can’t see them being any different this year. We usually have good games against them. They were all pretty close last year.
“I think if you shut down (Nick) Roberts and (Jarrod) Purcell, you’re going to go close. It doesn’t guarantee you a win because they have other fire power, but those two boys are two of the most lethal in the competition.”
Kahibah have scored one goal in each of their two games and their strike force will be strengthened tomorrow as former Wallsend Red Devil Daniel Keelan returns from suspension to play his first game of the season for his new club.
Toronto Awaba enters the round four clash feeling fresh following last weekend’s bye. They earned four of the six points on offer during the opening two rounds as they drew 3-3 at home against Thornton and defeated Wallsend 3-0 away from home.
The Stags will be without Reece Green tomorrow as he serves his one-game suspension after he was booked twice against Wallsend and Scott McPherson is still sidelined through injury.
Toronto is otherwise at full strength with the exception of coach Jarrad Hiles who is away on holidays. Topher Cook will step up to take the side on game day and is expecting a tough clash on a field that suits the style of football that the Toronto Awaba men want to play.
“We had last weekend off, but last week and Monday night, training’s been really intense,” Cook said.
“The boys are rejuvenated and refreshed, even though we didn’t have too long of a pre-season. Everyone has been ripping in and it’s been some of the most intense training sessions I’ve seen at the club in years.
“It’s always a good game between these two teams. It’s always intense and there’s always a bit of fire in the belly.
“I’ve got no doubt it will be a physical contest and a bit of a dogfight at the start of the game, and hopefully it opens up towards the end and give us a bit of space for our ball-players.
“It will be a hotly-contested game on the preferred pitch at Speers Point. I think it suits us there.
“The way we have set up to play this year and the style that we’ve been playing has been two or three touches and move the ball on, get in the good pockets and play around. So this field should suit us.”
Last season’s premiers are fourth on the table but can rise as high as second with a victory tomorrow night, while Kahibah are searching for their first points and can finish the weekend as high as fifth.
Singleton Strikers FC v Thornton Redbacks FC
Metford Recreation Reserve, Saturday 2:30pm
A super Saturday is in store with a Hunter Valley derby between Singleton Strikers and Thornton Redbacks.
The match was initially scheduled to be played at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility but has been relocated to Metford Recreation Reserve, a ground that Thornton is quite fond of following a 2-1 victory there last Saturday against Cessnock.
The Redbacks sit in second on the table after an undefeated start to their 2024 campaign.
Thornton now has a chance to do something they were unable to achieve in 2023, and that is win three games in a row. They have their work cut out for them on Saturday against a Strikers outfit they have failed to beat since 2021.
The Singleton men are entering the match fired up and determined to put two consecutive losses behind them. They kicked off their season in round two with a 4-0 win against Cessnock City Hornets, lost their rescheduled round one clash against West Wallsend 2-0 and last weekend’s game against Belmont Swansea 3-0.
Strikers coach Doug West thought his side played well against BelSwans and that the score line did not reflect their performance. They are now looking to bounce back this Saturday and return to winning ways.
“Against BelSwans, we actually played some really good passages of football. In terms of an overall performance, even though the score was 3-0, it was a lot tighter,” West said.
“We were a lot less clunky and I think what it did show is that we’re working into the competition.
“We understand that we’re probably not at the intensity and the fitness levels of the last two teams we’ve played, so we’ve worked on that this week. What’s got to change is our effectiveness with the ball, and that comes with intensity to go forward.
“There’s enough experience among the team to know that they’re very capable. They know that we’re not far off results. We’re probably just a little underdone coming into the season.”
The Singleton coach was disappointed that the match had been relocated from the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility to Metford Recreation Reserve given that he thought the original venue suited his side’s style of play more whereas the new venue is more suited to Thornton. But West admitted that it was a challenge his experienced side would be able to adapt to and overcome.
Cessnock City Hornets FC v Wallsend FC
Turner Park, Saturday 4pm
Cessnock City Hornets are still searching for their first win of the season and they are back at home on Saturday afternoon when they host Wallsend at Turner Park.
An exciting game between two sides desperate for a win is expected to play out in this one. Cessnock are yet to pick up a point across the first three rounds and they have been outscored 16 goals to four during their three losses, while Wallsend are on a two-game losing streak following their phenomenal 4-0 win in the season opener against South Cardiff.
The Red Devils led twice on home soil in the derby against West Wallsend last Sunday but the Bluebells returned home with the three points following a stoppage time winner. The Wallsend men can respond in style in round four by climbing above the defending champions with a win against Cessnock, as a victory on Saturday can see them rise as high as third.
Cessnock know exactly what they have to do come game day and that is something they have not yet done so far this season; put together a 90-minute performance.
The Hornets were level at 2-2 at half-time during their opening-round 10-3 loss against BelSwans, they trailed Singleton 2-0 at half-time in round two but played some good football and only conceded off two poor errors, and they led 1-0 at half-time in round three before going down 2-1 against Thornton.
Coach Brad Miles said that if his men could start playing in the second half the way they have been in the first, the results will start turning around for the winless Hornets, and their aim is to get the ball rolling this Saturday on home soil.
South Cardiff FC v Belmont Swansea United FC
Ulinga Oval, Saturday 7:30pm
A blockbuster line up of Saturday games will wrap up at Ulinga Oval on Saturday night when South Cardiff welcomes Belmont Swansea United for a game under lights.
A highly-anticipated contest awaits between two teams who are coming off a win and are expected to be right up there fighting for promotion at the business end of the season.
BelSwans are currently flying in 2024. They look sharp, winning their first three matches a combined 17 goals to four. Their coach Mick Stafford is thrilled with the way they have turned things around at the club after they ended the 2023 campaign on a five-game losing streak but acknowledged that there was a long way to go yet.
“It’s been an awesome start with a great group of boys,” Stafford said.
“The ground work was put in during pre-season. We played some decent trials against decent opponents, and to the players’ credit, they’ve all been turning up to basically every training session. I think that comes down to the culture of the club and competition for spots. People are putting their best foot forward early.
“It’s great to get a good early start but there’s miles ahead of us. We’ve got to stay humble and be consistent.”
Stafford is expecting a tough match against a club he once played for at a venue he once proudly called home, and he is well-aware that the Gunners are a team on the rise and a threat to BelSwans’ winning streak.
“South Cardiff are last year’s grand finalists and we came eighth, so the pressure is on them Saturday to continue what they’re doing. We’ll throw everything at them and we’ve really got nothing to lose,” the BelSwans coach said.
“We haven’t won the last two times we’ve been there and we’re going there to play the grand finalists, so we’ll be up for it.”
The South Cardiff men were quite solid at the back and are going to have to be even stronger for the full 90 minutes on Saturday night when they take on the team that has fired in 17 goals across the opening three rounds, 11 more than three sides who are next best with six.
West Wallsend SFC has the bye.