Singleton Strikers FC 4-0 South Cardiff FC
Round 17 Rescheduled Fixture
Singleton Strikers coach Doug West was delighted to keep his side’s top-four hopes alive after they defeated South Cardiff FC 4-0 in their rescheduled round 17 clash at Howe Park on Saturday.
The Strikers not only helped their chances at finals football but also likely ended the Gunner’s hopes.
The match kicked off a weekend of catch-up games and the hosts took a 1-0 lead into the half-time break after Jackson Cox opened the scoring in the 30th minute.
Cox got onto the end of a Cal Hungerford cross at the back stick and headed the ball across South Cardiff’s goalkeeper Zane Wilkinson and into the bottom-left corner.
It took Cox just under three minutes to make his mark on the second stanza as he made the score 2-0 after executing a perfectly timed run to get onto the end of a free kick that was lumped into the box from halfway before bringing the ball down with his chest and beating Wilkinson with a volley from a tight angle.
Cox then completed his hat-trick and tripled Singleton’s lead in the 71st minute when he headed home off a corner kick that the left-footed Kadel Snaddon had curled in from the right.
Singleton’s coach made a double substitution in the 84th minute, and one of the players he introduced off the bench scored with his first touch as Brock Hamson got onto the end of a Brad Cox cutback and made no mistake with his strike from close range.
Hamson’s goal made the score 4-0 in the 85th minute and that was the way it remained at full-time as the Strikers climbed to within a point of the top-four with just two matches left to play.
West was pleased with the way his men performed, especially the senior players on a day that Singleton was missing a handful of first grade regulars.
“I think it was a game where both teams looked quite different to their normal starting 11. South Cardiff were understrength and we had five regular first graders out,” West said.
“To be honest, we dominated the game for most of the 90 minutes. We deserved to win.
“We probably came out with the energy and intensity that was required from the start, to be fair.
“Jackson Cox, Brad Cox and Joel Barner are three senior players who we needed to step up and they did. They really led the team around. Joel was outstanding in the second half, as was Jackson, and Brad was solid all game, I don’t think he was beaten once through the day.
“Brock’s goal was a great club moment. He’s a local born and bred player and it was a special moment for him to score with his first touch.”
The sixth-placed Gunners are now four points behind Singleton and five points outside the top four. They have a mathematical chance of reaching the promotion playoffs but they must win both of their remaining games while relying on other results to go their way.
They will meet the Strikers again in round 26 on Sunday when the two sides go head-to-head at Ulinga Oval.
Toronto Awaba FC 1-1 Cessnock City Hornets FC
Round 17 Rescheduled Fixture
Toronto Awaba FC hosted Cessnock City Hornets at Lyall Peacock Oval on Saturday evening, where neither team could secure all three points as they fought out a 1-1 draw.
The two teams went into half-time locked at 0-0 and the deadline was finally broken in the 63rd minute when Cessnock’s leading goal-scorer Zac Kronholm netted his 15th of the campaign to make the score 1-0.
Toronto Awaba’s leading goal-scorer Jarrod Purcell had entered the day third on the golden boot tally with 15 before he edged back in front of Kronholm when he equalised in the 77th minute.
Both teams battled hard to find the winner across the final 15 minutes but they were forced to share a point each as it remained 1-1 when the full-time whistle sounded.
Cessnock’s coach Kyle Davis thought the result was a fair one and that both sides performed admirably on the day.
“The game was a bit end to end,” Davis said.
“The pitch wasn’t great so both teams played a bit long.
“It was a fairly even first half, with both teams having one good chance each. The beginning of the second half was a bit the same, with both goalkeepers (Cessnock’s Blake McDonnell and Toronto Awaba’s Drew Olsen) pulling off some good saves.
“The draw was probably a fair result in a tough game that was played in good spirits by both teams.”
Cessnock remain in eighth place on the table following that victory, but they are still a threat to the three sides directly above them and they can finish fifth. Next up for them is a rescheduled round 22 clash against Wallsend at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on Wednesday night.
Toronto Awaba is still ranked second following their draw and will meet Cessnock again this Saturday in round 26 when the two sides return to Lyall Peacock Oval, both determined to go one better than they did on Saturday.
Wallsend FC 2-2 Thornton Redbacks FC
Round 15 Rescheduled Fixture
Wallsend FC scored a late equaliser to earn their fifth point of the season in front of a home crowd at The Gardens on Sunday afternoon as they contested a 2-2 stalemate against Thornton Redbacks.
The two sides went into half-time goalless, but it took the Red Devils less than a minute to break the deadlock in the second half when Ethan Kulupach found the back of the net with a tidy finish.
But they held their lead for less than a minute as Thornton equalised through Coby Jenkinson to continue the explosive start to the half.
It looked set to be the same old story for Wallsend when the Redbacks went ahead in the 76th minute through Mo Diop, but the Red Devils struck late when Matt Williams volleyed home the equaliser in injury time to make the score 2-2 and rescue a point for his side.
“I thought we played really well actually,” Wallsend’s coach Chris Gallagher said.
“We dominated the midfield and actually played how we wanted to play. Our centre-backs gave us plenty of depth and options, and our midfielders were really good.
“The game was played in really good spirits and both teams had a red-hot crack. They had chances where they should have gone on and won it, and so did we. I think 2-all was a fair result, to be honest.”
Wallsend will be back in action on Wednesday night in a rescheduled round 22 clash against Cessnock at the Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility, and Thornton will return home on Saturday when they host Kahibah at Thornton Park in round 26.
Belmont Swansea United FC 5-0 West Wallsend SFC
Round 17 Rescheduled Fixture
Belmont Swansea United started the season as the most dominant team in the competition and that is exactly the way they are finishing it as they demolished West Wallsend SFC 5-0 in their penultimate fixture on Saturday night.
The premiers treated their fans to a fantastic farewell in what was their final home game of the campaign.
It took BelSwans 14 minutes to open the scoring as Ethan Hall found the back of the net to make the score 1-0.
The competition’s golden boot leader Kane Woolston then doubled the home side’s lead in the 38th minute when he netted his 26th goal of the year.
BelSwans took their 2-0 lead into the half-time break and it was 4-0 with 20 minutes left to play after Adam Woodbine bagged a quickfire double with goals in the 68th and 70th minutes to take his season tally to 20.
Matt Hall put the icing on the cake in the 90th minute as he completed the scoring and BelSwans celebrated a 5-0 victory.
Remarkably, that was the eighth time Mick Stafford’s men have scored five or more goals in a game this season and it was also their 12th clean sheet.
They will now look to go out on a high this Saturday when they challenge West Wallsend at Johnston Park ahead of their bye in round 27.
The Bluebells are still fourth and remain the favourites to land the final promotion playoff spot, but they need to bounce back from Saturday’s loss quickly as they prepare to take on third-placed Kahibah in a rescheduled round 23 fixture at Johnston Park on Wednesday night ahead of the rematch against BelSwans on Saturday.