Wombats fall in a hole to drop out of top four

Round 13 of the 2014 Men’s Premier League competition was played over the weekend of July 5 and 6 with Berkeley Vale dropping out of the top four for the first time in six years following a 2-1 loss to Wyoming. 

With Berkeley Vale’s normal home ground at Mingara undergoing renovations, the crucial clash against Wyoming was transferred to Chittaway Oval. The Berkeley Vale Wombats were on top for much of the first half with Wyoming struggling to find cohesion.

The breakthrough came against the run of play when a 30-metre free kick from Daniel Surridge found the corner of the Berkeley Vale net. From then onwards, the Tigers gradually took control of the match, doubling the lead in the 68th minute after a series of strong attacks culminated in a goal to Andy Klijn.

The home team scored a consolation penalty goal through Mitchell Pont in the second minute of injury time. The result sees Wyoming remain unbeaten after 13 matches and maintain their two-point lead over Killarney District at the top of the table. Berkeley Vale, despite dropping to fifth place and only picking up one point from their last three games (all against top-five teams), do have their next four against teams in the bottom five. In what surely is a record turnaround, Umina have gone from an 8-0 loss to The Entrance to a 6-0 win over Kincumber.

The Kincumber Roos were in contention until half-time, trailing 2-0 but conceded a further four in the second half. Josh Schumann’s third hat-trick of the season sees him move back to the top of the Premier League goal scoring table while Ben Scully-Hawkins (2) and Todd Beckman were also on target. The Entrance have come from a goal down to defeat a plucky Gosford City team 2-1 in their match at Pat Morley Oval.

The Round 12, 8-0 win over Umina, was always going to be a hard act to follow for The Entrance and so it proved. As they’d done in three of their previous four matches, City scored first, this time through Dane Bowers, who scored his first ever First Grade goal. The first five minutes of the second term proved decisive with first Terrie Dries and then Zac Anastas scoring for the Eagles for what proved to be the final goals.

Despite being consistently competitive, including against the top teams, it was Gosford’s 11th straight match without a victory and keeps them at serious risk of relegation. By contrast, The Entrance, promoted from Division One at the start of the season, have lost just one match and sit poised just three points behind Wyoming and with the best goal difference of any team in the League. After a series of frustrating results, East Gosford have taken their first step to breaking clear of the relegation zone coming from a goal down to defeat Budgewoi 2-1 in their match at Frank Millington Field.

In a game that was in the balance throughout, Billy Lockley gave Budgewoi a first-half lead which was cancelled out by Brent Demery in the 70th minute. Ex-Budgewoi player Mitch Marlin then scored the winner for his new club with 10 minutes to play. East Gosford’s win, their third of the season, moves them five points clear of second last place and with the best goal difference of the bottom five teams. Budgewoi remain in equal second-last place. Both teams have to play three of the top five and two of the bottom five teams in the remaining five rounds.

Media release, 7 Jul 2014
Alistair Kennedy,
Central Coast Football