Opening round defeat for Southern and Ettalong
Berkeley Vale has defeated Southern and Ettalong 4-1 in the opening round of Men's Premier League soccer.
The first 35 minutes saw both sides play at a high tempo with limited chances arriving for both teams.
In the 39th minute, it was the Lions with the first real opportunity of the half when Jacob Lepre swung a dangerous ball across the face of goals in which Jameson Flynn's header hit the Wombats post and was quickly cleaned up by the Berkeley defence.
The Wombats retaliated almost immediately when they broke down the left flank and delivered a cross that floated into the back of the Lions goal giving the Wombats a 1-0 lead in the 40th minute.
The Lions pressed hard to level the score and almost found a reply in the 42nd minute when Jacob Lepre's curling shot clipped the Wombat's crossbar.
Right on the stroke of half-time, Berkeley Vale nodded the ball through a congested goal line to take a valuable 2-0 lead.
The second half continued along the same path as the first half with a defensive and midfield battle from box to box.
The Lion's coaching staff replaced some tired legs in the second half with the introduction of Jack Ellwood, Ryan Brown and Nathan Baker into the game which started to give the Lions a little momentum in attack.
However, it was once again the Wombats found Jacob Brownlow who managed to get the final touch to take the Wombats to a commanding 3-0 lead.
The Lions pushed players forward to try and find their opening goal of the season and were rewarded when Jack Ellwood fired a powerful left-foot strike from outside the box to take the score to 3-1.
The Lions continued to press for their second goal and created a number of half chances only to be denied by a resilient Wombats defensive line.
It was the Wombats who would close the game out in the 74th minute when a brisk counterattack caught out the Southern defence with a tidy finish take finish the opening game of the season with a 4-1 win.
Match official was Anthony Kabbout.
SOURCE:
Website, 28 Apr 2024
Central Coast Football