Round 17 preview

After last Saturday’s wash-out, everyone’s hoping for a full set of fixtures this weekend, especially as the race for the Premier League title hots up and the battle for the top 5 play-off places gets tighter by the week.

With two of the teams fighting for a top 5 finish having catch up games on Sunday as well as their Round 17 tie on Saturday, this weekend might have a crucial bearing on the final ladder positions.

Match of the Round

Tarrawanna v Dapto Dandaloo Fury – at Tarrawanna Oval. Saturday Kick off 2.30pm

Wins for both these teams last Sunday have left them in third and second respectively on the Premier League ladder.

The Fury not only ended Shell Cove’s remarkable nine game unbeaten run last week, but improved their goal difference with the 3-0 margin of victory. This leaves them level on points with leaders Bulli, with a goal difference of 32 to Bulli’s 33. The race could hardly be tighter, so every goal counts from now on.

This is the Fury’s first encounter against fellow Finals contenders since their home defeats to Albion Park White Eagles and Wollongong United. They will surely find the team snapping at them in third place a tougher opponent.

With 51 goals from 15 matches, Dapto Dandaloo are now the League’s top scorers and they have a host of players who like to get their names on the scoresheet: Cameron Morgan might still be their top marksmen with eight goals this season, but last weekend’s scorers Alvin Ceccoli (4 goals), Sam Munro (6 goals) and Robbie Shields (5 goals) illustrate the breadth of their scoring talent.

The Blueys don’t have the best of records against fellow play-off challengers, though they will take heart from a gutsy draw against Wollongong United two weeks ago.

In Wandi Jajaw, they have a striker who will pose a threat to any defence in this league. His hat-trick last weekend against South Coast United took his tally for the season to 18. But the Blueys also have others who could cause a few problems for the Fury, notably Darren Stone with six goals to his name so far and Rick Goodchild who notched a hat-trick of his own a few weeks ago.

Defeat for Tarrawanna would leave them vulnerable to the chasing pack, especially as all the other contenders for finals places have catch-up games to play. So they’ll be looking for at least a draw out of this encounter, and then for results to go their way in the games concerning their rivals.

Saturday July 25th

Shell Cove v Wollongong United at Barrack Heights Sports Ground kick-off 2.30pm

As pointed out, last Sunday’s defeat at the Fury ended Shell Cove’s remarkable nine game unbeaten run. It also left them second from bottom of the ladder only six points above Bellambi, who have a game in hand.

A better goal difference (minus 11) may well keep Shell Cove from finishing bottom, but they’ll be looking to get a result out of this tie, especially having drawn the reverse fixture at Wollongong United just a few weeks ago. As always there’ll be a battle for the honours among two sides in the ladder with large Macedonian support – neither will want to lose this fixture.

This is a big weekend for United, with matches on both days. They currently sit in fifth on the ladder, but could rise to third if results go their way this weekend.

Last weekend’s wash-out may well have given them time to get some of their missing key players back and they’ll be looking to capitalise on that, starting with this fixture at Shell Cove. Goals are a must, though, for the visitors, especially if goal difference may come into play at the end of the season – United have scored only 24 in 14 matches and have a goal difference of only +4.

Woonona v Wollongong Olympic at Ocean Park kick-off 2.30pm

Wollongong Olympic seemed to be on a march towards the play-offs a couple of weeks ago, but defeats to Bulli and then, more surprisingly, to South Coast United, have left them needing a win this weekend to stay in touch.

Woonona have been in fine form of late, with three wins out of five and a very respectable draw away at the Fury taking them up the ladder into a comfortable ninth place, level on points with Olympic if they win this match.

Will Trent Worthington repeat his double goal-scoring performance of last weekend for Woonona? Or will one of Olympic’s hotshots, Justin Potter or Nichlas Schon grab the headlines this time?

Whatever lessons are learnt during Saturday’s fixture can be quickly acted upon since these teams will face up again on Sunday in a catch-up from Round 6.

Wins in both fixtures for Olympic would see them challenging again for a Finals spot; two wins for Woonona would see them leapfrog Olympic.

Albion Park White Eagles v Cringila Lions at Terry Reserve at 2.30pm

The White Eagles will be looking to keep up their playoffs pace. They’ve slipped to fourth recently, and their scintillating 5-3 win at Dapto Dandaloo has been sandwiched between defeats at home to Port Kembla and away at Woonona.

They won the reverse fixture 5-2 back in May and will be looking to repeat that this weekend, especially as their goal difference of +10 is some way short of Tarrawanna, who hold the spot above them in the ladder.

Chris Smith, Brian Montanari and Shaun Mcrae will all be looking to increase their goal tally in this fixture for Albion Park.

Cringila stopped a bad run of defeats with entertaining draws in their last two matches. Get a result this weekend and the Lions could be challenging for eighth spot on the ladder. Lose, and they’ll be looking over their shoulders at what the bottom two clubs are doing, especially with a goal difference of -22 being one of the worst in the League.

Port Kembla v Bellambi at Wetherall Park kick-off 2.30pm

Port Kembla’s run of four games unbeaten sees them knocking on the door of the Finals again. They’ll be looking to improve on their 1-1 draw at Bellambi a month ago, though, if they are to keep up that challenge for the end of season play-offs.

Port Kembla’s win at Albion Park last time out suggests that Stuart Beedie has his team back on track, though it would have been interesting to see how they fared in last weekend’s washed out fixture against the Fury.

A convincing win is what the Port need this weekend, too, as their negative goal difference may well end their challenge once the regular home and away ties have been played out.

Bellambi have two matches this weekend and will need to get something out of at least one of them to stay in touch with the teams above them. Having held Port Kembla to a draw just four weeks ago, they may see this as their best chance, but they’ll need to reignite some of the spirit that saw the overcome Woonona back in April if they are to haul themselves off the foot of the ladder.

Sunday 26 July

South Coast United v Bulli at Ian McLellan Park at 2.30pm

A month ago, South Coast were minutes away from knocking off Bulli following a last gap equaliser. They’ve had an incredibly tough run of fixtures since then, all against teams battling for the play-off positions, but have come out of those with one win (over Wollongong Olympic) and another draw (at Wollongong United).

Suspensions following the three red cards in their defeat to Dapto Dandaloo made life hard for United last weekend, when they lost to Tarrawanna. They will be hoping the return of Denis Stojic can help United bounce back against Bulli.

The ladder’s leaders will be tough opposition on Sunday. Anything but a win will be seen as dropped points, and with the Fury’s goal difference improving, Bulli will be looking for a convincing win in this tie.

Bulli followed that draw with South Coast United in June with an 8-0 thrashing of Cringila Lions, and it’s those sorts of emphatic victory margins that see them on top of the ladder going into the weekend. Who would bet against Ben McDonald adding to his 23 goal tally in this tie?

Round 9 catch-up

Wollongong United v Bellambi at Macedonia Park kick-off 2.30pm

Wollongong United will be looking for three points against the ladder’s bottom side, while Bellambi will be trying to get points on the board to reduce the gap on the teams above them.

If United start to get a few of their key players back on the pitch, this could be a tough tie for Bellambi. The visitors had started to knock a few goals in themselves, though, before their 3-0 defeat to Woonona in what is their only match played so far in July.

Will the rest have allowed Bellambi to regroup and start afresh? Morale in their camp may well depend a lot on how they play at Port Kembla on Saturday. Former Bellambi player Sangyu Park has been on the scoresheet several times for United, Bellambi would be well aware of the danger he poses for their defence.

Round 6 catch-up

Wollongong OIympic v Woonona at PCYC kick-off 2.30pm

These two teams will know a lot about each other by the end of this weekend having played the reverse fixture only 24 hours earlier.

Two wins for Woonona would see them leap above Olympic. Anything but a double header victory will surely end Olympic’s play-off hopes. So we can expect competitive matches in both ties.

- Simon Duffin -

Photo - file archive