A solid crowd braved the rain at Keith Bond Oval on Saturday afternoon to witness Oak Flats Falcons take on Berkeley Sports in the first round of the District League Competition. After both teams secured solid wins in the Fraternity Cup, it was interesting to see how the teams wiould match up, but in the end, it was Oak Flats who came out on top 3-2 in an absorbing game.

Oak Flats’ defence held strong through the opening exchanges of the match, as Berkeley was hot on the attack from the get go. The first chance on goal was from Oak Flats’ Michael Wilson seven minutes in whose placement let him down as unfortunately his shot went straight into the arms of Berkeley’s custodian Chris Lazarevski.

The rain came down hard and didn’t let off all match, making it a difficult for both sides. After a promising start by Berkeley, it was Oak Flats who was dominating the start of the match.

Another lost chance to Oak Flats went begging after 14 minutes when Jamie Stevenson crossed the ball to Joshua DeGouveia whose attempted volley found the keeper’s arms. It was the home side that was starting to create the chances.

in an amazing 4 minute period, Berkeley got the break through on 23 minutes after an error in the Falcon's defence saw Berkeley be awarded a penalty kick. Jaksen Girladi stepped up and slotted it home despite keeper Ben Wunsch getting a hand to the ball.

A minute later, Berkeley's Greg Moon unleashed a stunning strike from outside the box to put the visitors up 2-0 in a blink of an eye and to stun the home side who was perhaps looking the better of the two teams.

Oak Flats dragged themselves back into the game with the next pasage of play. Michael Wilson's speculative strike seemed to surprise everyone including Lazarevski who could only watch as his shot curled inside the far post to put the Falcons back with in one.

The goal seemed to lift the Falcons as they continued to dominate the half chances however the conditions were getting worse and those half chances were literally and physically slipping away as the rain intensified.

Berkeley led 2-1 at th break and it looked the it was much the same upon the resumption where Oak Flats were in search of goals and Berkeley appeared content to sit back and absorb the pressure.

Oak Flats got what they desperately searched for and perhaps deserved on 58minutes when Wilson got his second tapping in from close range after Berkeley failed to clear a goal mouth scramble.

Despite coming from two goals down, Oak Flats went in search of the go ahead goal.

The Falcons were rewarded for the energy and effort in going for the win when new recruit and former Port Kembla midfield and son of the coach, Jarryd Vinton popped up in the 72nd minute to slam the ball home after yet another scramble that Berkeley failed to deal with.

At 3-2 up, Oak Flats were flying and Berkeley looked a dejected side having blown a two goal lead. The game saw no further major highlghts as Oak Flats recorded a strong win to open the campaign.

They did the same thing last year after beating Warilla in the opening round. It will however be interesting if they can keep this up for the majority of the season. For Berkeley, they will be disappointed they didn't get something out of this game after their bright start came to nothing.

Berkeley Sports take on Thirroul Thunder next Saturday 1^st April as Oak Flats take on rivals Warilla Wanderers in Round 2 of the competition.

 

Oak Flats Falcons – 3 (Wilson 25’ 58’, Vinton 72’)

Berkeley Sports – 2 (Girialdi 23’, Moon 24’)

 

Saturday March 25^th 2017 at Keith Bond Oval, Oak Flats

Oak Flats Falcons – Benjamin Wunsch, Christian Cappetta, Brenton Lloyd, Stephen Jovanovski, Jamie Stevenson, Daniel Munilla, Jarryd Vinton, Matthew Cesta, Ross Graham, Joshua DeGouveia, Michael Wilson

Subs – Jason Murdzevski, Ryan Franks, Christopher Murdzevski

 

Berkeley Sports – Chris Lazarevski, Hayden Till, Ryan Crouch, Ross Prandalos, Jarryd King, Mathew Mears, Peter Besnard, Chris Rowlan, Jayden Bubb, Jaksen Girialdi, Greg Moon

Subs – Luke Blatch, Corey Butcher, Jon Adams, Alex Perez, Mark Jones

 

Report by Lauren Ferri @lauren_ferri

Photo couretsy of Berkeley Sports FC