It was a humid Wednesday night at Unanderra Oval for the Bert Bampton Cup clash between 2 sides that failed to make an impact in last season’s Cup campaign. Wests Illawarra came into this first round match on the back of a resounding 8-1 victory over Bellambi in the opening round of the District League season. While Berkeley suffered a frustrating 3-2 defeat against Oak Flats after being 2-0 up during the first half.

In the opening stages of the match, Wests were the side with the upper hand, dominating the ball and field position. Their first major chance came in the 13th minute when winger, Chris Twigg played Nick Tortarella through on goal. 1 on 1 with the goalkeeper, Tortarella slammed the ball against the crossbar from right in front.

Berkeley came close in the 22nd minute after a 3 attacking set piece opportunities in the space of 2 minutes. From an arching corner, striker Jon Moon got a solid header away bound for the top right corner but Dean Zugic was on the line to head clear.

In the 40th minute, Wests’ Ben Sallabank put in a raking long ball giving Jordan Hughes an excellent chance to opening the scoring but his shot was saved by Chris Lazarevski and his defenders cleared the danger.

5 minutes later, in the seconds before halftime, Wests were awarded a free kick to the left of Berkeley’s 18-yard box. Diogo Andrade stepped up and flung the ball into the crowded area, Chris Twigg managed to head the ball towards the goal, en route the ball came off Jayden Bubb for an own goal.

Berkeley would have considered themselves unfortunate to go into halftime down 1-0 given the timing of the goal, however, the score line was reflective of Wests’ first half dominance.

The opening chance of the second half came from another Wests’ set play, this time through a corner. The inswinging ball was half cleared by Berkeley with the corresponding shot into the scrum of players causing Wests to appeal for a handball penalty. The shot struck the forearm of a Berkeley defender but with his arm by his side and the ball coming from less than 5 metres away, it would have been a harsh decision to award a penalty.

Berkeley finally began to get a foothold in the game and on the hour mark Dylan Evans had a glorious chance when Chris Rowlan played him through on goal. Evans, just to the right of the goal aimed for the bottom left corner but he dragged his shot wide for a goal kick.

In the 66th minute, Berkeley turned the ball over in the middle of the park before Jordan Hughes played a lofted through ball to the left wing, unleashing Andrade onto Berkeley’s goal. 1 on 1 with Lazarevski, Andrade attempted to slot the ball into the bottom right corner but the keeper blocked the shot - keeping his side in the match,

Berkeley threw man forward in the final 20 minutes in search of an equaliser and with less than a minute remaining a mishit long ball into the box struck the outstretched arm of a Wests' defender that forced referee, Ryan O’Sullivan to award Berkeley a penalty, and the chance to put the game into extra time. Up stepped Evans, who side-footed the ball into the bottom right with Kyle Booth diving the other way.

Similar to Berkeley going into halftime, Wests were unlucky to concede in this manner, however, Berkeley’s second half pressure was deserving of an equaliser.

In the opening 90 seconds of extra time, Hughes was played through on goal, with only Lazarevski to beat he scuffed his shot with his right boot when it would have been better to use his left - or play in his on running teammate to tap into an open net.

Berkeley’s best chance of extra time came in the 100th minute with a floating corner finding the head of Prandalos, his effort was cleared and then Alex Perez followed up and his header flew just centimetres over the bar.

With less than 3 minutes remain Wests had a corner from the left. The commotion in the box saw Berkeley have a few opportunities to clear before Hughes made amends for his early miss by forcing it over the line through a horde of bodies. This proved to be the decisive goal with the dejected Berkeley players unable to muster another opportunity.

After the match, Wests coach, Arthur Kinnas admitted the tie could have gone either way, “It was a tough match, it was a grinding one and unfortunately it went to extra time and we got up with an extra man because they got an injury.”

For Berkeley, their coach, Paul Mears was content with his side's efforts, “I thought we did really well, a lot better than we did on the weekend.” He also was satisfied with his side’s character after they were able to get back into the game after going down a goal just before halftime.

Next up for Wests is an away game against Balgownie at 3 pm on Saturday, 3 points there will keep them at top of the table, albeit early on. As for Berkeley, they host Thirroul who were knocked out of the Bert Bampton Cup by Oak Flats on Tuesday night. Mears will be hoping his side can regroup to avoid a string of 3 defeats. This match is also on Saturday at 3 pm.

In the other Bampton Cup fixture played at JJ Kelly Park, Coniston FC came from behind twice to beat Helensburgh Thistle 3-2. A bomb on 75 minutes from Adrian Nikolovski sealing the win. Cody Cuthbertson put the vistors ahead on 11 minutes  before Adrian Blazevski found an equaliser on 28 minutes, Luke Van Zyl converted a penalty for Helensburgh on 62 minutes before Adrian Blazevski again nabbed an eqaliser on 70 minutes. 

Wests Illawarra - 2 (Bubb OG 45’, Hughes 118’)

Berkeley - 1 (Evans (pen) 90’)

 

Wednesday March 29th 2017 at Unanderra Oval, Unanderra

Wests Illawarra - Kyle Booth, James Uzunovski, Jake Bailey, Ben Sallabank, Dean Zugic, Godfrey Franco, Diogo Andrade, Nathan Puljic, Nick Tortarella, Chris Twigg

Subs - Alex Riddle (on for Twigg), Daniel Moreira (on for Zugic), Lucas King (on for Tortarella), Daniel Boyd

 

Berkeley - Chris Lazarevski, Justin Mears, Ryan Crouch, Jarryd King, Ross Prandalos, Mathew Mears, Dylan Evans, Chris Rowlan, Jayden Bubb, Peter Besnard, Greg Moon

Subs - Corey Butcher (on for Bubb), Jon Adams, Mark Jones, Alex Perez (on for M.Mears)

 

Referee - Ryan O’Sullivan

Assistant Referees - Patrick Hutton and Keelum Harrison

 

You can listen to the post match interviews here - https://soundcloud.com/dylaneloiarvela/post-match-interviews-after-wests-knock-berkeley-out-of-the-bert-bampton-cup

Report by Dylan Arvela on Twitter @dylaneloiarvela

Photo: Library Archive