Berkeley Vale vs Barnstoneworth B North Report

Round 16 saw another home game moved to our opponents ground, due to the disappointing continued closure of Duffy’s Oval, something which surely has to be addressed for next season.

Having suffered our first defeat of the season to Berkley Vale back in Round 2, we were definitely out to set that result straight, given that we should have been out of sight in that game before conceding two goals from set pieces in the final 10 minutes. Whilst we were still down on numbers, it was great to finally see Eric back from his walkabout adventure, which gave the whole team a little lift.

On a surprisingly warm winter’s afternoon and with only two subs available, we knew that we would have to use our rotations smartly if we were to effect control of the game and whilst the first 10 minutes were fairly even, we soon had the upper hand with a Frank giving us the lead with a well taken solo goal. Shortly after, Neal fired a killer pass in behind the Berkley back line, which Frank read beautifully to run on to and notch a brace for the afternoon to send us into the break 2-0 up.

With confidence clearly returning to the team, our half time talk was mainly about maintaining our shape, in order to conserve energy in the somewhat sapping conditions and it was therefore pleasing to see that we were able to continue to control the game, whilst leaving our opponents increasingly frustrated. Frank was able to round off a fine performance with a third goal to give him a hat trick and the team a convincing 3-0 win at the final whistle.

The sense of belief returning to the group was palpable and with further players due to return in the coming weeks, things are looking good for the run in to the end of the season and with our 8 point lead at the top of the table still intact, the minor premiership is now ours to lose.

Despite Frank’s hat trick heroics, the man of the match award went to Eric for an impressive performance on his return to midfield, despite being short of a gallop, although he was well and truly cooked at the end of the game! The Scrotum medal went to Mark (I don’t believe it!) Leadbeatter, for getting a yellow for protesting that one of their players should have been booked for a challenge from behind (apologies again to our spectators for the ‘colourful’ language).