June 15, 2013
By Martin Stern
Football South Burnett
On a chilly night in Kingaroy, Nanango travelled to take on Wests. Wests were without a few of their regular first graders and it was Nanango’s first match without their leading goal scorer, Justin Mangan, who is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL which requires surgery.
The first 15 minutes of the game were evenly matched, but then Wests seemed to take advantage of a changed Nanango formation.
In the 18th minute, Wests were awarded a penalty after Joel Cooper was brought down in the box, but Cooper splayed the penalty high and wide.
Wests continued their domination of possession while Nanango looked anything but dangerous on the counter attack.
In the 34th minute, Wests were rewarded for their hard work when Joel Cooper latched onto a through ball to give his side the lead at half-time.
In the second half Nanango came out with renewed vigour and in just under four minutes got an equaliser from Nick Krauksts.
Ten minutes later Krauksts sliced in behind the Wests’ defence and laid the ball off for Kieran Mangan who made no mistake, giving his side the lead.
Wests tried hard to get back into the game and could have equalised on a few occasions.
In the 69th minute Brice Connolly got Nanango’s third.
Nanango kept pressing for more goals and it was substitute Brendan Stern who scored three minutes before full-time.
Brave attempts by Wests, but Nanango were too good on the night.
Best for Nanango were Nick Krauksts and Kieran Mangan, while Joel Cooper and Russ Hutfield were great for Wests.
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In the women’s game, Nanango scored a goal in each half.
In the 25th minute, Brittany Cullen put Nanango in the lead.
The match was fairly even but Wests were without their striking pair Kahlie Rauert and Jacqui Trace.
Nanango scored their second through Kerrie Thompson in the 56th minute.
The match was played in very windy conditions.
Good games from Raegan Campbell and Kerrie Thompson from Nanango and Casey Milsom and Danielle Maudsley were Wests best.
Nanango remain unbeaten in the competition and have not been scored against.
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The Second Division game was closer than the score suggested, however Nanango did deserve the three points.
The match was not the best exhibition of football and the windy conditions did not help an already scrappy game.
Trevor Holt had a solid defensive game for Nanango while Gary Favier worked hard to get his team back into the game.
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Results
In Kingaroy:
1st Division: Nanango 4 (Nick Krauksts , Kieran Mangan, Brice Connolly, Brendan Stern) defeated Wests 1 (Joel Cooper)
Women’s: Nanango 2 (Brittany Cullen, Kerrie Thompson) defeated Wests 0
2nd Division: Nanango 3 (Aiden Connolly, Trevor Adams, Karl Pichlis) defeated Wests 0
In Murgon:
1st Division: Gunners 3 (Zac Strauss 2, Ike Sililat ) defeated Barambah 1 (Brendan Kelly)
Women’s: Barambah 2 (Celeste Purcell 2) defeated Gunnettes 0
2nd Division: Gunners 2 (Luke Vandenberg 2) defeated Barambah 1 (John Shaw)
