April 6, 2014
by Martin Stern
Football South Burnett
Nanango travelled to Kingaroy on Saturday to take on Wests for the first time this season, where the Panthers were hot favourites to win easily in all three grades.
In Second Division, the young Wests side conceded a goal after only four minutes when Ty Flevill put Nanango ahead.
Wests picked up their game for a short while, but their final pass and shooting let them down.
In the 37th minute, Karl Pichlis scored from a beautifully taken free kick to double his side’s lead.
Wests came out attacking in the second half but Nanango were awarded a penalty in the 44th minute for a push in the back, which Brendan Stern buried to make it 3-0.
Six minutes later, Ayden Connolly found some space on the left and scored Nanango’s fourth goal and the last of the game.
The match was much closer than the score indicated, though, and Wests never gave up.
Nanango just had that little more experience, and the young Wests squad will continue to improve as the season rolls on.
Best on the park for Nanango were Jamie Ballinger, Brendan Stern and Karl Pichlis.
Best for Wests by far was Ryan Zeller, while Mauro Buzzo and debutante keeper Aidan Penfound both performed well.
* * *
Wests versus Nanango women’s games usually turn out to be real battles.
And Saturday’s game was no exception, with nothing much between them.
Both teams struggled to get forward into goal-scoring positions early on, with the midfield battling it out.
In the 23rd minute, Glenda Thompson put Nanango one up to give her team the lead at half-time.
The second half was much the same, with both teams having few chances or getting into good scoring positions.
Then – with five minutes to go – Wests were awarded a penalty.
Cassie Firman made no mistake to make it 1-1.
But straight from the kick-off, Raegan Campbell carved through the Wests’ defence and put Nanango back in the lead, which proved to be the ultimate winner.
Best players for Nanango were Cassie Kelly and Raegan Campbell.
Best for Wests were Katie Parsons and Anna Logan, who both had great games.
* * *
In First Division, Nanango took on Wests with a depleted but competitive line-up.
The first half of the match was fairly even but Wests had the opportunity to go ahead when they were awarded a penalty for handball in the 32nd minute.
However Nanango keeper Trevor Adams saved Gary Favier’s kick.
The match was a real arm-wrestle as the both defences stood up well, and the teams went in at nil-all at half-time.
The second half proved similar to the first, but Nanango seemed to be getting the upper hand.
The Wests’ defence was still handling things well when Nanango’s striker chanced his hand from 20 metres out and beat Wests’ keeper with a missile of a shot in the 69th minute.
Both teams had chances but it was Nanango that finished slightly stronger and went on to win the match 1-0.
All in all, the match was a great defensive exhibition by both teams.
Best on the park for Nanango was Kieran Askin, Jeff Frohloff and Luke Dobe.
Best for Wests were the back four of Skip Litzow, Bryan Phillips-Petersen, Thomas Carroll and Russ Hutfield, who were standouts.
* * *
In Murgon, the Barambah Women had 11 on the park for the first time this season, while the Gunnettes scraped together 10 players.
Barambah won 9-0, with six of those coming from Elle Mollenhauer – is this some kind of a record in the South Burnett?
Barambah finished the game with nine on the park, so well done!
* * *
The second division game was a 1-all draw, while in First Division Gunners won 3-2 in a close encounter which could have gone either way.
* * *
Results
In Murgon:
-
- 2nd Division: Barambah 1 (Matt Donaldson 7th) Gunners 1 (Joseph Copas 74th)
- Women: Barambah 9 (Elle Mollenhauer 8th, 23rd, 26th, 29th, 53rd, 55th Celeste Purcell 49th Michelle Howson 32nd Tiana Clifford 20th) Gunnettes 0
(game finished early due to injury)
- 1st Division: Gunners 3 (Kyle Johnson 21st, 83rd Josh McCarthy 6th) Barambah 2 (Sheldon Livingstone 37th Chris O’Loughlin 80th).
In Kingaroy:
- 2nd Division: Nanango 4 (Ty Flevill 4th, Karl Pichlis 37th, Brendan Stern Pen 44th, Ayden Connolly 50th) Wests 0
- Women: Nanango 2 (Glenda Thompson 23rd, Raegan Campbell 66th) Wests 1 (Cassie Firman Pen 65th)
- 1st Division: Nanango 1 (Kyron Tunstall 69th) Wests 0
Note: The competition will now be taking a short two-week break for Easter and will resume on April 26.
