June 3, 2015
by Martin Stern
There hasn’t been much to separate Gunners and Wests in 1st Division this season, but Gunners were favourites going into Saturday’s game as Wests had six regular players missing.
Gunners got on the scoreboard early when Callum Cooke broke the offside trap and pounced onto a through ball scoring in the 8th minute.
Gunners continued to attack and had several opportunities to score but were repelled by desperate Wests’ defence and poor finishing.
In the 36th minute, a long-range missile from Joe Copas from 25 metres out gave Wests’ keeper Alex Firman no chance.
Gunners went to the halftime break 2-0 up and playing some very positive and structured football.
Gunners started the second half in the same way that they had finished the first, but due to poor finishing and wrong options could not find the back of the net.
In the last 10 minutes they appeared complacent and looked to be winding down the clock.
In the 90th minute Brandon Smith pulled a goal back from a corner kick to give Wests a glimmer of hope. This seemed to boost the team as they pushed everyone forward.
The equaliser came two minutes into stoppage time through Callum Tucker who scored from close range after the Gunners’ defence tried to clear.
Gunners looked the much better side for 80 minutes and were very disappointed at the 2-all draw, however there were many positives with their structured play.
To their credit, Wests never threw in the towel and hopefully have some of their regular first team players back on deck soon.
Best player for Gunners was Neil Gurnett while for Wests, Thomas Carroll, was the pick.
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In the earlier Women’s match, Gunnettes played their best match all season.
It is pleasing to see how much they have improved during the last year. Although Wests pressed them for long periods in the match the Gunnettes held their line using the offside trap to full effect.
When Wests did break through, Gunners’ keeper Rahab Murray was unbeatable.
Wests did have a few chances to score but some very poor choices and finishing up front cost them.
Gunnettes started pressing Wests in the second half and had a few chances themselves. Although the game ended in a 0-0 draw, Gunnettes will be very pleased at how they played.
Meanwhile Wests will have to look at how to bolster their attack.
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The 2nd Division match between Gunners and Wests was played on Tuesday night.
Gunners were out to avenge their 2-0 loss to Wests in the President’s Cup Final.
The game was a scrappy affair with both sides rushing play and panicking. P
ossession was only retained for a few passes and goal scoring opportunities were few and far between.
Nil-all was a fitting result for this match and hopefully the standard will be raised by both teams for the remainder of the season.
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Nanango handed out drubbings to Barambah in both 1st Division and the Women’s Division, but it was not all bad news for the Bears as they won their second game on the trot in Division 2, leaving Nanango sitting at the foot of the ladder.
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Results
In Kingaroy:
- 1st Division: Gunners 2 (Callum Cook 8th, Joe Copas 36th) – Wests 2 (Brandon Smith 90th, Callum Tucker 92nd)
- 2nd Division: Wests 0 – Gunners 0
- Women’s: Wests 0 – Gunnettes 0
In Nanango:
- 1st Division: Nanango 7 (Kieran Askin 17th, Kieran Mangan 36th, 43rd, 79th, Harry Sterling 5th, 30th, Cooper Radford 63rd) – Barambah 0
- 2nd Division: Barambah 1 (Hayden Yesberg 62nd) – Nanango 0
- Women’s: Nanango 4 (Maxine Evans 46th, 53rd, Kayla Dollard 5th, Amy Wicks 43rd) – Barambah 0
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Next Games
- In Nanango – Nanango v Wests in all three grades (times to be advised)
- In Kingaroy – Gunners v Barambah in all three grades (times to be advised)
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