July 19, 2015
by Martin Stern
With so many Gunners players unavailable on Saturday, their First Division match against Nanango’s formidable Panthers looked like being a David and Goliath scenario.
However, it was Gunners’ Callum Cook who cut through the Nanango defence like a knife through butter to give his side an unlikely lead in the 4th minute of the game.
Nanango immediately went looking for a reply, but the Gunners’ defence, orchestrated by Neil Gurnett, frustrated Nanango striker Harry Sterling who kept getting sucked into the offside trap.
There were very few scoring opportunities for either team in the remainder of the first half with strong defence by both sides.
In the second half, Nanango pressed hard for an equaliser, but it wasn’t until the 64th minute when Harry Sterling found a hole in Gunners’ central defence for the Panthers.
Nanango sensed they were back in the game and lifted their intensity, and would have gone ahead if not for some heroic defence from Neil Gurnett and Jordan Hetherington.
Gunners had a couple of chances to go ahead as well, but sharp defence led by Kieran Askin kept them at bay.
It was a frustrating night for Nanango but a very pleasing one for Gunners.
Best on the park – by a long shot – was Gunner Neil Gurnett who had a blinder in defence and led his young side by example.
The 1-1 scoreline was an accurate indication of the game.
* * *
In the Women’s match, Nanango were way too strong for the Gunnettes.
To their credit, the Gunnettes never gave up despite a couple of injuries and, as usual. Rahab Murray saved many more shots than she let in.
The final score was 6-0 to Nanango.
* * *
In Second Division, Gunners went to a very early lead in the second minute of the game and looked the better side for the majority of the first half.
But in the 33rd minute, Nanango equalised through Cooper Radford.
Gunners fell asleep in the early stages of the second half when Cooper gave his side the lead in the 48th minute.
And in the 52nd minute Cooper got his hat trick in the way of a penalty.
Gunners looked done and dusted until Brendan Kelly gave them some hope when he scored ten minutes out from fulltime.
Gunners sensed they were a chance and three minutes from full time Brendan Kelly scored the equaliser after the Nanango defence failed to clear.
The final score was 3-all.
* * *
Full Results:
Gunners v Panthers (in Kingaroy):
- 1st Division: Gunners 1 (Callum Cook 4th) – Nanango 1 (Harry Sterling 64th)
- 2nd Division: Gunners 3 (Kendall Fetherstone 2nd, Brendan Kelly 70th, 77th) – Nanango 3 (Cooper Radford (33rd, 48th, 52nd)
- Women’s Division: Gunners 0 – Nanango 6 (Jess Ehrlich 11th, 63rd, Raegan Campbell 21st, 34th, Amy Wicks 59th, Jac Downie 61st)
Barambah v Wests (in Murgon):
- 1st Division: Barambah 1 (Sam Kemp 36th) – West 0
- 2nd Division: Barambah 1 (Ayden Connolly 78th) – Wests 1 (Alex Firman 24th)
- Women’s Division: Barambah 0 – Wests 4 (Tammy Rose 29th, 66th; Courtney Thompson 15th, Tessa Buzzo 62nd)
Whilst Gunners did play well in the First Division game, I think it would be stretching it to say they were superior to the Nanango side. Except for the goal scored by Gunners in the fourth minute from a defensive lapse, the Nanango side always looked the better of the two teams.
Nanango was down 3 First Division players, including Geoffrey Frohloff, who has been a stalwart in defense for the Panthers for many years. Elliott Mangan, last year’s Golden Boot winner, has been injured for most of the season and has only been playing in short bursts.
I can only think of one First Division Gunners’ player who was not present, namely Torren Anderton, contrary to Martin Stern’s assertions.
It is worth noting that the Division 1 Nanango side has not suffered a loss since mid-season 2013, which was to Barambah. The last time Gunners beat Nanango was in the President’s Cup in the same year. Wests has not beaten Nanango since 2011.
There have recently been low-scoring wins or draws against Gunners, due mainly to some brilliant keeping by Pete Collins. Once you get all of this in perspective, I think it is too early to be thinking that Nanango will still be the raging favourite to make it four premierships in a row.