July 27, 2017
A late season move to swap Barambah’s first division games from the last match of the day to the first has paid dividends for spectators and injected new excitement into the competition.
The change occurred in early July, and was prompted by a player shortage the Bears have been suffering all year.
This shortage meant most of the Bears 2nd Division squad was fronting up later in the day to play in the 1st Division game.
While everyone tipped their hats to the Bears’ grit for doing this, the results of fielding an exhausted team against a fresh side were depressingly predictable for both players and spectators.
Right now, the Bears lead the pack in the 2nd Division competition, just a cigarette paper ahead of Wests.
But in 1st Division, they trail the field by a very long margin.
So to remedy the situation, Football South Burnett officials agreed early this month that for the remainder of the season, Barambah’s 1st Division games would be played at the start of the day, and 2nd Division matches at the end, to give the Bears a fair chance to show their worth.
The first of the new rescheduled matches happened in Round 11, when Barambah played Gunners at Wondai.
The Bears 1st Division side – playing fresh for the first time this season – showed the true power of the northerners by dishing out a 4-nil thrashing to the purple and golds.
This was followed later in the day by the 2nd Division match, when the tired Bears returned to the field to face a fresh Gunners side, which resulted in a 1-all draw.
The following week, in Round 12, Wests weren’t kind to the Bears and took the points in both matches, downing Barambah 3-1 in 1st Division (one of those due to an own goal by the Bears’ Pacey Clegg) and 3-2 in 2nd Division.
But last week the Bears returned to form.
They held Nanango’s formidable Panthers to a 3-all draw in the day’s 1st Division game on the Panthers’ home ground – a tight match that the Bears looked like winning right up until the final 10 minutes – and then went on to deliver a 4-nil thumping against the Panthers’ 2nd Division side late in the afternoon.
This Saturday (July 29) the Bears will once again face off against Gunners at Wondai, and the outcome is anyone’s guess.
For spectators, that makes good football.
* * *
Two other teams that are producing a lot of excitement for spectators in this year’s competition are Nanango’s 1st Division and Women’s Division sides.
Both teams hold the top spots on each Division’s ladder.
While this may not seem all that remarkable given that the Panthers 1st Division side has taken out the premiership for the past 5 years in a row, and the ladies have taken their own premiership in four of the past five seasons, what is remarkable is that they’re both doing it with a swag of new players.
Many of both sides’ mainstay players retired from the Panthers this year, leaving the squads the task of signing up new players and then training them into well-oiled teams.
It’s a tribute to both squad’s coaches that the Panthers have been able to do this.
Last season 1st Division Panthers were virtually unbeatable.
While they’ve gone close to doing the same this year, they’ve suffered a draw and a loss along the way.
This has given their opponents hope, and kept spectators on the edge of their seats.
The lady Panthers have done even better than the men, suffering just one draw amongst a long string of wins, and producing the same thrills on the terraces.
It’s certainly not a foregone conclusion that both sides will come out the victors at the end of the season.
But their matches are certainly exciting to watch.
* * *
On the subject of the lady Panthers, congratulations must go to Panthers’ manager Cassie Kelly.
Cassie has been expecting a child all season, which has forced the veteran player to take to the benches in an advisory role.
But three weeks ago Cassie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, and last Saturday – with just three games left before the end of season matches – Cassie donned her Panthers uniform so she can (hopefully) qualify to play in the finals.
Good luck, Cass!
* * *
At the recent SWQ Junior Zone Championships played in Toowoomba and Warwick, players were selected from across the zone into the South West Queensland teams to play in the Gold Coast Champions Youth Cup.
The Youth Cup will be played from September 23-30.
South Burnett players and shadows who have been selected for the squads are:
- Ryan Maudsley (Kingaroy JFC) – U12B
- Lachlan Montgomery (Kingaroy JFC) – U14B
- Kyron Clegg (Barambah UFC) – U15B
- Joel Macri (Kingaroy JFC) – U15B
- James Snape (Kingaroy SSC) – U16B
- Ethan Schultz (Kingaroy SSC) – U16B
- Emma Kleinhanss (Kingaroy JFC) – U14G
- Jemma Vanderkolk (Barambah UFC) – U14G
- Tennae Francis (Kingaroy JFC) – U14G
- Emily Shelley (Kingaroy JFC) – U14G
- Angelina Phillips-Petersen (Kingaroy JFC) – U14G
- Jorja Thorne (Kingaroy JFC) – U16G
- Taylor Watt (Kingaroy JFC) – U16G
- Renae Vanderkolk (Kingaroy SSC) – U16G
- Stella Heathwood (Barambah UFC) – U16G Shadow
- Clayton Reimers (Barambah UFC) – U13B Shadow
* * *
On another note, two South Burnett U12 players – Jemma Vanderkolk (Barambah UFC) and Callum Francis (Kingaroy JSC) are off from July 27-30 to play in the U12 Wide Bay teams at the School State Championships in Hervey Bay.
Both players have been selected in the their respective teams as goal keepers.
Meanwhile, U15 South Burnett players Taylor Watt and Jess Ryan are playing in the State Championships, which started on July 20 in North Queensland.
* * *
Round 12 Results
In Wondai:
- 2nd Division: Wests 3 – Barambah 2
- Women’s Division: Barambah 4 – Wests 0
- 1st Division: Wests 3 – Barambah 1
In Kingaroy:
- 2nd Division: Gunners 3 – Nanango 0
- Women’s Division: Gunners 1 – Nanango 1
- 1st Division: Nanango 3 – Gunners 2
Round 13 Results
In Nanango:
- 2nd Division: Barambah 4 – Nanango 0
- Women’s Division: Nanango 6 – Barambah 0
- 1st Division: Nanango 3 – Barambah 3
In Kingaroy:
- 2nd Division: Gunners 1 – Wests 1
- Women’s Division: Deferred
- 1st Division: Gunners 6 – Wests 2
* * *
This Weekend
Round 14 matches – the second last of the season before the four week finals get underway – will be played this Saturday (July 29).
Barambah will face off Gunners at the Wondai Soccer Fields off the Bunya Highway north of the Wondai Sportsgrounds, and at Tom Alford Oval at the end of Oliver Bond Street, Kingaroy Wests will play the Panthers.
In Wondai – Barambah v Gunners
- 1st Division: 12:30pm
- Women’s Division: 2:00pm
- 1st Division: 3:15pm
In Kingaroy – Wests v Nanango
- 2nd Division: 2:00pm
- Women’s Division: 3:30pm
- 1st Division: 5:00pm
A canteen will be running at both venues and spectators are very welcome.
