As we edge closer to the quarter-way mark of the season, Helensburgh are the only side to maintain a perfect start in the District League competition however it’s no surprise to see Corrimal breathing down their necks like a racehorse pacing itself. We look at the fixtures coming up this week.

 

Saturday 23 April

MATCH OF THE ROUND

Helensburgh v Thirroul @ Rex Jackson Oval – 3.00pm

Helensburgh have made the dream start to the season despite winning 3 of their 4 games by 2 goals or less and coming from behind in the other. Andrew Paine (4 goals) is once again proving to be a thorn for opposition teams and the normally stingy Thirroul defence will surely be tested. Thirroul will also need to be wary of Chris Russell who has found the net in the last two matches.

Thirroul bounced back from their narrow 1-0 loss to Warilla with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Balgownie Rangers. Luke Mittwollen and Matthew Kelland have been amongst the goals for Thunder and they will be hoping to break Helensburgh’s perfect start.

This match pits the two most northern teams in the District League so it’s perhaps a bit of a derby as such. I think it will be a tight game with very little between both sides. For me, I think this game will end in a draw.

 

Bellambi v Berkeley Sports @ Elizabeth Park – 3.00pm

These two sides have had a poor start to the season both winless after four starts. Bellambi though may take some heart from the fact that they have drawn teams from the top half of the current ladder over the opening month and they have been reasonably competitive across all these matches. Given the Rosellas are at home, they will fancy getting something out of this game but a loss here, will leave Bellambi in bottom spot and facing an uphill battle.

Berkeley have hardly faired much better having scored just once this season and that came in the opening round draw with Wests. They have struggled to create enough chances in games although they seem to have corrected some of the defensive deficiencies following their narrow 1-0 loss to University last week.

Both sides have a lot of work ahead if they are going to make this a successful season and although it's still reasonably early, this boasts as a "six pointer" given both clubs' position. This is likely to be a tight low scoring game but I feel that Berkeley may just get their first points this week with a narrow win.

 

Balgownie v Wests Illawarra @ Judy Masters Oval – 3.00pm

Balgownie sit in eight place at the moment and apart from their one shining light moment when they floored Berkeley Sports 5-0 a couple of weeks ago, they have lost the other three matches but of more concern is the fact that they have failed to score in each of those games. Although it's early days, a loss here for either club will see them lose touch of the leading pack.

They face a current out of form Wests Illawarra whose only point so far came from the opening round draw with Berkeley. I'm not sure they have totally got over the pounding they got from Corrimal a couple of weeks ago yet although they too have faced tough opposition.

Wests have also failed to score in their last two games so one can assume that this game won't feature a great number of goals. I do expect Wests to bounce back in this game though.

 

Warilla Wanderers v Fernhill @ King Mickey Park – 3.00pm

I can’t see it being a light training week for Warilla this week after they let a two goal lead slip eventually going down against Corrimal Rangers last week. They now find themselves 6 points adrift from top spot and can ill-afford slip ups over the next few weeks. On paper, they are as good as anyone in this league however we need to remember that they have played 3 of the top 5 teams already and they are back home for the first time since round 1.

Fernhill have had a pretty good start to their season staying undefeated in their first four matches. They have been pretty tight defensively over the last 2 games where they failed to concede a goal however Kiama put four past them mid-week in the Bampton Cup to expose a few chinks in the armor.

This has the hallmarks of a very entertaining game however with Fernhill backing up, Warilla at home, I really do think Warilla will win this one by one or two goals.

 

Oak Flats v Kiama Quarriers @ Keith Bond Oval – 3.00pm

Oak Flats have enjoyed a wonderful start to the season where they lost to an 80^th minute winner to Helensburgh after having hit the lead early through Andrew Bradshaw. Josh De Gouveia has been in good form having scored 3 of the Falcons’ 8 goals whilst twins Chris and Jason Murdzevski have been influential. They have shown some strong defensive qualities through the experienced David Kiss, Ben Hardcastle and Gary Newell. They will be playing Corrimal midweek in the Bampton Cup so it will be interesting to see just how they bounce back after that.

Kiama enjoyed some midweek (Tuesday) success beating Fernhill 4-3 in the Bampton Cup thus making it through to the Round of 16 for the first time in some time. This is a different looking Kiama team this year. They appear to be much more resilient and hardened and are grinding out results frequently. Like the Falcons, their only loss was to a late Burgh goal so these sides appear to be very closely matched.

With both sides having seen midweek action, there is not much advantage for either side and to be fair, there is very little between these two teams. I am tipping a 1-1 draw.

 

University v Corrimal Rangers @ Koolobong Oval – 3.00pm

University picked up their first win and points for the season last week with their 1-0 win over Berkeley Sports. It was hardly a convincing win however I am sure coach Brendan Fotheringham won’t be too perturbed about that. University is not expected to get anything out of this match however this could be when they are most dangerous as they will surely try and give Corrimal everything they got.

Corrimal did a bit of a Houdini act last week seemingly being outplayed and then just with a flick of the switch so to speak, they piled on three unanswered goals to turn the game on its head against Warilla. They will go into this game high on confidence and self believe. They have an attack that can tear apart defences and University will need to bring their A-game this week.

I think University will not lie down in this game however the experience and quality of Corrimal will surely prevail by at least 2 goals I think.