Round 1 Catch-Up:
University FC 4 (Doug Woodiwiss 39’, 75’, Jonathan Liddle 50’, Curtis Iverson 55’) Berkeley Sports 3 (James Beltrame 30’, Jarryd King 45’, Andrew Rosandic 80’)
The return to men’s premiership football saw a seven-goal thriller at Ian McLennan Park with the Students prevailing 4-3 against the Goats.
It took until the 30th minute for the first goal of the match when James Beltrame found the net for Berkeley finishing off a counter-attacking move, however, nine minutes later parity was restored when Douglas Woodiwiss scored.
The sides looked set to go into the sheds level, however, a Jarryd King strike following a corner kick situation on the stroke of halftime gave the Goats the advantage heading into the break.
Just five minutes into the second period, University equalised for the second time in the match this time through Jonathan Liddle who volleyed a ball in from outside the box before the Students hit the front for the first time in the match thanks to Curtis Iverson reacting quickest to a spilt freekick in the 55th minute.
University would add one more to their tally in the 75th minute as Douglas Woodiwiss secured a brace tapping in from close range before Andrew Rosandic came off the Berkeley bench to score what would prove to be nothing more than a consolation five minutes later capitalising on a poor clearance.
The Students’ victory set up a clash with Thirroul in the second round.
Round 2 Review:
It was a nail-biting second round of Bert Bampton Cup football with two out of the four matches needing a penalty shoot-out to decide the result.
It was also a high-scoring return to the football with 13 goals across all the games.
Oak Flats Falcons 3 (Julian Minutillo 38’, Christian Plakias O.G. 62’, Ben Sallabank O.G. 77’) Unnaderra Hearts 0
The Falcons cruised to a convincing victory over Unanderra at Keith Bond Oval securing a 3-0 scoreline.
The visitors could have hoped for a better start with Tom Mindsas being given his marching orders just half an hour into the match.
The Hearts’ woes were compounded seven minutes later with the Falcons’ new signing Julian Minutillo putting the home side into the lead.
Good use of pace from Minutillo presented the former Wollongong Olympic forward with the opportunity to tuck the ball beyond Brandon Groom.
Minutillo’s strike saw the hosts go into the break in the lead.
Just after the hour mark, Oak Flats doubled their advantage courtesy of an own goal from Plakias with a freekick on the right-hand side taking an unfortunate deflection off his head seeing the ball go into the goal.
The misfortune continued for the Hearts when an Oak Flats’ corner kick from the left-hand side saw Ben Sallabank convert into his own net in the 77th minute in what was the second own goal for the team confirming Unanderra’s exit from the competition.
Helensburgh Thistle 3 (Ben Watts 15’, Hikaru Torigoe 34’, 67’) Fernhill Foxes 1 (Ilija Prenzoski 11’)
Helensburgh produced an impressive 3-1 victory over Fernhill at Rex Jackson Park.
It was the visitors however who got off to a flying start with Ilija Prenzoski tucking the ball home 11 minutes in.
Four minutes later, the Thistle equalised through Ben Watts before taking the lead in the 34th when Hikaru Torigoe scored.
Torigoe would add one more to his tally in the 67th minute securing the win for Helensburgh.
Thirroul Thunder 0 (5) University of Wollongong 0 (4)
In a tight match which saw neither team trouble the scoreboard, a penalty shootout was needed to separate Thirroul and University.
Thunder shot-stopper Liam Harris backed up his heroic performance in last season’s District League Reserve Grade grand final penalty shootout by producing another impressive display saving three of the seven University spot-kicks as well as scoring one of his own.
Harris’ performance helped the hosts to a 5-4 victory in the shootout booking their place in the 3rd round.
Picton Rangers 3 (4) (Jack O’Brien O.G. 27’, Connor Dymond 50’, Dayne Morley 66’) Warilla Wanderers 3 (2) (Reece McIntosh 23’, Adrian Montabano 36’, Nic Tortorella 64’)
Picton edged past Warilla on penalties 4-2 after a 3-3 draw in regular time at Hume Oval.
The scoring was opened 23 minutes in when Reece McIntosh found the net for the Wanderers before his goal was cancelled out by a Jack O’Brien own goal four minutes later.
In the 36th minute, Adrian Montabano restored Warilla’s advantage, which ensured they went into the sheds in the lead.
Picton equalised once again five minutes into the second half through Connor Dymond.
In the 64th minute, the Wanderers scored again this time through Nic Tortorella.
Just two minutes later though, Picton equalised for a third time which saw the game to go penalties.
Despite Warilla leading three times in the match, it was the Rangers who prevailed 4-2 in the shootout.
Youth Cup:
It was a low-scoring second round of the Youth Cup with just seven goals across the four games with two matches ending scoreless.
Picton Rangers 3 Balgownie Rangers 2
In the battle of the Rangers, it was the Bush Pigs who picked up a 3-2 victory over Balgownie at Hume Oval.
Oak Flats 0 Unanderra 2
Oak Flats when down 2-0 to Unanderra at Keith Bond Oval.
Thirroul 0 (3) Berkeley 0 (5)
Despite Thirroul dominating the ball against Berkeley, there were unable to break the Goats down with the scores ending 0-0.
In the shootout, it was the Goats who prevailed with a 5-3 victory.
Helensburgh 0 (5) Fernhill 0 (4)
In the other goalless game of the round, Helensburgh and Fernhill were unable to be separated despite there being plenty of opportunities to do so.
The Thistle progressed to the third round with a 5-4 victory on penalties.
Review by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_
