BUFC F’s vs East Gosford 1

On first glance, this game was only remarkable in that it was the first that Barnstoneworth Fs had played on their home ground at Duffy’s Oval. Perfect sunny conditions and a companionable chat with the opposition before the game belied what was to come.

East Gosford opted to kick off, but after ten minutes of indecisive attacks, Terrigal stole the ball and sent it down the left wing. A cross from Steve Head, still suffering from jetlag and a month’s worth of genuine Irish Guiness, found Justin O’Malley Jones, who negotiated three defenders and put a deft cut pass inside to Brett Fenton, who lobbed it into the goal.

East Gosford came back hard though, with attacks down both wings and evened the score. A good part of the half was spent successfully defending at one-all, until, with five minutes to go, Will Belford gave away a free kick for using too much arm right in the in-goal area, and the score went to 2-1 at half-time.

Running into the sun in the second half, Terrigal had great difficulty hanging on to the ball, with too many passes being intercepted. Determined attacks in the centre from Chris Peers and Adam Chandler created lot of trouble for East Gosford, but despite dogged defence from Tek Tea and Ryan Bush, and a seemingly endless series of clearing kicks from Jason Bush, the visitors scored again ten minutes into the second half.

Two attributes of East Gosford were now becoming evident: they had greater ball-handling skills than Terrigal, and they didn’t appear to like Terrigal’s robust style of play, getting in the ear of the relatively inexperienced ref whenever a defender so much as breathed near them. This tactic appeared to work, with Jason Bush receiving a yellow card after one intimidating tackle too many.

For much of the second half, Terrigal’s forwards were starved of the ball, as the structure of the centre drifted and the many goalkicks found opposition players. With four players out of action this week and only two reserves, Terrigal were outrun by East Gosford, who appeared to have an endless bench.

On the few occasions Terrigal had a corner, East Gosford snatched the ball from the melee and promptly returned it to the other end, with the defence scrambling and Simon Ashley-Binge doing a sterling job, saving at least three goals. On the last corner of the game, East Gosford’s winger scored a quality kick through a gaping hole in the defence, ending a pretty scrappy and physical game.

Final result: 4-1 to East Gosford.