Barnstoneworth United faced a tough challenge to hang on to the top spot on the Orange A-Grade Football Association ladder when they made the road trip to Millthorpe's Redmond Oval to take on the 4th placed Tigers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Down to only 10 players on Saturday due to illness, work and family commitments, coach Chris Jacobs pulled on the boots to make a return to the top grade.
United finished the game with four goals without reply, two to Alex Elliott, one each to Luke Masotti and Ibby Yunusa.
Bill Foster and Mitch Jacobs worked hard to cover the old man when not in possession of the ball and keeper Jerome Luke stood tall between the sticks.
- Barnies coach Chris Jacobs
Coach Chris Jacobs believes the match was "the best performance of the year considering the quality of the opposition and no respite for the bare eleven".
"Bill Foster and Mitch Jacobs worked hard to cover the old man when not in possession of the ball and keeper Jerome Luke stood tall between the sticks," Jacobs said.
"Aaron Driver had a masterful game after backing up from a very physical Astley Cup game."
As it happened, Barnies lost the top spot after Waratahs FC played their catch up game on Sunday.
Over the next few weeks Barnies United face all the teams in the top 4 which will go along way to deciding the final makeup.
Barnstoneworth FC's road trip was to Cowra to settle the race between 3rd and 4th place on the table.
The sides were locked at nil-all at the main break.
FC broke the ice when a corner from captain Brendon Manning found the net after midfielder Damon Hugget put the Eagles' keeper under pressure.
Soon after Jeremy Boulton intercepted a through ball, ran onto it and hit a screamer from 30 metres out.
FC Captain Brendon Manning was delighted with the result.
"I was real happy with the end result," Manning said. "To go their home ground and peform like that was great."
"We're the only team to get a clean sheet against them this season, not once but twice."
"The first half was bit of a challenge playing against the wind, but we made most of it playing to our structure and on the deck.
"I was impressed by our back line. The two wing backs Alec Patterson and Matt Toedter were exceptional. Steve Kerr also played excellently when he came onto the field, rotating with those two.
"Young keeper Zac Pavy was a stand out making 2 sensational saves that could have gone either way."
"We could have scored plenty more but their goal keeper was really good. Ben Guimelli could of made it 3 nil with a rocket of a shot but the Cowra keeper's quick reflexs denied him."
We have to keep that intensity and play that game, our game, every week.
- Tori Worboys
Waratah United claimed a big 4-0 win over the weekend against Ex-Services FC, giving them a run of confidence heading into their clash with Barnies FC next weekend, while Barnies Saints forfeited their game against Waratah FC.
At the top of the B-Grade table Barnstoneworth Rangers started with the bare 11, the side still plagued with injuries for their match against Waratahs Wolfpack.
Tahs hit the lead with an early goal, spurring Rangers into action.
Rangers picked up their game with plenty of shots on goal before Tyler Mendham found the back of the net.
A big defensive effort from the Ranger's backline of Pete Ringbauer and Cody Gardiner kept the strong attacking raids by Tahs at bay, bringing the half time margin to 1-1.
A second half kick-off speculator from Timmy Worboys just missed the crossbar and as Rangers lifted there were four more goals from Tyler Mendham, Fabien Leonard and Tim Worboys before the final whistle.
Manager Tori Worboys said the match was "one of our best games this season."
"We have to keep that intensity and play that game, our game, every week," Worboys said.
"We have a tough few weeks ahead so we need to keep it up."
A hat-trick of goals from Josh Horsley put Barnstoneworth Beyond Blue well on the way to a 4-1 win over CYMS Pink on Saturday.
Horsley showed great composure when it came time to fire one away.
The team worked hard for each other for the entire game.
It was only a lapse in concentration by their over-priced keeper Matt Barr that allowed a goal for CYMS Pink.
But Barnies Beyond Blue came back after the keeping blunder with another goal by the ever enthusiastic Adam Radburn who took the ball mid-bounce and planted it in the back of the net without even raising a sweat.
Solid wins by both Barnies B-Grade teams on Saturday set-up a mouth-watering B-grade club derby this weekend.
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE SPORT?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...