A solid week of good football over the weekend. Four out of five of my predictions came true. How did you go?
Berowra beat Maccabi Northside 4:2 away from home as expected and that gets them on to winners sheet for the first time this season. Maccabi remain one position ahead and three points clear of Berowra, but they have played one more game.
West Pymble beat Old Barker 3:1 at home. Hardly a surprise for West Pymble as they continue their stellar season, so far undefeated. West Pymble are three points clear and one game in hand compared to Lane Cove who are in second spot.
The difficulty for Old Barker continues with their fourth straight loss. They should take some solace from getting a goal against the league leaders and keeping their winning margin to only three goals.
North Sydney hammered Chatswood Rangers 4:1. I thought North Sydney would win, but I thought the scoreline would be much tighter. North Sydney’s win pushes them two more spots up the ladder from seventh to fifth.
Rangers loss is of little consequence as they remain in third spot, but they need to remain in touch with the league leaders West Pymble who are five points ahead. It is worth mentioning that this is the first game where they have had any goals scored against them.
Willoughby Dalleys lost to Lindfield 3:0. Not sure what’s going on in Willoughby this year. I had predicted a win. Last year’s league winners are doing it tough and are wallowing in the bottom half of the table. With Kissing Point, Berowra and Rangers to play over the three outings, they need to find some magic quickly.
Lindfield’s win means they have won two and lost two so far this season. They too have some tricky games coming up when they play Berowra and Rangers over the next couple of weeks.
Kissing Point grabbed the points with their 3:2 win over Lane Cove. The match report is here. Kissing Points win moves them up two spots from sixth spot up to four and they have a game in hand. Potentially, if Kissing Point won their make-up game against Old Barker, they would move in to second spot.
Lane Cove’s loss sees them unchanged on the table, but three points behind West Pymble and they have played one more game. So they cannot rest on their laurels.
| Team | Played | Won | SLD | SD | Lost | GF | GA | GD | Points |
| West Pymble | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| Lane Cove | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 9 |
| Chatswood Rangers | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 7 |
| Kissing Point | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| North Sydney United | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| Lindfield | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Willoughby Dalleys | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 6 |
| Maccabi Northside | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 12 | -6 | 6 |
| Berowra | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 12 | -4 | 3 |
| Old Barker FC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 12 | -8 | 0 |
The team to watch (in my opinion) is North Sydney, who have two games in hand. If they won their make-up games they could move to the top of the table. Rangers or Kissing Point could steal the second spot from Lane Cove with a win on their make-up game.
| Chatswood Rangers | Win | Maccabi Northside | Loss |
| Kissing Point | Win | Willoughby Dalleys | Loss |
| Berowra | Loss | Lindfield | Win |
| Old Barker | Loss | North Sydney | Win |
| Lane Cove | Win | West Pymble | Loss |
Rangers will host Maccabi Northside next week. Maccabi have been the giant killers this season, but I think Rangers will get the points.
Kissing Point have the fitness to beat any side this season and should beat Dalleys based on their current form.
Berowra versus Lindfield is a tough game to predict. Berowra are an in-your-face type of side. Lindfield are a considered, strategic side. I have seen Berowra hammer Lindfield 4:0 in the past, but I think Lindfield will win this one, based on their current form.
North Sydney are likely to beat Old Barker up on Golden Jubilee oval, but Barker’s losses are getting smaller, so this is not a certainty. But North Sydney have only lost one match this season and that’s the way I expect it to remain next week.
Lane Cove will host West Pymble under lights. This will be the match of the round as one plays two. based on their ability to make something from almost nothing as they did against Kissing Point, I think Lane Cove will steal this game from West Pymble.
Don’t think I’m right? Well, what are your predictions?
