There was a party atmosphere as West Pymble took on Kissing Point in the local Premier League derby this afternoon. West Pymble had dance music filling the ground before the match with a good crowd of faithful followers from both sides ready for a solid game of football.
West Pymble are top of the league having won five from five. That puts them two points clear of Kissing Point who had won one of the catch-up matches during the week.
Kissing Point are hot on the heels of West Pymble and a win today would put them one point ahead with a huge goal difference, from massive wins against other clubs earlier in the season.
Norm Griffiths Oval is bowl-like oval. In summer, it is a shady glade away from the summer’s heat. But as autumn turns to winter, this oval is cool and can suffer badly from drainage issues after rain, particularly on the side nearest the hills and clubhouse. Overnight there had been a lot of rain, so the pitch was heavy and slow.
The game started as expected, with both sides being careful not to give the other any chances. There was some good passing-play, although any run was being quickly shut down.
The first goal came to Kissing Point using a trademark play down the wing, almost over the dead ball line and then crossed to the centre and a kick for goal. The shot was stopped by West Pymble to loud appeals of hand ball, but the advantage was played and the follow-up kick bounced the ball over the goalies head for a goal.
1:0 to Kissing Point after 16 mins.
West Pymble were playing a strong defensive game against Kissing Point which earned them two yellow cards in the first half.
West Pymble’s best chance to even up the scores came off a corner, five minutes from half time, with a header taking the goalie to full stretch to push the ball over the crossbar.
At the half-time whistle neither side had really put together any long passages of good attacking possession. Kissing Point had managed a couple of decent minor strings of play and it had paid dividends with them 1:0 ahead.
The second half started pretty much the same as the first; both sides struggling to find long periods of possession and any move being quickly shut down by the other side.
Twenty minutes into the second half, the pace of play and continuous passages of play really hotted-up. Both sides had good chances on goal, both sides really testing the respective goal keepers. The greatest obstacle to a great game of football was the poor surface; it was rough, loose and wet, so the players kept losing their feet at the critical moment.
West Pymble enjoyed a good, strong passage of play, putting the Kissing Point goalie under real pressure around the half-hour mark.
A huge tussle had been going on in the Kissing Point 18 yard box with a couple of good chances on goal for West Pymble. But when the ball was cleared, Kissing Point demonstrated what all the off-season training had been for; they sprinted up the pitch, cleared the defence and then a cheeky chip cleared the West Pymble goalie and put them two up with a little over ten minutes to go.
And that’s the way the scores remained, with Kissing Point winning 2:0 over West Pymble.
The win puts Kissing Point one point clear of West Pymble and moves them to the top of the table, but West Pymble have a game in hand.
A great derby, on a cool afternoon.
