Chris Curulli

3^rd vs 4^th: CC Strikers vs Curl Curl – Cromer 2, 4pm

Over at Cromer 2, an in-form CC Strikers side take on Anthony Seminara’s Curl Curl squad who have been severely impacted by injuries this season.

The last time these two sides met they played out a competitive 2-2 draw at St Matthews farm back in round 8.

5^th vs 6^th: St Augustines vs Seaforth – Grahams, 4pm

St Augustines are another side who finished the season off strongly so will fancy their chances of accounting for last season’s grand finalists Seaforth on home soil.

However Jordan Lefebvre’s Seaforth side will take some confidence from the fact that they came out 3-2 victors at the same location in round 6.

7^th vs 8^th: Wakehurst vs Belrose-Terry Hills – Lionel Watts, 4pm

A local derby will be reignited at Lionel Watts on Saturday.

Both sides met only a few weeks ago as Wakehurst prevailed 4-2 in an exciting round 12 contest.

9^th vs 10^th: Narrabeen vs Mosman – Narrabeen Sports High, 4pm

After a bright start to the season, Ross Talarico’s young Narrabeen outfit have struggled for form in recent weeks.

These sides have met twice in 2020, with Mosman winning 2-1 in a wet midweek round 1 clash early in the piece, before a dramatic late fightback from Luke Tinker’s outfit saw them salvage a 2-2 draw in round 11.

11^th vs 12^th: Manly Vale vs Harbord – David Thomas, 4pm

Two of the competition’s newly promoted sides meet at David Thomas on Saturday, the same ground where Harbord came away with a 1-0 victory back in round 5.

Paul Mulligan’s side finished three points behind Vale but will head into this one buoyed by their second win of the season against Narrabeen last week.

Premier League Reserves Grand Final: Mosman (1^st) vs CC Strikers (2^nd) – Cromer 2, 1pm

Saturday’s reserve grade decider will feature two teams who have been neck and neck at the summit all season.

Both enjoyed heavy final day victories to finish on 34 points, with only two goal difference points handing the title to Mosman.

Strikers on the other hand will take some confidence from a 3-1 win over Saturday’s opposition back in round 4.

Following a highly competitive 14 rounds which saw the championship come down to the wire last weekend, the MWFA Premier League women’s wraps up with what is sure to be a top-quality grand final at Cromer Park.

Here is a rundown of all the action that will unfold around the grounds this Sunday.

Premier League Grand Final: Manly Vale (1^st) vs Mosman (2^nd) – 4pm, Cromer 1

Mosman will be eager to bounce back from final day heartbreak last weekend when they take on back-to-back champions Manly Vale at Cromer Park.

Last weekend, James Spyrakis’ side fell one step short of an invincible season with a 3-0 defeat to Manly Allambie that also saw them lose out on the title on goal difference to Sunday’s opponents.

Nevertheless, the Mosman coach cannot fault his side’s effort for the duration of the campaign.

“Maybe our energy levels have just dropped a little bit towards the end of the season but it definitely hasn’t been from lack of trying,” he said.

“I couldn’t be prouder. One of the hardest parts of being a coach is getting the girls to play as a team and have that camaraderie on and off the field- the girls showed that from day one.

“Obviously we were a bit unlucky in the end and it was disappointing, you to not to come away with some results towards the end of the season, but I’m extremely happy and proud as a coach.”
The Whales will be fuelled this weekend by the fact that they have already defeated Vale on two separate occasions this year.

They also feel the Cromer Park surface will aid their style of football.

“It’s almost a bit frustrating the fact that we beat them (Manly Vale) twice and it comes down to goal difference,” Spyrakis said.

“This weekend is definitely a chance to make amends.

“It does mean a little bit more and the girls are definitely going to fight their very hardest to try and gain what they deserve.

“After the season they’ve put in they deserve a bit of silverware, so we’ll definitely be fighting hard and gunning for that win this weekend.”

In the other technical area, Roland Winter and Tony Bruzzano will be eager to achieve a different outcome to their last grand final appearance in 2018, which resulted in penalty shootout heartbreak.

Winter admits that Mosman will be a tough team to beat.

“We know they’ve beaten us both times at David Thomas and they have good structure to how they play,” he said.
“They’re quite disciplined, they have a very good goalkeeper, some handy players and are coached quite well.

“We’re happy to play them again to try and turn the tables but we know it won’t be easy.

“It’ll be very difficult match especially on Cromer 1, such a large field, but we’re looking forward to it, that’s for sure.”

3^rd vs 4^th: Seaforth vs Manly Allambie – 3pm, Seaforth Oval

 Seaforth began to hit their strides in the second half of the season to finish within three points of the top two.

This week they come up against last year’s grand finalists Manly Allambie, who struggled for consistency in 2020.

Both sides played out a 0-0 draw in round 2 before Seaforth triumphed 1-0 at Millers in round 9.

5^th vs 6^th: Wakehurst vs Pittwater – 3pm, Lionel Watts

Wakehurst are set to take on Pittwater for the second time in a week after both teams played out a 2-2 draw last Sunday.

In their other encounter the Tigers enjoyed a 2-1 win at Kitchener back in

round 7.

7^th vs 8^th: Brookvale vs Beacon Hill – 3pm, Grahams

Not many could have predicted Vince Vescio’s Beacon Hill side to be in a battle for the wooden spoon but that is exactly what unfolded in 2020 as his experienced squad were ravaged by injuries.

The defending grand final champions take on Michael Cimino’s young Brookvale side who have enjoyed a season of development.

Brookvale came away with a tight win at Beacon Hill Oval in round 2, before the sides played out a 2-2 stalemate at Grahams in round 9.

Premier League Reserve Grade Grand Final: Seaforth vs Manly Vale – 1pm, Seaforth Oval

Manly Vale’s reserve grade outfit finished with an identical points tally of 26 to their first grade teammates, however they were trumped on goal-difference by Seaforth.

Everything is on the line again this weekend when the two competition frontrunners battle it out at Seaforth Oval.

On the two occasions they met in 2020 both sides emerged with a share of the spoils, 1-1 in round 6 and 0-0 in round 13.

WAL/1 Grand Final: Belrose-Terry Hills vs Curl Curl – Melwood, 3pm

Belrose-Terry Hills and Curl Curl both enjoyed dominant campaigns in the women’s AL/1 division.

The Raiders scored an incredible 49 goals and only conceded 9 over the course of the season.

They have only met Curl Curl once this season, coming away with a 2-1 win at Terry Hills oval back in round 8.

After a year packed with unforeseen twists and turns both off and on the pitch, the MWFA Premier League finally concludes this weekend.

Here is a final round special previewing all of the action throughout the PL, PL reserves and AL/1s divisions, headlined by two of the area’s traditional heavyweights battling it out on Cromer 1.

Premier League Grand Final: Brookvale (1^st) vs Pittwater (2^nd) – Cromer 1, 4pm

Reigning State Champions Brookvale will head into their final fixture of the season with confidence sky-high after a near-flawless two and a half months.

They take on a Pittwater side who were the competition’s early pacesetters, going undefeated until these two teams last met back in round 8.

A ten-man Brookvale’s 2-0 win at Grahams that afternoon proved to be an instrumental turning point in both side’s seasons.

Steven Riches’ side would then embark on a nine-match win-streak to seal the title with a round to spare, allowing them to rest some key players in last week’s 1-1 draw with Seaforth.

“This feeling around the camp is obviously really positive after finishing top of the league,” the Brookvale coach said.

“We’re all really looking forward to finishing off the season versus Pittwater.”

Riches, who stepped up to the plate as Brookvale boss ahead of the season restart earlier this year, has experienced his fair share of battles with Pittwater over the years.

“I played against them (Pitts) for the first time about 16 years ago,” he recalls.

“So I know pretty well what they do and will expect a very, very tough game as always.

“They’ve been in many Grand Finals and they know exactly what they need to do to win one.

“I’ve been on the good side and the bad side of their grand finals so they won’t be easy opponents, I know that.”

Brookvale have not won a MWFA Premier League grand final since these two sides met in a dramatic 2014 decider.

That day a brace from striker Justin Hayward inspired a 3-2 victory despite a red card to goalkeeper Luke Femia seeing veteran midfielder David Guzzo finish the match in between the sticks.

“There is probably a deeper motivation because we’ve recently fallen short of actually reaching the grand final,” Riches said.

“Yes we’ve won the league and gone on to the Champion of Champions but I think there’s a there’s a strong motivation to actually win the local final, because we haven’t been there for a few years.”

On the other hand, Adam Israel sees Saturday as the perfect opportunity for Pittwater to salvage some pride after a deflating conclusion to the 2020 season.

“We’re pretty disappointed especially considering where we were, five points clear at one point with not many games to go,” the Pittwater coach said.

“I think the loss to Brookie really took the wind out of our sails and we had a couple of disappointing draws from good positions as well.

“I feel, and I know the boys feel, that we were in a really strong position, it was in our hands, so to lose it from there was really disappointing.

“We’re looking at (the grand final) as an opportunity for a bit of redemption and to come away from something during what has been a really strange year.”

The experienced Pittwater coach also knows exactly what to expect from a club that he has fought against in search of silverware time and time again.

“They’re a very similar team and club to us, they’ve got super dangerous players everywhere,” he said.

“They know how to win, they play good football with a lot of pace.

“I think both teams on their day could probably tear each other apart so it is going to be up to who turns up on the day.

“I’m just expecting a good hit out, hopefully watching some nice football and enjoying a few beers in celebration of a long and strange season afterwards.”

AL/1s Grand Final: Forest Killarney (1^st) vs Beacon Hill (2^nd) – Melwood Oval, 4pm

The AL/1 competition’s two standout sides will meet on Saturday in what shapes to be a highly competitive decider.

Both sides finished the season with an identical record of only two draws and one loss.

Forest narrowly registered the best attacking and defensive records in the competition, scoring 39 goals and only conceding 9 in 13 matches.

Michael Vescio’s squad have also had the recent rub of the green against Beacon and will head into the final with plenty of confidence after late goal flurry saw them take all three points with a 3-0 win back in round ten.

Forest Killarney will be shooting for the ‘double double’ as their reserve grade side take on local rivals Wakehurst in the AL1/reserves grand final at 1pm.

For Annette and Neill Burgoyne, their involvement Pittwater RSL Football Club has always been a family affair.

 The pair are set to stand down from their roles as Pittwater RSL FC President and Vice-President at the end of the 2020 season.

The two have formed a formidable family partnership on Pittwater’s executive committee for the last eight years after decades of service throughout all levels of the club.

Annette followed in the footsteps of her parents Don and Lorna Gale who were also highly involved in the Pittwater club, while Neil has participated in a playing, coaching and administrative capacity since 1994.

During that time he coached both his children Sophie and Ryan throughout the age groups up to 18/1s level, while also spending many years playing himself and coaching the club’s AL/1s side.

He also served on the club’s grading committee, assists with registration days, organises the club’s trophies and has recently enlisted son Ryan’s help in his duties as groundsperson.

Neil feels fortunate to have embarked on such a journey alongside his wife.

“We a good team combo,” he reflects.

“Annette’s more of the admin side and I do more on the football side of things since I’m not very good at admin.

“It works well actually being in the same house and we can just sit and chat about the club, that’s what we do.

“But it is a lot of hard work and what people seem to forget as well is that it’s not just the football side of things, we are normal people who do have lives to live.”

While they have treasured every second of their time in charge of the Pittwater club, they feel as though the time is right to lighten their duties.

“We’re really happy with how the club is running at the moment,” Neil explains.

“It’s just that it’s probably a bit much for us now because we just become grandparents and we want to try and focus a bit more time on my daughter and the grandchild.

“It’s just time somebody else put their hand up as we’ve been doing it for such a long time- I’ve been on this committee for over 20 years.

“So, it’s time to step away a bit. I’ll probably still be on the committee next year because I don’t want to walk away completely.”

While he took the year off due to injury, Neil hopes to continue playing for Pittwater in the coming years, as well as continuing his role as coordinator of their O35s/45s teams. He has no shortage of memorable moments to look back on, including Pittwater’s famous quadruple trophy-winning season and the club’s annual crazy sock day to fundraise for breast cancer.

“The club’s been kind and I’ve made so many good friends,” Neil says.

“Coming over here from England I pretty much married into the club, with my in-laws Don and Lorna Gale who were known as Mr and Mrs Pittwater, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

Neil is looking forward to supporting Pittwater at Cromer Park on Saturday as they take on Brookvale in the MWFA Premier League Men’s Grand Final.

After the longest of seasons packed with the most unpredictable of twists and turns, it was Manly Vale who came out on top yet again to seal back-to-back MWFA Premier League Women’s titles.

 Final day drama around the grounds saw Vale snatch the championship from a previously undefeated Mosman side.

Roland Winter and Tony Bruzzano’s side got the job done with a comfortable 4-1 win over Brookvale thanks to goals from Grace Jacobs, Jemima Lockley, Jules Waugh and Georgia Goulding.

Following full time, news filtered through that Vale’s neighbours Manly Allambie had done them a monumental favour, inflicting defeat upon Mosman for the first time all season with a 3-0 victory at Millers.

The results closed a three-point gap at the summit and saw both sides finish the season on 26 points, with Vale handed the title due to their superior goal difference.

Their co-coach Roland Winter lauded how his side overcame a challenging campaign in many respects to defend their title.

“It’s been a challenging year in so many ways,” he said.

“We just had to pace ourselves every week and plan for the following weekend each time not knowing what’s actually going to happen.

“It’s been a very tough competition, every team can win on their day, and Mosman have done a great job being at the forefront all season.

“We didn’t really think about it (winning the title), especially during the game. It was only after the game when someone mentioned that the other result that we realized.

“It was a nice little surprise to finish the season proper.”

In other results, Seaforth shored up third spot with a 1-0 win over a resurgent Beacon Hill while Pittwater and Wakehurst played out a 2-2 draw.

In the reserve grade competition, it was Seaforth who pipped Manly Vale to take home the title by the narrowest of margins. In an identical scenario to first grade, both sides finished on 26 points, but this time Vale fell short on goal difference.

In the W-AL/1 competition, a breakaway top two saw Curl Curl narrowly edge out Belrose-Terry Hills for the title.

There were goals galore at Lionel Watts as the MWFA Premier League Men’s competition table took its final form for 2020.

CC Strikers secured a third-place finish after an exciting 4-3 victory over Wakehurst.

A brace to Michael Morrison and goals from Sam Webber and captain Luke Curnow overcame Frank Chiarella’s side who led on two separate occasions.

Strikers coach Ryan Butcher was pleased with how his side managed to come away with the result, stretching their unbeaten run to eight matches.

“It was quite an open game with both teams creating plenty of chances throughout,” he said.

“Were behind twice and fought back to get to a 4-2 lead, but we felt in control for large portions of the second half.

“While happy with third, given we knew there weren’t semi-finals we had an objective of top two in both grades.

“But to finish second in reserves and third in firsts is a good sign for the club moving forward and I’m really proud of the players.”

Harbord registered their second win of the season with a 1-0 upset of Narrabeen, champions Brookvale drew 1-1 with Seaforth, BTH and Mosman drew, Pittwater held onto second spot with a 2-0 win over Manly Vale while Curl Curl will finish in fourth despite a 2-0 defeat to Saints.

In reserve grade a 4-1 win for Strikers was not enough to take home the title, as Mosman beat BTH 6-1 to earn top spot on goal difference.

In the AL/1 division, Forest Killarney capped off a strong season with a pair of wins at Passmore which saw them secure the first grade and reserve grade championships.

Leon Brilman is one of the many volunteers who have committed countless hours in support of football across the Northern Beaches.

He treasures his time spent playing, officiating, and working hard behind the scenes with the CC Strikers committee.

Brilman’s playing days commenced from the age of five representing Manly Soccer Club at Miller’s Reserve before he made the short trip over to David Thomas to represent Manly Vale for 12 years in the MWFA Premier League.

He also took up refereeing at the age of 14 and has continued to man the whistle ever since.

For the last 12 years Leon has been involved in the Strikers club, where he is their current groundsman, gear steward and MWFA delegate.

“I just love being involved with it and just helping run the club, it’s brilliant,” he says. “We always need more volunteers.

“Building the new clubhouse and a new extra full-size field at St Matthews Farm were big achievements.

“Strikers is getting bigger and bigger every year. This year, we’ve got 1500 players and 138 teams.”

Leon is part of a group of familiar faces who can almost always be seen on sidelines of CC Strikers Premier League and Manly United NPL matches – where their vantage point earned the nickname ‘Cromer Kop’ during the club’s 2017 run to the state championship.

Leon embraces the community tradition that these matches continue to promote.

“When I was down at Manly I used to go down and watch my coaches play for Manly’s Premier League team,” he remembers.

“We’re growing a real community around Cromer and Collaroy to get down there and watch Premier League.

“The crowd is getting bigger and bigger, and even everyone’s just enjoying getting down to watch the boys play.”

While he won’t say he has hung up the boots just yet, Leon has taken a well-earned year off playing in 2020.

One highlight that stands out over the years is his man-of-the-match performance between the sticks for the O45s select side who took on Brazilian touring team Manezinhos da ilha in 2016.

Another favourite memory is the 2004 O35s grand final, despite his side’s unfortunate defeat.

“It ended 0-0 and we lost some penalties so I got blamed for losing!,” he recalls.

The goalkeeper has been on the receiving and of his fair share of banter of the years.

“My nickname is Teflon because they reckon I can’t catch a ball,” Leon jokes.

“Or magnet because I catch a ball like a magnet to wood! Everyone gives it to me but I don’t care – it’s all part of the fun.”

Moving forward, Leon foresees a prolonged involvement in the Strikers community.

“I hope to stay on for as long as I can, I’ve always enjoyed setting up the fields for the kids on Saturday and Sunday,” he reflects.

“My mom and dad were always on the committee so it basically just sort of rubbed off on me.

“My dad built the canteen down at Millers- they’ve always been involved with community sport and I’m just following that through.”