Chris Curulli

A last-gasp Dave Burnage penalty salvaged Wakehurst a 2-2 draw with Manly Vale at Lionel Watts on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors found themselves with some early breathing room after Will Backman registered a brace in the opening 20 minutes.

Wakehurst toiled hard for a way back into the contest and finally made the breakthrough with 20 minutes to play as Nathan Ord crashed the ball in off the underside of the crossbar.

Frank Chiarella’s side continued to push on in search of an equaliser and were rewarded with a spot kick deep into stoppage time.

With what was to be the last kick of the game, Burnage stood up and calmly slotted home his penalty into the bottom left corner.

Post-game, Manly Vale coach Michael Yarnold took the positives out of a frustrating result.

“Today we changed our shape and put a few new players in different positions and I think it worked really well,” he said.

“Also playing on a pitch of this quality suits us better because we’re a ball playing team.

“I think we were definitely more threatening in the first half in the second half we didn’t really create as many chances and I think that gave confidence to Wakehurst to get back into the game.

“For us this season is about trying to cement what is our playing style and the nucleus of the playing group, because we brought in 23 new players this year, and we know we’re a much better team than the table might suggest.”

In other results, Pittwater enjoyed a 2-0 win over Curl Curl and Brookvale beat Harbord 3-1.

Strikers returned to the winner’s circle with a 2-0 win over Narrabeen while Seaforth accounted for Belrose Terry-Hills by the same scoreline and Saints cruised to a 7-1 thrashing of Mosman.

Manly Allambie coach Kyle Cannon is expecting another tight battle when his outfit face Brookvale at Grahams on Sunday afternoon.

Manly Allambie emerged 1-0 victors when the two sides met back in round three on a cold Wednesday night.

Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures forecast for this weekend, Cannon is expecting a similar challenge this time around.

“It’s going to be a tough physical battle, just as long as we stick to our game and put the ball in the back of the net we should be okay,” Cannon said.

“The last couple of weeks we’ve actually been playing well just not taking our opportunities which has come back to bite us.

“Ideally we still want to aim for the best position possible so we need to try and win as many games as we can to get us close to the top of the competition.”

Manly Allambie, like many, have been impacted heavily by injuries following a disrupted preseason.

They sit in fourth with an eight-point gap to make up on the top two sides Mosman and Manly Vale.

In other matches this week, Mosman face Beacon Hill in a top versus bottom contest, an in-form Seaforth host Pittwater and Manly Vale meet Wakehurst.

 Wakehurst coach Frank Chiarella is pleased with his side’s application following an extremely tough run of fixtures.

The Tigers have faced four of the competition’s top five sides in the last month and pushed a quality Brookvale all the way before conceding a late goal in their 2-1 defeat last weekend.

With injuries impacting his squad, Chiarella has taken the opportunity to blood some of the club’s young talent with an eye on the future.

“Despite the results, it’s been a good few weeks,” the Wakehurst coach said.

“The effort of the guys has been unbelievable, especially with such a young squad at the moment.

“We’re almost a completely different team to the start of the season with injuries so I’m extremely proud of the guys taking it on to mix it with the best.”

This weekend Wakehurst host 11^th-placed Manly Vale at Lionel Watts.

While Chiarella is wary of their ability to pick up an upset result, he is more focused on continuing his own team’s development.

“To tell you the truth I’m more worried about how our team is playing at the moment rather than what the opposition are doing,” he said.

“This is quite a unique season and it’s really allowed us to get younger boys in, who are the future of Wakehurst.

“Manly Vale have some strong players that we definitely need to be aware of but it is much more important to focus on what we’re doing.”

Elsewhere, second-placed Brookvale visit Harbord and Curl Curl will look to regain their winning touch against top-of-the-table Pittwater.

In other matches Seaforth host Belrose-Terry Hills, Narrabeen meet CC Strikers and Mosman travel to St Augustines.

Before sunrise on a cold winter’s morning when most players would still be asleep ahead of their weekend match, Geoff Mooney finds himself down at Abbott Road ensuring Curl Curl’s grounds are in the best condition possible.

He wouldn’t change it for the world.

Mooney currently serves as the club’s head groundsman, treasurer, member protection information officer and presentation coordinator.

Geoff represented Curl Curl FC during his playing days and like many, the involvement of his children saw him rekindle his connection with the club in a whole new way.

In 2016 he was named Curl Curl club person of the year for his contributions, which have only grown since.

Geoff particularly treasures his unheralded duties as head of the club’s grounds staff.

“I like being groundsman because it’s a bit of an unsung role that you’re up there at 6:30 in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays setting up the fields,” he reflects.

“I enjoy the solitude and the quietness of watching the sunrise down at Abbott Road.

“I coordinate ground opening and closures, inspections due to wet weather and reschedule games when required and make sure the grounds are marked with nice straight lines.
“There’s certain satisfaction when you know that all the games have gone ahead and no one really knows that you’ve done it in the background.”

Mooney recalls how a few years ago a former teammate from his U12s team encouraged him to pull on the boots yet again for Curl Curl’s first O45’s team.

He proudly shares that since then the club has grown to entering three teams in that age category.

This growth only demonstrates the development Curl Curl have enjoyed on and off the pitch in recent seasons.

“I’ve stayed involved in the game and certainly moved into a greater capacity with Curl Curl because it’s a community-based club that’s really focused on developing not only its players but also to a big investment in developing the quality of our coaches,” Mooney says.

“A great aspect is also the growth in girls football in the last four or five years – Sunday’s are almost as busy as Saturdays now.”

Moving forward, Mooney and the Curl Curl committee are eager to continue building upon the club’s recent success.

“At the moment I’ve got a fair bit on, certainly working with the committee in our next big project to try and get approval for a new change room facilities and meeting room at Abbott Road.”

An in-form Manly Vale made it two victories from two over Pittwater in 2020 with a comfortable 3-0 victory at Kitchener Park on Sunday afternoon.

Jemima Lockley opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range volley that found the top left corner just three minutes in.

15 mins later, Jemma Satchel made it two as she nodded home Georgia Goulding’s free kick.

Pittwater worked hard to establish a foothold in the contest but in the end were unable to convert any opportunities.

Lockley put the result beyond doubt in the closing stages with her second goal of the afternoon.

“The girls are playing some good football at the moment,” Manly Vale coach Tony Bruzzano said.

“Whilst we did manage to get a couple of early goals, Pittwater were a tough unit to crack. The best thing about them (Pitts), is that they are a young squad, and they are trying to play football.

“In the second half, it was a little harder to play against the gusty winds and Pitts battled hard but our defence stood firm.

“We are more than happy with the result. The girls are really enjoying their football, and it makes it most enjoyable for us coaches (along with Scott White & Roland Winter), to be associated with them.”

 A last-gasp St Augustines equaliser meant that CC Strikers were forced to settle for a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw at St Matthews Farm on Saturday afternoon.

With both sides heading into the sheds at 0-0, the hosts opened the scoring just two minutes into the second half through Alex Woolston.

After spurning a number of opportunities to extend their lead the hosts were made to pay as Saints equalised with five minutes to play.

“We’re left lamenting another 2 points dropped,” CC Strikers coach Ryan Butcher said.

“We had chances to ice the game but weren’t clinical enough when it came to the final product.

“That’s 4 draws this season and on each occasion we’ve felt like we were the better side, but we aren’t closing the deal and it’s proving costly.

“We are two wins out of the top four and we need to get a wriggle on over the last 6 games – the boys remain determined and they’re certainly capable.”

In other matches, another late strike earned Brookvale a 2-1 win over Wakehurst and Mosman upset Curl Curl 3-0.

Pittwater returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Harbord while Seaforth were too good for Manly Vale, emerging 5-1 victors.

BTH Raiders and Narrabeen played out a 0-0 stalemate.

Pittwater know they are in for a challenging 90 minutes when they host a red-hot Manly Vale side at Kitchener on Sunday.

The two clubs met back in round two with Vale coming away with a 5-1 victory.

Vale are second on the table and lead the competition in the goals scored standings, with an incredible 24 goals in seven games.

However after what was a baptism of fire in their opening two fixtures, the newly-promoted Pittwater have proven they are more than capable of an upset result or two.

They currently sit in sixth spot on nine points.

Their captain Amee Dawson, who was named AL/1 player of the season in 2019, is remaining upbeat ahead of Sunday’s match.

“From our first few results were a tough wake-up call and we definitely learnt our lesson,” she said.

“I think we have a great group of girls and have a real team spirit so regardless of the score at the end of the day we are confident we can recover.

“Coming into the season with no trial games we were still getting a feel for our new structure, which we have got better and better at each week.

“The most important thing this weekend will be making sure we finish off any opportunities that we create.”

In another matches, a revitalised Wakehurst face top of the table Mosman at Melwood, Seaforth travel to Millers to face Manly Allambie and Beacon Hill clash with Brookvale at Grahams.